Hello readers, allow me to say s few things really quick. This chapter will see the introduction of a few new characters to the story; they will be: Batman, Robin (Damian Wayne), Batgirl (Barbra Gordon), and Bane. Their appearances are as follows: Batman; Justice League War, Robin (Damian Wayne): Son of Batman animated movie, Batgirl (Barbra Gordon): Young Justice, Bane: Batman Arkham Origins.
Now on the the fifth chapter of Eyes of Crimson and Amethyst.
Chapter Five
Having spent the rest of the previous night studying the files on each group and memorizing the layout of the area an abandoned mall/entertainment plaza, Vlad spent the day sleeping. When he awoke it was just after ten at night. Exiting his temporary room, he walks over to Ryzer. Upon seeing Vlad is awake, Ryzer's mouth breaks into a huge grin.
"Ah, Vlad good to see your up and about. I just finished your gear not ten minutes ago. Come and see." They walk over to the workbench for last night and Vlad sees a mask, a black long sleeve tactical shirt, black pants, black boots, and a red high collar haori lying in a row.
"Allow me to explain the features of each piece of your outfit. The mask is made from tungsten carbide with a layer of graphene on both the inside and outside of the mask; it is also painted to resemble your old mask. The haori, shirt, and pants are made from a triple weave consisting of carbon nanotubes, boron nitride nanotubes that have been treated to alter their radiation shielding to protect for most forms of energy, and a synthetic fiber that disperses up to 67% of kinetic impact; the amount dispersed increases as the amount of force applied increases. The boots are composed of a synthetic material similar to the one used in the rest of the clothes only it goes up to 74% and the soles also have an impact absorbing gel in them that adds a 19% impact reduction; meaning you'll be able to survive a fall for extreme heights as long as you land on your feet. Go put them on and tell me what you think."
Vlad grabs his new outfit and heads back to the side room. He is surprised how comfortable the clothes are. Looking in the mirror he nods in approval. Turning a bit he sees there are nine white magatama in a circle on the back of the haori; a nice touch. Heading back to the main room he thanks Ryzer.
"Ryzer, these clothes and the mask are amazing. You did a marvelous job on everything; I especially like the magatama on the back. Ill definitely come back if I ever need anything else." The praise and promise of repeat business make Ryzer smile.
"I'll be more than happy to help you out whenever you need it. Now it's about time you head out to complete your payment. I won't need you to bring any form of proof; I have means of finding out on my own." Ryzer says looking at the clock on a random computer.
"I'll head out then; I'll be leaving when the job is over. It was a pleasure to meet you." With that they shake hands and Vlad departs.
With Raven
Stepping out of the shower, Raven thinks back to the day's training. It was the first time the team was seeing its new members in action. Aqualad was impressive. While he is much stronger than Robin, Beast Boy and herself; he isn't all that strong compared to people with actual super strength, test revealed him to be able to lift two and a half tons. His ability to manipulate water and bioelectricity is top notch; he can create weapons of water or attack with powerful torrents of it. He is also very skilled in martial combat, being only slightly below Robin's level. Wonder Girl on the other hand is on par with Starfire in physical ability and her lasso is strong enough to injure Starfire and short circuit Cyborg. She is however lacking in actual fighting skill, as she relies mainly on overwhelming her opponent.
Walking to her bed she grabs her phone and texts Robin to find out if there are any other plans for the day, when he responds with telling her that she has the rest of the day off she slips on Vlad's shirt and heads to her desk. She takes out a sketch pad and some pencils. With the supplies out all she has to do is figure out what to draw. After a few minutes she knows exactly what to draw.
It takes her a couple hours to get the drawing right, but when she does she smiles at her success. Closing the sketch book and putting in the top drawer of her desk, she stands up and walks over to her phone. Checking the time reveals it to only be 5:30 in the evening. Deciding to go ahead and confront Cassie she calls her.
"Oh, hey Raven, do you need something?" She asks in a friendly but confused tone.
"Would you please come to my room, there is something I wish to discuss with you." Raven's request causes Cassie's face to reflect her growing confusion.
"S-sure, I'll be there in a minute." After hanging up it only takes her a few moments to reach Raven's door. She is taken back slightly when the door opens as she steps up to it. Walking in she sees Raven sitting cross-legged on her bed wearing what is clearly a man's shirt and black leggings. She sits on the bed across for Raven at the girl's prompting. ""So what did you-"
"I know you're lying about your powers. I'm an empath so there is no use in trying to deny it." Raven says interrupting Cassie's question, this causes Cassie to become wide eyed and filled with worry. "You are already aware of the origin of my powers, so you can rest assured that I am the last person that will judge you. I just want to know the truth and see if I can help you in any way."
Cassie sits there staring at her legs and fidgeting with the hem of her shirt for nearly five minutes before looking at Raven; her eyes filled with hesitation and sadness.
"It is silly really. I am really a demigod, but I didn't get any power or the like from my father. My current powers are derived from a suit of alien armor, called the Silent Armor that bonded with me. It is normally hidden but will manifest if necessary, a very painful process. The reason I lied is because I didn't ask for this power and because I used it selfishly when I first got it. I ended up hurting a few people on accident because I wasn't used to my new strength." She finishes the story with tears forming in her eyes.
Raven can understand where she is coming from as her circumstances aren't that much different. Seeing the tears begin to fall, Raven slides herself across the bed and pulls Cassie's head onto her breast; the same thing Starfire did for her every night for a month after the incident with Malchior. She holds Cassie and strokes her hair for nearly an hour before the crying stops. She sits up and wipes her eyes while giving Raven a small smile.
"Thank you, I needed that." Raven just nods her head. "That shirt smells wonderful; speaking of which, what's the story with it?"
Smiling and thinking of her interactions with Vlad, she decides to tell Cassie about him. Granted she will leave certain things out.
With Vlad
Arriving at the abandoned construction project Vlad heads for the large square tower in the northeast corner of the failed development, figuring it is most likely to house his current targets. Once he reaches it he channels chakra into his hands and feet, and begins to scale the building. He finds his targets in the uppermost floor and silently sneaks in through the window on the left side, as it is obstructed from view by a large stack of boxes. He then proceeds to scale the wall and stand upside down on the ceiling. Looking down at the three gather in the room he smirks under his mask.
"The plan is as follows: Robins is in charge of the south of the area, as his small frame and agile movement is better suited for the mostly completed shopping area. Batgirl is to take the western side and I'll take the east. The north is completely empty and flat so the gangs will avoid it as much as possible; it will also be the breach point for the GCPD and SWAT teams." Batman's voice seems to be distorted by something hidden in his cowl. "The goal here is to take down as many of the enemies as we can before the police breach; we need to eliminate their causalities as much as possible."
"What of the shipping container? Keeping the gangs from their target is equally as important as lessening police deaths." The short Robin asks, prompting Batgirl to agree with him.
"The intel we gathered suggests that the gangs won't show up for another 45 minutes, I will use some of that time to use the Batwing to move the container to the roof of the administration building below us. Once that is complete the two of you will place electrical charges on the inside of the door." His two protégés nod in acceptance of this plan. The three are immediately thrown on guard at the sound of a laugh echoing throughout the room.
"That is a rather weak plan. You're assuming they won't all congregate on one area and overwhelm whichever one of you is there before the other can come to the rescue. I expected more of the legendary Batman." The three look up having pinpointed the location of the voice and are surprised to see a man standing on the ceiling. Upon seeing the mask Batman knows who their mystery guest is.
"What is the Crimson Eyed Demon of Jump City doing in Gotham?" Batman demands in an aggressive and dangerous voice.
"I had some personal things to do, things which led me here." Vlad respond in a casual voice. At the same time he stops the chakra flow to his feet and flips as he falls. He lands a few feet in front of Batman.
"What are you doing here? Why reveal yourself to us?" These questions come out more curious than aggressive. While Batman relaxes a bit, Robin slowly moves for his Batarangs.
"I'm doing a favor for a friend and wanted to tell you three to stay out of my way. I have no intention of fighting any of you, provided you leave me to my task." He answers Batman's question in a pleasant and friendly tone, but Batman can read the threat behind the pretty words.
This man gives off a particular vibe, one he is most familiar with. It's the same vibe people like Deathstroke and Ra's al Ghul give off; the sense of a predator moments away from striking at it's prey. While he can tell the man is dangerous and he knows he means to kill all the criminals in his path, Batman knows he means what he says. He has already decided to allow the man to operate, taking on a person who can single handedly match the Titans isn't something they can risk in this situation.
As Batman processes his answer and figures out what to do, Vlad pulls out his phone and sees a text from Raven.
What are you doing?-Raven
About to work-Vlad
Does that mean what I think it does?-Raven
It does. The men of Black Mask, Bane, and Penguin are about to converge on a singular location. I plan to accelerate the death rate.-Vlad
You shouldn't keep killing, it'll only make you more of a target for heroes.-Raven
Please be careful, I want to see you again. -Raven
Don't worry Karasu-Hime, I plan on seeing you tomorrow. Have to go.-Vlad
The moment Vlad sends the text he pulls out his katana and spins around, lashing out with the blade; four pieces of metal hit the ground.
"That wasn't very nice Robin." He chides. "I'm trying to be peaceful here."
Robin tries to respond but is cut off by his father.
"Enough Robin, we don't need another enemy." He looks Vlad in the eye. "Don't think this means I won't take you down later."
"You won't, I'm leaving Gotham after this and I doubt you'll follow me to Jump." The response is laced with mirth. "Better get started with moving the shipping container."
With that Vlad makes his way to a window and jumps through it. Falling nine floors and landing on his feet, Vlad feels nothing; a testament to the boots ability. In a burst of speed he makes his way to the center of the area and leaps to the top of what was meant to be an information building and sits in lotus position to wait.
The wait is only fifteen minutes, as a mass of people storm the constriction zone from the east, south, and west. Dropping of the roof and taking to the shadows, Vlad travels to the west side of the construction zone. After a few minutes he sees a group of men in suits carrying assault rifles; there are a total of six. Sticking to the shadows he circles around them and waits for them to spread apart slightly, as soon as they do, he strikes. Darting out he cuts down the three in nearest to him before any of them realize he's there. As the other three turn to face him, he delivers a quick, clean slash to each of their throats. Before their bodies hit the ground he is already rushing in the direction they came from.
As he approaches the next group, consisting of four, the sound of gunfire on the other side of the unfinished mall draws their gaze in his direction. They open fire before he can reach them, forcing him to weave through the hail of bullets. As he dodges he flings his katana into the heart of the man on the left and begins forming hand signs. Fifteen feet from them, the thugs are forced to reload. At the same time Vlad finishes his hand signs and release a large ball of fire that explodes on impact. Three burning bodies are thrown away from the center of the explosion. Grabbing his sword Vlad looks off in the distance to see Batgirl fighting a group of seven; and she is kicking their ass with ease. Seeing that she has things covered here, he turns and sprints to the area being patrolled by Robin. Reaching it he sees a group of penguin's men engaged in a fire fight with a group of Bane's soldiers. Sheathing his katana and summoning three kunai in each hand he prepares to attack. The moment there's a lull in gun fire he leaps into the air between the two groups and launches the kunai into the skulls of all of the masked soldiers. He lands as he forms the final hand sign and spins a round. Exhaling, he fires a dozen air bullets at Penguin's men; one manages to survive the attack. He tries to drag himself away but is halted as Vlad thrusts his katanas blade into the thug's lower spine. Turning he runs off towards the sound of gunfire.
Slowing down as he nears a corner, Vlad stops and peers around it to see Robin nimbly flipping and dodging the attacks of the soldiers around him, while simultaneously landing his own attacks. It takes him mere minutes to take out nine armed enemies. Robin's head snaps at the side at the sound of clapping. Vlad steps around the corner and stops clapping.
"Impressive for one so young, you'll end up surpassing Batman one day if you keep it up." Robin frowns at the compliment.
"I don't need compliments from a criminal, you're lucky father said not to kick your ass." This causes Vlad to chuckle, which in turn causes Robin's frown to deepen. "What are you laughing at?"
In a flicker Vlad vanishes from sight and reappears behind Robin, their backs facing. Robin goes to move but stops when he feels a blade gently press against his lower spine. His breath shallows as he thinks of a way out; before he can formulate a plan the blade moves away from his spine. He turns around and scowls.
"I could kill with relative ease; you need to get more experience with fighting people with much higher physical stats. I wasn't near my top speed and you couldn't react, learn a bit of modesty or you'll die due to arrogance." Vlad turns and starts to walk away.
"I will kick your ass one day criminal, mark my words." Robins yells to Vlad's retreating form.
After a few minutes of wander around and a couple dozen more kills, Vlad bumps into Batgirl; quite literally in fact.
"Well if it isn't the lady bat. Weren't you over there?" Vlad asks pointing to the west.
"Weren't you?" She counters with a rather joking tone. Vlad just shrugs and begins to walk next to her as she leaves. "Are you following me?"
"I am indeed." He replies plainly.
"Why?" He shrugs once more.
"I see a girl in the middle of a small warzone; I feel I should walk her to her destination." He receives a snort in response.
"What a gentleman you are." Her voice is dripping with sarcasm. He tsks and stops walking.
"Fine then, I shall depart and slaughter more people." He leaves her no chance to reply, as he leaps to the top of an unfinished wall and hops down to the other side. She hears gunfire and then silence. "Five more dead."
After announcing his kill count he rushes to the administration building to see what's going on there. He stops about 20 yards short as about forty of Bane's soldiers are blocking his path. 50 or so feet behind them he can see Batman fighting Bane. Bane is moving much faster than his frame should allow and Batman is keeping pace with him. The soldiers in the front point their guns at Vlad and demand he turn around and leave. Instead he slowly forms a few hand signs and creates a tornado in the center of the group. He follows this up by forming a few more hand signs and expelling a stream of fire from his mouth into the tornado, causing it to ignite into a roaring whirlwind of flaming death.
Deciding his work is done when he sees a bunch of cops in the distance he turns to see the shocked faces of Robin and Batgirl.
"Later kiddies." Is all he says before vanishing in a flicker once more.
With Raven
Checking her phone Raven sees it is just after two in the morning and she sighs. She hasn't slept at all tonight; she's been too worried about Vlad. Sure he was able to fight off the Titans, but if three gangs were going to war with each other he could easily be killed by a stray bullet or get swarmed by more people than he can handle; and he hasn't texted her since last night. Getting up she puts teleports herself to the kitchen and makes some tea. She hopes it will help calm her enough to sleep, since tomorrow is her day for patrol. She chose to walk back to her room to give the tea some time to cool off. As she walks, she gets lost in thought and barely notices when she enters her room. She walks over to the window bench and sits down.
"I wonder if Vlad is ok. He sounded so sure when he said I'd see him tomorrow, but so much could go wrong. I wonder why he wants to see me. Maybe he wants to tease me some more or maybe he wants to confess his feelings. No, there's no way he has real feelings for me, it's probably just some weird interest that lead to a crush." She shakes her head and sips her tea.
"There's no way someone like Vlad could love me." She says with sadness and longing in her voice.
"Why not?"
Raven nearly throws her cup in fright, her head snapping to her bed. There lying on his side and staring at her was Vlad. She can't believe it, he's in her room and he's on her bed. Her mind wanders to less than appropriate things, causing a massive blush to spread across her face.
"Are you having lewd thoughts Karasu-Hime? Are they about me?" She feels amusement and surprisingly, hope coming off of him. She stutters a bit before closing her mouth and setting her cup down. "Well too bad, none of that until we get to know each other better."
With that he gets off the bed and walks over to her. She lets out a small yelp as he lifts her up princess style and carries her to the bed. He sets her down softly and takes a seat next to her.
"Let's get to know one another." He says with a lovely smile, causing Raven's heart to speed up.
"It's going to be another long night, but it's going to be a good one." Raven thinks as Vlad starts asking her questions.
Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think.
With laughs,
SonoftheJester