[Connor Kent's POV]
I sat on the edge of my bed in the Young Justice headquarters, my mind racing as I reflected on the incident. I had never felt so powerless in my life. It was as if he was toying with me, as if I was nothing more than a mere annoyance to him.
I remembered the way he moved, so fast and precise that I couldn't even keep up with him. I had tried to outmaneuver him, but he was always one step ahead. The way he had looked at me, with those cold, calculating eyes from behind his mask, it had sent shivers down my spine.
I couldn't help but feel despair as I thought about the fight. I had been completely outmatched. How could I, Superboy, have been so utterly defeated? I had let down the team, let down the Justice League.
As I sat there, lost in thought, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of person he was. He seemed almost inhuman, a force of nature that couldn't be tamed. I shuddered a bit at the thought of facing him again, that kryptonite he has might give him a solid advantage.
But as much as the thought of him gave me goosebumps, I knew I would have to face him again. I had to prove to myself, to the team, that I was better than what I had shown in that fight. That I could be a hero, even in the face of such overwhelming power.
…
[Tom Hendricks POV]
Dressed in my masked costume, I leaned back in my chair. My mind working overtime. I had tapped into the power grid of the facility and made adjustments to monitor for any unusual fluctuations.
It was the day I had predicted that the thief would rob the facility. I went ahead to make the necessary preparations so I could intercept him that night, curious as to his identity. He might be useful to me sometime in the future.
It wasn't long before the alarm went off, indicating a brief moment where the facility's power supply exhibited unusual activities.
I sprang into action, quickly pinpointing the exact floor of the anomaly. I accelerated through the building and surged forward, moving at an incredible speed as I hoped to get to him before the guards arrived at the spot. Within moments, I arrived at the intended floor.
As I had predicted, the thief was already inside, moving quickly through the darkened hallways. But I was ready for him. With a flick of my wrist, I sent him flying across the room and out the window.
I held on to him in mid-air and took flight, taking him to a cool spot where we could talk like civilized men. It's better we had our talk now rather than when he has gotten a swollen head due to the amount of power he'd attain with the device he was currently building.
Immediately he dropped on the ground, be didn't wait to hear what I had to say before pulling out a military-grade M16 Riffle and slowly took aim at me.
I stood facing the thief, his military-grade M16 rifle aimed straight at me. Without warning, he opened fire, the sound of fired shots ringing in my ears.
*RAT-TATATA-TATA*
The bullets came into contact with my deflective field and as usual, It sent the bullets flying back towards him. They moved through the air with an invisible force that pushed him back a bit as they came in contact with his armor.
The thief staggered on his feet, slow and disoriented as some of the bullets had hit the Armoured mask over his face. But he didn't seem to be fazed by that. He aimed his rifle once again and pulled the trigger, firing round after round at me. I continued to deflect the bullets, my powers shielding me from harm.
With a surge of energy, I charged forward, moving faster than the thief could see. In a blur of motion, I knocked the rifle out of his hand, sending it clattering to the ground.
The thief stumbled backwards. "Who… are you?" he said, breathing heavily through each word as he spoke behind his mask armor.
"I'd like to ask you the same thing," I replied, a smirk on my face.
With that, I dashed forward, delivering a series of blows that sent the thief reeling. He was unable to fight back. If it weren't for his heavy armor protecting him, he'd have died from those hits already.
Finally, with a hit that was a little bit stronger than the rest I had been giving, I delivered a heavy uppercut which lifted him off his feet and knocked the thief to the ground, his mask falling off in the process. I reached down and picked it up, revealing the face of the mystery man.
"Gwen, scan his face and bring out what ever you can find regarding his identity." I said as I tapped on the side of my earphone hidden inside my mask.
He stood up and pulled out two pistols but before he could take a shot at me, I placed my arm on his shoulder and nullified any trace of kinetic energy he could exhibit. Without affecting his blood flow, cells, heart and respiratory organs, but left him at a stationary state.
"Got something." Gwen said.
"Let's hear it."
His name is 'Floyd Lawton,' a mercenary also known as 'the man who never misses' a.k.a 'DeathShot,' in the criminal underworld.
It was almost difficult to believe, he was on my list of skilled personnels I wanted to recruit for my team of outlaws. The messy jobs didn't match his EMO, not even the slightest bit. Apart from the grade of weapons he had on him, it was hard to tell because he wasn't wearing his iconic costume.
My advanced glasses showed a wave frequency transmitting to him like he was acting like a receiver.
I quickly realized that there was more to this than just a simple heist. DeathShot wasn't acting on his own accord, and it's possible he was being controlled.
"Gwen, run a scan on him and search for any abnormality in his brain activity."
"It's just as you must have suspected already, an unusual frequency is messing with his theta brainwaves. He is transmitting and receiving information." She gave her analysis on it.
"Can you pinpoint the original source of transmission?" I asked Gwen.
"I'm trying, but it's proving difficult to locate," she responded.
"Okay forget that and look into the feedback data then cross check it with anything you can find, maybe something like this has happened before."
"I found something."
"Gwen, what do you have?" I asked.
"The results of DeathShot's brain activity match a report on a number of Gorilla Grodd's psychic attacks," Gwen replied.
"I was right after all," I said with a smirk on my face. This wasn't just a simple heist. Gorilla Grodd was involved, and that meant things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.
That was a name I never expected to hear and even cross paths with. If Grodd was really the one behind the stolen techs, then it actually kind of makes sense.
He was an oversized gorilla with psychic abilities, and it was now clear that he wanted to build an amplifier to boost the range and strength of his ability.
I freed him a little so he could speak. "How dare you… Interfere with Grodd's plan, such insolence from a human." He spoke out as he referred to himself as a third person, or rather the one behind the driver's seat.
"Grodd ugh, well let's leave it at that." I said. I could feel my blood boil as I finally stood face to face with DeathShot, and he was being controlled by a gorilla. "Honestly I didn't really care what the person building that tech might be up to, but I won't sit back and let you complete a device that you could use to control humanity."
Grodd's voice boomed through DeathShot's mouth, "You think you can stop me? You're just a human with some parlor tricks up your sleeve."
"You underestimate me, Grodd. And I'm sure it must have come to your notice already, that you can't get into my head."
"That, I have noticed. How is that… Possible?"
"I am in full control of what goes on in my body and my mind, there's no way you could breach my mental defenses. Putting you at a disadvantage if we are to face off." I said, before letting out a sarcastic laugh.
Grodd responded, "Your mental defenses won't save you from me. I will dominate your mind and make you my puppet just like DeathShot here. I need him for his skills but I don't mind taking you for your powers."
I refused to be intimidated by the ranting gorilla. "Even if you ever succeed with your plans, it won't be a problem of mine. It'll be up to the Justice League to stop you, because you'll be a major headache by then. But if they let things prolong for too long and let you wreak havoc, then I'd step in myself."
Grodd cackled, "We'll see about that. We'll see." And with that, DeathShot collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
[Tom Hendricks POV]
He had taken DeathShot over to an abandoned building in the outskirts of town. He just got back from a short trip he made to secure materials and parts he needed to build a psychotic dampener for DeathShot, so Grodd does not take control of his mind the moment he opens his eyes.
He stripped him of all firearms and completely disarmed him just to be sure Deathstroke does not pull any surprise attack on him, not that any attack would have worked on him.
As he finished up with the tech he was building, he noticed that his guest who he had placed on the floor was regaining consciousness and turned over to take a look at him but he still seemed sleepy and his mind might still be foggy.
After glancing at him and DeathShot slowly closed his eyes again only opened them when it was twelve minutes past.
…
[Floyd Lawton]
Laying on the cold hard floor of an abandoned building, was a man dressed in an all-black heavy armor clothing.
While regaining consciousness, he noticed a blurry figure at the door. A man leaned against the frames, sporting an average height figure, slender frame and a sleek costume of all black with the only other color being two white strips across the lower section of his black leather jacket. And a black mask that covered the upper section of his face. His hair was wild and shockingly white, and his white teeth were on full display in a wide, maniacal grin.
He noticed a throbbing headache and found himself in a state of conundrum as he struggled to remember how he got there or what he had been doing before. He tried to sit up, but the pain in his head was too intense, so he decided to lay still and assess his surroundings.
Looking around him, he noticed the building was dark and empty, with no signs of life. The walls were covered in peeling paint, and the air was musty and damp. He noticed his weapons and his guns were missing from their holsters.
He struggled to get into a sitting position but immediately winced in pain and held on to his head due to the pulsating headache which greeted him that evening.
He composed himself as his vision steadied and slowly cleared up. The disoriented man looked over at the spot he had seen the figure earlier but saw no one there, and the memory was starting to look like an illusion.
"Finally, you're up. It was starting to become a bore, waiting for you to wake up. Was already loving the idea of slapping the shit out of you until you came back to the world of the living." The stranger in a black mask said from behind him. He took a closer look and noticed the stranger had on a similar costume as the one he had seen earlier but with a full mask on and some cool pair of black glasses that almost looked like a visor.
With a sudden roll, Floyd rolled to the side and grabbed the M16 rifle he saw laying at a nearby Corner.
"Who are you?" He asked as he got on his knees and took aim.
"Welcome back to hell, Mr Floyd Lawton." The masked man bantered. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"None of your business, now tell. Who you are and where the fuck this is." He responded.
"For you to get an understanding as to why you are here, first you'll need to think back to what you remember. Then you can link it with your current situation." The stranger in the mask said, before walking over to a nearby stool and took a seat as if he wasn't threatened by the rifle.
"With the slightest movement of the finger I have on the trigger right now, I could easily blow your brains out. Then figure out where I am for myself."
"You can go ahead and try, but I believe it would be in your best interest if you didn't. You might just end up hurting yourself after I had just saved you." He said with a short pause. "Technically, my boss did." He added.
"Your boss?"
"Yes, now put down that gun and tell me exactly what you remember."
"I…I remember being out on a mission, I had been paid to assassinate a target and he was finally within my range. I mounted my sniper rifle and took careful aim through the scope, suddenly I was hit by a splitting headache then it all turned black. I guess… I blacked out." Floyd responded, still confused with the whole thing.
"Oh yeah, you indeed blacked out and were in full commando mode for a few months now, you stole from one company to another. Fought off the police and is now on the run from the heros."
"That's impossible." Floyed blurted out. "You're kidding right." Floyd said, then broke into a short series of nervous laughter.
"Well not to a psychic gorilla who wants to reenact planet of the apes, and I mean Gorilla Grodd."
His blood ran cold due to the inflow of the shocking information. It sounded like a lie but the blackout was real and the situation he currently found himself was proof of what the masked man had said.
"Are you serious right now, Grodd?"
He used you like a puppet to steal technological parts he needed." Floyd scoffed at the bizarre information but yet, he thought to himself that something like that isn't far fetched, yet again he considered the world they found themselves in and it was very much possible.
"So how did I end up here and unconscious?"
"Well I'm sure you're quite curious as to the answer to that question. The thing is, my employer had a preposition for you and could not get in contact with you. So he sent people out in search of the man who never misses, 'Floyd Lawton'." Which is you, that was when he found out you were doing Gorilla Grodd's bidding and sent me to help you break free from the leash Grodd had on you."
"Wow! That's a lot to take in all at once but one thing is for sure, whoever your boss is, I owe him one." Floyd said with a breath of slight relief. "And just who might your boss be?" He continued.
"His name is 'Ghost' and he wants you to come work for him, he wants you to be part of the private group of outlaws he's putting together."
"I appreciate him helping me out and all… But thanks, I am cool with my job as a hitman."
He stood up and was preparing himself to leave the building. "That's the fun of it, you don't need to stop being a hitman. You can go along with your normal job but when he calls on you, he needs you to take up his request as swiftly as you can."
"Sounds good to me, I am a contractor after all. When can I meet this boss of yours and what may I call you?" He asked the stranger in a mask.
"He'll reach out to you when it's convenient enough to meet with you. As for my identity, it's better we don't speak of that now. Maybe some other time."
"But am I free from Gorilla Grodd's mind control thingy?" He asked, his expression slowly morphing into that of wary.
"Don't worry, so long as you don't take off that piece of tech that's been placed on your ear he won't be able to get control of your mind." With that, DeathShot reached for both ears and felt something was indeed around his left ear but he could barely feel it before.
"What… Is this?" DeathShot asked in complete curiosity as to what had been placed on his ear, there were no mirrors or reflective surface around to check.
"They are psychic dampeners, he won't be able to reach your mind so long as it stays on. And don't worry, it's waterproof." He said, confidence leaking audibly through his voice.
DeathShot looked at the windows and noticed a broken piece of glass hanging on the frame, he rushed over and grabbed the glass as he used it as a mirror. The device he saw looked more like a one-eared bluetooth headphone that relaxed on the surface of his ear.
"Take this phone, Ghost will contact you with this. So long as you pledge your loyalty to him, you'll be part of the unstoppable team he's building." He reached out his hand and gave DeathShot a burner phone.
"Okay, you still haven't told me where exactly here is." DeathShot said, gesturing for an answer.
"You're a skilled hitman right? Figure it out yourself, I've done my part and whatever you do from now on is none of my business unless it's an order from Ghost." He said as he started to float into the air and disappeared through the window, leaving the mercenary alone in the cold and dark room of an abandoned building.
Kindly visit my to read 15 chapters ahead./Maverick_DaSupreme