Chapter 8: There's Nowhere to Run
More chapters on my (P)atreon at Saintbarbido.
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(General P.O.V)
"The damage to the compound is extensive but nothing your bottomless pocket can't handle."
Green Lantern joked, descending onto the group. Batman sat on a piece of broken concrete which used to be a part of the fountain in the middle of the courtyard.
Now the fountain was gone and a massive sink hole that revealed the system of caves under Wayne Manor was left behind. It acted as evidence of how a small temper tantrum could have devastating consequences.
Around him from the left was Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Superman, Aquaman, Black Canary and Green Lantern. They were the first of the Leaguers to respond after the Jamming signal went down.
The bat suit on the billionaire was mere strips of clothing, the hard plates and Kevlar weave making up the midsection seemed to have been worn down with multiple slashes. The Detective also carried cuts on his body. His face was in his hands, looking down.
"We need to bring him in. We need to convince him to join the League. Somehow."
He told them, his gaze looking haunted. That kind of power, in the hands of anyone else...
It was the first statement in the 5 minutes after they had all arrived. The paramedics had taken in an injured Alfred and Dick and the dead...
Bruce clamped down on that thought.
"Can you rephrase that?"
Canary said as if she hadn't heard him right.
"I propose we induct Davian Mabuz into the Justice League."
Batman's formal words left everyone speechless.
Standing in the wreckage of the Wayne Manor, the 6 league members who had arrived stared at the Dark Knight as if he was insane.
"Bruce... you're standing in the ashes of your family home. Half of it is destroyed. And while no one can blame the boy for going as far as he did, proposing to bring him into our ranks is not a good idea. Someone... someone died Bruce."
Superman trailed off.
Batman inhaled, stopping himself from running a hand down his face. His hands were caked with blood.
"We need to find a way. Talia and the others, they saw what he could do."
He rubbed his head.
"They'll try to use him."
He looked up.
"If he joins her group and they train him properly, there will be very few people who can stop him."
The conviction on the face of Bruce Wayne, a face with over a dozen shallow cuts left them all speechless.
Batman on the other hand... couldn't shake the image he had briefly seen.
"...You will kill him again."
He mouthed the words to himself. Had the note been talking about Davian? If not, then who?
The most terrifying thing was that if it came down to it...Bruce could see himself making that tough call.
(A half hour earlier)
(Davian's P.O.V)
"They call themselves Leviathan. The brunette seems to be the leader of this little group."
I explained, landing next to the Dark Knight as he faced off against Talia Al Ghul and the rest of her mercenaries.
"Whatever you're doing, stop it."
Batman growled.
I looked at him, askance.
"Bruh...you do understand they'll try to kill us if I let them go right?"
Batman turned to face me.
"How familiar are you with your powers?"
I blinked at the unexpected question.
"What do you mean?"
"You used to lose control and destroy everything before you. How do you expect me to take the risk that you won't go haywire once more and kill someone?"
His words made me grit my teeth.
He had a point. Still, I doubled down. Batman he may be but it didn't mean he as always right.
"Mmmh...he might be blinded by... compassion for the female."
Chase voiced out. He wasn't wrong but how the fuck did he know that? Could he see something I couldn't?
Oh wait, in the future Batman and Talia would have a kid right? Shit, I have her tied up like a common thug who's messed with Spiderman. Not to mention the Reiatsu that was up until now stopping them from talking or moving.
All they could do was glare. Beads of sweat matting their skins.
I narrowed my eyes at Batman, my thumb tapping on the handle of my sword. I hoped it would come down to a fight...I owed him payback for our last session.
And to think he can talk to me like that...
"Calm down. Remember who your enemy is. You'll handle your issues with the Man of Bats later on."
Chase voiced out.
"Don't worry." I assured the Dark Knight with a tight smile.
"I can control my powers now. Letting these guys go on the other hand, is a bad idea. It carries more of a risk than I do."
I looked at my prisoners.
"You can organize transport and take them to where you take other Villainous fiends."
I added with a chuckle. What I had thought was going to be a dog fight had turned out to be my easiest fight ever.
Maybe I had overestimated...
"Aaahhhhhhgggff!"
I sank to a knee as excruciating pain ripped through the center of my brain. The Spirit Pressure I had on Leviathan disappeared as I failed to keep it active.
A guttural scream of pain then escaped me and I felt more than saw the strings of Reiryoku fall off their forms.
No no no... Fuck!
"Did you really think I came unprepared?"
I heard Talia's voice echo across the Batcave.
From the corner of my eyes, Batman was on his knees as well, clutching his head.
Killing intent that made my hair stand on its ends filled the chamber. It's origin being...me. Or rather Chase.
"A telepath! You DARE intrude in my domain?!"
I had never heard such fury from anyone before. The rage was potent to the point my own emotions were influenced. Reason escaped me, as the target of my anger appeared in my mind. A beautiful face, raven hair...Talia.
My jaw clenched. Wait...Chase... don't...
She took a step back, suddenly afraid at my rage filled eyes.
"Your pitiful lives are forfeit! Go to hell, or I promise to make you suffer a fate even worse!"
Chase' voice was layered with my own, followed by a blast of Reiryoku from my body, depleting half of my reserves as strings surged out, destroying the surroundings even more and throwing back my opponents.
I took care to exempt Batman from the wild attack. Kinda. A few strings made it through.
A small part of me protested Chase' tantrum. I didn't want to prove Batman right by losing control.
Immediately, cold logic fell upon me. An icy fury that filled my veins. These people had tried to kill me. Unprovoked. Without good enough reason. They had put Raven in harm's way.
And Talia had given the command. Ergo... she's the one responsible. She's the one who needs to pay.
"What is happening Psimon?!"
I heard Talia demand of the Cranium dude, whose body had gone slack, staring up at the ceiling. A trail of spittle ran down his chin. His mind had become useless. He had sent out the telepathic blast, only for Chesha Neko to answer by breaking his mind for entering my inner world.
'Damn, Chase is terrifying when he wants to be.' I thought.
Shunpo escape my heel. I was then immediately in front of Talia, having cleared the 10 meters between us instantly. Chesha Neko flashed, poised to split her into two.
My Zanpakuto rang out as it clashed with Deathstroke as he blocked the blow with a cross guard. The mercenary cried out, my superior strength driving the Zanpakuto right through his block, shattering his weapons and cutting into his shoulder while he stared up at me.
"You have a tell."
He chuckled.
"You bite your lip... before you move."
Oh, so that's how he could react to my moves.
I pulled back my leg and landed a kick smack dab on his chest.
Multiple ribs folded under the blow and his body was thrown back, colliding against the Flash or rather, it would have, if the fastest man alive hadn't phased through Deathstroke.
Breath escaped me as we collided, sending both of us careening off the edge of the inner premise of the Batcave. My earlier Reiryoku explosion having revealed more of the place. Strings appeared at my back, stabbing onto the walls and holding me up as the Flash fell off the edge, lightning disappearing into the depths.
A few short seconds later, bats screeched, surging up like a dark cloud from beneath.
Then a beckon of light grew from under, before a streak of red electric energy was launched from the bottom. I received the blow on the yarn of strings I formed around my body, blocking the blast before conducting the charge through the strings to fry any of the Leviathan group near my threads.
I gasped...the world freezing around us.
My reaction speed went through the roof. I blinked. Everything I was seeing moved in slow motion...yet, I wasn't seeing but more like sensing through my strings. Somehow, they seemed to have absorbed the speed force energy and adapted to it, changing color from a very light purple to red.
A 3D map of the Batcave appeared in my mind, read through the strings. Bronze Tiger was escaping through a hole on the ceiling that allowed moon light to stream right through.
Batman was mid jump towards Talia. Deathstroke was reaching out towards something that had fallen in the commotion and the Flash was running up the wall to come up from behind me.
"Aaahhhh!"
Deathstroke and Talia seized up as lightning jumped from my threads to fry them.
One thing you should understand about Chesha Neko's Shikai was, I could form strings from any part of my body...or any part of an existing thread.
Chesha Neko's Shikai was not the sword. Instead...Chesha Neko was the zone around my body. This entire cave complex filled with millions upon millions of sharp thin threads that I could add on to.
It didn't matter how fast the Flash was, when I could cover the same distance simply by branching off more strings into however many directions I could, at an instant. Add the effect of the speed force to them, and I was effectively controlling the battlefield.
"There's nowhere to run now, Talia Al Ghul."
I whispered from beside her.
What the...that hadn't been a Shunpo...did I just travel through my strings?
Her eyes begun to slowly widen, her lips parting in slow motion. Is this how the Flash sees the world? A quiet scene. Like a moving picture before T.V broadcasts were a thing.
Chesha Neko flashed. Cranium Dude's head fell in slow motion as well, drops of blood just beginning to form from his severed neck.
In that same instant, the trap I had set for the Flash sprang. Threads that were stabbed onto the walls of my previous position collapsed around the speedster, containing him in yarn of threads with his own speed force aura gyrating around each individual string... draining him of his speed more and more.
"You can't hold in that much power, Davian."
Chase informed me.
I could feel it too...my Reiryoku reserves, with more than 90% spent...would run out before I completely drained him. My body was also not equipped to be a conduit for the dimension of energy called the speed force. It chose speedsters, I wasn't one.
All that energy needed to go somewhere.
So I aimed it at the ceiling.
(General P.O.V)
The boom tube opened up into a darkened room.
A white haired, one eyed man and a Raven haired woman rushed out.
Talia hit the ground just as red streaks of energy ran rampant inside the hotel room. She took cover behind the bed just before the room begun smoking. The sheets caught on fire as the boom tube portal collapsed.
She didn't waste time in making her move. Her body vaulted over the bed, weapons glinting in the low light.
Deathstroke was already up, his one usable hand, diverting the stab of the small blade in Talia's hand. He sidestepped a knee to the groin, but could do little to avoid the leg sweep.
He hit the ground and rolled, escaping the knife that tore into the mat on the ground. Talia snarled, throwing a punch to connected with Deathstroke's cheek. Then the dagger was placed under his chin.
"You promised partnership!"
He growled out.
"We could never be partners! I promised you a seat at my table! And you failed me."
Talia was quick to interject.
"I had no idea of the boy's presence, Talia. I tried..."
Deathstroke begun only to be cut off by her.
"Your job was to not try...it was to frame Turner and keep Leviathan's involvement with the Light's mission secret! And now that Bruce knows, he'll investigate. The mole will report back and the Light will find out. And that cannot happen before we are ready!"
She pushed the blade against his skin.
Deathstroke begun laughing.
"If you wanted to kill me, you've already missed your chance."
Talia felt something hard poke her on the ribs. She snorted, moving away, revealing the gun in his hand.
"If I wanted to kill you, Slade, You'd be buried in the snows of Siberia."
She got up, walking towards the bathroom.
"Always gotta remind me of that contract."
Deathstroke shook his head, rubbing the cut on his neck.
"I'm taking a shower." The daughter of the Demon's Head threw over her shoulder.
"Peek and you're dead."
She warned.
(General P.O.V)
There was no indication he was up.
His eyes remained closed, his breath even and his body prone. He took note of his surroundings. The air on his skin was damp and cold. There was the distant sound of rocking waters and... hushed conversation.
He smelled the air. A slight sewage and ocean scent. His mind ran through the different locations in Gotham. There was a tarp under him. Below that was a hard cold pavement.
The Gotham tunnels.
"I know you're awake."
A deep but young voice said with a note of humor.
Tiger's eyes opened. A purple flame softly burned next to his head. Past the fire, was a young black man with silver hair, body covered by a long fur coat. He was sitting on a rock. Something budged from the hip underneath his coat.
He occasionally stroked the flames with a small rusted rebar.
Next to him on his left was a fully cloaked figure. The only thing that stood out to Bronze Tiger, was that the figure was vaguely female.
"You saved me. Why?"
The mercenary asked, holding a hand over his bandaged torso. Nothing seemed to be broken but he had no true way of knowing without a good meditation exercise. He still had his claws though, a foolish mistake for anyone who knew he could turn a blade of grass into a weapon.
"The name's Davian." The young man introduced himself then pointed at female figure.
"That's Raven."
The figure made no reaction.
"As to why I rescued you, well...let's call it a favor that shall be repaid in the future."
Davian explained while getting up.
Bronze Tiger narrowed his eyes.
"We fought. What makes you think I will honor that deal?"
"I know who you are. Bronze Tiger, a Merc for hire but you're also an honorable man."
Davian breathed out, his breath slightly fogging. Raven got to her feet as well.
"Whether you honor it or not, I don't regret taking the chance."
Davian shrugged, walking towards Raven.
The latter chanted in a low tone, her palms lighting up with a dark energy. Darkness pooled under them.
"See you whenever, Bronze Tiger."
Davian saluted as they disappeared.
(Elsewhere)
"Your boldness knows no limit, boy."
Ra's spoke into the darkness.
"Sneaking into this island uninvited is a death sentence. I could make my shadows stalk you day and night until you're dead."
He said, staring at the swirling red liquid in his cup.
"You would lose more. My death is...very expensive."
The Dark Knight said, almost materializing from the darkness.
Ra's placed down the goblet, grabbing the hilt of his sword and unsheathing it. He pointed the tip at Batman's neck.
"Should we test that fact?"
A brief silence fell between them as they faced each other.
"Your move detective."
Ra's told him.
Batman pushed the blade away with a finger.
"I did not come here to fight. It's about Talia."
He replied.
Ra's lowered his sword, turning back to the shrine before him. One with a few bouquet of flowers framing a very old painting of a woman. She was beautiful. No one knew who the painting was of. Not even Talia.
Ra's bowed his head towards the painting while lighting a few candles below it. Batman wordlessly waited as the Demon's Head completed his ceremony.
"My daughter is very much like her grandmother. Persistent and willful."
He finally said, turning away from the painting.
"How has she defied me now?"
He questioned, walking out of the chamber.
"An attack. One made on my manor. My people. She crossed a line."
Batman growled out, following after the leader of the League of Shadows.
"I see." Ra's told him, his hands clasped behind him as they passed two guards, standing before a doorway.
"However, I fail to understand how this concerns me."
"It does. There are certain rules that should not be broken. She violated the agreement by targeting my home. It concerns you because you understand better than most what we are capable of."
Batman ended his statement by stopping in front of the entrance to the courtyard.
"Oh yes." Ra's nodded.
"You and your group of... superheroes."
He mocked.
Shadows appeared all around the two. Batman looked around him fearlessly.
"Yes. Me and my group of men and women who can each take on 20 of your men in a fight."
The Dark Knight affirmed.
"You want a war...let them think that you can you harm their loved ones."
Ra's Al Ghul and Batman watched each other. All their meetings were like this. A check and balance.
"I suppose I have had enough taste of wars."
Ra's conceded, snapping a finger. The League of Shadows' Ninjas disappeared.
"Tell me what you're really here for. You hardly need me to find my daughter. You're a detective. The Detective. So what is it that you really want?"
The Demon's Head asked.
Batman's back straightened.
"Jim Gordon's body. I know he's alive. And I also know where he is. Here."
Ra's merely smiled.
(Elsewhere)
"It's done sir! We have his location."
A young man, probably around 17 told the army official.
"Excellent, Ullyses. With him I can test my Batmen project. He is the opportunity we have been waiting for."
Colonel Kane smiled as he watched a replay of a clip of Davian tearing up the surroundings in his hollowfied state.
"Do not forget one thing Kane, I want him alive."
Amanda Waller stepped into the room as if she owned it.
Ullyses, the genius computer expert stared at Colonel Kane in confusion.
"Colonel..."
He started only for the Colonel to cut in.
"Amanda Waller. You must have really done your best to let the Top Brass include you into the program."
Colonel Kane snidely commented.
Amanda threw the folder in her hands at the table between them. Colonel Kane made an annoyed grunt, flipping through the file.
"It's called cooperation, Kane. Your Batman initiative and my Task Force X are very similar."
She told him.
Kane held up a picture.
"You can't be serious. Leonard Snart..."
He grabbed another picture,
"Michael Merlyn...Bloodshot..."
Amanda smiled.
"We both serve our country, Kane. You do it with dedicated men and women while I tap into another resource, useful convicts."
She shamelessly said.
"What if we combined both?"
(Davian's P.O.V)
There was a chill in the air. Winter was coming. It was crazy to think that it had only been a few weeks and I was already so deep into the shit that was DC's schemes.
Raven shifted in her sleep. She was laid out on the couch, one of only two furniture in the cramped room. The other being the chair I was sitting on, Chesha Neko on my lap. The room itself was a storage unit near Chinatown that Raven confusingly enough...just happened to possess a key of.
I let out a breath of frustration, meditating wasn't as fun as I thought it was going to be. After using my Shikai in a real fight with real supervillains, I had realized there was much more I could do with Reiryoku.
Zanjutsu was immediately out until I found a good teacher.
'You have a tell...you blink before you move.'
Deathstroke's voice sounded out in my mind, reminding me that I hadn't won the fight exactly.
The second the ceiling came down on us, I didn't waste time escaping. Chase was right in convincing me to retreat and face Batman on my own terms. He and I still had a lot of unfinished business.
But that's besides the point. Zanjutsu was out, so was Shunpo (hoho) this was a hide out after all, there wasn't room to move. Hakuda was not my strongest suite but I could handle myself. What I finally settled on was Kido.
Or rather, Reiryoku manipulation. And boy was it hard.
(General P.O.V)
(3 weeks later)
"3 weeks in and Gotham city is still reeling from the devastating 6.9 Earthquake that levelled a number of historical buildings in old Gotham. Wayne Manor was also affected, with Bruce Wayne, the son of the late Thomas and Martha Wayne, promising housing, food and warm clothes to those affected."
"The billionaire has been known to set up charity funds to help the less fortunate. This will mark another achievement for him as he lives up to the legacy of his late parents."
Wearing a black coat over her red pant suit, the reporter stood in a construction site of an old Opera house. The workers were digging through the debris as snow fell around them.
"This not being the first time Gotham has had to drag itself out of the mud, it remains to be seen what crisis will hit our beloved city next. Back to you Austin."
She concluded.
(Davian's P.O.V)
Bleach power system while complex due to the different ways each of the races could use Reiryoku, still retained some similarities across the board.
Different from the power afforded by the Zanpakuto, Kido was the other way for a Soul Reaper to achieve great power.
Kido was basically magic spells.
The Kido corps commander stood on the same level of both power and importance as any of the Gotei 13 Captains.
Take for example Getsuga Tensho, which was a very very simple application of Reiryoku. It was basically a wide beam of Reiryoku that required no extra control. That being the only reason I could perform it in the first place. Yet the attack was powerful that I could probably destroy a bus in one fell swoop.
A seated officer, hell, any soup reaper who had graduated from the academy could probably kick my ass even without trying. Kido was a cheat code. And manipulating Reiryoku this way was not entirely exclusive to Soul Reapers either.
Hollows had Ceros which could be argued to be a blast of Reiryoku similar to Getsuga Tensho that only aimed to cause destruction and required no prodigious control. It could be scaled by 'Control' or the amount of Reiryoku one put in the attack.
My Spirit energy was on the same level of a Lieutenant Level Soup Reaper, who were directly under the captains in the Gotei 13 squads. I didn't lie to myself though. While my Reiatsu could be used the same way, my true level of power, at least in Kido was lower than that. It all still came down to 'Control'.
Quincies on the other hand, had the ability to shoot out arrows by taking in the Reishi from the air. Not to mention they also had Blut. A system of applying Reiryoku through the veins of the body for different effects.
I was working towards that the first time I thought of using Reiryoku to enhance my body. However, I ran into the same issue. My 'control' sucked. I was probably wasting too much energy, even when using it internally than was needed. The enhancement therefore was similar to Reinforcement, a skill that Magus in the Nasuverse used.
Unfortunately, I had no way to actually train my control. Spirit energy was not like Chakra from Naruto. No amount of sticking leaves all over my body seemed to work.
The only way I was going to get my control where I needed it to be was through hard work.
Copying the Kido spells I remember from Canon.
Kido could be separated into two categories.
Bakudo, way of binding and Hado, way of destruction.
Bakudo spells had the basic application of being support spells meant to incapacitate an enemy or their power. An example that I could remember was Bakudo no. 4: Hainawa. Or rather, Slithering Rope.
The spell creates a rope of spirit energy that can tangle up an opponent, such as binding their wrists, their ankles, or anything else that the user can think of. Often, it's a good way to buy time for another attack.
Other spells in the Way of Binding were, Bakudo no. 9: Geki, which caused complete paralysis in an opponent. Such a spell would be very useful for me in a place like DC where the Heroes did not kill.
I was determined to do what needed to be done to look out for Raven and I but that didn't equate to needlessly clashing with the Justice League.
Except Batman, cause fuck that guy.
Hado was the category I was mostly excited about. Way of destruction sounded and looked cool as fuck.
"Concentrate."
Raven said from the side.
I breathed out slowly, my warm breath fogging in the air as I stared at the target before me. A can placed on top of a rusted car in the Junkyard.
The Junkyard contained a lot of wrecked and shredded car parts and metal that made it convenient for the kind of training I was doing. Target practice.
"Shift your feet slightly apart. Balance is important because while energy doesn't have physical weight, the rebound effect is still there."
I followed her advice. Raven's main attacks came from casting spells, if anyone could give me pointers, it was her.
Rebound effect huh? So like a gun. I could shoot a gun. I was good at shooting guns.
We were both wearing normal clothes. Raven had been adamant on not changing out of her costume, however. Then after explaining to her that she stood out too much, she reluctantly agreed.
She settled for a large black hoodie, purple yoga pants and white sneakers that blended into the snow under our feet. We were also lucky that the Junkyard was devoid of human presence. Otherwise the noise would have been too much.
My palm was laid flat in the air, pointed at the can that was less than 100 meters away. I had decided to start small. While I could basically shoot out Getsuga Tensho like it was nothing, the energy consumption for that particular skill was too much.
"Any day now."
Raven said impatiently. Granted it was cold outside and while my body could now endure extreme temperatures to a limit, I didn't know if Raven could say the same.
"It's called focus." I replied.
Push and Pull...
Pull...
The surroundings faded away.
My Reiryoku roared to life within me. It was indescribable. The closest I could come to explaining it was, a burning purple flame inside my chest, spreading out to my wrists and legs.
I then pictured what I wanted.
"Hado no. 1: Sho!"
An invisible pressure blast escaped my hand, throwing me a few steps back with a great amount of force. The rebound effect.
Clang!
I missed the can but a dent the size of a basketball appeared on the door of the rusted Honda, breaking the last of the glass remaining on the windshield. The can tilted and fell towards the ground.
A single blast of black energy slammed onto the can, ripping it apart. I shielded my eyes as Raven smirked from next to me, 2 fingers outstretched towards pointed the target.
"That's how it's done."
She bragged.
I rolled my eyes.
"I asked you to help me train, not to show off."
She snorted, blowing the smoke out of her finger like you would a gun.
"It's not my problem you suck, Davian."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Oh yeah?"
Despite missing the can, I had still managed to shoot out a Reiryoku blast. All that was left to do was to get good at aiming. I could do it with a gun, how hard could it be to do it with my own energy?
I changed targets to a stack of tires that we had placed next to the Honda. Saying the incantation out loud was kind of slow. Any smart enemy would realize what I was trying to do.
The only way I could think of ensuring that the attack landed was by incapacitating them long enough. Yup, I'm talking about Bakudo. If I could get good enough that I could do it wordlessly, they wouldn't know what hit them.
Unfortunately, I wasn't quite there yet, so I was stuck with the incantations.
"Bakudo no.4: Hainawa!"
A yellow rope of energy sprouted from my palm. It was thicker than any of Chesha Neko's braids and energy crackled around it. The rope landed on the tire stack but instead of wrapping around it, it tore a chunk off the stack.
"I totally meant to do that."
I coughed.
"I'm sure you did."
Raven replied, placing her hands inside her hoodie with a small annoying smile plastered on her face.
My control still sucked but I still managed to complete the combo. So... yeah.
"Sho!"
The blast of invisible pressure this time was more compressed. It cleared the distance between the tire stack and us fast. There was a loud crack as the tore stack was thrown away to smack on a shack next to the entrance of the Junkyard.
I winced at the loud noise.
"We should probably leave."
Raven told me as she hastily created a portal under us.
Now you might wonder...how did we survive 3 weeks alone without a source of money in Gotham? To blend in we had needed new clothes and food is essential to... anyone.
Fortunately, turns out people with 'extra skills' like Raven and I could take advantage of the Status Quo and make some quick buck.
In other words, we had been robbing Criminals.
I stared at our target of the day. The rooftop I was in had a wide view of Chinatown and its denizens.
"Are you sure this is wise?"
Chase' voice sounded out from my inner world.
"No."
I replied.
"You keep asking me the same question every time we steal from bad guys."
I had gotten better at Shunpo, the blast of Reiryoku from my feet as I moved was only slightly noticeable. Though I still had problem with sudden turns and shifts in trajectory and direction.
I was on the next building's rooftop in almost an instant, careful not to lose the supply truck carrying massive amounts of decorations for the festival happening below.
However, our connections had assured us that within that supply truck was a cache of drugs being transported somewhere. I hated drugs with a passion but if there was a deal going on, we could get the money and leave the drugs for the cops to find.
"They are rounding up the corner. Raven should already be..."
My speculative words were cut off as a huge explosion went off under the supply truck.
My eyes widened as with the screams from normal civilians, the burning truck was poised to land on a restaurant that would no doubt cause many casualties.
Not to mention, that was my paycheck! We needed the money to leave this city behind!
Shunpo escaped my feet, rocketing me forwards. The ground of the roof underneath my foot broke apart in a shower of stones.
"Bakudo no.4: Hainawa!"
I chanted just as I landed on the store front with the flaming truck coming down on me. Luckily, Hainawa was easy to perform due to my experience with Chesha Neko's Shikai.
The yellow spirit rope wrapped around the truck before it broke off into six individual ropes that stabbed into the walls of the building around us.
The Bakudo spell strained but managed to hold onto the truck before it could land.
"Whew! That was..."
Bam!
Something hard and heavy landed on my side, the impact picking me up and throwing me through the sidewalk that was quickly becoming devoid of people.
I picked myself up while rubbing the spot in pain. I felt that even with my enhancement active.
"Goddamnit Chase, you are supposed to warn me about things like that."
I growled at my Zanpakuto.
"Oops."
The damn cat replied, totally unbothered.
"Oh, what is this? A new hero?"
A deep voice said while laughing. I looked up and came face to face with a red skinned, white haired massive dude cracking his fists with a sadistic smile.
"I know you."
I told him, dusting myself off. Luckily the small Oni mask on my face was still intact, keeping my identity hidden.
"Brick."
I touched the pommel of my sword, lowering my posture slightly.
"You're going to pay for that."
(General P.O.V)
The last few weeks had been crazy.
Raven would be the first to admit she would never have expected to get inducted into a squad with convicts to perform suicide missions. Then in a fluke, she had saved the life of their target and brought him to one of the only people she trusted.
Then that had gone awry when the powerful Lord of Order had decided that Davian was too dangerous to be left alive. A fight later and they found themselves in the home of one of Gotham's elites.
She had wondered why Zatara had brought them there specifically. In the beginning it had seemed planned. Only after Davian had filled her in on all that happened did she understand.
Bruce Wayne was Batman. And being possibly the most paranoid man on earth, it made sense that he would try to keep them close. Raven would never have thought close meant right in his home.
She remembered the fight with Deadshot. Davian had informed her the one responsible for shooting her with a fricking rpg was Deathstroke.
That had hurt.
After waking up, Raven had promised herself she was going to kick Deathstroke's ass the next time they met each other. But first, they had to handle the matter of where to stay.
"Batman will be looking for us. And that means the League will as well."
Davian had sighed, leaning on the beanbag, which if you counted the couch and a metal bed at the corner of the storage unit, was all the furniture inside.
He had a red rubber ball in his hands that he bounced off the metal walls of the unit. It made a dull thunk that Raven was steadily getting tired of.
"At this rate, leaving Gotham is the only option we have."
He mused.
"Though I don't know where we would go."
Raven closed the book on the Mind arts she had snagged back from the Tower of Fate before they had left. The book held interest to her due to her unique situation. The red gemstone in the middle of her head.
Speaking of which, Davian had not even once mentioned or asked about it. It was one of the things she liked about him. He never pried.
Her recent rotten luck in finding herself in fights however, proved that having a better lock on her emotions was important. Especially when she could hear him, banging on the walls of her mind. Her father.
"Of course we do."
Raven spoke up.
"Remember Kent? we never really checked up on him."
Davian sat up straighter.
"Oh yeah...the old guy who helped us out when I was in a coma."
He sniffed in distaste.
"That reminds me, I seem to pass out after every major fight."
"I'm guessing that's not good for your 'Street cred'?"
Raven smiled, using air quotes. The other thing about Davian that she had learned was that he was unabashedly prideful.
No, he didn't brag and nor was he arrogant. He just, according to his own words, 'knew and respected his worth. If you didn't fuck with him, he didn't fuck with you.'
Oh and he liked cursing. A lot.
"It's not funny. I could die while taking a nap. What kind of badass would I be then?"
He countered.
"Anyway, I have no idea where the Tower of Fate is located."
Raven's eyes turned black as her shadow spat out a long parchment of paper. Davian jerked a little in surprise.
"Whoa, you have a pocket dimension?"
Raven looked at him as if he was crazy.
"Umm...yeah. where do you think I kept my stuff?"
With a very unimpressed stare, Davian pointed at the leather bag on the bed.
"Oh."
Raven blinked.
"I asked the butler for your stuff when you were playing sleeping beauty."
Davian replied, fully aware of the irony while he moved over to her.
Oh yeah, he did, didn't he? That bag carried what she wouldn't mind losing. Plus, it was a convenient excuse for when she pulled things out of her Shadow Space.
"It's called a shadow space."
Raven explained.
"Dumb name."
Davian commented, leaning over to peer at the map.
"You think I could learn it? It looks useful."
Raven thought about it while also poring over the map. She hadn't sensed the space where the Tower had occupied, which meant if they really had to go to Salem, they needed to do it the old fashioned way, flying. Okay maybe it wasn't the old fashioned way, but it was the quickest.
A shadow space of his own would help Davian hide the very noticeable weapon strapped to his hip when the occasion called for it. The problem was,
"I don't know if you can 'learn' it. The space inside is small and it's one of the hardest spells to master because it drains magical energy to sustain itself."
Raven's answer made Davian hum.
"Wonder if there is a Kido spell like that..."
He muttered.
'What's Kido?'
Raven was tempted to ask what Kido was but hadn't wanted to be nosy. She knew that Davian also possessed a spirit of some kind within him. At times he would stiffen in place and seem as if he was talking to the air.
"... I'm thinking we can get there in a couple of days. The problem is money. Raven? Raven?"
The half demon-half human blinked realizing her mind had wandered off.
"Sorry, got lost in thought."
She had told him.
"It's cool. Anyway, about the money, I have an idea." He smiled, leaning back on the bed.
"We could kill two birds with one stone."
He winked at her, a devilish smirk on his face.
That's how the idea of crime fighting as a job had been born. And over the course of the weeks, Raven had realized it was a lucrative one.
They already had 4200 dollars from robbing those who robbed or hurt people. This would have made Raven's stomach churn in disgust but the real world had shown her how bad it could get if you were alone and unprepared. The worst part was that she couldn't go back to Azarath. It was too big a risk.
So they stalked the dark alleys of Gotham. With Raven's abilities, portalling in and out was easy. That was literally her job. She never accosted anyone. And after seeing the type of criminals they came across, she never intervened even when Davian became a little too...excited.
He had broken a man's arm after the guy had tried to rape a small girl.
This particular day hadn't been any different. During one of their many 'activities', they'd met a budding hero. Was that the word?
And after saving her life from a sneak attack, Artemis had become sort of an acquaintance/informer. Anything she wasn't able to handle she would call them in as back up. Kinda. This was actually the first time she had called them in on something resembling organized crime. Usually Raven and Davian stuck to the petty goons who never seemed to learn.
With Artemis in play, things changed.
She had started out by telling them what drug houses to hit. Nothing too big. Just small time criminals.
Then today had happened. A supply truck carrying drugs on its way to an exchange. Raven had been unsure but Davian had eased her worries by telling her they could get out anytime they wanted.
So she had agreed. Artemis seemed to have knowledge about the criminal underworld of Gotham, so it wasn't like they were going in blind. That eased Raven's worries about being played, it wasn't the first time someone had tried to use her for her power.
This deal would be their ticket out of here.
Raven was leaning on a wall as the truck rounded up the corner, just like planned. Wearing a purple Chinese dress with a black hood over her head, she looked no different from the throngs of people making their way up and down the street.
Then the transport truck had exploded. The screams begun as people begun pushing on each other, escaping the scene.
Within the span of a few seconds, pandemonium broke out. Raven threw her back to the wall, going through the inky portal she had created, and coming out of the door leading to the Chinese place that the truck was poised to land on.
The black portal disappeared as she stepped out into the streets, immediately taking stock of what was happening. The truck was suspended in yellow glowing ropes; no doubt Davian's handy work and a red skinned and white braided haired man was facing off against her partner.
Only Davian noticed her. The red skinned brute ran towards Davian in a speed that was highly unexpected from his lumbering form. Raven got out of her surprise quickly and pushed out her hands.
"Azarath metrion Zinthos!"
Black whips as thick as tree trunks, smacked Brick away before he knew what was happening. The supervillain felt something heavy and hard land on his left arm, breaking it. Then his back was planted onto the canopy of the outdoor restaurant.
Davian smiled, showing a thumbs up to Raven. Then the smile fell away. A small audible bang escaped his position and with a displacement of air currents, Davian was almost instantly to her right, blocking bullets with his body.
'He's getting better at moving in superspeed.'
Raven realized, her own hands covered in shadows.
"Don't get too distracted. You handle angry ketchup man while I get rid of the goons." Davian quickly came up with a plan.
"Something tells me our 'friend' wasn't entirely honest with us."
"Angry Ketchup man?"
Raven asked but Davian was already on the move.
Shots rang out across the street, Brick's men closing in on the pair. They had hidden at the junction, waiting inside a Dragon Dance Costume, that they had used to blend in.
Davian ran forward without using Shunpo, the street having cleared enough that a fight wouldn't harm the civilians. His foot struck out and hit a table, throwing it towards two of the men at the corner of the store front.
The table distracted them enough that his Shunpo was not noticed by three more of Brick's men, these ones providing cover for the other two. Davian found himself in the air, falling towards a black minivan with the three goons huddling behind it.
He smiled.
"Hado no. 1: Sho!"
He whispered, this time the Kido spell exploding out of the bottom of his soles as he landed on top of the vehicle.
The minivan folded in on itself, the metal exploding outwards with the tires hitting and throwing the three men away onto the pavement, groaning in pain.
"I hope you guys have a good health insurance."
Davian quipped.
Raven on the other hand, had Brick restrained with black tentacles coming out of her Shadow. Police sirens could be heard from afar as Davian walked up to her, the Bakudo spell holding the truck unravelling and allowing it to land on the sidewalk.
The other two goons had placed down their weapons the minute they found themselves outmatched. Davian noticed a fair amount of people hiding inside the buildings, taking videos of both of them but did nothing about it.
"So what did he say?"
At Davian's question Raven held in a groan.
"Oh, you know, the usual stuff. 'You have no idea who you'll messing with', 'you will regret this', 'let me go and I'll make you rich.'"
She rolled her eyes.
Brick spat on the floor next to their feet. His face set in an angry snarl.
"You're done. Do you know who I work for? The offers off the ta..."
Then Davian's fist plowed into his cheek, turning his head to the side with a meaty thunk.
The Supervillain was immediately knocked out.
Raven blinked as Davian begun whistling, ruffling through Brick's pockets, as if everything was normal.
(General P.O.V)
"The mission was a complete failure and we all know who to blame."
A voice came out of the left most terminal.
"Speak your mind woman. Do not prance about what you mean to say."
A different voice, this time from the right end of the screens responded gruffly.
There was a brief silence.
"Talia Al Ghul, is your daughter, is she not, Demon's Head?"
The female voice countered with a question.
"Yes. She is. And she takes after her father. Smart, ambitious and dangerous."
Lex Luthor finally deigned to speak, leaning back in his chair as his assistant hovered next to him.
"She has cost us much. Batman knows his secret identity is no longer so...hidden."
This time the voice had a heavy French accent.
"The League will be even more cautious. Especially if you add in the Davian Mabuz Fiasco."
"I understand."
Ra's Al Ghul told them.
"And I have prepared the necessary... reparations for the unforeseen circumstances. A package has been delivered to each of you."
His terminal went dark.
"Ho ho ho... I gotta say, I like old beard's style. Come Teekl, this put me in the mood to kill something."
Another terminal went dark.
One by one the members of the Light left the meeting until finally only one screen remained lit up before Lex.
"The boy."
The voice from the other end was much deeper than any of the others.
"I have people watching him."
Lex replied.
"Without the CryoGen Crystals, we might need to look for other solutions. I was thinking, a certain factory in Santa Prisca."
"I see."
The voice hummed.
"Can you still stabilize the formula enough so the benefits outweigh the side effects?"
Lex was ready with an answer.
"No."
He steepled his fingers together.
"However, we have Deathstroke. The mirakuru within him..."
"No."
The voice immediately refused.
"Deathstroke is still of major use to us. We cannot blow his Leviathan cover. His children on the other hand..."
Lex smiled at the implication.
"Yes, I can see it working."
The bald supervillain nodded, then switched gears.
"When should we move in on the boy?"
"The Justice League will be suspicious after the recent activities. Let him think he's safe."
Lex touched a pad on his desktop. Amanda Waller's image appeared on the screen.
"We're not the only ones after him either."
"She is of no consequence. Our man on the inside assures me that Waller will not be an issue."
The voice concluded. Then without another word, the terminal went dark.
"Sir, a package has arrived for you."
Mercy Graves, his assistant spoke up from the side. Lex turned his attention to the brown box she had placed on the desk.
Mercy lifted the cover to reveal...Kobra's severed head.
"Mmmh, seems like I got the head of the snake."
He mused, getting up.
"Put it on the private display."
He waved his hand, buttoning his tux while smiling devilishly.
"I hope I'm not late for the Wayne fundraising Party."
(Davian's P.O.V)
The snow wasn't letting up it seems. Gotham in the almost wee hours of the morning looked...bleak.
"I know you're there."
Artemis said without looking back.
"I wasn't trying to hide."
I replied, pushing off the wall to the entrance of the roof. She was dressed as she always did, green costume with a mask that covered the upper portion of her face.
"Where is..."
She started but I interrupted.
"Not here. Let's talk somewhere else."
I told her before using Shunpo to leave the rooftop.
"Wait!"
I felt something stab onto the roof of the building I was on and slowed down. She wasn't like Raven who could fly after all.
And so we went, I led her around a few city blocks just to make sure no one was tailing us. The run in with Brick showed me that we needed to be more careful. We also couldn't trust Artemis as much as we thought we could.
Finally, after ensuring no one was coming after us, I led her to the underside of the Crown point Bridge that connected Downtown to Tricorner Island.
The river was frozen and a hazy mist hid the other side of the bridge from view. Things were also quiet as most of the homeless had left for further inland to escape the cold.
I pulled on my Reiryoku to keep myself warm just as Artemis swung down from the bridge, landing before me.
Immediately, she notched an arrow and aimed it at my face.
"That's not going to work."
I told her easily.
"Yeah well, I'll take my chances."
She replied, muscles tensing in preparation.
"What exactly do you think this is?"
I asked her, my eyebrows raised. Artemis clenched her jaw as I walked closer to her. The end of the arrow was pointed at my neck.
The Archer had to look up to stare at me.
"You brought me here."
She answered.
"To a secluded bridge with no witnesses. Either you want to kill me, in which case good luck or...you sold out and are working for someone who hired you to take me in."
I couldn't help it, I laughed.
"That's quite the imagination."
"You wouldn't be the first person to go dirty."
She answered in a strange tone. I could see her subtly glancing around at us, probably looking for an escape route.
"We were followed?"
I asked.
"What?"
Artemis looked at me in confusion.
"No, we're good."
Raven was the one who answered, coming in from behind Artemis. The latter immediately turned around, ready to fight. Then she blinked.
"Wait..."
Artemis lowered her bow slightly.
"What's going on here?"
She asked, looking in between the two of us.
"The info you gave us was wrong. It was supposed to be the usual, beat up some goons, get the money and leave the drugs for the cops."
I answered, pulsing out my Reiryoku to make sure that no one was around, along with training the skill.
The range of the Reikaku had steadily been growing and now I could sense spirit power in a zone of 100 meters. It wasn't precise though, most humans possessed spirit energy that was basically undetectable due to how low it was.
That said, I had noticed that peak humans contained a bit more spirit energy that weakly registered in my senses.
Superhumans like Brick had slightly higher reserves but still not enough to see ghosts, let alone awaken spirit powers.
"She's freezing."
Chase' said from my inner world. I raised an eyebrow.
"I'm surprised you care."
The Zanpakuto spirit snorted but said nothing else. Weird.
"We should go."
Raven told us, her soul self, in the form of a massive Raven, rising up like a cloud from the ground. Artemis stumbled back in surprise, looking ready to book it or fight.
"Chill."
I told her from the side.
"Raven is only going to portal us somewhere a bit more...private."
The young Archer closed her eyes, exhaling. Then to my surprise she agreed with a small nod. The Soul Self engulfed us and a second later, spat us out into the Junkyard.
The only other option was the storage unit and that was our base for the moment. I still wasn't sure that we could trust Artemis.
Raven snapped her fingers at me, motioning at my coat. I narrowed my eyes. What exactly is she trying to pull?
"She's shivering."
My friend/partner in crime insisted. First Chase and now Raven.
I rolled my eyes, removing the coat before trying to place it around Artemis. She backed away with caution, making me raise my eyebrows.
"If we wanted to harm you, why go to all this trouble?"
"I don't know. Why do people do anything? We literally have a supervillain whose superpower is flying on a kite."
She snarkly replied.
"I like her. Can we keep her?"
Chase asked but I ignored him.
"You have a point."
I conceded, throwing the coat over to her. She draped it over her shoulder, before copying Raven and finding a perch to sit on.
As for me, I leaned on my target practice, the tire stacks from two days ago. This place really had no visitors if the thing was still standing with the marks from my Kido spells.
"You gave us the wrong information."
Raven immediately accused. Her monotonous voice rang out dryly in the space between Artemis and us.
"I didn't!"
The Archer vehemently refused, almost getting up from her position. That's when I saw it. She had winced. It was almost unnoticeable but for someone like me who was used to such injuries, I could see that she was hurt.
"What happened?"
All traces of humor were gone from my voice.
Artemis wrestled with indecision, her eyes averted to the side.
"There's a friend of mine missing. I ran into some trouble while looking for him."
She answered.
Raven and I looked at each other.
"Okay. Not to sound like a dick but what does that have to do with Brick?"
At my question, Artemis sighed.
"The info I gave you? I got it from him. He's..."
She trailed off, shaking her head.
The cold Gotham wind blew across the junkyard.
"He's a street kid."
She finally replied.
"Fuck."
I cursed out, anger rising within me.
"Why the hell would you drag a kid into this shit?!"
Artemis stiffened at my tone. Even Raven seemed surprised.
"I..."
"No. There's no excuse for that. You wanna go out and play hero? Then that's your choice. Your life on the line, but pulling in a kid? That's low."
At my words, Artemis stood up, shaking with fury.
"You think I don't know that! You think I don't blame myself?! But Jason is stubborn! At least with me I could stop him from jumping into the more dangerous stuff!"
She yelled back.
Wait. Did she say Jason?
"Jason?"
Raven asked before I could.
"Yeah, Jason Todd. I saw the Brick thing on the news and figured something had gone wrong. I tried to find him but..." She shook her head.
"Someone took him and a couple more kids. I tried to ask around and got my ribs bruised as a result. That's when I knew I needed help."
She told us.
"Our help."
Raven concluded.
The name Jason Todd changed things. If he was the same kid that would become Robin and then Red Hood... maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to help out. Having someone like that owe you a favor wasn't a bad thing.
Plus, he was a kid. Just like I'd been when my life changed. I couldn't allow things to go down the way they did with me.
"Okay. Let's do this. Let's go save him."
I decided.
Raven said nothing but I could see a small smile at the corner of her lips.