[Bruce Wayne's POV]
"What exactly happened out there Master Bruce?" Alfred asked as Batman and Barbara hopped off their vehicles and proceeded into the workspace of the Batcave.
"I don't know Alfred, but that didn't seem like a normal robbery." Turning to Barbara, Alfred raised a brow, hoping she throws more light on the matter.
"Everything felt off, most of the robbers were already dead, killed by an highly skilled individual." She said before taking a seat right in front of a portray of monitors and began typing away.
"I recognize those killing techniques, it is one often used by the League of Assassins." Batman said to them.
"The League of Assassinsr? Surely the hostages witnessed who killed them." Alfred suggested.
"Yes, we questioned a number of them and they said the other robbers were killed by a lady with black hair and a kid with snow white hair." Batman said as he looked up to the screen.
"From the collective data, the descriptions matches theses two." Barbara tapped on a key on the keyboard and two profiles appeared on the screen, one of Tom and the other of Barbara.
"And what connects these this two? It's quite odd to imagine such polar opposites having dinner at such a private and exquisite restaurant. Alfred shared, stroking his chin as he read through the profiles displayed on the screen.
"That's what we need to find out. What Talia al Ghul has to do with a kid like Tom. Especially since this is the first League activity since the disappearance of Ra's al Ghul." Bruce replied.
"The only robber left alive was a female who appeared to be too strong of a meta criminal to have gone unnoticed for this long." Barbara added.
"Anything on her?" Batman asked and Barbara immediately clicked on another button and a profile of the oranges haired criminal displayed with no detail next to it. "We know about those two but her on the other hand is a complete mystery, there is absolutely nothing on her. She doesn't exist, we only got a picture of her from our case recorder."
"The only person's who went missing from the scene apart from this criminal, are Tom and Talia." Batman pointed out as he began to go through the tape from his fight against the mystery girl.
"There's a sudden and abnormal change in the atmospheric pressure of a ship yard at the other side of Gotham, near Bludhaven." Barbara reported.
"Contact Nightwing and have him check it out immediately, and try pulling up a live footage of the scene so we know what's going on over there."
"On it." She replied as she got on the task. "Tapping into the ship yard's virtual feed." She updated.
"That's odd." She muttered.
"What's wrong?" Batman asked. "I am not getting any signal from the cameras, almost as if they might have been disconnected or had their circuits fried. "
"Tell Nightwing to hasten up, something big is going on down there. Gear up, we're also heading out. Even if we don't make it in time, we could investigate the scene and to better understand what might have taken place there." Batman instructed before heading straight up for the Batwing, and Barbara right behind him.
…
[Tom Hendricks POV]
Having exhausted herself by deploying a series of attacks at Tom, one after the other, she dropped to her knees as she continued to pant heavily.
"I don't know how many times I would have to tell you before you get it into your thick skull that no matter how hard you try girl, you can't hurt me. So why don't you give up on that and just fess up who sent you after my head and why. Then maybe I might consider not giving you a slow and excruciating death." Tom advised as he watched her stumble to her feet.
"I will have your head, this isn't just business anymore but now it's personal." She replied, breathing through each breath as she refused to give Tom an answer.
"What did I ever do to you to make it personal? You're the one who's been attacking me, all I've done is use your attacks against you because I know one direct attack from me would end this little fun we are having tonight."
"Fuck you and your messed up mind. The reports only mentioned you were strong, I guess they failed to mention how sick in the head you can be." She said as she began to draw in electricity from high up in the sky and surrounding buildings, creating a spear made out of pure electricity in her hand.
"Okay nameless girl, I think that's about enough." Tom said as he noticed the huge amount of electricity she was harnessing, so strong and powerful that it was possible for her to lose control of it the moment she hurl it his way.
'I will put everything I've got into this shot. At least with this, even if he tries sending my attack right back at me, I could release the compressed electricity and change it's form into an out of control array of intense current and electrocute him till there's not even a mustard seed size of moisture in his body.' She thought to herself as the electricity crackled around her and the spear she held in her right hand grew longer and brighter.
"This is the end, your arrogance to not wanting to dodge this or make a run for it, would be the end of you." She muttered before hurling the massive bolt of electricity at Tom.
"I said that's enough." Tom dashed right at the electrified bolt which came at him with the speed of light, grabbed it midair and compressed it into a small and more intense bolt of electricity before launching it right back at her.
'No… Way.' She thought to herself as she raised both hands in front of her, attempting to quell the lightening bolt and regain control of it but it was proving difficult for her.
The force from it pushed her backwards as her legs dragged along the ground while she finally got it under her control, but it was too late. Before she realized it, Tom had made his way to her side and landed a blow so heavy against her rib cage that it sent her flying into one of the containers in the yard, leaving quite a dent upon impact.
"I think I might have broken quite a number of ribs." He muttered to himself as he casually approached her unconscious body. "Now go to sleep like a good little girl, you would need all your strength when I start with you." He said to her before telekineticly lifting her off the ground, then flying off across the waters and into the night sky.
…
[Jason Todd's POV]
Scouting an alley from a rooftop, Redhood kept an intense gaze at the front of a red door in the depths of a dark alley sidewall. Rain droplets bounced off his helmet and leather jacket as he watched three suspicious men on suit approaching the building he was staking out.
He dropped to the ground of the alley and perched next to a Dumpster to get a closer look at them when he noticed the one in the middle had a brief case with him.
He watched them walk inside and followed through the door, deciding it was time to act. He did the same and to his surprise he was met with another door ahead and with a security guard in front of it. "Hey ugly, step aside." Redhood said to a hulking dark skinned man on dreads, he stood in front or the door like some guardian of some sort. Without giving a response, the hulking man reached for his pistol he had hoisted to the belt on his waist.
*Arrghh!!*
He yelled the moment a hurled knife ripped through his hand and out from the other side of his palm. "Keep it down you Oaf." Redhood said with a stern tone, charging in as he struck the jugular vein of the so-called Oaf. He reached for one of his pistols and struck a blow on his head.
As the body dropped to the ground, Redhood proceeded to toss a small disc-like device through the red door that was previously being guarded. Behind the door was a small crowd of men all dressed in black, having their guns trained at the door.
They looked down below to see the disc stop right in front of them. "Get down!" The one in front yelled, but before they could react to it, it exploded, resulting into a smoke screen.
They fired gun shots through the smoke but Redhood glided across the floor, shooting two down as he tackled another to the ground. "Incoming call from Master Tom." Gwen's voice echoed in he's ears as he fought on.
"Bad timing bro, am a bit busy right now." First thing he said as the call connected. "Good, you're a bit busy. Meaning you are just a bit occupied." Tom replied from the other side of the line as more men came swarming in from the back rooms and firing at him.
Diving to a corner, he peeped from the side of the wall to see how many they were but got more shots fired at him. "I'm literally getting shot at right now, so yeah, bad timing." He replied before reaching out his gun to fire back.
"Okay, I guess I would do it myself. And by that I mean call someone else to do it for me. Have fun playing soldier with your little friends over there." Tom replied before handing up.
"Sometimes I think he forgets not everyone is as invincible as he is." Red Hood muttered to himself as he let out a sigh before returning to the rain of bullets firing at him.
Early that morning, the police station was as busy as a lobby room in Call of Duty on a Saturday morning. "Anything regarding last night's incident?" Commissioner Gordon asked one of his deputies as officers roamed back and forth, trying to make sense of what had happened at the restaurant and the identity of the girl who attacked their men.
"Nothing sir, it seemed like an armed robbery but apart from the unusually strong meta, there's something else that doesn't make any sense." He replied.
"Well, go on ahead and tell me. I don't have all day." Commissioner Gordon said to him, taking off his glasses as he massaged his temples, the compiled stress and frustration from the late hours of the night all through this morning evident on his face.
"There's nothing in any of them, almost like they fell from the sky or something."
"You're telling me they don't exist? Like there's no data or a pint-sized info that would help us identify any of them?" He asked with a stern look, not too surprised by that because he had been in that line of work long enough to know that certain circumstances like that was possible.
"Yes sir." The deputy replied.
"How about from the security cameras, anything on what went on in there?"
"No sir, am afraid they were all disabled right before the attack."
"I see, typical move for smart robbers." Commissioner Gordon remarked with a sigh as he reclined into his chair, turning around and looking right out the clear window. "Okay, I want all footage from every dash-cam present at the scene last night to be reviewed thoroughly. Check for anything unusual that you might have missed."
"Yes sir." He replied with a salute before leaving the commissioner's office. "Seems I would have to see the Bat tonight, he might know something." Reaching for his drawer he muttered to himself as he pulled out a cigar and lit it, drawing a few puffs before exhaling. Almost like exhaling some of his frustration right out with the fumes.
…
[Tom Hendricks POV]
As she slowly regained consciousness, a mild music played in the dimly lit room, her vision blurry and with aches all over her body like she was hit by a truck or something with that much force. He hands were suspended and tied up to some cables which were hooked onto lock clips at the ceiling.
The ground was a wooden floor so there was no way she could transmit electricity from her body to help her escape, especially since Tom had worn a meta-dampener bracelet around her ankle.
'Where… Where am I?' The girl asked, taking a look around only to hear Tom humming to the mild music playing in the background as he calmly cleaned some knives and other tools with a piece of cloth.
"Oh, you're awake. That's good, I was almost done with this." Tom said to her as he noticed her eyes slowly closing back as her consciousness sluggishly faded away. He walked over to her and slapped her so hard across the face that her eyes hurriedly swung open. "Wake up bitch." He said as he pulled on her hair.
"Good, you're up again." Tom said with a deranged looking smile on his face. She spat at him but her spit didn't reach him but just hit an airfield before dropping to the floor.
He punched her in the guts, taking her few inches off the ground as her eyes widened, liquid spilled from her mouth and she began to gasp for some air. "You're one feisty bitch, I like feisty bitches. They are fun to toy with, and I enjoy breaking every piece of them, piece by piece."
Walking down to a chair at a corner in the room, he took a seat right next to a table occupied with fine food and red wine before he continued. "Their minds, body, and soul. Every piece would be a delight to break apart. I really do hope you're as stubborn as you let on, maybe you could quell my boredom for a while."
"You bastard, where am I?" She asked as she was still trying to catch her breath from having her spleen punched by someone like him.
"You know, that's a good question. Are we really anywhere?" Tom asked as he seemed to muse a little on the question before grabbing a fork and a dinning knife, but only got a confused yet annoyed look in response. "I mean we exist in a third dimensional plane, but what about other beings who exist in a fourth and fifth dimensional plane. Or maybe those in lower planes like the first and second dimension, they all exist all at once and In one place just different vibrational frequency from the other."
Tom elaborated a bit, turned over to look at her for a second only to see an unexplainable expression on her face.
"It kind of scares me to even ask what the fuck goes on in that retarded mind of yours." She replied while Tom just went on cutting a piece of stake and chewed on it for a bit before pouring himself some finely aged red wine.
"Just go on ahead and kill me, I won't give you any kind of information anyway."
"Oh, where are my manners. You must be starving and here I am having an high quality stake with so much juiciness right in front of you. For that I do apologize." He said as he picked up a piece of stake with his fork and walked towards her.
"Here, have this." He offered her the piece of stake but just got a death stare in return even as she tried so hard to resist her mouth from watering but eventually gave in to the temptation as Tom seduced her nose and mind with the delicious aroma of the meat, dangling it right in front of her face.
She opened her mouth in wait of Tom to place it in, he pulled it back just as it was about reaching her mouth. "Well, more for me then." He said as he ate the piece of stake himself, then casually drove the fork into her right shoulder, right next to her socket joint.
"You bastard, you fucking stabbed me." She yelled with agonizing pain as Tom twitched the fork which he had dug into her meat. "Yes I did." He replied as he pulled it out and drove it right back in, earning a grunt from her as she grit on her teeth, trying her best not to scream as she would rather bite on her teeth than give Tom the satisfaction of hearing her screams.
"You think this is enough to break me?" She looked at him dead in the eyes as it was evident on her face that she was trying her most possible best to hold back the pain, striving to sound and act tough.
"No, not at all." Tom replied before pulling out his fork and returned to his seat. "I called an acquaintance of mine to keep you company while am gone, the real fun… Or should I say game since it's going to be more of questions and answer with a huge chunk of torture, begins whenever I feel bored and seek entertainment from a beauty such as yourself." He taunted as he took a napkin to clean off her blood from the fork.
"I bet you're quite a screamer yourself, your melody would be quite soothing to my eardrums." He added before proceeding to finish up with his meal.
"At first I doubted it but not I've gotten my answers about you." She said to him, as her hands seemed to be getting numb from prolonged suspension in the air. "And what would that be?" Tom inquired.
"I thought maybe you had a few screws loose, but now I see you've completely lost it all." She replied, staring right at Tom as she seemed to think she had him all figured out.
"That's quite an observation, I always thought I saw the world different. Like seeing the world for what it truly is, almost as if seeing life through a kaleidoscope." Tom reply wasn't even close to the ideal response she had expected.
Suddenly, Tom sensed the reverberating sound of an ascending elevator, along with the opening and closing of the elevator's doors. Then took note of the vibrations made from every step taken by the incoming fellow along the hallway. "He's here, I guess I would just leave you two to it. I have more important things to do." He said while getting off his seat and gulping down the last wine in his glass.
"What's so important that you're leaving? I might grow bored when you leave."
"You know, the usual. Planning my next move for my deceit of the people of this country and the world, I run something of an empire so you know I am quite a busy man." Immediately he throw her that comment in an extremely casual and nonchalant manner, the doorknob twisted and the door was swung open.
"You sure took your sweet time getting here." Tom said as Slade Wilson walked into the room. "Well I was out on a business trip and came as soon as I was summoned by Ghost." He replied before looking over at the tied up girl in the middle of the room.
"Well, you are here now. You got the full gist, so I am leaving her to you for the night."
"I don't enjoy torturing little girls but the boss pays good, so I have to make good on my part." He replied as he dropped his briefcase on the table. "Whatever man, am off." Tom said before walking to the door which swung open with just a thought. "Later cutie, see ya when I see ya." He put his arm in his pocket then exited the room.
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Want more chapters? Kindly visit my to read ahead. /Da_suprememaverick