Chapter
The Dark Knight fired his grapple, a clink noise in the distance confirmed to him the grapple had connected, looking to his shoulder, checking on Gascoigne, the Dark Knight reshouldered him a second time to make sure the Hunter was secure and the grip on him was secure.
Good.
The grapnel accelerated, his grip on the handle tightening, world becoming a slight blur, the Dark Knight felt wind blowing across his face, gravity pushing down on his shoulders, chest, hand, it kept going, the pressure on the Dark Knight's body increasing the closer he got to the building.
And it ended, gone was the effect of gravity pushing down on him, no longer did wind blow, hand still gripped onto the grapple, legs pressing onto the side of the wall, it stopped at the edge of the roof, being used similarly as a climbing harness.
Gascoigne stirred.
The Dark Knight felt it.
His grit his teeth.
I need to place Gascoigne on the roof now.
The Dark Knight prepared to toss Gascoigne haphazardly, but all of sudden, Gascoigne howled.
So loud, so fierce, so malicious was the howl, it made the building vibrate.
Wincing at being so close, the Dark Knight reared back his shoulder to toss Gascoigne, but an odd sheen of yellow irritated the Dark Knight's eyes, even reaching Viola.
Gascoigne exploded.
An intense burst of yellow light ruptured from the Man, for 5 whole seconds Gascoigne's was a ball of yellow.
A Miniature sun, but nothing like it in actual brightness, yet still enough for Viola to look away a 2nd time.
The Dark Knight however did not need to, for he had been blasted away by the explosion of energy, his world spinned, unable to even grip his cape to slow his momentum or even glide down safely, crashing into the surface blow, the impact so strong it caused a dust cloud, followed by the Dark Knight rolling sideways uncontrollably out of the smoke from the momentum.
First the Dark Knight rolled into a tree's trunk, chest plate met wood, absolutely demolishing it to splinters and causing the remaining top to tumble past him.
Multiple scratches now littered the chest plate, and on the bat symbol, however, scratches so shallow that they were of no actual concern.
Second were a group of tombstones, cape first, debris, smoke and stone shards flew, multiple small holes and tears were now visible on the Caped Crusader's cape.
And lastly, finally, harshly, the Dark Knight stopped rolling, all momentum being absorbed by a stone wall, earning a gaping depression in the process.
A small groan escaped.
The Dark Knight was winded, face up into the dark cloudy sky, a lack of stars twinkling, he put a hand to his chest, rubbing around it to assess the damage.
Nothing major.
The world turned a dark blue.
I need to find out what happened to Gascoigne.
Only to hear a shout saying-
"LOOK OUT!"
And a large mass of blue to enter his detective vision.
!
Y – (Counter)
Putting his hands to the back and compressing his body, the Dark Knight decompressed, spring kicking whatever was about to land on him.
A satisfying crunch followed.
Then a howl.
Black boots met teeth and hair, the creature was sent back from the successful spring-kick into the air, landing into another tree demolishing it, twigs, branches, flew.
Grunting as he landed into a combat stance, the Dark Knight scanned for that large mass.
First looking up to check for Gascoigne and where he went, Detective Vision detected no bodies on the rooftop.
Looking downward, he scanned the area around him for Gascoigne's body.
To his right, left, behind him, below him, nothing.
His eyes widened.
In front of him, Something large was twitching violently in the debris pile, detective vision showed the creature's skeleton yellow.
The world returned to a normal shade.
Having been unable to locate the Hunter anywhere else, the large creature in front of him was most likely Gascoigne, but the creature size's was too large a build to match him.
A Mutation? Just like Bane's TN-1 serum…. Strange, Gascoigne never injected anything into himself to earn a violent increase in mass and skeletal density, but why he would turn so big?
The Dark Knight's thoughts ceased, for the creature stood, swiping away at the dust revealing itself in it's monstrous glory, the height of creature was comparable to that of Killer Croc (9'8). And like Waylon, the creature's back was hunched, large claws now at it's finger tips, loose eye wraps and overgrown haired covered his face, teeth had grown excessively, becoming ridiculously sharp, the only thing different between them was the lack of crocodile features (i.e. Scales, a white belly, silted pupils)
Father Gascoigne theme – (Phase 2)
The Dark Knight ignored the noise.
It's Gascoigne…
And Gascoigne roared, crawl lunging towards him.
!
L A A (Dodge)
The Dark Knight leapt right, Gascoigne landed recklessly, rolling all over the destroyed stone tiles and dirt, at the lack of bat in his hold, he smashed his face into the dirt, frustrated.
Gascoigne howled again, mouth widening and spit dripping. The hunt continued.
OOOO
Gascoigne
Electricutioner's Shock Gloves roared in response, gleefully accepting the challenge , blue surrounding the Dark Knight's gauntlets.
Shoulders hunching, knees bending, fists closing, teeth gritting, the Dark Knight got into a combat stance.
I Need to take down Gascoigne fast, if he fights like Croc I should use my cape to stun him before attacking him.
Gascoigne got up, going into a sprint before telegraphing an overhead swing.
L A A (Redirect)
The Dark Knight easily dodged the attack by flipping over Gascoigne's head, the attack so uncoordinated Gascoigne's body had no choice but to follow the momentum of his attack.
The Dark Knight sprinted to Gascoigne's before leaping a great distance, grabbing his cape (solidifying) while he did so.
B – (Cape Stun)
His cape connected.
And Stars circled Gascoigne's head.
X X X X – (Beatdown)
THUUINK (x2)
THUUINK (x4)
THUUINK (x6)
THUUINK (x8)
THUUINK (x10)
THUUINK (x12)
THUUINK (x14)
THUUINK (x16)
THUUINK (x18)
THUUINK (x20)
And with a shout & jump the Dark Knight sent a spinning back kick to Gascoigne's face ending the Beatdown.
000
Gascoigne
Gascoigne howled from the kick. Enraged he raised both fists into the air, fist clenched, sharpened nails digging into palm, blood leaking.
x0
He's going to slam the ground for a shockwave.
Timing the dodge with the blow, The Dark Knight waited.
Gascoigne slammed.
L A A (Dodge)
Dodging forward, landing in front of Gascoigne, the Dark Knight grabbed his cape for a 2nd cape stun.
B – (Cape Stun)
It connected.
Stars circled again.
X X X X – (Beatdown)
THUUINK (x2)
THUUINK (x4)
THUUINK (x6)
THUUINK (x8)
THUUINK (x10)
THUUINK (X12)
THUUINK (x14)
THUUINK (x16)
THUUINK (x18)
THUUINK (x20)
THUUINK (x22)
00
Gascoigne
Finishing off the Beatdown, the Dark Knight sent another spinning back kick to Gascoigne's face.
Gascoigne caught it.
The Dark Knight's teeth grit hard in response.
He was then slammed into the ground, back first.
Gascoigne bent down, mouth wide, aiming for the Bat Beast's stony neck.
"Ngh!"
Grabbing Gascoigne's head, stopping the bite, Gascoigne bit air, again, and again, getting closer with each snap.
A A A A – (Escape)
The Dark Knight punched Gascoigne's nose, sparking each time knuckle met face.
Another (sparked) punch and Gascoigne was dazed temporarily, no longer pressing down to bite the Bat beast, going into the motions of a spring-kick, the Dark Knight sprung, Gascoigne having recovered, opened his mouth again to bite down on nape.
He instead bit down on boot.
Groan muffled, Gascoigne once again received another kick to the face.
In a blind rage, raising his hands again to cause another shockwave, the Dark Knight dodged without difficulty.
L A A (redirect)
Another cape stun was sent Gascoigne's way.
For the 3rd time stars circled him.
X X X X – (Beatdown)
THUUINK (x2)
THUUINK (x4)
THUUINK (x6)
THUUINK (x8)
THUUINK (x10)
THUUINK (x12)
THUUINK (x14)
THUUINK (x16)
THUUINK (x18)
THUUINK (x20)
THUUINK (x22)
THUUINK (x24)
THUUINK (x26)
THUUINK x(28)
THUUINK (x30)
O
Gascoigne
Finishing the beatdown, the Dark Knight jumped.
Gascoigne raised his hand to catch the kick.
He caught air.
The Dark Knight utilizing the moment, sent a (sparked) fist to Gascoigne's testicles, earning a pathetic, pained howl.
Viola Cringed.
The Dark Knight didn't stop.
He struck again.
And again.
And again.
Pathetic howls were earned with each sparking blow.
X X X X – (Testicle Beatdown)
THUUINK (x2)
THUUINK (x4)
THUUINK (x6)
THUUINK (x8)
THUUINK (x10)
THUUINK (x12)
THUUINK (x14)
THUUINK (x16)
THUUINK (x18)
THUUINK (x20)
Gascoinge
Father Gascoigne theme – (2nd phase) end
And finally, with grit teeth, to finish the beatdown, grabbing Gascoigne's testicles, the Dark Knight sent 50,000 volts into the heavily mutated Hunter's crotch, nary a whimper sounded from him.
Electricutioner's Shock Gloves roared in approval, in delight at this, one could also say it even cackled at the way it was used.
And the pain, the pain, was too much, even with Insanity and beasthood suppressing Gascoigne's pain, it did not mean him immune to it, and no amount of pain suppression could reduce the impact of multiple fierce electrical strikes to the testicles followed up by a focused surge of it.
Gascoigne fell limp on top of the Dark Knight, groaning at the weight, The Dark Knight pushed sideways to avoid the 9'8 mutated man's form. A thud came in response, the Dark Knight estimated the mutated Hunter's weight to be roughly 580 lbs or 263KG.
It's over. 50,000 volts to the crotch should see that.
A huff of air escaped the Vigilante's nostrils.
"Hmm."
The Dark Knight began to turn, away from Gascoigne, slowly, fist clenched and sparking, muscles still tense, waiting for any hint of movement.
Nothing.
The Dark Knight turned back, a critical look in his eye.
A bait.
"Hmm."
Producing a Batarang from his utility belt, he threw it straight into Gascoigne's head, shocking him at the same time.
No response.
Electricutioner's Shock Gloves ceased roaring, it's purpose fulfilled, slumbering for it's next meal. He walked to Gascoigne's unconscious form.
Moving to pick up the used Batarang, scowling at the unconscious mutated form of the former Hunter as he did so.
Slowly, he bent, eyes never leaving, searching for even the tiniest trace of movement, fist clenched and teeth grit in anticipation. The Dark Knight picked up the Batarang.
The Dark Knight returned the gadget back to the utility belt.
He's really out, I should use Deathstroke's remote claw to hoist him up the building, Gascoigne's too large for me to properly carry him on my shoulder.
The Dark Knight looked back up to Viola, hands covering her mouth, their eyes met, both nodding, he checked quickly with Detective Vision for her condition.
Agitated. 120 BPM.
After that The Dark Knight scanned the un-gated entrance to the Odeon Tomb, looking for groups of approaching rioters.
He spotted one.
Consisting of 5 gunmen, another 4 armed with simple farming tools, one with a poor excuse of a shield, and 2 noticeably large men, roughly 7 feet with a hunch on their back. That counted 11 in total heading to this location.
I should set Glue Grenades to the mine function to give me time.
Setting the gadget to mine, the Dark Knight pulled out 5 glue mines, tossing the devices to the direction of the entrance, primed and ready to explode on contact.
Then he pulled out the remote claw, the Caped Crusader looked up, seeing a suitable edge, he aimed and fired 2 claws, latching with a "klickh" noise.
Both claws opened, sending ropes out, taking a successful hold on Gascoigne, the gadget whirled and speedily raised him to the edge of the roof.
Gascoigne didn't respond.
Screams and exclamations of surprises informed the Dark Knight of the group's arrival.
He aimed, and fired the grapple, gravity pushing down.
Reaching the top of the roof, he climbed up, Gascoigne unconscious form waiting to be pulled.
And with a grunt of effort, the Dark Knight did.
A loud thud, the cracking and splintering of tile, mixed with dust dissipating and Gascoigne was on the roof.
I can examine Gascoigne later, Viola's safety should be prioritized, Deathstroke's remote claw will temporarily keep him in place, that, and a tracker to monitor him in case he escapes.
Dropping a tracker to the back of the nape and firing 4 separate shots to hands & feet, Gascoigne was restrained, again with no response.
The Dark Knight heard accented orders and shouts being communicated with each other down below, ignoring them, another Remote Claw, claw, was shot, connecting the 2 separate rooftops with a rope.
The Dark Knight dropped onto the rope and speedily zip lined across before jumping up to the roof Viola was at.
Viola backed up at the speedy arrival of the Bat-Beast, it looked at her.
"Lead the way" it ordered.
"O-okay." Viola stuttered awkwardly.
Grabbing Viola's waist (a slight eep, and a shocking apology from the Bat beast) with a firm hold, the Dark Knight fired in the instructed direction.
Both flew.
Leaving behind the sleeping form of a mutated Gascoigne.
The Dark Knight knew this was going to be a long night.