Hello readers! I hope you've had a good week, though I would like to note the sadness we must all be feeling for the passings of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, two greats in their respective arts. They will be missed.
Challenge King: Thank you. I was originally intending to have a stricter policy of keeping the shows respective to the separate comic fandoms, but I thought he would be a good fit. What Freddie will do to Gibby… reading and find out.
Xemtlenc: I think all human beings are capable of that. Superman's regret is that it got to the point that Cat would murder Lee.
Tori as Catwoman was hinted earlier in the story as she's the one that burglarized Mason's home to get the incriminating documents and she was a little offended by the dismissal about the ability of a woman to do it during that lunch get together.
Fanfic-Reader-88: If Robbie starts putting things together, his head might explode more so than it already is with Rex's reappearance. He's not mentally stable right now with a lot of people he wants to blame.
Cat could get darker and willing to keep the secret. There have been hints in the show where she's brighter than she lets on, especially in Season 1 and her being upset with Robbie going with someone else to the 'Cow Wow'. The seeds are there.
I will say that Bane!Gibby thinks he had the situation well in hand, but he's in for some surprises.
Twilight Warrior 627: The Man of Steel is really at this point in time the only fantastic element within this story other than some of the Bat's gadgets. The MoS I'm featuring is heavily drawn from his original Golden Age debut in the comics and the cartoon shorts of the early 1940s, though I haven't made him as strong as portrayed in some of those shorts and gave him the Silver Age power of heat vision as that is just a staple of his character now, which was purposely written to have him face the real problems of people during the age he was originally written.
I don't want to spoil anything with Gibby, so you'll just have to read.
The most difficult thing of this piece was how I was going to portray the Joker with the major interpretations of Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and the much underappreciated Mark Hamill. That's a tall order, so I took a path I didn't think was ever explored: make the Joker sane and give him relatable motivations where a person could see themselves if things really got to a breaking point. He's embraced a quote from H.L. Mencken: "Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." Beck has done that and like the masks everyone else is wearing, his is white face paint.
One last plug before we get to the story, PD31 has started a new story, 'After the Octagon' about the continuing adventures of Freddie and Shelby.
Rating: T+ Language, Violence
Chapter 14: Pride Goeth Before Destruction
Outside Warehouse Seven
Gotham Docks
Gotham City, NJ
The armored vehicle that had intervened to rescue Robbie slowly pulled up several dozen yards from the rundown warehouse and beside several long shipping containers to come to a stop. The Bat had a clear line of sight of the row of several warehouses to her right and the water to her left (shielded by the shipping containers). The one she was looking for was two warehouses down and looked just as deserted as the others. She looked at the computer monitors on the dash of the practical cockpit, looking through the inferred spectrum for body heat and night vision. She didn't initially notice anyone on the monitors hanging around the outside of the building, raising her suspicions.
She had a pretty short list on who could kidnap Tori, eliminating Mrs. Lee's shambled crew from the possible perpetrators even if they had the motive for revenge on anyone close to Robbie or Beck. She figured that Mason wouldn't be that foolish, but so that left one other suspect.
After picking up one of Quincy's crew and having a 'friendly' conversation, he gave up where they were holding Tori and that it was to lure the Joker out to kill him. She had thought about simply calling the police, but her fear of Tori getting hurt in the crossfire of a rescue attempt or Beck and Sam being murdered from an ambush was too much a risk to her.
The dark vigilante attempted to call Freddie because she wasn't too prideful to ask for his help even if she wasn't comfortable with him handling Beck and Sam, but he didn't pick up his phone. She wondered if he was already in his alter-ego looking for the kidnapped actress. She thought they would have to figure out a way to contact one another in the future, not pausing to question that their alter-egos would be working together in the future.
As she studied a map of the surrounding area, she debated her possible approaches. She could take the direct approach, but that would alert them and she didn't know how many were guarding Tori. She would be facing the same odds in the planned ambush for Beck and Sam. She'd have to push the stealth to her limit and then some to successfully sneak inside and slip out with Tori. She hoped Tori wouldn't argue with going with her and not have to reveal her identity to convince her.
The top of the vehicle opened and she slipped out of it, crouching down beside it then quietly making her way to the building, hugging the sides of buildings and avoiding security lights. She stopped by a utility pole with a transformer and a line running to the warehouse. She smirked as an idea popped into her head.
A few moments after carrying out her idea, she continued to carefully maneuver past and between two buildings until she reached one of the side entrances. She peered into the widow and saw the warehouse was in near pitch darkness. She pressed a button on the side of her left gauntlet and lenses slid down over her eyes. The lenses displayed the green array of night vision with an inferred overlay to spot heat signatures. She saw an assortment arranged stacks of wooden creates, but didn't spot anyone. She either had the wrong building or they were hiding further back in the warehouse to ambush Beck and Sam.
The Bat took a deep breath, steeling herself to go inside and face the overwhelming odds. She reached into her utility belt and pulled out a set of lock picking tools then carefully picked the lock. After a bit of manipulation of the locking mechanism, the lock unlocked and the door cracked open.
She put away her tools then slipped inside and quietly shut the door behind her. She scanned around to make sure she hadn't drawn any attention. She did noticed to her right that there was a dim light at the other end of the warehouse. She quietly stalked between the practical maze of crates, some single crates to several stacks high nearly reaching the metal rafters. She spotted the first heat signature lazily standing about looking in the direction of the dim light. She crotched and pressed against the side of one the stacks. She watched him for several seconds to see if she had been spotted.
She quickly walked behind the mob soldier until she was right behind him then threw her right forearm in front of his neck to put him in a chokehold. He grabbed the forearm to try to pull away as his oxygen was being cut off. She asked him with an eerie voice, "Where is Tori Vega?"
The mobster looked over his shoulder to only see the whitish blue eyes in the darkness. His face fell in fear and was near wetting his pants as he thought he was looking at some kind of unholy creature of the night that dwelled in people's nightmares.
She didn't appreciate the hesitation and tightened her grip around his neck and demanded, "Where is she?"
He tried to claw at her forearm, but couldn't find any purchase with the three sharpened fens sticking out. He was forced to choke out, "Sh… eess in the… office." He motioned with his eyes towards the other end of the warehouse.
"How many of there are you?"
The mob soldier hesitated, but with a tighter gripped around his throat got him to cough, "Te… nnn… there's… ten."
"Including you?"
"Yeesss."
"Thanks," she uttered with the modulated voice before she tightened her grip to momentarily cut of his blood flow.
He started flaying for several seconds before he slumped in her grip. She dragged him back behind a stack of crates then took his submachine gun and pulled out the magazine from it. She tossed it onto another stack of crates out of reach then started stalking through the maze.
She climbed up three stacks of crates then glanced about, getting an overhead view of the warehouse. She counted seven well dressed (Quincy made it a point that his crew looked beyond respectable) gangsters lazily waiting about and heavily armed with a mix of Tommy Guns, BARs and shotguns. Four were facing the other end of the warehouse had good cover with the crates since the second half of the warehouse that was clear of cargo and the slightly parted large doors that made up the majority of the end of the building. She saw that they were clearly expecting company and the low level light that she saw when she entered the warehouse being the overhead light for the doors would give them perfect visibility while they were cloaked in darkness.
The Bat's eyes traveled upward to spot above the lights the main catwalk and the offices the gangster had informed her where they were keeping Tori. Assuming the mobster told her the truth and since there were seven down here, the other two had to be in the office with Tori. Sneaking the actress out would be a next to impossible with so many eyes looking in the direction of the office and her escape route. She would have to try to thin out the numbers then cause a big enough distraction with the rest to slip out with Tori.
Fortunately, the other three were casually strolling through the maze of crates to cover their rear in case someone tried to get in through the back.
The vigilante slipped off the stack and quietly stalked to one of the guards in the maze. She got behind him and got an arm around his throat while her other hand went over his mouth, squeezing tight to cut off his air without actually crushing his larynx. The darkness came over him from the lack of oxygen and he slumped in her arms. She let him slide down and braced against a crate.
She quietly maneuvered through the stacks and repeated the process with the other two without alerting the others then climbed back to a towering stack where she could spot the other four. She reached into a pouch in her utility belt and pulled out a small metal cylinder. She thumbed over a safety slide then tossed it in the center of the group. They were immediately enveloped by billowing grey smoke and started coughing and flaying about.
She took a deep breath then jumped into the middle of the group and struck out, catching the mobster in the jaw and hearing a satisfying crack of his bone with her plated knuckles. He spun to his right and dropped to the floor, groaning as slipped out of consciousness. She swirled to her left and jabbed hard to the stomach of another, doubling him over and followed with a left cross, sending him into the floor.
Another mobster tried to raise his shotgun to take a wild shot into the smoke, but she rolled towards him and once on a knee jabbed him hard in the crotch. He let out a roar of pain, causing him to suck in more of the smoke and choke him a bit more before the Bat followed with an upper cut that put him down.
The last soldier started firing wildly with his Thompson and the shots went over her head. She reached into her belt and tossed her bat shaped boomerang and struck him in the head, cutting into his forehead and knocking him back into a short stack. He crumbled to the floor as he fought to see, breath and stay conscious. He lost that fight when the Bat rushed him and smashed the heel of her boot into his face.
After putting the last guard down, she picked up her thrown weapon, dashed out of the smoke and pulled her grappling claw launcher from her belt and fired it towards the metal rafters. The claw latched on and gear in the launcher spoiled up, pulling her off her feet and zipping her to the ceiling. She reached the rafters and grabbed one of the poles to steady her feet. She unhooked the claw and put away the launcher onto her belt.
The commotion and gunfire drew the attention of those in the office and the next moment, the high illuminating lights switched on, bathing the entire floor with light. Fortunately, she was above them and cloaked in the shadows, allowing her to watch unseen three individuals, two more being Quincy's men and a third individual that stood out, exit the office and look out from the catwalk.
The lead individual was a large gentleman, standing at least six feet tall and from what she could tell under the leather jacket and black cargo pants, had a muscular build with a little insulating fat. What struck her the most interesting was that he was wearing a white and black mask with a red outline around his eyes in a similar vein as the Lucha libre of Mexico. He shouted out in a booming voice, "What's going on out there?!"
They surveyed the area, seeing only a slowly dissipating smoke cloud within the stacks of crates. They waited for anyone to answer, but the warehouse was quiet.
The lead man growled, continuing to scan the area. He shouted out, "So we have company? Come on out Joker and I'll make your death quick! You don't want anything to happen to Miss Vega as it did Mister Shapiro."
The Bat hesitated to speak, trying to figure out a way to get past the three to Tori. She figured the only way was to get them away from the door if she had a shot of taking them out. She shouted out in her fierce modulated voice, "I don't hate to disappoint you, but I'm not the clown, but I'm here for Miss Vega. It would be best if you simply let her go and come with me."
The three turned their attention to the source of the voice that sounded like it was from the pit of Hell. The overhead lights under her obscured her with the shadow, but the one that had arranged for this little encounter knew that the intruder could only be one person.
He chuckled for a second then answered with a lacing laugh, "As much as I would like nothing more than to do that…" He glanced off to his right and ceiling and laughed, "…actually, a date with her would be better… I can't let her go until the Joker and his girlfriend are dead."
"You're not doing that and I'm not leaving without her."
Gibson rolled his eyes and casually remarked, "I was planning to deal with you later, but I guess you can be a fine warm up for me."
"Perhaps another time…" She moved her right hand to her left gauntlet and pressed a button on it.
Outside the building, the miniature explosive she had set before walking inside the warehouse detonated and gutted the transformer and cutting power to the warehouse.
Inside the building, the lights went out, catching the mobsters by surprise. In that moment of hesitation, she flicked back on her night vision and dropped down onto one high stack then slipped down to get lost in the stacks of crates.
She moved just in time as the mobsters on the catwalk opened fired where they thought she was perched on the railing, hitting a few of the knocked out lights.
"STOP FIRING!" he shouted in outrage and grabbed their wrists, pushing them down.
The mobsters stopped firing and turned spiteful gazes to him.
Gibby ignored their looks and spat out, "Get back in there and guard her. If the Bat slips around me, stop her from getting to Miss Vega."
The emergency lights came on, bathing the warehouse in an orange hue. The mercenary climbed over the guardrail then dropped to land on his feet then slowly stalked towards the stacks.
The gunfire outside the office startled Tori then a sliver of fear went through her that Beck and Sam had arrived and they could already be dead. She had to get loose and help them. Since she woke up, she had been distracting Gibson with confrontational flirting, something he apparently enjoyed, while she had been twisting her wrists back and forth to loosening the rope that was finally paying off.
The two mobsters rushed back into the office, but stopped in their tracks when they saw the chair with their hostage was empty. One uttered, "Shit, where did she go?"
They only needed a moment to see that the side door was open to the second set of stairs. "That way!"
They hastily headed to the door, but as they passed the desk towards the door, Tori slipped from behind it and jumped onto the desk. She jumped onto the back of the second mobster, causing him to tumble forward and bring him down with him with Tori's weight unbalancing him. The pair crashed to the floor with a considerable thud.
Before either could try to detangle from one another and get up, Tori sat up and balled her fists together and raised them above her head and brought them down with on the back of the second mobster's head. His face smashed into floor, breaking his nose and causing him to see stars. She turned to the other one and repeated the process before he could pull himself out from under the second guy with about equal results. She repeatedly hit them, back and forth until they stopped moving.
Tori heaved breath as some of her hair fell in front of her face and looked down at the unconscious bodies. She stood up and brushed her hair out of her face then leaned down and picked up one of their guns.
The Bat crouched down behind a single stack and quietly took a roundabout way through the maze to get to the office and avoid the big guy. She was halfway back to the center of the room, but stopped when she heard the creaking of wood from the crates next to her and turned her head to see the neighboring stack start to sway. She dove to her right just as the stack of crates tumbled over, crashing with a reverberant splintering and cracking of wood. She pulled out her grappling crawl and pointed it towards the ceiling again. She launched it and zipped back to the ceiling. She looked down to see the large fellow climb onto the bottom crate from the stack he had pushed over.
He glanced around, trying to pick her up in the low light. He turned his head just in time to see her gliding down at her with cape extended like batwings and lifting her feet and the soles of her boots aimed at his face.
The Bat's boots collided with his face, sending him flying while she glided to the floor, landing with a gentle slide on her back. She dropped her arms and her cape slacked to a free flowing material.
Gibby shook his head, trying to get the stars he was seeing out of his vision and pulled himself back onto his feet.
The Bat looked stunned at him being able to get up since his nose and front teeth should have been broken and kicked from that kind of impact. She went on instinct and lashed out with her left leg, striking the side of his right knee.
Gibby growled as the strike was well placed and his knee buckled to drop to it.
The dark dame followed with a right cross, striking his left cheek hard with the reinforced knuckles. She heard bone crack as he jerked his head to the side, but he remained upright on his knelt position. She attempted to follow up with a second punch, but he was quicker with grabbing her inner forearm and threw a hard jab to her left kidney, striking the padded kevlar-meshed suit.
"GGrrrahhh!" she growled out as despite the advances in the impact glee weaved with the Kevlar did little to absorb the powerful blow. She clucked her side and took a step back.
"Not bad. You compensate for your lack of power with—"
The Bat cut him off and ignored the pain by grabbing the side of her cap and turning to fling it in front of his face, momentarily distracting him. In that moment where his was blind and tried to straighten himself, she threw a number of hard jabs at his face, connecting with each one.
Blood went flying from his nose breaking this time with the repeated strikes as he stumbled backwards, but after the first few steps, he gained his footing back handed her arms away. However, in the process, the armored fins on her forearms sliced through his leather jacket and into his forearm. He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder with his right hand and jerked her to his right, flinging her off to the side.
The Bat rolled from the toss and settled herself back on her feet, defensively raising her arms.
Gibby wiped the blood trickling from his noise then smirked at her. "Tricks… you're relying on tricks. Okay, I have a trick for you." He reached for his left wrist and began rolling up his sleeve and exposed a gauntlet with a black knob. Out of the Bat's vision, the knob's arrow was already clicked to one black line of several until a red line. He turned it clockwise by one click. He stood up straighter and took a deep breath, smirking as he felt reinvigorated.
Bat looked upon him with worried curiosity that he was recovering so quickly all due to just turning a knob on a gauntlet. She studied his face, a fairly useless gesture with his face completely covered except for the eyes and mouth. However, she noticed for the first time that underneath the popped up leather jacket collar, a patch over his jugular with a thin tube filled with a green liquid running around his neck and behind his shirt collar.
Gibson raised his arms in front of his face and loosened his fists before slowly approaching his opponent.
The dark vigilante slowly side stepped to get her back towards he office and double doors, trying to figure out how to disable him long enough to get to Tori and get to her vehicle.
The mercenary continued to slowly close with her, their 'dance' turning into a corkscrew until he was in range and started throwing a series of probing jabs. She met each one with a quick block or redirect, in the process cutting through his leather jacket and nicking his skin.
He stepped back and pulled his forearms close, more out of irritation than any real harm as if he was only nicked from shaving.
The Bat counter-attacked and threw a series of jabs and crosses, contacting with a few, but most being deflected away. Under different circumstances, she would have been impressed that he had skill and not just a muscle bound thug, but her focus was on trying to put him down. She ducked from a wide swing and jabbed hard into his left kidney then another into his stomach. She straightened up the kick to his right side and getting a solid hit on his ribs with her armored shin guard. She heard an audible smack of his side that should have broken a few of his ribs, but it didn't seem to faze him.
Gibson grabbed her shine and reached out and grabbed her utility belt. He twirled in place a complete three-sixty degrees then let her go, easily tossing her several yards and sending her into some of the crates.
"Ahhh!" she roared in pain as the back of her head and back struck the wood and dropped to the floor. She shook her head and crawled up onto her hands and knees. She was thankful for the built in helmet in the cowl and the reinforced protection in the shoulders and spine, but she definitely felt that hit. The possibility that she had a concussion passed through her mind as her vision was blurry for a few moments; however she couldn't worry about that at the moment with the mercenary wanting to make her a trophy.
He quickly charged at her, but she was quicker by reaching to her belt and pulling a bat-a-rang. She threw it with a considerable amount of force, sending the sharp throwing weapon spinning towards its target and one end imbedded into his left thigh.
"RRAAAHH!"
Gibson looked down and grabbed the outside of his thigh and looked at the bat-a-rang sticking out of his leg. He growled, enraged from the act more than feeling any pain and looked up just in time to see the Bat charge and kick up with her left foot and swing out with her right one. The side of her foot connected with the side of his face, causing his head to snap to the side and sent spinning to his right, stumbling a bit.
Bat didn't let up as she threw a series of jabs, exacerbating his nose bleed and hearing the crack of his jaw and around his eye socket. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled down while jamming her right knee up. She heard the satisfying crunch of his nose and he stumbled backwards until he landed on his back.
She gulped a few breaths, trying to continue to ignore the pain in the back of her head and back. Seeing that he was down for the moment she turned to head for the stairs up to the office.
However, the mercenary wasn't done as he could control his pain too. He growled and heaved for breath as he reached for the knob at his wrist. He turned it to the third to the last notch (a notch that was marked with bright red), increasing the liquid's flow into his neck. He started feeling the effects of the drug and dulling more of the pain. He pulled himself onto his feet then reached for the weapon in his leg and pulled it out, hissing just a bit to the remnant of pain. He gave the sharp object a once over then tossed it aside.
The dark vigilante reached the end of the catwalk and started to the door, but she came to an abrupt stop when Gibson had ran a few yards then leapt up to the railing and hopped over it to stand between her and the door.
She took a few cautious steps back, feeling a shiver of fear of seeing his physical capabilities on top of the physical damage she had already done to him. She took a deep breath then charged at him, but at the last moment she turned and grabbed the railing to her right throw her feet forward.
The heels of her boots struck him in the face, knocking out a tooth this time and sending him stumbling backwards, but he was able to gab the railing with one hand and her calf with the other.
The Bat was left in a precarious position for a moment holding up her upper body against the railing and him holding onto at least one of her legs. He twisted to his left, carrying her in midair with his turn to slam her against the side of the office.
She brought her forearms to protect her face at the last moment before she collided with the wall. Her arms rattled from the impact up to her shoulders and down her aching back. He snapped her around just as quickly by one hand and sent her over the railing and towards the floor.
She went flailing for the few seconds until she brought her forearms to protect her face, but landed hard on her right shoulder then started rolling several times until she came to a stop. She rolled unto her back and grabbed her shoulder, gritting her teeth as despite the padding, she thought she might have broken something or at least dislocated it.
Gibson grabbed the railing then threw his feet over it to drop to the floor. He slowly started stalking towards her, wiping a bit of blood from his mouth.
The Bat rolled and crawled onto her hands and feet, gritting through the pain that racked her body. She attempted to reach for something in her utility belt, but he was quicker and grabbed the back of her neck. He yanked her onto her feet and charged with her towards a stack of crates, letting go of her at the last moment to slam into it with her hurt shoulder.
She cried out and pain and slumped to the floor, but Gibson wasn't through as he picked her up by the neck with his left hand and shoved her back against the wood.
"You are quite skilled and tenacious, I'll grant you that, but despite all the plans, tactics and tricks, at the end of the day it all comes down to strength, something you don't have enough of."
He pulled his arm back and jabbed her hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of her and causing her eyes to finally water. He struck her a few more times, toying with her and not trying to break any ribs for the moment, but tenderize her muscles like meat and making her certainly feel it. After the four or fifth strike, he just held her against the stack and sneered under the mask.
She struggled for breath and weakly gripped his wrist and thumb, trying to pull it back to release her, but his grip around her neck was too strong.
His voice was low and menacing at he uttered, "Now I break you… then I kill you."
The Bat's eyes widened as she watched him pull back his right arm and readying to put all his power into a punch to her face.
She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the punch and hoping she would at least remain conscious.
Gibby's fist moved in a flash towards her face, but it was stopped at the last moment as another hand caught it.
The mercenary looked momentarily stunned that he was stopped from breaking her nose and shattering her teeth from a hand easily catching his fist. He slightly turned his head to see who had caught his fist and found the cold expression of the Man of Steel.
Superman slowly closed his fist and the hired killer growled first in frustration then in pain. Moments later, bones in Gibby's hand started to grind on one another as Superman tightened his grip and put pressure to push his arm back and down.
Gibby let the Bat go and she dropped to her hands and knees while Superman continued putting pressure on the mercenary's arm until it was craned back and he was forced onto his right knee.
Bat rubbed her throat and grasped for air while her other arm wrapped around her abdomen, watching how the man in red and blue easily overpower the tremendously strong and drugged up man.
Superman lazily tossed him back, causing the hired gun to stumble back onto his behind.
Gibby quickly righted himself and got back onto his feet after the humiliating display of him being tossed away without a second thought. He rubbed his hand, attempting to get feeling back into it. He recovered from his surprise and stared at the red and blue dressed individual. He grinned and greeted him in a nearly mocking tone, "The Man of Tomorrow… I was hoping one day I would face you. They say you're more powerful than a locomotive. I've wanted to test to see if it was true."
Superman stared with literal fire in his eyes as his blue eyes shown red, resisting the urge simple to turn his heat vision on him. He whispered out in a frosty tone, "Give me your best shot."
Gibby grinned in anticipation and dashed to him, quickly threw a quick jab at the shorter young man's chest, focusing on the 'S' in the center of his chest.
Superman was flung back just a few feet and was stopped by the crates that Gibson had been holding Bat against, his back shattering the wood and becoming a nice recliner for the hero for a moment. He was surprised to be certain from the impact of the fist and felt the inhuman blow, but not necessarily pain. He got over the surprise rather quickly and a dangerous smile crept on his face. He may have met someone where he might not have to hold back and after what he had just seen happen to the Bat, he was more than fine with it. He stood up and slowly walked to the mercenary.
Gibby took a step back and shook his hands to try to dissipate the pain he felt as it did feel like he had just hit a steel wall. He stared up at the costumed hero, briefly wondering if he had figuratively bit off more than he could chew.
Superman whispered out coldly, "My turn."
In a blink of an eye, Superman pulled his right hand arm back and threw an open palm in the center of Gibby's chest. The sounds of ribs cracking filled Gibson's ears, but he couldn't concern himself with that at the moment as he was thrown off his feet and went soaring backwards clear across the warehouse until he hit the metal door, bouncing off of it after leaving a considerable dent in it with his back and back of his head.
The masked man from the Southern Hemisphere coughed several times, heaving up a bit of blood on the floor, and gasped for air. His ears were ringing and his vision blurred, but he fought through it and crawled onto his hands and knees. He shook his head, trying to clear the ringing in his head. He got one arm under him to wrap over his chest, feeling as if he had a few broken ribs. He thought one of his broke ribs had punctured his lung with the blood he was spitting up.
The gang members that had regained consciousness were standing around watching a good trouncing of the thing that haunted their nightmares during the past several weeks, but their fear had returned at seeing the powerful display from Metropolis' hero.
One gangster was able to find a stray Tommy Gun and shouldered the weapon to look down the sights and opened fire. The guns spewed out lead at the rate of seven hundred rounds a minute, striking Superman fractions of seconds later, but the rounds harmlessly bounced off his shoulder and chest until the gunman emptied the drum.
Superman glared at him, annoyed by the interruption.
The mob soldier swallowed down some fear then in a flight or fight response, he raised his submachine and charged him. He struck him as hard as he could in the face with the butt of the weapon. The wood stock cracked from the butt down to the metal part of the weapon. His arms reverberated from the impact and took several steps backwards.
Superman turned a glare to him then backhanded the gangster, the sound of the man's jaw breaking was audible for all to hear, and sent him flying backwards until he crashed against the side of some package crates.
Gibby shouted out while spittle mixed with blood flung from his lips, "Enough! He's mine."
It was a moot order as the others were still unconscious.
Gibby reached for a control knob on his left wrist and turned it to one more click, increasing the flow of some liquid running up a tube along his arm, over his shoulder and collarbone and into the side of his neck.
The red cape hero curiously looked on as the man's muscles visibly expanded to nearly double their size after a few seconds.
The mercenary nefariously grinned and growled, feeling rejuvenated and the pain ebbing away before ceasing entirely.
Superman switched to his 'X-ray' vision to see what was happening to Gibson. He saw the green liquid being pumped from a series of cylinders held by a harness on his back into his jugular and flooding his bloodstream. His heart beat increased, the broken ribs were beginning to pull back into place by restoring muscles and ligaments, the hole in his lung began to seal, the microfractures across his other ribs started to seal, his broken nose began to mend and the wound in Gibson's leg from the Bat's bat-a-rang start knit close.
Gibson taunted, "We'll see how much of a 'man of steel' you are." He roared out as he charged Superman and threw a punch to the face, hoping that the superhero was at least a bit less protected than his chest.
Superman stood there and took the punch, jerking to his right and downward, then hit with an uppercut, causing him to take two steps backwards. He straightened up and kept a smirk, actually chuckling as he felt more comfortable that he could go at the hired gun with a bit more force than he had with others. He wiped his bottom lip with his thumb to see if he was bleeding, but even with Gibson's considerable strength, there wasn't any breaking of his skin.
Gibby took another step back and shook his hands as the impact was still painful despite the attribute of the drug to deaden pain. He pushed down his pain and went at him again, throwing a series of jabs towards his face.
Superman raised his forearms and batted away each jab then countered with a hard punch to the face.
The taller man was knocked back off his feet, his head snapping back as if he was just in a high speed head-on car crash and blood flowing from his re-broken nose. He heaved a deep breath while on his back then rolled to his side and wiped under his nose with the back of his left hand.
Superman slowly walked to him and shouted, "Get up! You wanted to see what I was made up, so get UP!"
The mercenary growled and rolled over to climb up on his feet. He turned to face his enemy and charged him, throwing a right cross, but Superman caught it. He threw his other fist hoping to catch him by surprise, but the hero caught that fist as well.
The combatants' fingers laced and Gibby pushed forward, trying to drive him back.
Superman was pushed back on his heels, mildly surprised by the man's strength. His anger returned and pushed back, more than willing to engage in a test of strength with him and stood his ground.
Gibson pushed forward, straining his arms and bracing his feet with all his might to push forward.
The costumed hero growled in return, matching the pushing then slowly pushed back, seeing if his opponent could really match him.
Unfortunately, Gibson couldn't match Superman really starting to put some effort into his pushing and his arms started bending back along with his knees. He realized the costumed hero was going to snap his arms if he kept it up, so he dropped to a knee then dipped his head down and charged at Superman one last time, slamming his shoulder into the alien refugee in the gut. The pain was noticeable in his shoulder from crashing into what felt like a brick wall, but he ignored it and lifted Superman off his feet and continued forward.
Superman hovered an inch off the ground, allowing Gibby to push him forward for several feet before he pulled his fingers from his grip then slipped his arms underneath and across the bigger man's gut to finger lock his hands. He dropped his feet to the ground and slid across the floor to an abrupt stop then lifted, bringing Gibby's feet off the floor and brought his feet over his right shoulder with his legs dangling behind and arms in front of the costumed hero. He followed up by throwing Gibby down, shoulders first to the ground.
The mercenary's shoulders cracked the floor, surprising the costumed vigilante, and causing him to crumble to the floor.
Superman took a quick X-ray glance to see if he had broken the man's neck, but fortunately for him, he didn't appear to have any spinal damage. He took a step back, seeing if the hired gun would get up for another round.
Gibson wasn't done as he groaned and rolled to his stomach, pulling his arms and knees under him. He pushed himself back onto his feet and turned to face the hero one more time. He rolled his shoulders to get any kinks out of them then raised his arms up.
The drugged pumped hired gun threw another combination of punches, but Superman sidestepped the mercenary and grabbed his outstretched arm with his right hand around the wrist then brought down his left forearm against the back of the taller man's elbow. Gibson's limb snapped and folded back in the opposite direction than the way Nature intended his limb to bend.
"GRAAHHHH!"
Superman pulled his arm aback and grabbed the nap of the neck then lifted him off of his feet while spinning to the left. He let go of the mercenary and he went flying across the room to skid to a stop more than a dozen yards towards other end of the warehouse for a second time.
He slowly walked towards his fallen combatant, feeling a swell of anger grow larger and larger from the situation as he thought about this garbage trying to beat Jade to death.
Gibby rolled to his right side, either ignoring the pain or not feeling it at all due to the mysterious drug running through his system.
The visitor from another planet commanded, "Stay down! If I wanted it, you'd be dead already!"
The hired killer ignored the warning and sat up and pulled himself to his feet. He straightened his posture then grabbed the wrist of his broken arm and pulled out straight and let it hang loosely.
Superman stared back impressed that Gibby was ready for what was going to be the final round. A dark piece of his heart was glad that the mercenary ignored his warning.
The masked criminal slowly circled the costumed hero to his right and towards the shipping crates.
Superman carefully watched him, wondering what he had in mind.
Gibson suddenly dashed to his right towards the crates and jumped at the edge of a single standing one. The soles of his boots caught the top edge of the crate and he pushed off, turning as he did so and brought down his left fist, hoping to connect with Superman's face.
The caped hero was faster and sidestepped, reaching out and grabbing his wrist and upper arm. He turned with the mercenary's momentum and swung him to go soaring across the warehouse. He landed face first then started rolling over and over until he came to a stop a few yards from the doors.
Superman slowly walked to him again, ready to put an end to this nonsense one way or the other.
Gibson got onto his knees and turned to face the strongman hero, heaving with each breath. He defiantly stared up at Superman and swung out at his gut, but the stronger man caught the fist pushed it back in an instant, snapping the wrist with an audible pop.
"Arghhgg!"
Superman let go of the hand and Gibson brought his arm to his chest to cradle his arm. He shouted with the last of his patience running out, "Enough!"
The criminal didn't know the meaning of the word quit as he rallied his boosted strength from the drug and jumped to his feet in a flash, head butting Superman in the nose. It wasn't a wise move as it was like smashing into a steel wall even his reinforced head with the drug. He stumbled backwards as he vision blurred which he was lucky that was the only thing that happened to him as without the drug, he could have just fractured his skull.
Superman's nostrils flared out of irritation that he would keep going, seeing pride would be his downfall, though in the back of his mind, he could respect such determination if the cause was just. However, he decided he was going to need to take more drastic measures in putting an end to this fight. He swept out with his right leg, his shin making contact with the left side of his left knee in a similar move as the Bat, but with far more power to outright dislocate the joint and tear muscle and ligaments.
Gibson dropped to the now ruined knee, sending another sharp spike up to this brain, but that wasn't the last pain he felt as Superman followed up with another punch to the face. The jab shattered his healed nose and knocked his front teeth out as he fell backwards.
Superman turned him over and grabbed the collar of Gibson's leather jacket with both hands then yanked back to shred the leather, revealing the harness with the pump still pumping the supply of drug into his system. A quick internal glance showed that the drug was accelerating his healing. He tore one of the cylinders still filled with the drug off the harness and away from the tubing. He examined the nozzle and turned it so the liquid wouldn't spill out. He turned his attention back to the mercenary and tore the harness from the mercenary's back along with the tube going into his neck then tossed the contraption off a few yards.
He rolled him back over and grabbed Gibby by the neck and lifted him off his feet, squeezing his neck to cut off part of his air flow. "Who hired you?"
Gibby defiantly stared back, unwilling to yield to the superior man. He spat out with a gruff voice, "I have a strict confidential policy for my clients."
Superman's eyes turned red again, appearing as if he was prepared to unleash his heat vision on him.
The mercenary swallowed down the pit of fear in his stomach that wanted to rise up and maintained most of his stare.
Superman shoved the canister inside Gibson's front pocket for a moment then grabbed his hand with the broken wrist, wrapping his fingers over the top of Gibby's hand and his thumb on the mercenary's palm. He moved his thumb over the underside of Gibby's pointer finger and started pushing it backwards. "How many more bones will I have to break before you tell me what I need to know?"
The masked individual spat blood onto Superman's face and mumbled out with his missing teeth, "I fear no pain from you."
Superman closed his eyes before any of the man's blood could get into his eyes then opened them to study the man's eyes to see how much fortitude he had in such a situation, whether he would break before the costumed vigilante crossed a line he didn't wish to cross. He smirked as he came up with another idea, "Maybe you don't, but…"
He glanced to the other mobsters that were starting to regain consciousness. "But what about them? Maybe they're more willing to talk?"
The mob soldiers heard what Superman had to say and feared what he could do to them, wondering if he was going to turn his heat vision onto them. One spattered out, fearing the strange visitor than what his boss could do to him, "Quincy, Shawn Quincy hired him to take out the Bat and Joker."
Gibby glared at the traitor, mentally marking him for death to pay for his betrayal.
Superman grabbed the man's chin and forced him to look him in the eyes. "I want you to understand this: as I've demonstrated, I can literally tear you apart without much trouble. Flesh and bone is a lot easier to bend and break than steel… even your bones with that drug you've pumped through your system and I'm very good at that. If you ever touch 'The Bat' again, I'll leave you a grisly mess."
Gibby tried to put on a brave face and thought the strong man was bluffing, but he saw the look in Superman's eyes. He hadn't heard of him killing anyone, but he may have just pushed him to that point with what he did to the Bat.
Superman tore the mask off and took a hard look at Gibson's face, imprinting it to memory then pulled the canister out of his pocket and unceremoniously dropped the hired assassin. He gave him one last disgusted look then floated up to the catwalk. He turned to look down at the ones that were awake told them in a cold voice, "The rest of you that are still conscious are going to sit on the floor, put your hands on top of your heads and wait for the police to show up and tell them everything you did and if I find out that you didn't… I'm going to fly you to the top of the West Tower… then drop you."
The thugs glanced to one another then almost as one, they dashed towards the back of the warehouse with the one with the bullet in his leg hobbling away.
Superman turned to look in the direction he thought Bat had remained during his 'fight' with Gibby and began, "Okay, Bat, it's time to…"
He stopped when he failed to see the dark dressed vigilante. He turned all around in place and scanned the surrounding area, but didn't see her.
His heart gripped in fear that one of the gangsters he missed had gotten to her, but he pushed that feeling aside and immediately shifted his vision to the 'X-ray' vision and instantly spotted her at the far end of the building and on the other side of the wall outside, stumbling towards her armored vehicle. He focused on her, peering through her costume and skin to look at her internals as the top hatch opened of her 'bat-mobile' and she crawled inside it.
The costumed hero let out a relieving breath at seeing that she was bruised, outside and in, but she had no life threatening internal injuries just as the armored beast peeled away down the street.
His first instinct was to dash after her, but Tori was still in the building. He struggled for a moment from being morally pulled at each end. He decided that Tori was in the immediate danger so turned and landed on the catwalk. He opened the door to find that Tori was standing over the mobsters' unconscious bodies. He looked dumbfounded to see that she apparently didn't need rescuing.
He cleared his throat and asked, "Are you alright?"
Tori nodded her head, sighing in relief at his appearance. "Yeah, I'm fine. What happened down there?"
"Ah… the Bat kicked the mess out of everyone, but… needed a little help with the big guy."
The actress's face fell in concern and asked, "The Bat? Is she alright? He looked like he could wrestle a bear."
"Trust me, he could and win. I actually had to put a little bit of effort into putting him down." He held up the canister and explained, "He has some kind of drug that was making him stronger, stronger than any normal person should be able to get and healing him up a bit with the damage the Bat did to him."
"Like some kind of steroid?"
"I know some guys that might have dabbled with them in high school, but I've never heard of one that would make someone instantly strong. I know there are some drugs that will pump up someone to a wild man that can't feel pain and work someone up to nearly superhuman strength, but this was pushing it."
Tori contemplated on that mystery for the moment then realized what he said about her kidnapper healing. "Wait, he was healing with that?"
"Yeah. I ah… used my X-ray vision to see that his bones were mending before my eyes from the damage the Bat did to him."
The brunette actress eagerly asked with hopeful eyes, "If that can heal him then maybe it can help Robbie?"
"I had the same thought, but we have no idea the side effects of it or how much would be needed to fully heal him, if it would actually do such a thing. But, I can… get it analyzed to see if we can get answers to those questions."
"You could give it to Jade. West Enterprises has all the smartest people and equipment to do that."
He thought about telling her that he had access technology that far outstripped what was currently available on Earth, but thought that was something that she didn't need to know as it was just raise a lot of questions he didn't want to answer. "I could and I will… some of it. We can both look at it and maybe find the answers on different roads."
Tori nodded her head, thankful for all his help then continued, "That's a mystery for another time. What about her? The Bat?"
Superman softly blew out his nose and regretfully answered, "She looked pretty bruised up, but I think she'll be alright. She slipped out the back while I was fighting that big guy. I got to get you to safety then I'll check on—"
Tori grabbed his bicep and firmly told him, "No, go check on her. I'll be fine. I'll just call my dad and tell him where I am."
Superman pointed out what he thought was the obvious, "Do you even know where you are?"
"No, but they can always trace the call." She walked to a desk and picked up a phone receiver to bring to her ear before Superman could simply tell her their location. She heard the dial tone then dialed her father's number. The phone ran several times before her father hesitantly answered, "Hello?"
"Dad?!"
"Tori? Where are you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but I don't know where I—"
Superman politely interrupted, "You're in warehouse seven at the docks."
Tori glanced at the desk as if to give her father her full attention and picked up, "Warehouse Seven at the docks."
Detective Vega fearfully asked, "Who are you talking to?"
The actress glanced to the blue and red dressed hero and answered, "Superman is here. I'm safe."
Vega audibly sighed on the other end then answered, "Okay, we'll be there in a few minutes."
"Just bring the cavalry because I think there are a lot of them down there. They were going to ambush…" She bit her tongue then began again, "…they were going to ambush someone."
There was a pause on the other end of the phone then the detective implored, "Just sit tight and stay safe. I'm on my way."
"I will."
She covered the end of the receiver and motioned with her head, speaking in a hushed tone, "Now go check on her."
Superman looked back to her with a torn look, wanting to make sure she was safe while there were still plenty of mob soldiers in the warehouse while on the other hand he desperately wanted to make sure Jade was alright.
Tori could see the look in his eyes and was touched by his concern. "Go."
Superman reluctant turned and headed out of the door, but she called out, "Wait."
He stopped and faced her just in time for her to grab his cheeks and plant a kiss on him. He blinked, surprised that he could be off guard and by the kiss.
The dark haired actress smirked with a gentle biting of her bottom lip then teased, "Thanks."
Superman cleared his throat and answered somewhat bashfully, "Aw… you're welcome."
Tori giggled at his bashfulness and waved him off. "Now go check on her."
The blue and red costumed man regained his composure then turned again the headed out the door.
A surplus armored truck pulled a dozen yards away from the warehouse opposite of the ocean to get a decent vantage point to stake out the area. The driver and Sam was sitting in the passenger seat didn't see anyone hanging about on guard duty, but did see the door cracked opened and a sliver of dim orange light shine through the opening.
However, the next moment while the others were checking their weapons in the back, they saw Superman step out the parted doors and clearly visible with the overhead security light. The next moment, he soared into the air and disappeared into the night.
Sam uttered with squinted eyes, "Why would he leave?"
Joker grabbed either side of the headrests and placed his head between the seats since there was an armored door installed between the back and main cab. He thoughtfully answered, "I don't know, but I know he wouldn't leave Tori if she was in any danger."
The blonde knotted her brow and questioned again, "So… why would he just leave her?"
'Sneezy' from the driver's seat suggested, "So she might not even be in there."
"We're going to make sure," Joker ordered then turned and headed out the back of the armored vehicle. The doors opened and he stepped out, turning to pick up a Tommy Gun. He checked the magazine then looked to the others with a stern expression. "Remember, we're to get Tori out, not a fire fight, but if you have to take a shot, put the janker down and make sure he doesn't get back up."
The clown masked mobsters nodded then spared another moment to check their weapons and the vests under their jackets. The mob crew was making sure they were packing enough firepower to fight their way through any situation and wearing enough protection to get out of it.
The Joker led the way to the door then peaked inside, seeing it dimly lit with the emergency lights. He pushed the door slightly open then slipped inside. The others filed out behind him and fanned out, readying to fight it out with anyone.
They paused in seeing a string of well dressed men sprawled out on the floor while a handful awake and sitting in a row. He noticed another large man wearing a mask lying on the floor with his right arm and left leg bent at an angle that nature didn't intend.
They gangsters flinched at the sight of the clown face wearing heavily armed men. Some attempted to get up to make a dash away, but the twisted harlequin turned her submachine gun on the startled mob soldiers and spat out, "The first one that moves gets turned into janking Swiss Cheese!"
The group settled back down in their seats on the floor.
Joker walked over one of the sitting men and grabbed his collar, demanding with a cold stare in his eyes, "Where is Tori Vega?"
The well dressed gangster defiantly looked back, refusing to show fear to some freak in makeup.
The green dyed hair criminal didn't have time for the man's macho attitude. He pushed his Tommy Gun hanging on his shoulder by a strap behind his right hip then reached into his jacket and pulled out his forty-five from his shoulder holster. He shoved the barrel under the man's chin and hissed, "I have plenty of other people to ask."
He darted his eyes to his left towards the overlooking walkway and answered, "She's in the manager's office."
Joker shoved the man down to land hard on his ass then turned towards the steps up to the office. He shouted over his shoulder, "If they try anything, do what Capone did in Chicago on Valentine's Day."
The loyal soldiers turned their weapons on their fellow mobsters, ready to carry out the order at the first sign of trouble.
Joker walked up the steps and to the catwalk, careful to make sure if there were anyone left in there to ambush him. He turned the knob slowly to pop the door open just past the doorframe then carefully pushed it open with the barrel of his submachine gun. He shouldered it to look down the sights then stepped inside the nearly pitch black room, only the soft orange light spilling into the room and one light against the center and top of the back wall.
Tori held up the gun she took from the downed criminal and shouted, "Don't come any closer or I'll shoot you. The police are on their way."
Joker instantly recognized the voice and lowered his weapon and answered, "It's alright Tori, it's me, Beck."
The actress realized the voice and lowered her gun despite not being able to make out the man's features. The door was pushed open wider to allow more emergency lighting into the room and allow her to get a good view of him. She took a long look at the white face panted man then uttered in recognition, "Beck? You're… you really are the Joker?"
He walked over, knowing she wouldn't shoot her and pulled her into a hug. He thankfully whispered into her ear, "Yes I am, but that's not important right now. Are you alright?"
They pulled apart and Tori put aside for the moment that Beck was the fear clown faced gangster and returned the hug, answering, "Yeah, I'm fine." She pulled away from him, not realizing a bit of his face paint brushing on the side of her right cheek. She glanced to the two still unconscious mob soldiers on the floor that where tied up. "I gave them a little payback for busting into my apartment."
"You certainly did, but what happened down there? Did Superman rescue you? We saw him fly away."
"Actually it was Bat that took out most of them down there and Superman arrived late. He said she was pretty bruised up, so he left to go check on her. He wanted to take me to the police, but I told him to go check on her."
Sam caught the end of the conversation as she walked into the room and asked, "So he just left you here?"
Tori paused for a moment to try to recognize Sam in her twisted and sexy Harlequin outfit. "Sam?"
"Yeah sweet cheeks, it's me," the pigtailed blonde answered with a half smirk.
The actress shook her head, trying to come to terms that Steven had been telling the truth about the couple's criminal activities. She gathered her wits and answered her questioned, "I told him to go check on her. The girl helped save Robbie and showed up to save me. We kind of owe her to see if she's alright."
He couldn't disagree as she for some unknown reason helped him escape from the ambush the cops had set up for him at ACE Chemicals and the help during the rescue. If she wanted him in prison, she had her opportunities to stop him. He wondered why she was letting him off the hook and it was a mystery he hoped to solve at some point.
Tori waved him off and added, "You need to go before the cops get here."
"Okay, but are you going to be safe until the cops get here?"
"As long as they behave down there. I think Superman put the fear of something into them."
Sam suggested, "Or we could just shoot them to make sure you're safe. It would send a message to Quincy."
"You just can't shoot them…" Tori closed her mouth when she realized they could do such a thing because they were mobsters.
Beck glanced to Sam, signaling that wasn't an appropriate response, especially with Tori's presence. He looked to Tori and said, "Just stay in here and lock the doors until the cops show up."
Tori nodded her head in agreement then passed a thankful smile to Sam before the duo walked out of the office.
They criminal couple walked down the steps to see that his crew had rounded up Quincy's men and had them all sit together.
One of Joker's crew asked, "Where's the girl boss?"
"She's in the office and she's fine, but we have to go. The cops are on their way, but before we go…"
Joker stood in front of the men with their hands on top of their heads and reached into his pocket. He pulled out his phone and held it in front of each of the sitting mobsters to snap a picture. Once he took the last picture he calmly informed them, "I'm told Superman said for you to stay put. You either listen to him and if I find out you didn't… I have a picture of each one of you and I will hunt you down and torture you to death. Understood?"
The mob soldiers spared glances to one another then nodded in understanding.
The white face painted mobster started chuckling that soon turned into a manic laugh as he turned to walk out of the warehouse with his crew, leaving those behind thinking he was touched in the head.
A few minutes later, the first patrol cars with a SWAT vehicle pulled up outside the end facing away from the dock while several other vehicles pulled up to the entrance to the dock. Detective Vega was the first out of his vehicle and instinctively wanted to rush to the door, but waited as the SWAT officers exited their van.
Once the officers were lined up, Vega led them to the entrance. A few officers on each side pulled the doors opened then the SWAT team slipped inside and fanned out to secure the area. They stopped at the sight of the patiently waiting gangsters and the sprawled out muscular man.
Vega walked to the group and pulled one onto his feet and demanded, "Where's my daughter?"
The mob soldier didn't hesitate to answer with a motion of his head to the catwalk behind him, "She's up in the office."
Vega looked over his shoulder to see the partially opened door. He threw the gangster down back to the floor then dashed to the stairs.
The other officers started putting the kidnappers on the floor and handcuffing them while Vega reached the door. He carefully pushed it open and called out, "Tori?!"
Tori stood up from hiding behind the desk and answered, "Dad!"
The detective sighed in relief and pulled his daughter into a hug. He pulled back while holding her by one shoulder, carefully holstering his weapon and asking, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
He glanced over to see two gangsters tied up with their backs to one another. Each one had blood running from their respective noses and onto their shirts. "What happened here?"
"I gave them a little payback for kidnapping me."
Detective Vega asked a bit incredulously, "You did that?"
Tori proudly smiled as she answered, "I've learned a lot while in Hollywood."
"You certainly did…"
"While the Bat was downstairs taking care of the others, they ran out to see what was happening. When they came back, I got loose then jumped them when they thought I went out the back."
One of the gangsters was conscious enough to glance up at them and remark, "You won't be so lucky next time bitch."
Vega scrawled and walked over to the one that had insulted his daughter. He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up onto his feet. He looked at the younger man and softly spoke, "Next time? You kidnapped a cop's daughter; how long do you think you'll last in county with a mouth like that?"
The young man that had chose very poorly in life swallowed down a lump of fear threatening to bubble up. He didn't realize that they had snatched up a cop's kid and inadvertently broken rule that the Mob didn't go after cops. He was lucky he was still breathing at the moment as all the cases he had heard of someone breaking that rule ended in a hail of bullets for the poor SOB. He cleared his throat and apologetically answered, "I'm sorry… that was out of line."
"You're damn right it was," Vega spat and threw him back on the ground.
The gangster landed hard on his rear and tilted backwards, looking back in disgust at the cop, but knew better to mouth off at him. He already felt like he had a broken nose and didn't want the guys' buddies to do worst to him on the way back to the station.
Vega motioned his head to the door and suggested to his daughter, "Come on, let's get you out of here and I'll send some boys up here to collect them."
As they stepped out of the door in the dimly lit warehouse, Detective Vega asked, "You said the Bat showed up? But you said that Superman was with you."
"She did. He showed up after all the fighting was…" Tori trailed off as she looked over the railing to see the number of mob soldiers with various injuries being gathered up in the center of the clearing and being handcuffed. The actress shook her head and muttered, "Wow… she's good."
Author's Note: I hope that was a thrilling chapter for you. Let's make something clear, if Gibby didn't have his venom that gave him the strength to lift 2 to 3 tons and take superhuman level of punishment, he would have lost by underestimating Jade for being a woman. Don't be shy with the reviews and recommending this to your fellow readers. See you next time.