Weeks have passed since I started working for the crime families and gangs of Gotham, and my reputation as "Ghost" is starting to spread. Only those who are well-connected can find me, and they know that my services come at a steep price. I carefully review each job that comes my way, rejecting anything that doesn't meet my standards or fails to pique my interest.
Selina and I have been making progress, she's friendly at the other end of the bar but she has this wall she keeps up. I know she has a thing with Batman and all, and she sometimes gives him certain information when he asks for it. That's why I tend to watch my steps when it comes to her. She's a potential candidate for the team I intend to build because her skills would be needed and I can put them to good use, but first I would like her to end whatever fling she's having with Batman.
I've been keeping a low profile lately, and surprisingly, the Bat family hasn't interfered with any of my operations. It's possible that they haven't caught wind of the increased crime rate in Gotham's criminal underworld, but I highly doubt it. It's safe to assume they already noticed and might start doing some digging soon.
But dwelling on that won't do me any good right now. My stomach was rumbling, and I needed to refuel. Ordering in is easy enough, but every once in a while, I crave a well-cooked meal to nourish my body and sharpen my mind.
I stroll through the city streets, my senses on high alert as I take in my surroundings. The sights, sounds, and smells of Gotham are a cacophony of chaos, but amidst the madness, I find solace in the little things - a warm smile from a passerby, the aroma of fresh-baked bread wafting from a bakery, the soft rustle of leaves in the wind.
I've been hearing a lot of buzz about a new Japanese restaurant in town, and being a lover of authentic Japanese cuisine, I had to check it out. It's been a while since I've had the real deal, and not the watered-down imitations that are so common these days.
As I stepped inside the restaurant, the intoxicating aroma of freshly cooked Japanese food greeted me, making my mouth watered in anticipation. The decor was sleek and minimalist, with traditional Japanese elements such as paper lanterns and bamboo screens adding to the ambiance.
I took a seat and browsed through the menu, feeling like a kid in a candy store as I perused the array of dishes on offer. I spotted my favorite Japanese dish - ramen - and my mouth watered at the thought of the rich, savory broth, tender slices of pork, and perfectly cooked noodles.
The waiter approached me, and I ordered my ramen with pork and a few other toppings. As I wait for my meal, I can feel the tension in my muscles melt away. There was something about the simple elegance of Japanese cuisine that soothes the soul and feeds the spirit.
When my ramen arrived, I took a tentative sip of the broth and felt a rush of flavors explode on my tongue. It's the perfect blend of salty, savory, and umami, with a depth of flavor that can only come from carefully simmered bones and spices.
I took another slurp of the rich, steaming broth and savored the complex flavors dancing on my tongue. The restaurant had been generous with the toppings, and I relished the tender slices of pork, perfectly cooked noodles, and the crunch of fresh vegetables.
A whole bowl of ramen is a hearty meal, reminding me of the few times I spent with my dad in my past life. But I shake off the memories and focus on the present - the delicious meal in front of me, and the goals I've set for myself in this new life.
As I leave the restaurant, feeling satisfied and energized from the delicious ramen, I decide to take a shortcut through a quiet alleyway. The sun is starting to set, casting a warm glow over the cobblestones. On my way I accidentally stumbled on some guys who were beating the crap out of some dude and it seemed like he could drop dead anytime soon. I stopped and stared at them for a while, they looked at me and asked me to move along. That did not concern me, and yes it absolutely did not.
The few seconds I stopped there staring at them while sitting on my bike, was me wondering what would it benefit me if I saved him. Yes it's the right thing to save him and I could do that without even lifting a finger, with just a thought and it'll all be over. But then again it came to me, if I keep on saving everyone I saw that was in some kind of trouble or interrupting every inhuman crime I saw, then it'll be me developing a hero complex.
I do not want anything to do with heroes and I'd rather stick to my ways of only doing things that would benefit me in one way or another. I took one last look at the dude who seemed like he was about to blackout, then I started my bike and just drove off without giving it another thought as if it never happened and I never saw that.
Suddenly I sensed something approaching me, I wasn't worried and shrugged it off because there's no possible harm it could cause me. But the trajectory wasn't directed towards me, it was…
SCREEEE…
Before I knew it my back tire suddenly seized and I struggled to control my bike, I almost crashed when I immediately nullified the kinetic force acting on my bike and multiplied the amount of frictional force exerted on the tires, and the bike came to an impromptu stop.
I wondered what ass hole would dare to attack me who was simply minding my own business and going about my day.
"You should probably get your bike checked out." The voice I heard came from the top of the building and I swear I could feel the smugness on his face even without seeing his face. I didn't bother turning to him at once and just came off my bike as I inspected it. What seemed to have affected my tire was a bat-shaped thingy which I didn't know what it was. But it stopped the mobility of my bike just by making contact with it.
I slowly stood up and turned to look at the bastard who had the guts to ruin my evening which was going really smoothly and without any hiccups or anything to rack my brain about.
"How dare you interrupt my ride?" I calmly spoke, my tone neutral as I slowly emphasized every word while staring at him with an equally unfazed expression as the wind whooshed through my hair and also spread out the cape of the brat I saw standing up there. It was "Boy Wonder."
"How dare I? I saw you stop by to look at the dude who was having his ass kicked back there, and you just drove off like you didn't care what happened to him."
"Exactly." I said as I threw the bat stuff on the ground and chose to ignore the little brat.
"Exactly what? And don't turn your back on me like I wasn't talking to you."
"I meant you've said it all, I simply did not care what happened to that dude over there. Of which I'm assuming you said him and decided to pick a fight with a bystander like me." I sat on my bike and was about to turn it on, when I sensed another object projectile towards me but the trajectory was towards my bike. I stopped it on its tracks and it just fell to the ground.
"You are a meta, then why didn't you help that guy who could have died from that beating."
"Like I said kid, I simply do not care."
"Don't refer to me that way and give me a reasonable answer." He shot his gun at a wall and jumped off the roof.
What else do I have to explain to him, when my reason is as simple as I've already told him? Or do I have to get it deep into his skull that I just don't care?
I turned and with a thought I removed his grapple hook from the wall and he suddenly switched from swinging, into a crash. He landed on his feet then rolled on the floor to nullify the impact from the fall, a smart move if you asked me.
I don't want any kind of issue with the bat family, especially since I'm already doing some shady-ass shit on their territory. It's wise to keep a low profile and not draw any attention to myself as my alter ego goes on overtaking crime in Gotham.
But this encounter might put me on their rader. "Sigh." I sighed as the thought that crossed my mind was, it's better to just drive off and ignore the brat who seemed to be looking for a fight for some reason. But I'd also like to test my hand with a well trained sidekick, also spending a little more time with him might give me an idea on which Robin he might be. NightWing was already out. I know Batman had either three or four Robin's, so it's better to know which.
"Did you do that?" He asked as he sprung into a battle stance and approached me slowly, as if walking with caution.
"Did what?" I replied to him with a question as I feigned ignorance.
"You know what I meant, you are responsible for my hook coming off the wall." He said firmly, like he was confident in his skill to aim solid spots on the walls of a building. I don't blame him though, he had been doing it for years now and suddenly this happened. I was the only foreign element there so it was dumb to assume it was my doing but also logical to keep his guard up, especially since he saw me use one of my powers.
"Ughh. Okay fine, it was me." Holding a conversation with the kid was way more boring than I could have imagined, it seemed like every question that came out from his mouth was an interrogative one. I came off my bike and stood facing the direction of the complacent kid, he had his arms up as if ready to evade and block whatever I might throw at him but he stopped advancing when I came down from my bike.
That's good, either he's just being cautious of his opponent or he had a small sense of danger. Because right now I was just itching to hand his ass over to him.
I looked at the boy who had no rational excuse as to why he wanted to have a fight with me.
"So you want to beat me up just because I ignored a beat down which I could have easily stopped and just drove by without doing anything about it, minding my own business?" I asked the boy who was just itching to drive his fist into my face.
"Not only that, but you attacked me the moment you unhooked my grapple hook while I was in midair. I could have dislocated a limb from that fall if I was lacking in experience."
"Well if you want to fight, then I'll give you a fight that'd have you crawling back home with your tail between your legs and it'll have that cocky look on your face right now completely wiped out."
"You talk big for someone who doesn't even know to put his guard up, I hope fighting you won't be as boring as having a conversation with your proud ass."
I stood there with my white hair standing out in the dark due to the moon light which enveloped the night. I knew I definitely can't match up with Robin when it came to martial arts, that was his specialty and I won't humor him.
He dashed towards me and attempted to throw a right hook across my face, but his fist hit a solid barrier with water-like ripples. It was my deflective field and it threw him back.
"Come on kid, how can you beat me when you can't even touch me." I looked down on him as I taunted his pride.
"What the fuck was that?" He asked with frustration clearly visible on his face.
He brought out a batarang and hurled it my way, it just hit the field then deflected towards him, following the same trajectory as before but in reverse motion. He was quick to dodge but It was time for me to have my fun.
He was about bringing out something which I didn't care to see, when I halted every movement of his. He struggled to move but couldn't, with my arm stretched out I lifted him above the ground.
"You are light-years away from beating me you brat." I looked into his eyes which showed just a little bit of fear, but I wanted him terrified.
I bashed the bastard against a wall then left him to try whatever he thought he could use against me.
He was running out of options and it was clear to him that he was nor match for me, but his pride and anger had blindsided him. He hurled a few smoke bombs at me then ran around stealthily, making it hard for me to predict his movements while I stood there with both hands on my pockets and my eyes closed.
Little did he know that I could tell where he was, I could feel the vector transmitted through the ground each time he stepped on it. He jumped into the air as he tried using a stick to attack me from above, hoping it might be my blint spot. But I calculated his next move from the way he projectiled himself into the air, before he could make contact with the barrier I had around me I took a side step as his stick completely missed me. Before he could recover himself while in the air, I reached for his head as I increased the acceleration beneath my feet and smashed him into a wall with my hand on his forehead.
He gasped open contact with the wall.
'There was no harm in trying out that neat trick I learnt the other day.' I thought to myself as I used his bodies electricity and sent small jolts through his cells.
He screamed, he grunted in agony as his limbs moved in random motions like he couldn't bear the pain he was feeling.
"I'm thinking of using the blood flow and bioelectricity in your body, and trying my hand in a little art. You'll be dead though, and won't get to see it." I said as I let out a maniacal laughter which filled the air, overpowering his painful grunts.
"Just kidding." I said as I let go of the kid who seemed to have passed out already. I knew better than to kill a member of the Bat family if I don't want Batman and the League on my pretty little ass. I took a step back and stared at the unconscious kid for a while, before getting on my bike and driving off. If he's lucky he won't be found by some goons before he wakes up.
"That sure felt good." I said as I drove off into the night.
[Jason Todd's POV]
As I slowly opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Batgirl's concerned face staring back at me. But everything else was a blur, like I was looking through a thick fog that refused to lift. I struggled to make out her words, the sound of her voice muffled and distant like I was submerged in water.
"Robin! Robin!" Her urgent tone cut through the haze, and I realized that something was very wrong.
I tried to move, to respond, but my body was unresponsive. I lay there, completely numb, with Batgirl's lap as my only support. She looked down at me with fear in her eyes, her voice trembling as she spoke.
"Are you okay?"
I wanted to answer her, to tell her that I was fine, but before I could say a word, my vision became even more blurry. It was like Batgirl was drifting away from me, her form becoming smaller and smaller until she was just a speck in the distance.
As the darkness crept in, I felt myself losing consciousness, my mind slipping away from me like sand through my fingers. And as the world faded to black, I wondered what it was that the white haired stranger did to me.
…
[Barbara Gordon's POV]
Jason had been missing for over an hour, which was unusual for him. Normally, he checked in regularly on his comms while on patrol, but today there was only silence. I tried reaching out to him, but there was no response. Concerned, I traced his location using the tracker on his utility belt and found that he was in a dark alleyway, unmoving.
With Bruce out of town, I had to handle the situation alone. I rushed to the alley and found Jason lying on the ground, beaten and battered. It was a shock to see him in such a state. He had a few bruises, but thankfully no major injuries.
I tried to wake him up, but he was barely conscious, only opening his eyes for a few fleeting moments before drifting off again. I knew I had to act fast, so I scooped him up and hurried back to the Batcave.
Once there, I cleaned him up and tended to his wounds, administering first aid as best I could.
Despite my best efforts, Jason refused to tell me what had happened to him. It was frustrating not knowing who was responsible for his injuries and what he had been through, but I respected his decision to keep it to himself.
For hours, I sat by his side, waiting and watching over him as he rested. As the night wore on, I heard a groaning sound coming from his direction. Turning around, I saw him trying to sit up, but I quickly rushed over to him and urged him to relax.
"What happened to you?" I asked, hoping that he would open up to me.
"It was nothing, I'm fine," he replied dismissively, trying to brush off his injuries as if they were insignificant.
"This isn't nothing, I saw you passed out in some alleyway. You need to tell me what happened so we can make sure it doesn't happen again."
He turned over on his bed, his back to me, and I could tell that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Okay, if you say so," I sighed, feeling frustrated and helpless. I knew that Jason was a capable fighter and could take care of himself, but I also knew that he wasn't invincible. If something like this happened again, I needed to know how to help him.
As I watched Jason sleep, I couldn't help but think about what could have caused him to be so defensive about his injuries. I knew he had always been quick to anger and had a bit of a temper, but there was something different about his behavior this time around.
I had a feeling that whatever had happened to him had wounded his pride and left him feeling vulnerable. Perhaps it was something that he was struggling to come to terms with, or maybe he was simply too proud to admit that he had been defeated.
Either way, I knew that Jason needed time to process what had happened to him and come to terms with his injuries. Eventually, I hoped that he would feel comfortable enough to open up to me and share his story.
Until then, all I could do was wait and watch over him, providing whatever support and comfort he needed. As a member of the Batfamily, it was my duty to be there for him, no matter what.
Please kindly visit my to read ahead./Maverick_DaSupreme