Chapter 8

The First Move.

If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

AN: Sorry for the late update but I've been very busy with school, preparing for my test next before Christmas Break. I tried So Forgive me if there are some grammar errors in this chapter.

"You know, Bruce. I remember the first time I met you. It was right after you became CEO of Wayne Industries. I was just about to take him into lunch w hen You came into Robert's office unexpectedly and suggested that you wanted to work with him. That's when I saw a young man who's just entered a new world of corporate business at 25 and he's doesn't have a clue how to manage a multibillionaire company that his father bulit." Moira was catching up with Bruce about old times with the living room of Queen's Mansion with a glass of wine in her hand while Bruce took sip of his whiskey.

"Well, I wasn't mature as I was then. I was pretty stubborn and big-headed at the time. I saw Thankfully Robert taught me that sometimes it's ok to let your guard down and let others help you on the way."
she smiled fondly of the memory, before sadness fell on her regarding her late husband. Despite it's been over a year since Robert was declared dead, the memory still brings out a lot of Sensing that, Bruce changed the subject to lighten the mood that just turned a bit cold. "So, what's this rumor I've heard?"

Moira couldn't be more relieved. "What rumor?"

"That in 2 days time you're announcing your run for the mayor's office." He said, "And don't bother trying to deny it. I'll find out eventually."

"You are resourceful. I'll give you that." she complimented him; resourcefulness was one of many layers of the Gotham Billionaire. "And yes, I'm gonna run for Mayor's office."

"You don't strike me as a person who would sit behind a desk all day."

"To be honest, I'm not. But Walter my ex husband told me that not all citizen of the city hates me for my involvement in the Undertaking and that everyone loves a redemption story. I didn't believe him at first but I gave it some thought and said to myself, why not give it a try ? You only live once after all."

"Are you sure you wanna go through this?"

"Bruce, my son is 30 years old with no college degree running the company that Robert built. My daughter who is 19 is a club manager. I wanna go through this."

"Then you have my full support." Bruce declared

"Thank you, Bruce. You're really a good friend." She smiled, she didn't have a doubt even for a split second. To think this man were once a young and determined man with no guidance whatsoever and now he's a very philosophic billionaire with a company that has been in the family for several generations. "You look a lot like him. Your Father. He would be very proud of you and what you have accomplished. For our families." She raised her glass to perform a toast. Bruce clicked her glass as an act of appreciation for her praise. "So how did you meet Talia? She must be special."

"She is. We met actually in Metropolis during a charity event..."

"Here it is. This is the file that has everything you need to know about Project Wolverine and where it originally came from." Sara declared as she handed Jericho the file from cabinet in Laurel's apartment. She got in by using the spare key that she got from her father a few weeks in case she would show up now and then.

"Alright, let's see what this project is all about." Jericho stated as he went on to read it, by his own words, Sara stood next to him and took a closer look on the papers."Ok, according to the papers the project was a underground government program back in the 70's. It was created to help the army to defeat Viet Cong during Nam. it would increase your strength, speed, agility and stamina to superhuman levels. But it was banned because the serum was declared unstable. It had some severe side effects like uncontrollable anger, personality alterations and a killer instinct." On one of the pages, there was a report of a incident back in 70's. "While injected with the Wolverine, One of the previous test subjects went homicidal and killed three scientists including a top ranked military general. It took 18 guards to take him down before he was put to sleep, permanently."

"Shit." She muttered. If this Wolverine serum can drive a person to commit a horrible act, imagine a crime boss getting his hands on it. They would profit from it by selling it to the black market. The thought of it made her skin crawl. She set that thought aside and continued to read the next page.

"So it was put on hold for 40 years until Dr. Emil Conner revived it three years ago. He went to refine the formula with improvements and additions to the project." She continued, "2013. Dr. Conner sent team of specialist to exctract a metor fragment in Russia. he went on to create a strong metal compound that can resist anything. Adamantium."

"Son of a bitch." He swore under breath,when Sara read the word out loud. Sara glanced at him with a inquiring look.

"Sara, do you have any friends who works at a hospital?"

"No but Oliver got contacts at Star Labs. Why?"

"I want him to contact one of his friends and do a bone scintigraphy on me. Now. Dr. Conner coated my entire skeleton with it." Sara gaped at him with a dumbfounded look on her face as he went for the front door and exited the apartment.

"What?" she uttered,

Now in only jeans, Jericho was lying back first on a table in Star labs as he silded in to the scanner for a bone scintigraphy. While the gamma cameras took pictures of his entire skeleton, he wondered where did his life go wrong? Everything was great, he had a great life, loving fiancée and great family. He's come a long way from his days as an assassin. It took him time to control his urges to kill him because he knows but now… things are different. He became a monster, a lab freak. But why him, of all people? Sure he would've expected something from Paul because they weren't best friends back in the League of Assassins for many reasons but Dr. Conner? That is a mystery. As he was deep in thoughts the bone scan had just been completed.

The table slide him out of the scanner and he sat up getting out of the table and exited the exam room where Sara was waiting for him there. but before that, he put his shirt and jacket on that was lying on a chair.

"How did it go?" she asked,

"It went fine. Should get x- rays about a minute at best." Jericho replied, "So, what happened while I was gone? You know besides you and the rich boy getting hooked up… again?"

"Ollie mentioned that when you left." Sara remarked, "And no, nothing much has happened." He had a sneaky feeling that something did happen but he chose to push the subject further, one at time. Then he grunted as he rubbed his forehead closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, headache. It was a bit painful but during headache he heard a not so clear voices.

"Did it…. found him."

"Hope…. right."

"Inserting…. Claws."

"You're alright?" Sara questioned, concern laced in her voice tone.

"I'll live." He groaned, shaking his head off the remaining headache, just then radiologist dropped by with the x-rays. He handed Sara the x-rays and told them that he was so baffled by the results that he had to triple check before co he continued to walk down the hallway.

"Are you sure those are real?" Diggle asked in awe as they examined the x-rays back in arrowcave under the Verdant, The bone structure was of deco then natural bones which meant that Jericho wasn't lying about his unique skeletal . when they told him and Felicity about his metal coated skeleton and his claws, they thought that was a joke but the look that Jericho gave them indicated that he was not joking.

"Radiologist triple-checked. It's real." Jericho said,

"How did you survive a produce like that?" Felicity questioned,"I mean, that grafting your entire skeleton with metal isn't something you do on regular basis."

"The Wolverine. It granted me a healing factor which heals any wounds rapidly. It also increased my chance to survive the adamantium bonding with 25 %."

"Huh, so you're like a real life Wolverine?" Felicity blurted out, then heat rushed to her cheeks as everyone looked at her, "Not that is any related to the comics or X-Men."

"Something like that."

"What is this Adamantium?" Oliver asked,

"Supposedly according to Dr. Conner's notes it's an indestructible metal created from a meteor fragment 2013. It is Impenetrable, unbendable. It's resilient to the most extreme heat and cold." Jericho explained,

"Hmm. Experimentation by the government. It's not unheard of." Oliver stated grimly from experience, "Right. So, what's our next move?" Oliver asked,

"I'm going back. Back to Gotham. Any chance that I could get a lift?" Jericho

"Of course, because i'm heading there anyway." Oliver said as he picked up an invitation and showed it to him, "My mother is invited to a ball hosted by the Wayne Foundation in Gotham tomorrow. she and Thea took an earlier flight."

"Really? I thought she wouldn't come considering the circumstances?" Dig

"She'll be there." he replied sternly not wanting to get into details, in fact he doesn't want to tell them about the conversation he had with his sister. "Sara, you should stay here with Roy. Keep your eyes and ears open for any irregular activities."

"Got it."

Oliver, Diggle and Felicity were on one of his family's private jets heading to Gotham with Jericho the next day. They all sat on the chair doing different chores. Oliver looked out of the window to the view while Felicity was checking on her IPad for any updates. Diggle was taking a power nap to conserve his strength. He's gonna need it. The three of them had never ever been in Gotham but they've heard about the city and the high crime rate that was plaguing the city for years. it was like all bad places of starling put together in one city. Jericho had his eyes closed as he shut out the outside world taking a nap also.

But it wasn't a very peaceful one. Felicity looked up when Jericho stirred with moan. She was not an exactly an expert in psychology but she knew well enough that he was suffering from a nightmare. What was going through his mind right now? She sighed sadly through her nose as she looked back at her IPad.

Jericho woke up and rubbed his eyes to see that he wasn't in the jet, he was in a dark room. No lights, no door. Nothing. Just darkness. he could barely see a thing here. then a spotlight was put on him. he groaned as he shielded his eyes, letting them adjust for a couple seconds before he moved his hand away. He rose from the chair and took a few steps with the spotlight following every footstep. He

"You missed a step." He turned around to see where did the voice only to see a katana sword thrusting through the sternum.

He jolted straight out of the nightmare with the claws out, ready to attack anyone. It only took him a few seconds to realize that he was back in the private jet. He winched as he retracted his claws back. Even after few days, they still hurt when they come out and he knows that they're gonna be there until the day he dies. He really despises Reynolds and Conner. He exhaled a breath that he didn't know he held as he wiped off the cold sweat off his forehead. Can't he just be home already? Honestly?

Ticking Bomb by Aloe Blacc
Jericho was in the backseat of a rent car with Oliver and felicity. Dig was the designated driver, they were driving through Burnley, heading to Jericho's apartment located in Gotham Heights. Jericho looked at couple of kids playing patty cake on the sidewalk before turning his attention to a teenage girl buying some drugs off a dealer. He shook his head sadly at the scene unfold. Despite the fact the crime rate is down and there is renewed hope, old habits are being shown in parts of Gotham.

"Suddenly Starling City doesn't look so… petrifying right now." Felicity said,

"The whole world's sitting on a ticking bomb

The whole world's sitting on a ticking bomb

So keep your calm and carry on

The whole world's sitting on a ticking bomb.

The sun may never rise again

The question ain't if but when

The see will boil and the sky will fall

The sun may never rise again

The silent war has begun

We're staring down a loaded gun

No refuge found on solid ground

This human race can't be won.

The whole world's sitting on a ticking bomb

The whole world's sitting on a ticking bomb

So keep your calm and carry on

The whole world's sitting on a ticking bomb."

The car stopped outside of Jericho's apartment on the side of the pavement. Jericho stepped out of the car and glanced back at Oliver and Felicity.

"Alright, this is where we go our separate ways. I see you three tonight." Jericho told, patting the roof before they took off. Jericho inhaled and exhaled a breath as he went inside the building. Home sweet home.

Jericho was at the front door of his apartment unsure of what barb would say or think of him when he walks through the door. Plenty of different scenarios was playing in his mind and the most of them came out good and some came out bad. But Jericho pushed those back and knocked on the door knowing full well barb would listen to him and not to jump to any hastily conclusions. She's intelligent. But occasionally she does show a bit of her mean streak and her stubbornness that she without any doubt inherited from her father, the police commissioner. But hey

"If that's you again, dad, I swear…" Barb's voice said behind the door as she opened the door to see Jericho for the first time in nearly a month. "Jericho?"

"Hey, sweetheart." Jericho kneeled down in front of her and gave her a heart melting smile. Overwhelmed with emotions and tears starting to spill, she hugged him the hardest she could. Tears of relief and joy. Jericho returned the favor but was very careful of not crushing her considering his skeleton is coated in Adamantium which would add a few more pounds. He would whisper some reassuring words to prove that he was really here and it wasn't some illusion.

"Don't ever, ever disappear on me again."

"I won't." he stated with conviction, that was only thing he was sure of right now. He will never leave her again.

They stayed like that for 30 minutes before they broke away and headed back to their apartment.

"Unbelievable." Barbara uttered, Jericho just finished explaining about what happened with him over the last three weeks. That was 5 minutes ago.

"I know. You told me that couple of times." He quipped,

"I'm just trying to let this sink in." she informed her fiance which was quite understandable. she'd just

"I know. Take your time." And she took her time, seconds later before she started use Jericho as a punching bag.

"Do. You. Have Any. Idea. What. I've. Been Through?" Barb said while letting out her anger, frustration and anguish that has been boiling inside her for the past three weeks, Jericho didn't even put up a fight. He understood why she was doing so he didn't defend himself. It went on for a good 10 minutes until she couldn't do it anymore.

"You done?" Jericho asked, Barb nodded feeling a bit relieved of letting it out.

"Yeah, I'm good." Barb answered, "Can I see them? The claws."

"You sure?" Jericho was bit hesitant of displaying the claws to her because she might cut herself.

"I am." She reassured,

Snikt! Barb looked down at the metal claws that had been extended out of his hand. She had a look of fascination and curiosity while running her fingers on the claws tenderly.

"How the hell did you survive?" she asked him,

"To be honest. I'm asking myself that exact same question."

Jericho POV

After everything that's happened in the Lab, everything is unrecognizable. I spent three weeks in hell thanks to that son of a bitch Conner and Paul. Paul. Huh, You know I never liked him from the beginning and I know that he had a big distain and jealously for me. bMainly I was considered the golden boy in the league. But I never thought why has take it this long to extract revenge on me? All the thinking gives me a headache I stepped out of the shower and had a chance to look at myself in the mirror, I don't see Jericho Brown or Jericho AL Ghul. All I see is an animal, unleashed to destroy anything in his path and bring upon destruction. They took me and used me as a guinea pig for their goddamn experiment. but for what? What was their purpose?

Third POV

"This is Vicki Vale, reporting live from the Royal Hotel. We're just moments away from the arrival of the Starling city matriarch and the mayoral candidate Moira Queen who's just arrived in Gotham earlier today with the Queen siblings, Thea and Oliver Queen." Jericho and Barb swiftly passed the TV Reporter who was covering the event. Jericho was wearing a black trenchcoat along with black shirt, black shoes and black pants. No ties. Barb was in a strapless red dress with her long red hair flowing down her back. Jericho looked around to see how the security was. There were four at the entrance, two behind them. Three at the hallway and five on the stage. Bruce certainly didn't cut any expense.

"Wow. Look at the number of the GCPD officers that are here. It's like having the president here."

"Hmm." Jericho uttered, still inspecting the hotel like bloodhound sensing danger. Something was not right. He could feel it but couldn't place it. "Considering they do not want the guest of honor die here as many of them have here in Gotham, it's hardly a surprise."

"Hear that." Barb agreed, having hopes that the event would go as planned of setbacks but then again, when you grew up in one of the worst cities in the country, things do not go accordingly to plan. Something they both learned the hard way. They turned right heading to the ballroom. All of Gotham's most influential people were present including Bruce who was talking to some spoiled aristocrats. No sign of Talia though but he could sense that she was here somewhere thanks to his now superhuman senses. Barbara had left to mingle so he was on his own.

"Welcome home, brother." Jericho chuckled once he heard the all too familiar voice. Even after leaving the League, she still knows how to use the element of surprise in the most sufficient way possible. He turned around to see Talia in green dress holding a cane.
"Talia."

"I see you've healing up pretty well."

"Yes. So are you." Talia replied, "You're different."

"In what ways?"

"Too many." She answered, "I'll shall speak to you later." She left to join her fiance leaving Jericho with his thoughts. It was a short reunion between brother and sister but through the body language communication, they would have the talk regarding his kidnapping but not here in the festivity. Jericho went to the bathroom to take a leak.

Dig was pushing the paparazzi away from the limousine to make way for the Queen family once he stepped out of the car. he opened the doors for them to step out. Oliver came out first and then Thea along with her mother. they moved as quickly as possible inside away from the cameras.

While he was washing his hands in the bathroom, Jericho looked at himself in the mirror. It hasn't even gone a week and he still feels out of place. He's met some of the shadiest and egoistical rich people in his time but he learned how to not put them in place in public which would have great ramifications. But now as he was brooding regarding the richest, a chill went down his spine. Someone was here and his senses was telling him danger.

"Hello J." identifying the voice, Jericho popped his claws out to attack him but when he turned around to face him, he froze in place unable to move. The voice belonged to Jericho's former teammate and the rogue mercenary that is working with Dr. Conner. He had a smug grin on his face. Paul Reynolds. "Now. Now, is that the way to treat an old friend?"

Jericho was struggling against some force that powerful kept him away from slaughtering Reynolds but somehow even with his strength, he can't do it. what was he doing here in Gotham?

"What do you want?" he growled dangerously, Paul raised his hands in surrender

"I'm not here to cause any trouble if that's you're wondering. I just wanted to see how you're doing."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe after what you did." Jericho snarled,

"If you say so." Paul shrugged coolly, he did not deny it one bit. "Now you probably wonder that you can't move with you claws. Well, let just say that I have an insurance policy in case if you went… berserk." He intimated an animal with claw gestures. Jericho again tried to break the force but his attempts were futile. "So you mingle now with Gotham's riches now? I thought that was out of your league. But then again, Banging the commissioner's daughter who is very hot btw, shows that anything is possible." He laughed to get under Jericho's skin. Enraged he tried again to break through the force but he was still stuck. How dare he insult Barbara? Oh, Paul is so lucky that he's not dead right now.

"Aw, did I hurt your feelings?" He mocked, "Good." His face turned serious for a moment and that coldness was shown in his eyes, "But don't worry, like I said. I'm not here to stir trouble. I'm here to tell you this. When I was disowned, I made a promise to make you suffer what I've suffered. The humiliation, I that went through when I was outed by your father. The people you love most will suffer too. See you around." Paul left the bathroom once he delivered his message. He gasped, as he finally broke free of the force once Paul left. Jericho thought to himself he had a sneaking feeling that he's going to fulfill that promise and the confrontation that just took place was a sign of things to come.

Paul whistled rather joyfully as he left the Royal hotel and took out his cellphone to make a call.

"All right, I've done my part. Now's it's time for yours. Showtime."

"Ladies and It gives me a great pleasure to introduce you the next Mayor of Starling City! Moira Queen!" Bruce announced, Moira stepped on stage along with Oliver and Thea as the crowd applauded. They smiled for the cameras as the photographs took pictures of the seemingly happy family. But in truth, they are far from happy… at all. Moira went to the podium with the speech as her children left the stage.

"Thank you." She said to the crowd and Bruce who just left the stage, "Now, as you may know…"
Barbara was among the crowd listening to her as Mrs Queen begun her speech when Jericho appeared by her side. Barb glanced at her fiancé with a inquiring look.

"Where have you been?" She asked, You sure took your time."

"I got held up." Jericho answered simply,

"By what?"

"I'll explain to you later." Jericho replied, not wanting to answer her question at this moment. He just wants to get through the day without any further complications. She accepted the answer… for now. But she would ask him later.

"I have made mistakes and I'm sure many of you in this audience have also. But from I learned over the years is if you don't take responsibility for your actions, you'll eventually lose the ones that are close to you because they are the one who will suffer in the long run. I'm not expecting any sympathies from you people because of my involvement in the Undertaking. But what I can expect from you is your support. For too long, Starling City has been not a place for anyone to raise their children or live in. I promise you, when I become the mayor, my goal is to secure the future for the next generation to prevent any tragedy from ever happening again." That was the end of her inspirational speech and the crowd started to give a round of applause. Jericho and Barbara along with Bruce and Talia started to clap in approval.

"Thank you." Moira thanked her audience as she left the stage and met her family to meet Bruce and his fiancée with her brother and his fiancée.

"Excellent speech." Bruce complimented,

"Really? I thought I crumpled on the stage." Moira quipped, Bruce chuckled quietly, "But seriously Bruce, thank you for doing this. I can not even begin to describe how grateful I am for your support." Thea narrowed her eyes at Jericho trying to place him in her memory bank. She had seen him before but where? Oh well, she gave it up after a few seconds later thinking that he's got one of those faces.

Bruce nodded in acknowledgement with a kind smile, "You're welcome. Would you like to stay here for the afterparty?" as she was going to answer his question, an officer along with the head of the security walked over to the Queen family and the Wayne family.

"Mrs Queen. We should go now." and that's where Jericho's gut feeling told him that something wasn't right about this officer. He couldn't place it but the scent he got from the officer was cheap cologne. Since he recalled of smelling any sort of cologne that is cheap?

"Of course officer, we'll be going." Moira was expecting the looked at Bruce apologetically who understood the subliminal message. He wasn't hurt though. She followed the officer with Oliver and Thea as they left the ball. On the way to the limousine, that's when Jericho noticed a piece of a full sleeve tattoo on the officer's wrist escorting the queen family. Hold on where had he seen these before? Could it be… No it can't be, can it? But It had to be. Not taking any chances, Jericho approached them and grabbed Moira by the arm.

"Mrs Queen. Don't go with this officer. He's not who you think he is." He warned the Queen matriarch but she didn't take the warning seriously, instead she thought it differently.

"Let go of me." she tried to remove her hand but he had a firm grip on it.

"Mrs. Queen, please."

"Mr Dubois. Escort this man out of the building." Jericho reluctantly let go of her arm in defeat as the head of the security Mr Dubois walked over to him and asked Jericho to come with him. But Jericho refused to go in place not budging an inch. He caught the officer glaring as Moira returned to her children and resumed the walk to their limousine. Jericho furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the supposed police officer. Something was off about this guy. Normally any officer would have a excellent posture but this one… it's slouch. He disregarded the security guard demands to come with and continued to follow her when the officer pulled out a shot gun and shot him, point blank to the chest. The blast brought him down on one knee Another office pulled out a gun from a holster and aimed at Moira who froze in spot, while the third officer whacked Oliver who was protecting Thea from behind with his pistol.

Everything happened in a blur as he looked back at the turmoil that just started, breathing heavily. the crowd started to panic, Bruce and Talia calling his name out and the head of security was being killed and he turned back to see the fake cop ripping his uniform to reveal his entire body has been covered with tattoos. That only meant one thing, Yakuza. The Yakuza thug threw away the police hat as his fellow yakuza companions grabbed Moira and Thea.

"Jericho!" Talia called out to her brother as she and Bruce tried to push through the crowd despite her bad leg. But they were unable to do that because of the hysteria, so she tried once again to call his name. "Jericho!"

He couldn't hear what she was shouting, there was a ringing in his ears and already he started to bleed. He watched on as the Yakuza killed the guards on the route to their escape car.

"The shell… Argh, must be laced with poison from verdant. Paul must've hired them." That must be why he'd dropped by the ball. Jericho barley blocked the pain from the shot gun blast as he brought himself back up and went chasing after Thea and Moira.

"Oliver! Oliver, are you alright?" Diggle asked as he helped Oliver back on his feet,

"Yeah. I'm fine." Oliver grunted, shaking off the cobwebs of the head blunt, "Dig, Thea and Mom."

"I know. Come on."

Thea was being dragged by the Yakuza with her mother towards the entrance of the hotel. She tried to fight back but a slap to the face ended her resistance. The yakuza killed security guards whom intruded their escape. She knew that coming here to Gotham was bad news, she didn't want to be here. Fortunately her string of bad luck would turn around soon enough when she heard that all too familiar sound.

Snikt! Jericho drew his claws out as he saw more of the yakuza thugs approaching to stop him, looks like there's strength in numbers. But he didn't care, all that matters was to get them back. Jericho thrust kicked one in the chest sending him a few feet and blocked a fist from another with his own instead of his claws. He then stabbed him in the shoulder, claws piercing through the human flesh. He took the claws out to cut a shotgun in half from the one who shot him and kicked him between the legs. He squeaked in unbelievable pain clutching his pride as he went down to the groun. Jericho charged at the yakuza member using him as a shield to protect him from the bullets fired by the other yakuza members that tossed thea whom tried to get away from them but one of the men noticed her attempted escape..

He rolled through the dead yakuza but as he was about to lunge at them one of them pulled the trigger but his gun clicked. he ran out of the bullets. one of the men ducked a right hook from Jericho and tried to spin kick Jericho but Jericho was quick to react when he counterattacked him with his knee, there was a sickening sound of bones cracking. Thea winced as Yakuza thug yelled in agony, he grabbed his now broken knee while he laid down. That had to hurt. Jericho dodged the second yakuza's gun whipping and thrust one of his into his thigh and threw him up 7 ft in the air spinning before landing face first on the ground. He glanced at Thea who looked like she had seen a ghost. A look of realization was etched on her face. But he ignored it as he grabbed her arm and took her with him. Only one more to go.

Jericho saw Moira being dragged by the yakuza towards their escape car as he and Thea caught up with them . Jericho told Thea to stay put while he gets her mother back. Jericho ran off and in mere seconds he caught up with them. They turned around and saw him in feral position ready to strike.

"Galijn." One of them snarled before them of charged at him leaving Moira all lone. Jericho kneeled and spun himself around slicing three of yakuza legs before getting back up. he sidestepped one of them before stabbing the other in the stomach. Jericho turned him around to protect himself from the bullets fired on. Moira watched in slight fascination and terror as her savior picked up in a fireman's carry and tossed him at his fellow accomplice with a cry. Then he groaned retracting the claws as the adrenaline started to wear off. By then Thea appeared by her side completely igorned his command. Jericho heard some Japanese words being shouted and Jericho knows that the calvary's coming.

Jericho's Run by Marco Beltrami

"Come on! Let's go!" Jericho reached his hand out to her, at her hesitance Thea reassured her mother with some encouraging words.

"You can trust him, mom. Come on." Moira eventually grabbed his hand and he took them off into the city with the yakuza chasing ran out on the street being shot by the yakuza in the Diamond District, there were five to them to be exact and they weren't exactly great shooters.

"I hate high heels!" Thea whined as her feet was getting sored.

"Less whinin' more runnin'!" Jericho scolded, now was not the time to complain, it was about to survive. As they kept running, a figure rose from the shadows of the rooftop nearby and prepared two arrows and fired them. it got two of the chasing yakuza thugs. Two left.

"This way!" he led them into a nearby game store where the mysterious figure who had followed their movement and fired another arrow killing another yakuza.
They ran past some teenagers and young couple before being caught by the remaining yakuza thug. They turned around and faced a door.

"In here!" he opened the door that led to the utility closet for Thea and Moira, they ran to the storage with Jericho who closed the door behind him just in time to block some of the bullets fired from the yakuza henchmen. He scanned the room to see if there's any exit and unfortunately there were none. Damnit, nowhere to go. Thinking fast, he popped out his claws expecting the Yakuza that was charging towards the door. There was a screeching sound of metal cutting through metal and a gasp as the Yakuza froze in spot with claws pierced through the door into the heart. He pulled out his claws letting the now dead Yakuza crumble to ground. Jericho retracted his claws back as he reopened the door.

"Keep moving! Keep moving!" He motioned them to go first and then followed them behind while exiting the game store.

Police sirens were heard as they again were out in the open, getting away from the scene. Jericho constantly glanced over his shoulder to see if there were more of them and surprisingly there weren't. Jericho would ponder about it later.

"You're bleeding." Moira said noticing his blood stained shirt but Jericho chose to look past the comment and headed to the subway for the train practically dragging them to underground. This was their first visit in Gotham and they had no idea of where to go to or where to hide. Luckily though they got Jericho He paid for their tickets at the check up before getting on the train.

Once they got on the train and took their seats to settle in, Jericho looked around the train to see if there were more unexpected surprises.

"Bullet train. Terrific." Thea remarked with a frown etched on her face with her arms crossed, she was sitting a few seats from her mother and across Jericho.

"Well, beats a taxi here." Jericho shrugged unfazed by the remark about his hometown, Thea snorted in a unladylike manner but did not say anything further.

Then he felt throbbing pain on his chest. He looked down at his wound. the wound was getting worse so he had to make sure that he doesn't get an infection. he excused himself before heading to the toilet room. He hung up his coat before slowly removing his shirt to see the wound in the mirror. He took some papers and pressed it on the wound for a couple minutes with a grunt before tossing the bloody paper into the trashcan.

"What the hell's going on?" Jericho asked to himself, that has been the question that was on his mind for the past month as he went to put his shirt on.

Bullet Train by Marco Beltrami

Jericho stepped out of the toilet grabbing his coat after he washed his hands off the blood. Just as he was about to head back, he heard Japanese that stopped him in his tracks. He turned around to see three Japanese men in shades staring at him with blank expressions and yeah, they're not all smiling and giddy. Yakuza somehow had found him again.

"Here we go again." Jericho thought grimly as his claws cut through his knuckles, the yakuza looked down at both of his claw fully aware that he brought out the big guns. he tossed his coat at one of them to blind him while his companion pulled out his gun to shoot gun but Jericho stabbed his hand with his claw before throwing him across the small space.. He elbowed one of them and kicked the other. As he was ready to strike down with the claw, yakuza thug 2 wrapped his arms around his right arm, stopping the momentum at least for the time being. Jericho cried as he pushed Yakuza thug 3, bumping into the others. he then threw him through the window into the outside in high speed. Jericho dodged a knife attack from Yakuza thug 1 and headbutted him, cracking his nose.

Yakuza thug 3 thought that punching him in the face would be a great although it wasn't a good idea in the long run. Jericho felt it and Yakuza 3 felt it more as he winced back, his hand started to go numb. It was like hitting cement. Jericho sidestepped another punch from Yakuza 2 this time and drilled his left claws into Yakuza Thug 2 chest. He roared, sinking his left claws deeper into the chest area. he pulled them out and blocked another knife attack with his forearm from Yakuza thug 3. In a series of quick movements, Jericho beat the knife away with his hand and went behind him, grabbed his head and snapped his neck with a crack. His lifeless body fell down as Jericho looked around to survey the area before heading back to get the Queen family out of this bullet train.

Moira was looking out of the window in her seat as the train stopped at a when Jericho stopped by, startling her.

"You alright? What happened?" Moira asked, noticing the look on Jericho's face was telling her that something wasn't right and he looked like he went through, but he didn't answer the question though, he just wanted to get them to safety.

"We're gonna get off this train. Go get your daughter. Now."

"Where are we going?" Moira inquired,

"GCPD."

Now, i'm gonna split this chapter into two parts so the next part will be posted probably after Christmas next year because of College and Christmas break. So i'll be gone for a while. But I'll be back. Merry Christmas!