A/N:
I edited a part from chapter 2. If you've read it before this update then you must have noticed one paragraph that only had the words The man in it. That was actually supposed to be an entire dialogue followed by another one and then by another paragraph. They were part of my last changes to the chapter, I guess it wasn't saved.
Here's the 3rd chapter! Please leave a review, it means a lot to me. Thank you!
SO COLD
When he threw the batarang, he expected the sudden explosion as it stuck to the wall. What he didn't expect was the state of the person behind the wall. The Penguin dangled from the ceiling, a rope tying his torso. When he saw the dark vigilante, he couldn't stop himself from crying.
"Batman...! S-save... me...", he pleaded, eyes wide with fear and sweat rolling down his face. The Batman could not believe that the rogue had been reduced into this mass of shivering sweating meat slighty swinging in front of him. He studied the villain, checking for any sign of torture. Surely, the Penguin must have caught himself in trouble and he was beaten for it. What bothered the dark vigilante was that he seemed unharmed.
"I'm supposed to lock you in.", came the rough reply. The Batman looked at the scene again, hoping he could figure out who did this. He did not expect the Penguin to get tied up on his own turf. He had thought that this mystery was already solved, but it looked like an outside force interferred with this case.
"No...! You need to save me! O-or, you won't be able to save yourself.", the Penguin cried. Batman looked at him strangely. The Penguin continued in a meek voice, a little strangled cry from a terrorized creature. "It's coming for you."
Batman stiffened. He looked above where the rope was tied, but, no, it wasn't tied. Under the lenses, Bruce's eyes widened. The Winter Soldier was holding the rope with one fingerless gloved hand, her eyes glowing dangerously blue in the darkness that it made Bruce unsure how he missed them.
She let go of the rope, allowing the Penguin to drop to the ground like a sack of meat, before she herself dropped to his level in one single graceful movement. He waited for her to look him in the eye, to once again see those blue flares that he very much wanted to be beside him again. But she didn't waste time to take her gun and shoot at him in an almost point blank range.
Bruce barely dodged, the bullet passing through his shoulder instead of going through his heart. He didn't waste time to check the gunshot wound. The vigilante quickly moved to Diana, kicking the gun out of her hands and sending it clattering to the floor. He then swept Diana under her knees, sending her falling to the ground. Batman swiftly grappled to the beams above them where her movements may be limited. He knew that a single hit from her could break his bones, or even cause him his death.
Knowing all this, he could not allow her to kill him, because he knew if that happened, when all this will be over, and it will be, she would never forgive herself.
Diana stood again, her eyes scanning the crisscrossed beams where she knew Bruce was hiding behind the shadows. The Batman watched with vigilant eyes as she ran to a stack of crates, hopping on one wooden box to another like a graceful mountain goat and jumping high enough on a crate that she could grab one of the rusty beams and pull herself up.
Bruce watched her armbands glisten despite the shroud of darkness as she confidently made her way to one intersection of beams right where he roosted. The former Amazon princess immediately jumped to the intersection, causing the web of beams to creak loudly. Bruce backed away, silently waiting for her first attack.
Deep inside, he expected the right hook, quickly moving to the side to avoid the deadly punch. He also expected her to turn and jam him with her elbow. He let his muscle memory take over and allow his gloved hands to carefully catch the attack and push her back. He knew what they were doing. He knew that this was their routine. Once upon a time, they trained together with the same sequence of movements at the Watchtower or at the Batcave or even at the Embassy's gym over and over again until they could do it with their eyes closed.
This was their dance.
Diana aimed to kick him at his head but Bruce ducked, only getting back up to jab her. The punch was true as it hit her jaw. He watched as blood started dripping from her lips. When she spat, a dark red blotch fell somewhere on the dusty cemented floor of the warehouse.
The Winter Soldier focused on him again, her emotion still bland. Diana grabbed his arm, twisted it, and spun him around. Bruce flew to a section of the warehouse, his back hitting the wall with a resounding thud.
The pain made him groan and made his ears ring, and he almost fell as he lost his balance. He tried to move his arm making him grunt against the difficulty. He couldn't move it. The arm that had the gunshot wound was also the arm that was twisted. He was slightly relieved that the other was still in good condition.
Looks like I have to dance one-handed. Will you mind, Princess?
Diana approached him and he forced himself to get up. They continued their fight with flying fists and precise kicks. Diana did a perfectly balanced roundhouse kick which might have claimed Bruce's head had he not ducked in time. She followed the lethal attack with a quick succession of punches the Batman knew he couldn't simply block.
Batman tried to trip her, make her lose her balance on the narrow arena they had, and he almost thought he did when she started to fall, but his plan backfired when the Winter Soldier grabbed his dark boot, carrying him along with her and then threw him by the foot in midair. Batman landed on a pile that might have been a stack of crates but now were a load of broken wood, while in front of him, Diana gracefully landed on her knees, her own dark boots making a resonating sound against the cemented ground.
Bruce felt the mindwashed Amazon take him by the collar of his cape and lift him up to meet her at eye level. He was too tired and exhausted to even focus his vision on her. The Winter Soldier then threw him to the center of the warehouse, calmly setting her eyes on him as the dark Bat skidded against the floor and stopped when his back hit another pile of crates.
Out of the corner of her vision, she caught the familiar sight of her handgun. She retrieved the weapon and made her way to the defeated Bat. The gun was immediately aimed at his head in point blank range, not something one could even have the chance of avoiding, especially not a broken man.
Gasping, Bruce made great effort to stop her, not accepting to die, not before he could save the beloved princess, not even allowing himself to think that he would die by the hands of the woman who he was supposed to save.
In one shaky breath, "...Diana..."
Silence. Like time stopped moving.
The gun dropped, the arm holding the gun suddenly shaking. Then, as if someone controlled it with a string, it rose again with the same target in front of it. Bruce almost thought he was done for. But it suddenly dropped, then rose, then dropped, and rose again, then dropped.
Bruce only stared mesmerized at the scene happening in front of him.
And finally...
"AAAAAAARGH!", Diana screamed frustratedly. She swiftly pointed the gun at her own left arm and, as Bruce watched with surprised eyes, pulled the trigger without hesitation.
He heard her hiss softly when she dropped the gun and covered her bleeding arm. He couldn't move. What the hell just happened?
Diana?
She is still there.
Somewhere in that hurricane of a mind where a storm continues to rage as strong as it is blank.
Diana.
Who shot herself so she can override the command that was, as it is, to assassinate him.
Diana!
Whom he loved so dearly that he did not know if he should feel happy or angry or relieved or worried that she shot herself.
She shot herself!
"Diana!", he yelled. She turned, she turned, responded. Her blue eyes were confused, strands from her hair covering them. She shot herself and, but, still she responded.
"I-I don't... who--", she suddenly stopped, a little whine coming out from her. The hand she had on her arm flew to her head, blood and all. She closed her eyes shortly, resembling someone with a headache.
The Batman, broken and bloodied as he is, held his breath in fear that he might disturb the former Wonder Woman, who was standing in front of him with a bloody mouth and a forehead covered in her own sticky red blood, from remembering. Remembering not what she did as a hypnotized emotionless super murderer, but who she was as a daunting princess, an inspiring woman, and an amazing hero.
Bruce tried reaching out, really tried, but she was gone before he even propped himself up with one arm.
He couldn't help but smash his fist against the hard ground knowing that he did break a few bones in his hand. "DAMN IT!", he bit in frustration. He pressed a button hidden on his cowl. "Alfred," Bruce began, his voice tired and angrier than usual, "Get the Batmobile in my location."
Weary, the Batman dropped on the pile of broken wood. He scanned the room again, noticing something, or someone, missing. Bruce wanted to break his other hand and his whole body all together.
On top of all this, the Penguin had escaped.
A/N:
How was it? I hope you liked it. Personally, I feel that I simply lack more flesh in my writing style... Any thoughts on how to improve that?
And don't forget to watch Wonder Woman.
Hahaha, I promise I'm totally not getting paid to say that, I just really wanna heighten the hype for the movie. Am I even allowed to do that? I swear, the number of illegal things these days!