Chapter 6: A Street Scuffle
"Who the hell are you, kid?" Bane asked with a threatening tone.
"Oh, nobody. Just a concerned citizen," Izayoi responded.
"You must have some kind of death wish," the muscle-bound man growled, "because there's no way I'm gonna let you leave now."
"I'm afraid you have that backwards," the blonde boy said with a smile as he raised his hand up to Bane's chest, "there's no way that 'I'M' gonna let 'YOU' leave."
Without a second thought, Izayoi flicked the man in the chest; a massive shockwave erupted from the sudden collision and Bane's body was sent flying back into a nearby building. Thankfully, his grip on Batman was released, dropping the caped crusader to the ground.
Colliding into a brick wall about 40 yards away, Bane let out a horrible grunt as he broke through the surface, forcing the surrounding wall to collapse around him.
"You ok?" Izayoi asked, looking down at Batman who worked on standing back up.
The Dark Night nodded but said nothing; the strength that this kid possessed was incredible. Being able to effortlessly subdue someone like Bane was no small feat; the boy's powers were enough to both make Batman thankful and worried.
Slowly emerging from the pile of rubble that encompassed him, Bane steadily got to his feet and shot Izayoi a death glare. Using his hands to brush off some of the dirt, he began to walk back towards the blonde teen, his teeth grinding against each other in uncontained rage.
"How dare you?" he growled as his walk quickly turned into a full-on sprint.
Glancing back at the injured Bat, Izayoi said, "You should probably stand back."
Taking the teen's advice, Batman slowly backed away from the boy as he carefully observed the battle before him.
The closer Bane got, the more infuriated he became upon realizing that the same smug look still remained on Izayoi's face; there was no sign of fear from the boy whatsoever, and that was enough to make Bane let out a furious roar.
"YOU THINK YOU"RE BETTER THAN ME? YOU THINK YOU CAN CHALLENGE ME? YOU SHALL DIE LIKE THE REST!" he bellowed.
Feeling his muscles bulge as he reeled his fist back, Bane prepared himself to deliver a powerful punch to the teen's head. Using his legs to propel him further, the mask-wearing giant quickly leapt at the motionless boy. Swinging his fist with all his might, Bane happily grinned as he felt his punch land; however, his joy didn't last long as a sudden and sharp pain shot through his entire arm. It was unlike anything he ever felt before – what was this pain? Looking down at his hand, Bane's eyes widened as he stared at the state of it. His entire arm was broken.
He could feel his knuckles scream out in pain and his wrist tingle with horrifying numbness; his arm had been broken at the joint, causing his forearm to bend in the opposite direction from his elbow. Too stunned to register the pain, Bane simply cradled his arm in silence, evident confusion was written all over his face.
"Hey," said a voice, "are you done yet?"
Bane's eyes seemed to widen even further upon seeing the state of the boy in front of him; Izayoi was unharmed – no, not just unharmed, it was like he hadn't even gotten punched in the first place. His face was free of any signs that Bane's fist landed, with even his clothes still intact the same way they were mere moments ago.
"I guess it's my turn again," Izayoi announced as he cracked his knuckles.
A sudden rush of fear filled Bane's entire body; there's no way a kid could be this powerful, no way. The masked criminal began to back away from Izayoi's slow approach, the pain of his arm finally starting to become more evident. And with the acknowledgement of that pain came one single thought – 'this guy could kill me'. Such a realization was enough to make the Mexican wrestler gulp out of fear, but his pride had to come first.
"You…you…you little sh*t. You cannot defeat me; I am Bane!" he shouted, raising his good hand into the air, "I am-"
"Too loud," Izayoi finished as he delivered a crushing uppercut to the underside of Bane's jaw, causing a sickening 'snap' sound.
The unconscious body of the muscular criminal fell to the ground with a thud as Izayoi simply watched on with indifference.
"Geez, that guy was annoying," he said as he turned around and headed back to a more serious-looking Batman.
"We should probably get going," the blonde boy stated, passing by the caped crusader, "the cops are a few blocks down. They'll get here any minute."
Staring at Bane's body sprawled out on the floor, Batman's eyes narrowed; this kid was too dangerous to be left alone. Taking a look at Bane's broken arm and noting that he was knocked out by one swift punch to the jaw, Batman realized that Izayoi was very much a potential threat. Mentally filing this event away in his head, the cowl-wearing crime fighter turned around and headed back to the jet. Noticing that the boy had already gotten inside of the vehicle, Batman simply returned to his seat at the helm. Pressing a few of the buttons on the dashboard, the glass dome covered the cockpit once more as Batman gripped the steering wheel.
"Aren't you gonna put me back in cuffs?" Izayoi questioned, putting his wrists together in a submissive gesture.
"What would be the point? You've shown me that you're capable of removing them whenever you want," he said in his monotone voice.
"Ah, I see. Good point," Izayoi said with a chuckle before leaning back in the seat.
Once again, the jet ascended into the air, the gentle hum of the engine being the only sound that was audible. Then, after reaching a stable altitude, Batman clicked on a button and pushed the control handle foreword, propelling the jet further into the air.
The speed of the vehicle remained constant as they soared over the stretch of the city, passing over buildings with randomly lit windows; continuing into the air, the jet finally reached just below a line of clouds that were almost invisible due to the darkness of the night.
"Why did you decide to offer your help back there?" Batman asked while still focused on steering, "You could've just as easily remained where you were and done nothing. With me out of the way, you could've been free to proceed with your mission."
"I know you're smarter than that," Izayoi stated with a smirk, "I can easily claim that I only helped you out to gain your trust, but the truth of the matter is simple – I was bored."
Batman considered questioning the blonde teen further but eventually decided against it; if the boy was to be cooperative, then it would be counter-productive to be too aggressive.
The trip lasted for approximately 20 minutes, with the jet accelerating every now and then to adjust for its direction; eventually, Izayoi spotted the small silhouette of a city off in the distance. The speckled arrangement of lights twinkled and danced as the plane continued to near it; Izayoi realized it had been quite a while since the last time he was in a city of any king – at least aside from the one he just left. Getting closer and closer to the ever enlarging collection of buildings, Izayoi began to see the sudden addition of details. The arrangement of city blocks from one another; the movement of cars and trucks through the streets; even the shapes of trees and grass in park areas.
"Where are we?" he asked as he stared out of the window.
"New York City," Batman replied, "This is where the remainder of your interrogation will be held."
Izayoi had the feeling it was more than just that, but he kept quiet as the jet approached the city. Veering off a little from the concentration of buildings and city lights, the jet headed for a separate, dome-like structure that sat in the middle of an open field. The building itself was not totally off-set from the rest of the city; smaller streets that lead off the main road seemed to make their way to the solitary structure. Feeling the vehicle begin to decelerate, Izayoi calmly watched as the ground came closer and closer while Batman steadily landed the jet. Upon gently touching down onto the grass-covered land, the sound of the engine slowed to a halt as Batman clicked a few more buttons.
"We're here," he said grimly.
After opening the hatch back up once more and activating the removal of the glass dome, Batman spryly hopped out of the stationary vehicle followed by a cooperative Izayoi. The two of them traveled across the stretch of neatly cut grass that covered the majority of the property; Izayoi wondered how difficult the maintenance must have been to keep it so neat and clean. His attention soon wandered to the over-looking structure before him; while in the jet, it was hard to see any definitive details of the building, however, he now stared on in awe at the intricacy of the edifice before him. A wide sweep of stairs were presented to him as he and Batman gradually approached the front entrance.
The front door, for lack of a better word, seemed to be made entirely of tinted, black glass – almost like the one he witnessed while he was being interrogated. The windows were similar, made up of the same reflective material that revealed his image as he walked by. Finally coming to the front of the building, Batman placed his hand on a oval-like panel that was positioned on the wall; a short beeping sound was heard before the door swept open.
[Scan: Recognized – Batman], the display read in green, digital lettering.
"Follow me," the Dark Knight practically growled as he made his way into the building.
The hallway was just as clean and pristine as the outside of the structure; modern furniture in accordance with the overall design of the interior gave the blonde teen a sense of silent appreciation. The flat, marble floor, that seemed to have been recently waxed, seemed to glow the more he looked at it.
"What am I here for?" Izayoi carefully asked, momentarily ignoring the admirable quality of his surroundings.
"The interrogation that you agreed to before was just a test," Batman informed, "We had to be sure that you were truly willing to cooperate with us before we proceeded. Now that we understand your behavior, we have decided to move forward. That's the reason I've brought you here; it's to meet with the other members of the Justice League."
Izayoi's gaze remained straight as he continued down the hall; he had heard of this 'Justice League' group on rare occasions. Darksied would sometimes (usually quite rarely) mention their names during meetings, but Izayoi never thought he'd truly be able to meet them one day. To be honest, he was quite excited; if any of what Darkseid said was true, then these people were very powerful.
The hallway soon came to an end at the behest of a door that was located in front of them; taking a hold of the handle, Batman pulled the door open and gestured for Izayoi to step through. Quickly taking the hint, he eagerly walked into the room beyond the entrance, curious as to what soon awaited him.
End of Chapter 6
Author's Note: Howdy doo, folks? This chapter was a fairly short one, although many of my chapters tend to be that way. This one was really just meant to set the stage for Izayoi, emphasizing how powerful he was without revealing too much. Obviously, because these are just the beginning chapters, the pacing may be a little slow at first, but I intend on speeding it up the more I go. Anyway, if you liked the chapter, please comment and tell me why; if you didn't like the chapter, good for you – you can still comment. Thanks.