ANNNND We're Back Ya'll! I hope everyone has been doing well! I apoligize for the long break, but I've had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life and it makes it difficult to find the drive to write. That being said here it is, the final chapter in the first true ark of my story. I am super excited for ya'll to read it.
Make sure to check the end for a longer note. Without further delay, Let's Dive right in!
GOTHAM CITY – UPPER WEST SIDE: BLACK MASK'S PENTHOUSE BUILDING
APRIL 27TH 2008 (0100/1:00 AM) EST
Jack's POV:
Jack let Tony finish his bellowing remark before booking it straight at him in a dead sprint.
There was only 20 feet or so between them, and halfway through the charge Jack spun on the heel of his right foot while winding up with his left arm, tossing his shield straight at Tony before seamlessly transitioning back into his run.
He watched as Tony used his stolen bodies sizeable arm to knock the shield to the ground, but in doing so he'd left himself wide open to Jacks follow up.
Jack was only a few paces away and used all of his considerable speed to push off the ground and launch himself forward to bring his right knee up and smash it directly into Tony's face making the large, possessed zombie grunt out in pain from the now broken nose he had.
Jack's momentum from the flying knee had carried him half over Tony's back, and Jack wasted none of the momentum and nailed a follow up springboard kick into Tony's back which not only staggered his enemy forward, but said staggering put one of Tony's large feet into Jacks shield.
Jack performed a rolling tumble and came up gesturing with his right hand, and Tony was unprepared for the jerk that came from Jack summoning the shield back to himself. The force of the movement causing the already unstable zombie gangster to lose his footing, making him face plant to the concrete in a heap.
Jack didn't waste time to revel though as he felt 'Danger Sense' flare up, and quickly spun around dropping to his left knee so that he could better crouch behind his shield to avoid an oncoming onslaught of gunfire.
After the first few seconds of absorbing said gunfire, Jack kicked slightly off the pavement using the spring function of his boot, a loud echoing crack coming from the pavement as he threw himself into a shield charge towards the group of vehicles that concealed the men taking their shots at him.
Jack cleared three car lengths worth of space in seconds, his charge taking one of three gunmen by complete surprise. The man was launched off his feet from the force Jack hit him with, and then Jack proceeded to spin in an ark while bringing his shield out in a sweeping motion to knock a rifle and a shotgun consecutively from the other two gunmen's hands.
A couple slams of his shield, one to the stomach of one perp which was quickly followed by one slightly lighter slam to the side of the head of the other and both perps were down on the ground with their comrade to wind up covered by two of Jacks glue capsules.
Jack quickly spun back around again keeping himself behind cover, and quickly took stock of the overall situation.
The police were still locked in a lightly protracted gunfight with a slew of Falcone's men.
Eva was dodging behind cars, firing slight blast waves of cold from her ring doing her best to contain Firefly's flamethrower onslaught.
And all the while Tony was finally just getting back onto one knee, his right hand up on his face most probably resetting the broken nose Jack had given him with his flying knee maneuver.
'Gotta prioritize how to end this as quickly and safely as possible.'
From the moment of their arrival Jack had dropped at least a good dozen men to the ground, but even with that the sheer numbers they had made it difficult for him to try and pull glue capsules as every time he'd knocked one man down another was automatically there shooting at him.
'My body armors good and I'm definitely getting a durability boost from 'One for All', but I'm not looking to see just how far that goes yet. Better to be safe than sorry.' Jack thought as he sprinted back into the fray of the massive assortment of advancing gunmen, hoping that he could disable a greater amount of them on this new pass.
Jack ran and came up behind a set of silver vans that looked to be the staging area for where the gangsters were getting their munitions, his full focus set on taking every last one the perps down.
Eva's POV:
Eva Kramer could say that in her fifteen years of life, things had always been a certain kind of intense.
Where she found herself at this specific moment though, was a completely different kind of crappy. The whole night had been something thus far and considering what her and John got up to on a typical day, she found that thought a particularly sobering one.
Eva dove behind another parked car, feeling a wave of heat wash over her because of her proximity to where the flames had just crashed.
Eva swung up and brought her right hand to bear, unleashing a steady four second stream of an icy blast at her retreating enemy, doing her best to focus all of her attention on said flying psychopath.
'How come th' fowk in this bloody hellhole 'r a' pure fucked in th' heid?! '' Eva thought, as she watched the metal winged armored bastard of a man pull a banking maneuver to match her ice blast with a quick burst of flame from his gun leading to another brief stalemate before he veered off again.
Said pyro quickly pulled a flip in his maneuver and turned towards a new street and banked down it, setting himself up fort another bombing run.
Said set up was going to lead to another problem but having him back off for even a moment was a relief as she shook her hand trying to ignore the cold that was seeping into her skin and bones.
Upon arriving All Might had asked her to do her best to hold Firefly at bay while he went at the armed goons, and the manky bag of bones that 'Tony boy' had locked his soul in.
Eva could barely believe how intense things had been from the moment she'd jumped on the back of All Might's bike, and winding up in the here and now dealing with the pyromaniac terrorist had just added another layer of absurdity to what they'd already dealt with.
She'd faced down Werewolves, Vampires, Witches, and a whole list of other ridiculous shite on top of even having helped John with exorcisms of minor Demon's. Literal Demon's. But strangely, all of that seemed to be equal when put in comparison to the kind of activity she'd seen since the moment she'd volunteered to tag along and help the shield slinging hero of Gotham.
Since the beginning of the night, they'd dealt with No less than ten separate yet connected incidents.
'How does a single bloody toon hae this much crime when fowk like bloody Superman exist?!'
Eva held no delusions about how her own life typically went, she knew for a fact that her life was Not normal in the slightest and that over the course of her life she'd seen far more than her share of violence.
But… over the course of this relatively clustered night she came to realize that this city was a whole different kind of animal.
'Whit's wrong wi' this godforsaken toon!?' Eva thought as she vaulted over the front end of the car she had ducked behind, channeling the energy of the Signet ring to combat the wave of flame that was now descending towards her.
Firefly proceeded to come down in an arc, his approach bringing him up into a floating position allowing the heat and sound of not only his flamethrower but the thrusters of his jetpack to wash over her as her ice blast combated his attack for dominance.
"HOW YA LIKE THAT YA LITTLE BITCH?! BURRRRRRN! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Eva held her position, her left hand locked around her right wrist as she directed and focused her icy blast, all the while trying to ignore the feeling as the frost began to seep deep into skin and even burn her hand and crawl slowly up the middle of her arm as frostbite started to set in.
The fact that the cold was setting in didn't mean she'd let the scumbag she was fighting get away with talking crap to her though…
"Git bent ye pyro son o' a bitch! A'm puttin' ye in th' cooler!" Eva screamed in return.
Eva wished she felt as confident as she had been trying to sound, but the truth was that she was starting to get concerned.
She felt her left hands grip begin to slip as the cold was now spreading further into the skin, even in her supporting hand.
Eva knew she'd have to beg off in a moment or she'd risk having exactly what she'd told All Might would happen come to pass, she'd lose her hand to the biting cold of Seiryu's ring.
Most Witches/Mages/Practioners/Etc. would never admit it, but some items just weren't meant to be wielded by mortals. The amulet that had caused this whole debacle could be seen as one such item…and so could her ring.
These were items that were utilized by minor god's, beings that while probably not actual immortal beings, they still boasted massive amounts of power.
Homo Magi or not there were some limits, that for those closer to the actual mortal coil they just couldn't be overcome.
The rings drawback being one of those said glaring limits.
John had procured the ring on a trip through a hell dimension he'd visited years ago, and it was one of the first items he had given to Eva as he began training her in how to properly utilize magic for combat. The rings power was unquestionable, but John had often stressed how it and many items like it were just as dangerous as some of the foes they would come up against.
"Magic doesn't just come for free love."
The memory of John's words rattled in her brain before she quickly brought herself back to the present.
'Case 'n' point, this buggered situation.'
Her right hand began to throb and burn with terrible pain, and with a quick glance she could see the skin starting to change color, signaling that real damage was now taking place in her skin.
'Either ah push hardr 'n' likely lose mah haun, or ah die tae fire…'
That morbid line of thought quickly vanished however, as she suddenly felt the wind get slightly taken out of her as she was tackled to the ground and then quickly whisked away from the torrent of raging flames.
She found herself hoisted up into a bridal carry within a second, and was then speedily deposited close to the gathered GCPD officers that were rallying against the gangsters, Tony, and Firefly; who was now apparently finding himself lodged into the dented top of a nearby black SUV.
The sound of a snap from the gloved hand that darted in front of her vision brought her gaze to All Might, who then suddenly had both of his hands on her shoulders.
All of the environmental sound returned blaringly as she brought herself back into focus.
"EVA! Are you alright?!"
She took a second to stare at him, completely gob smacked.
Eva shook her head briefly before nodding at him before following All Might's guiding hand as he pulled her behind one of the GCPD cruisers, using it to give them just a bit of cover from what seemed like a now Very lackluster return fire from the last of the standing gangsters.
"Th' hell happened tae a' th' goons? Ye'v sure bin stowed haven't ye Uncle Sam?" Eva asked as she attempted to throw an inflection of good humor into her tone as she pulled a cloth wrapping and a bottle of healing salve into her hands with her magic.
Eva turned her gaze back upon the open four-way intersection with clearer eyes and saw a bunch of groupings of the gangsters piled under All Might's capture glue, the numbers of the standing gangsters now only around just under a dozen.
From the looks of it, the ones that were standing had only just recently arrived to the scene as they seemed to be piling out of one of the present vehicles.
Tony Falcone was on his back next to one of the aforementioned vans where the gangsters were, seemingly having a difficult time getting his left arm reattached and back into its socket.
"Th' fuck happened tae th' sack o' bones?" Eva asked as she finished wrapping her right hand up after having taken the signet ring off of her right hand to transfer it to her uninjured left hand.
She watched as All Might made a gesture to his left arm where his shield was before he spoke, while the GCPD officer's did their best to get into better firing lines against the gangster's line of 4 vans.
"My shield's special. It can disrupt magical forces. Grundy's body is held together and powered by a curse. The curse is what gives Grundy all of his abilities, and what is a curse if not a dark form of magic? Throw in my strength and you wind up coming out with an enemy that loses their limbs more often than they keep them attached if I'm really pushing it. Grundy's healing factor is no joke though, because even with my shield's nullifying properties he's almost got his arm attached again." All Might said as kept his eyes trained on the rising form of the zombified gangster.
"…'N' earlier ye chided Me fer trying tae shoot one of em' yin goons." Eva said as she stared at the side of All Might's helmet clad head.
All Might, not even looking at her retorted without missing a beat.
"The guy you tried to shoot was a normal human. Normal. He didn't have any powers, or anything else like that. He was just a guy with a gun, and if I had let you kill him his blood would be on My hands. There are instances where I know that lethal force should be used, but that wasn't one of them. Tony on the other hand is in Grundy's body. As far as I can tell though we got lucky. His healing factor changing my engagement plans notwithstanding, his strength isn't as crazy as the last set of video feeds that are available showed. In that last fight Grundy fought against Captain Atom. You may not know this, but Captain Atom's no pushover and yet Grundy put him through at minimum five buildings and on top of it caused damage to his suit. He literally forced Captain Atom of all people into a retreat. That's not something I take lightly."
Eva had a retort on the tip of her tongue, having wanted to decry what he'd said. She wanted to tell him that she'd done far worse and that the blame wouldn't be on his shoulders, that one less breathing gangster wouldn't be that big of a deal.
At least, not in her opinion it wouldn't have been.
Eva was robbed of her chance to speak up as the same unmarked car from earlier in the evening pulled up and the same two detectives joined them at the cruiser that Eva, All Might, and its occupants were using as cover.
All Might quickly gave the two detectives a sit rep while he kept his sights trained on the now fully risen form of Tony. Over the ruckus of everything else, Eva spotted Firefly starting to stir on top of the wreck of the abandoned SUV.
All Might spoke up noticing the same exact thing as her, his voice clipped.
"Eva. Take Detectives Yin and Bennett. Cover Firefly and make sure he doesn't get mobile again." All Might said as he booked it straight at the now bellowing possessed zombie.
Eva turned her gaze to the detectives and nodded before starting at a slow jog with them slightly trailing behind her as she headed towards Firefly as he gained his bearings, her left hand coming up in an ark at the best possible time; as once she and the detectives were about ten feet away a massive stream of flames came out at them.
This time, things were decidedly stacked in Eva's favor as the moment her ice blast met the fire she found herself having to fight hard not to flinch as two sets of gunfire echoed closely behind her.
Eva watched as Firefly ducked behind the SUV, having had to stop his flamethrowers output so that he could take cover from the barrage of bullets that came down on him due to the two detectives.
"Come on out Lynn's! We've got you cornered! You're going back in a padded cell at Arkham where you belong!" Detective Yin called out from slightly behind Eva on her right, while she felt Bennett tap her on the left shoulder drawing her eyes to him.
She watched him mime movement with his empty hand, while mouthing direction at her.
'Flank him. You take him from the left side, and I'll break right. Yin will keep us covered from here.'
Eva nodded at the tall detective and went to sprint to go around the left side of the vehicle, but their plans were cut short when a large canister came flying over the SUV.
"BURN IN HELL YOU FUCKIN PIGS!"
Eva was thankful that she had already been queued up.
She shot a concentrated five second blast at the ground about two feet in front of the canister.
Luckily that having been just in the nick of time.
It saved them all from being flash cooked as the incendiary grenade lit off, the pressure wave only barely knocking them over while all of the accumulated heat and flame met against a three-foot-wide, five-foot-tall wall of mystically created ice.
Eva did her best to roll with the force of the blast, winding up half on her left side on the ground as she attempted to stand again. The two detectives had wound up on the ground flat on their backs, but Bennett seemed to be made of sterner stuff, as he had rolled over with the force of the blast and quickly army crawled himself over to cover his partner from the scattered debris of the now fragmented ice wall.
The street was shortly thereafter consumed by the roaring sound of Firefly's jets burning out as he lifted back into the air, that sound being met by shouts and footfalls from others out of the assembled GCPD officers as a group of them came over to help the two detectives and Eva to their feet.
All of their eyes were quickly drawn towards the sky shortly thereafter, as Lynn's hovered almost twenty feet in the air above them with his jets at half burn.
"Death From Above shit-birds."
Lynn's flipped a switch near his trigger guard, and when the flames came out this time, they weren't a tight cone of flame.
It came out as a widespread blast. It looked like a dragon had opened its maw to throw pure death and destruction at them.
The officers all ran or ducked for cover where they could find it, attempting to aim and take shots at Firefly so that they could throw him off and cause him to have to abandon his attack.
Eva ran and slid behind a parked car with Yin and Bennett as they too tried to line up shots against the flying pyromaniac as his blaze came down in the area.
Eva found her gaze drifting to down the street a peace, where All Might was in a vicious brawl with Tony.
She watched as All Might dropped and slid on his knees, a wild haymaker missing him only by an inch or so. He jumped to his feet as he came out of the slide and then jumped again, only this jump led into a spinning hook kick that caught his zombie opponent across the face.
The blow not only took Tony off his feet but sent him into the mini coupe that he'd been using as a barrier earlier. The car crumpled under the zombie's weight at the driver side, and Eva saw that Tony's stolen jaw had been detached and looked half pulverized by the blow.
Eva quickly locked eyes with All Might as she listened to Firefly cackle in the air, hoping to shout out to him for a plan…
And then All Might was gone from her sight…
A blazing blur of light green sparks passed through the periphery of her vision, causing her to whip her head around and back towards where she knew Lynn's was hovering.
…Only
He wasn't hovering anymore.
She watched as the pyromaniac fell out of the sky for a second time, only on this occasion it was clear he wouldn't be going airborne again anytime soon.
All Might had clearly flung his shield mid run at the flying psychopath, and said throw did a serious amount of damage.
She watched as All Might fell out of the sky on top of Lynn's, his right-hand pummeling into the criminal's face to crack his masks lenses on the way down; just before their combined weight crumpled the roof of a parked dark red Winnebago.
All Might's shield throw had not only snapped through the metal nozzle and tubing of the flamethrower, but in an attempt to veer away from the flying metal frisbee Lynn's had left the end of his right wing exposed.
The shield had sheered a decent portion of the wing off, and that had allowed All Might to score the blow that proceeded to take Lynn's out of the air.
The street went almost completely silent for two solid beats, but that silence was then shattered by cheering from the present GCPD force and what cowering civilians there were on the sidewalks alike. Surprisingly others were leaning out of their windows, while others were standing on balconies of their apartments, and the shouts and wolf whistles on the street level with them were piercing.
Eva quickly shook herself out of her astonishment as she too received a few pats on the arm and back from the nearby GCPD boys and girls in blue, before she then walked up to All Might as he rolled off of the now moaning and most probably broken Lynn's as he bent down to pick up his shield and strap it to his left arm.
Eva's moving forward, was what broke the present GCPD officers out of their revelry, and as a group four of them came forward and surrounded the dented vehicle that housed Lynn's as they got into position to take him into custody.
As Eva came to stand directly next to him, All Might spared her a brief smile. That smile changed though as his gaze went up a bit and focused outward to directly behind her.
Eva turned to follow his line of sight, as did the two detectives and the three other spare cops standing beside them.
Tony was completely back on his feet, and the present group watched as he used his left hand to hold his shattered and hanging jaw back into place.
They also got front row seats to watching said bone somehow regenerate to full functionality, before sinew and fresh undead skin quickly formed over it leaving Tony's body as good as new.
All Might took two steps forward and Eva took a half turning step to match his facing position, noticing that Tony was now moving towards one of his remaining henchman.
All Might's voice broke the short tense silence that had built up on their side.
"Everyone stay sharp. We're not done."
Jack's POV:
As Jack spoke he watched Tony approach the last of his force who wasn't holding a weapon... but curiously a bag.
'I've got a bad feeling about this.'
The reincarnated mobster didn't disappoint, as he turned back to face Jack and the assembled GCPD force before bellowing out at them while turning said bag inside out to dump its contents.
"You're getting on my nerves! Let's see how you handle these babies!" Tony shouted as the bag deposited what looked like four miniature statues onto the pavement.
Jack didn't get the time to ask what was happening as he was cut off by Eva swearing openly as she watched the four figures fall.
"Shite! Yous all clear th' fuck oot, ye'll nae be ony help 'ere!" Eva shouted as she then quickly mumbled an incantation under her breathe, pulling her main weapon the Adjudicator into her grasp.
Said action drew the clear attention of Yin and Bennett, and both of them were quick to try and interject but Jack interposed himself before it could become an issue.
"Detectives! You need to get the last of the civilians to safety! We'll take it from here." Jack said as he focused his eyes upon the statues that had literally just detonated in large flashes of flame and smoke, before revealing four snarling rock hounds that had the visage of overly large Dobermans covered in jagged lines of orange molten light.
Jack looked back over his shoulder and caught Bennett slightly shaking his head before he nodded and ran off, clearly shouting at the other GCPD officers and the civilians alike to clear the area.
Yin was poised to follow in a half turn but had one final remark.
"If she kills anyone, I'm holding you directly responsible All Might."
Jack for once had to let some of his typical personality bleed into his visage as he rolled his eyes before he responded.
"Oh, ye of little faith detective."
Jack heard Yin make a slightly agitated noise before he heard her footfalls, quickly followed by her voice echoing out and away from them as she moved to help her fellows clear the civilians out.
Jack knew not to take his eyes of the assembled force, so he simply raised his voice.
"Eva, Imma need you to take the dogs. It's time to settle this."
Jack heard Eva grunt an affirmation before Jack amped up to 30%.
'No more Mr. Nice guy.'
Jack decided for a change in tactics, and quickly slapped the shield onto his magna plate before he placed his left foot in front of his body and leaned forward a smidge.
Tony and Eva both noticed his change in posture as both took their own separate actions.
Eva had already begun charging forward flanking to the right as she moved in a controlled jog, the thunderclap of her gun going off as it launched its massive slugs at not just the four golem hounds but also in the general vicinity of the last few thugs Tony had in an attempt to help the cops keep them suppressed.
Tony, threw his massive body into a charge of his own headed straight for Jack.
Jack took in and let out a deep breath…
And then he moved.
Those watching barely caught any of his movement, but the end result was clear for everyone.
He came out of the mad sprint he threw himself into and drop kicked Tony so hard that the force launched the zombie off of his feet and back into the already damaged mini coupe.
That move brought about consequences Jack hadn't been expecting.
The gas tank on the vehicle ruptured, and the fumes ignited.
A small blast lit off from underneath what was left of the vehicle, and set Tony on fire.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
The large zombified gangster had been slightly thrown off of the wreck that had been a vehicle and proceeded to throw himself onto the concrete to roll about as he attempted to put out the flames that now coated his large back thanks to the fuel getting on him.
Jack hadn't wasted a moment to watch though, and was already in-between the remaining gangsters outside of the one who'd been carrying the bag.
That one seemed to have more sense than any of the others, as he'd hightailed it for one of the vans furthest from the action and seemingly disappeared into it.
Arm drags that were followed by quick jabs, hip tosses, and one hurricanrana felled the remaining street level thugs before Jack pulled them all into a moaning pile and popped the last of his glue capsules.
Jack wasn't able to savor the small victory however because his ears were met with a bellow coming from behind him.
Jack spun with both arms raised with just enough time to block a wild left haymaker, that wound up taking him off his feet to send him slightly airborne.
He flew a good ten to twelve feet before he landed on his shield and slid a good few feet before stopped.
Bright lights, the sound of a blaring horn, and 'Danger Sense' all happened at once.
Jack in a split second's decision of memory pulled an Agent Smith and slammed both of his gloved fists into the pavement to push himself up.
The desperate move brought him up to his feet quickly enough that he was able jump and kick off the side of the van that had just attempted to run him down, leaving a large indent in the side of the now toppled vehicle that left a swath of sparks in its wake as it slid a few feet before going still.
'Okay…maybe Not as smart as the rest. But certainly not dumb either.' Jack thought as he charged at Tony's large form.
Said Gangster had already been in the process of coming at him, so they met in the three quarters point due to Jacks sheer speed allowing him clear more space than Tony.
Weaving under another attempted big swing, Jack threw a thee hit jab-hook combo that he followed up with a spinning back kick that Tony had the good sense to duck under.
Being turned around due to the kick Tony attempted to swing on Jack, but Jack caught sight of him over his right shoulder and he simply pushed his right foot forward and braced against the concrete while lowering his center of gravity.
This move allowed him to let the shield absorb the vast majority of the initial hit, the force causing Jack's knees to contract a bit while the force distributed through his feet into the ground causing a series of cracks to bloom underneath him.
Jack pivoted and jumped executing a superman punch that connected squarely with the left side of Tony's head.
The blow staggered him, and caused a massive glob of spittle and black blood to fly out Tony's mouth.
A large tooth followed shortly thereafter.
"RAAAAAGHHH!" Tony bellowed after spitting out said tooth before he brought both arms up clenching his fists together, his intent to bring down a hammer blow on Jack.
Said hit never even launched, because Jack pushed into Tony's guard and wound back with a right straight that caused the gangster to fold into himself a bit from the force of the blow. It was followed by an uppercut that sent the zombie staggering back, leaving him wide open for a kick to the back of his left knee that brought him closer to Jacks overall size level.
Jack ran forward and spun on his heel to throw a roundhouse kick at Tony, but it was summarily ducked.
Tony reached out, and grabbed the shield with enough force that it disconnected from the magna plate.
Jack quickly found himself on the back foot as Tony attempted to swat him with his own shield, screaming obscenities all the while.
"I'm Gonna Kill You Ya Little Sonovabitch!"
Tony continued to throw swipes with the shield from varying angles doing his best to try and catch Jack off guard in the hopes of taking him down, but to no avail.
Jack faked a stagger, and when Tony screamed in victory thinking he'd caught Jack and would score a deciding hit Jack turned the tables back.
Tony brought the shield down and wound up wedging it deep into the concrete, leaving himself wide open for the Spartan kick that not only pulverized his nose again but put him on the flat of his back.
Jack proceeded to wrench the shield from the concrete and quickly ran forward, mounting on top of Tony with his shield raised, intent to bring it down and put an end to the fight once and for all.
Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.
'Danger Sense' flared and Jack dove and came up behind his shield as a concentrated burst of gunfire came from next to one of the other vans.
The man who'd tried to run Jack down stood there with a LMG trained on him, blasting on full auto for a harrowing few seconds before a voice called out.
"CUZ C'MON!"
Jack was still hunkered down behind his shield, and took a minute to survey the area.
The GCPD force was dispersed taking various stages of cover, as was Eva though she was currently held up behind a mailbox which had a few piles of smoking stone scattered around it.
'Clearly she's had better luck than I have.' Jack thought, finding it funny that Tony had been so sure that those golems would turn the tide.
The cluster of gunfire had started up again immediately after the shout had gone out, and Jack remained pinned behind his shield.
A second break came in the noise from the gunfire came and Jack peeked up to try and move while seeing that Tony was up and on the move himself, as minor return gunfire rang out from the police against Tony's thick hide as he walked back towards the van where his only backup was.
Said backup, proceeded to peak up from the left side of Tony's approaching form.
It took a second to process, but Jack realized what was now in the gunman's hand.
'Crap.'
"EVERYBODY DOWN!" Jack shouted out just as the next barrage began.
A cascading ark of four grenade rounds shot out from the criminal's position.
The first round firmly connected with Jack's shield, and because of that Jack became intimately familiar with the disconnected sense of weightlessness that comes from being taken off of your feet by a blast wave.
The mixture of the sense of the opposing force mixed together with the sound, along with the heat that washed over him, and Jack felt his senses completely overwhelmed for a few scant seconds before he came to an abrupt stop.
Said stop came about because he connected back first with the driver's side door of one of the police cruisers in the street, the force of his impact shattering the windows glass to bits while his body weight crumpled said door.
Jack fell to the ground, thankfully shield and knees first which kept him from kissing the pavement in a literal sense though that didn't abate the throbbing that now radiated over his back.
His uniforms ballistic weave, on top of the durability increase he had most definitely protected him from any serious injury.
But that didn't mean he wasn't in pain.
'Yeah… Imma feel that one in the morning.' Jack thought as he got one of his feet planted so he could raise himself back up to a standing position.
"Ugh." Jack groaned as he tried to focus, his head slightly spinning.
Jack shook himself lightly trying to clear and reorient his sense of direction while hoping to also refocus his blared out hearing.
He quickly wound back however and was about to throw a right jab into someone's face when he realized that the person that was now touching him was Eva and not an enemy.
"…might…might…Might?! Can ya ear' me?!"
Jack shook his head once more before settling into a slow nod, now having his hearing returned to relative normalcy.
"Yeah, I can hear you, stop shouting." Jack said as he took a deep breath and focused himself on checking the area in an effort to avoid the slight throbbing of his…well basically everything.
The other grenades that had been launched from the now get away drivers' assault, thankfully hadn't detonated on any of the other vehicles.
'And thank god not on any of the people that are here either.' Jack thought slightly morosely as he locked his shield onto his back as he attempted to move forward towards his motorcycle.
Jack found himself brought up short by Yin and Bennett as they both came forward, both of them surprisingly sporting looks a serious concern.
"Might! You okay?! EMS is on the way. You should sit down, try and get your bearings. They'll check you out as soon as they get here." Bennett said as he placed a steadying hand on Jacks right arm as he saddled up next to Eva, Yin not that far behind wearing the softest look Jack could remember seeing on her face to date.
Jack however quickly shut that thought down as he shook his head, much to the surprise of all three standing in his proximity.
"Thanks Detective, but there's no time. Eva which way did they go? We're going after them."
His refusal and follow up questioning seemingly threw both of the detectives for a loop, looks of incredulousness from both bleeding into two separate new looks; one being concern while the other was slightly chiding.
"Listen…" Yin started.
Jack hated doing so but he quickly cut across the female detective.
"No. You Listen. We have to get him Now. He has to pay for what he's done, and the longer that he's out and about the more time he has to become a greater threat. Any time for him to mount any kind of offensive or god's forbid to go to ground will just lead to more issues later on. We got lucky here. This feels rushed, and if we let him regroup with the kind of resources his family can bring to bear the next time this happens we're gonna have serious problems. Eva. Which way?" Jack spoke as he lightly pushed past the two detectives, Eva following suit to mount up on the bike right behind him after summoning a belt which she locked around her gun to put it onto her back.
Both the detectives came close as Jack mounted the shield onto the front of the bike, and while they both seemed frustrated, they also seemed to have an air of understanding around them.
Bennett spoke as Jack turned the engine over to get ready to take off with Eva pointing towards the south.
"I don't like it…but I understand, and your right. Be careful out there Might, we'll wrap this up here and get his hangers on processed."
Jack nodded as he felt Eva tighten her grip around his waist before he revved the bike and nodded to the detectives as he hit the throttle.
Jack quickly had to push the bike into a higher gear as he weaved in and out of the existing traffic, doing his best to catch sight of the gray van that had their query.
He didn't have to look very hard, as the driver of the van had apparently been in too big of a hurry and had blown a red light causing a minor accident which marked the trail for Jack and Eva to follow.
The ride had only been about five minutes long but Jack finally had the van in his sights and proceeded to gun it.
The bike cut off a car that had been making a turn into the main road, the blare of the horn being what alerted Tony and his getaway driver to their pursuit.
The back doors to the van swung open, and Tony's large frame slightly peered out.
Jack and Eva saw the gangster reach down and pull a pin from a grenade…
"Fuc' tha', and Fuc' Him!" Eva shouted over Jacks shoulder as he felt and saw her right arm come up onto his right shoulder, as she took aim with what looked like a very cut down pistol version of her Adjudicator.
Jack was honestly thankful for the roar of his bikes engine, as it almost drowned out the following bang that sounded not that far in front of his face though he still wound up with some ringing in his ears.
What happened next, honestly surprised the hell out of Jack.
'Though probably not as much as Tony or his little helper.' Jack thought as he watched the aftermath of Eva's shot.
The bullet had collided head on with the pineapple grenade that Tony had primed to chuck at them.
The blast lit off.
Jack shouldn't have been surprised at what transpired in light of Eva's shot but as they were making the speeding left turn they'd pulled into, he really couldn't deny that he was slightly shocked as the back of the van turned into a raging inferno as it barreled through a luckily empty intersection to crash up and onto the steps of a broken down looking church.
The grenade had gone off, and apparently it had ripped through the fuel tank underneath.
That didn't stop Tony though.
His large hulking body came lumbering out of the back of the van that was still in flames and he was forced to put his arms up in an effort to cover his face, as Jack had parked the bike while grabbing his shield as Eva was unloading the rest of her chambered rounds at Tony's form.
He grunted loudly in pain as he backpedaled, tripping and falling onto his back up the steps towards the two heavy looking wooden doors.
Eva stopped and popped her revolver open to reload, and while that was happening Jack sprang forward while keeping an eye on Tony as he got back to his feet again while he ran at the driver's side door as it opened to reveal the gunman again.
Said gunman came out while attempting to bring his LMG to bear again, shouting while trying to take aim.
"RUN TONY! GO!"
The second the last word got out though Jack was already in the perp's personal space running at 10% of One for All, and the LMG was summarily ripped from his grasp before he was met with a left cross that knocked him to the pavement where he stayed.
Jack quickly took a knee over the fallen form of the driver while doing his best to keep an eye on Tony's retreating form through the church doors, in his vigil he spotted more of the splashes of black blood that decorated the dilapidated looking church's steps.
'Well it's clear Eva's gun can hurt him, that's good to know.'
Eva's footfalls quickly approached Jack while he opened his support bag and pulled out one of the few sets of zip tie cuffs he had on him, making sure to secure the man to the door of the van tightly in a way so that he couldn't escape.
Jack then stood up and unclasped his shield from his back and turned so that he could begin to move forward.
"Eva run around the back and see if there's a way in. Make a push and make sure that he can't cut out that way." Jack said as they both started taking steady steps forward.
Eva nodded her assent as she brought the Adjudicator into her hands and went to make a move when out of the corner of their eyes both of the young hero's watched as a singular door came into being on the sidewalk next to the church.
Jack could only stand and stare, as he watched the typical brown wooden door open to have four familiar individuals join them on the deserted street before said door just dissapeared.
'Magic, literally equals bullshit I swear.'
It wasn't the display however that completely threw Jack though, it was the last one of the group that had come to join them.
John, Richard, and even Helena came out of the door and each one of them was in their full hero regalia though it went without saying that the first two were always in their hero regalia.
No…the surprising part was that Ted was standing with them, and that he too was suited up in his Wildcat outfit.
And not just any rendition, but the revamp of his uniform that he had worn before his overall retirement however many years back now.
His motif was obviously completely blacked out outside of the marking on the lower part of the mask, which was an off white which if Jack was honest still blew his mind because like Batman the lower half of Ted's face was what was exposed with his cat cowl and he felt the white would draw more attention for gunfire and etc.
Ted had once worn a monochromatic unitard, wrist wraps made of boxing tape, and his cowl had even once sported odd ear flaps that would dangle at the sides of his face.
Now he had what could be described as a slim formfitting combat jacket, along with cargo pants, and tactical boots and gloves. Overall Ted looked in many ways very similar in style to what Jack wore, but Jack also knew enough about his own costume to know that Ted didn't have nearly as much padding.
Jack pulled himself from his surprise and ushered Eva to go and cover the back like he'd planned, which surprisingly without prompting Helena stepped forward and followed after Eva. Jack seeing this quickly started to make to move forward, the other three men following his strides as he approached the church doors.
"Nice to have you guys here, though I gotta say old man I didn't think you'd be joining us." Jack said with a slight teasing lilt to his voice.
Having gotten used to the ever developing banter between them, Ted didn't miss a beat as the group of four climbed the steps.
"Watch it their kiddo, this 'Old Man' has still got a mean right cross; as you well know."
Jack couldn't help but let the laugh that came unbidden out, needing it as a slight form of release from the night that had already unfolded.
'That not to mention isn't even done with yet.'
Any thoughts of further talk were stalled, as gunshots and yelling started to echo from inside the massive building.
Jack amped back up to 30% in an instant again and launched forward with a front side kick with his right that took both of the old doors off of their already broken hinges letting all four men rush in.
The scene that greeted them caused all four men to have to quickly leap into action, as Tony was brandishing two sets of broken-down pew seats as baseball bats And shields respectively; taking swings at both of the girls as they both took what shots they could at the zombie.
Jack went to rush into action but was caught by a grab on his shoulder from Constantine of all people.
"Rich and I checked out the site of where the girl brought Tony boy back, and I've got just the way to get him out of that body; but we're gonna need to hold him in place long enough for it to work. You think you can ya handle tha?" Constantine asked Jack as he kept his eyes on the rest of his group while they fought the enraged gangster.
Ted had charged in headfirst while the girls were taking their shots at Tony, and he used the distraction to get onto the zombies back to begin slamming elbow strikes into his skull.
Jack watched Tony fling Ted off of him while Occult grabbed Eva and they both fell back while Helena moved in to support Ted, still taking shots with her larger crossbow as Ted got himself back onto his feet from a tumbling somersault he'd done to protect himself from getting hurt in the fall.
"Do what you have to, I'll get it done." Jack said with steel in his voice as he quickly charged in to aid Ted as Helena took the random pot shot still from the periphery near the other two magicians before breaking off upon seeing Jack enter the fold.
What came next, was a fantastical beat down that the onlookers would always call "perfectly coordinated".
Ted had trained Jack that was true, but Ted had also trained with him.
And that was what made the following offensive so devastating, because the two didn't even need to speak for it to unfold beautifully.
Jack had slid into Tony's personal space while tossing his shield to Ted.
Jack threw a roundhouse kick that pulverized the one pew and then knocked the other of the two from Tony's grasp, and then followed it up with a deep uppercut to the body that actually hoisted the zombified gangster off the ground by about a foot despite his size and weight.
Tony didn't get the chance to go any higher though because Ted had been mid leap when he'd caught the shield, where he there by proceeded to slam the edge of it into the gangsters back lodging it between his undead shoulder blades.
Ted's weight while holding onto the stuck shield thereby pulled Tony of kilter and while it kept him upright it left him wide open for a barrage of body shots courtesy of Jack, that was then followed up by a teep kick to the zombie's right knee.
*CRACK*
"ARRRRGH!" Tony bellowed out as he was brought low by the two hero's, forced between his buckling appendage and the weight on his back to now fall slightly forward.
Jack was forced to pull back from a wild right-handed swipe that Tony took at him mid fall, but it would have been of little consequence anyway.
Ted took that moment as soon as all the forward momentum had ceased to rip the shield from Tony's back and tossed it over Tony's rotting head to Jack, who proceeded to catch it with his left and then proceeded to throw combination punches with both hands as Ted put the criminal in a full nelson.
The moment seemed to drag on, and Jack had to adjust his footing every so often as Tony wasn't just letting all of this happen to him. He struggled with all his might, thrashing and fighting to break free though thankfully Ted wasn't a small man and displayed his own immense stregth and his iron grip as he kept the undead man's arms in place allowing dozens of blows to reign down.
Tony attempted to stand and a check to the back of the knee from Ted, or a quick shield strike to other from Jack, was keeping him at their mercy which prompted Jack to call out as he continued to throw blow after blow against Tony.
"Whatever your doin, do it Quick!" Jack called out seeing that all four of the others were darting around the church seemingly doing something, though he couldn't focus on just what that something could be.
He was pulled from any consideration of said plans when he heard John's voice shout out to him and Ted.
"Get back Now!"
Jack jumped back while putting his shield on his back at the same time that Ted used Tony's body as a springboard to do the same, and then from the very front and backs of the church respectively both Helena and Eva opened fire.
The loud echo of Eva's gun went off, but what was surprising was that just like Helena's crossbow Eva's gun's projectile was a spear head with a link of long chain attached to it.
Both shots each hit on the opposite shoulder, pushing out on the opposite side creating opposite anchor points.
"You two've gotta hold the bastard down!" Constantine shouted out.
Jack took barely a split second and then ran to Helena who was standing by the collapsed double doors, grabbing the link of chain about a foot in front of her.
"Ya know baby doll, ya give a girl the wrong impression when you go and fight crime with some new girl. I thought I was your partner?" Helena said aloud, Jack being able to feel her staring at the back of his head.
"Not the time Huntress."
Jack watched as Ted yanked on his end of chain, pulling it taught and causing Tony's body to jerk to the left and face both Constantine and Occult.
John being the one of the two with the dramatic flair, took a step forward and threw his hands out in a grandiose manor as he addressed Tony Falcone.
"Well... as far as plans go, it wasn't an awful one mate. You picked a powerful vessel to give ya your shot at revenge I'll give ya tha'. Funny thing about that though…you aren't the only one who wants a bit of revenge…what's that they typically say about a 'woman scorned'?"
Over the course of the night John and Rich had kept Jack and Eva appraised, and they'd found where the ritual had been completed to bring Tony back. Jack had been horrified to find out that Tony had apparently killed the woman he had claimed to love, and it was one of his driving reasons for finding the man to bring him to justice.
John had said during the briefing that he'd face a more 'natural justice' upon being exorcised from Grundy's body…
Jack hadn't realized just how true that statement was until he watched a slight flickering glow appear and it was the size of a grown woman. It flickered into being like bad television static before settling on the form of who Jack could only assume was Tony's ex-lover…Sara Bailey.
And the look on her face was downright murderous.
'Oh…he is soooo screwed.'
Jack's thought was cut off by John speaking again.
"I'd say it's been a pleasure Tony ol' boy, but it really hasn't. Rich, Eva, whadya say?! All Together Now!"
All three magicians spoke then, their voices almost merging together: casting a feeling of even greater unease onto the already creepy setting they were in.
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo, omnis legio diabolica, adiuramus te... cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque æternæ perditionìs venenum propinare... Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciæ, hostis humanæ salutis... Humiliare sub potenti manu Dei; contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine... quem inferi tremunt... Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos."
The moment the first words came out Grundy's body shivered, and from there it began to shake as if having an epileptic fit, a dull blue white light shining from the zombie's eyes and mouth; it's intensity growing with every word spoken.
Upon the final word being said with such force Grundy's head lurched forward, and expelled a white blueish mist onto the ground for almost a solid minute.
When it was over... and the light faded, everyone could see a young man on his knees wearing a typical black and white suit…Tony Falcone.
Jack was in shock; he could barely believe what he'd just witnessed.
The surprise wasn't over though.
In a flicker of motion Sara disappeared, and when she flickered into being again she was on her knees right in front of Tony.
The church went whisper quiet then, and it made what came next seem as if it was being blared out of loudspeakers.
Tony went to speak.
"Doll face…"
Sara had a very strange smile on her face, and a second later everyone understood why.
With her right hand she reached up and pulled Tony down by the back of his neck as if to kiss him, but Jack and Helena were able to see as an ethereal dagger appeared in her left hand just before she drove it into Tony's gut.
"GAH!"
Tony's gasp along with the sound of the knife entering him was visceral, as if they both still had living bodies.
"Doll…AGH!"
Tony had tried to speak and was punished for it by Sara twisting the knife.
"Tony, Tony. I loved you sooooo much. Ya know I really should have seen it coming, I knew you were a bad man…but then I really liked that about you. The bad boy. I knew about your family, and I really wanted to know my man could take care of me. And you did 'take care of me'... didn't you Tony?" Sara rambled as she continued to twist the knife, causing Tony to let out little gasps and whimpers.
"Sara... I'm…. GAH!"
Another deep twist….
"Ya know Tony…what was that saying… you use to use when you were gambling all the time and you'd run into some poor schlep that just couldn't win? Oh Yeah, that's right. 'Lady Luck's…a Bitch.' Well…I guess you forgot that so am I. Don't you worry though lover…you've got the rest of forever to make it all up to me." Sara said as she started to caress the left side of Tony's face while she continued twisting the knife.
Jack watched her throw a look over her shoulder to John, just before the shadows on the ground seemed to swallow them up and pull them down into Oblivion.
"Thanks…John." Sara said with a wink.
"HELP MEAGGGGGHHHH!" Tony called out one final time as Sara dragged him off.
...
A quiet settled over the group in the wake of the two lost souls departing, but it was quickly broken by Eva.
"Oi, Let's get some grub ye' I'm famished."
Jack could only stare at her incredulously as they all started to walk towards Grundy's body.
…But then,Jack noticed it.
A low building growling.
"…grrrrrrrrr…"
Helena hoping to interject some levity through a joke out.
"Geeze. Your That Hungry?"
Constantine broke any chance of the levity sticking with a simple word.
"Bollocks."
Jack realized it a second later when 'Danger Sense' flared so hard he felt pain behind his eyes that he thought he'd trained away.
"grrrrrrRAAAGHHHHHHH!"
Grundy's large body surged into motion, grabbing the spear head that was attached at the front right of his body and yanked it free. The force of the pull set Jack off kilter, and he was forced to somersault out of the way before quickly having to dash in and bridal carry Helena away while knocking her two handed crossbow from her grasp to prevent her from being lashed by the still attached chain.
Eva quickly disconnected the attachment barrel she'd set up for the chain maneuver and attempted to turn and run and wound up being tackled to the ground by Ted, because Grundy turned and grasped the chain that now had what could basically be considered a very small flail on it and swung it back with a whipping motion.
John and Rich were not idle, as Rich ran to grab Eva and Ted John lit a fireball off in his hand and launched it right at Grundy's shoulder that still had the spear protruding from it.
The blast staggered the zombie back a step and left his left arm barely hanging by sinew alone.
That situation however quickly righted itself, and their enemy was now almost half shirtless but completely unharmed as the wound closed up.
Surprisingly, all action stopped for a moment and Grundy brought his hands out in front of his face.
The hulking undead criminal sat there staring at his hands for a few moments, and everyone was unsure of what would happen next.
Grundy broke the silence with his voice, and now that he was in control it was even deeper than when Tony had been behind the wheel.
"Gru…Grundy…awake?"
He sounded shocked, confused, lost even, and Jack could only feel a pang of sympathy for the poor man that he knew was once really called Cyrus Gold.
That sympathy evaporated however as 'Danger Sense' flared again and Jack was forced to bolt while still holding Helena, as Grundy snapped his head up and first looked upon his assembled group before a vicious snarl overtook his visage.
"YOU HURT GRUNDY! GRUNDY NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP! GRUNDY NO GO BACK TO BLACK PLACE!"
Grundy brought both arms up like Tony had done while in his body…But Grundy was successful in bringing them down.
The ground shook, and shattered. Jack had jumped and even still felt a tremor rock through the air which sent him and Huntress sprawling to the ground to join their companions, though thankfully Occult had thrown up a barrier wall.
Said barrier didn't last long though, as Grundy charged them and the very first blow that landed on the shield sent a plethora of cracks spreading across the glowing light blue surface.
"Everybody move!" Jack shouted as he helped Helena and Eva to their feet shoving them towards the front doors.
A second and third blow came in quick succession, which shattered the barrier and sent Ted, John, and Rich all to the floor.
Jack turned back at the sound of the barrier going down as the girls continued towards the front the barrier coming down having sounded very much like glass breaking, and Jack got the chance to see Grundy bringing down a jagged piece of wood onto Rich's prone form.
Jack attempted to jet forward but came up short at the sight of what happened next.
…Ted had beaten Jack to the interception, and wound up impaled for his trouble.
…
...
…bump bump…bump bump...
All he could hear was the pounding of his heart in his ears as he watched Grundy throw Ted's now lifeless body across the room with the piece of broken seating still lodged in it.
Jack moved, and the floor that was already pretty broken broke some more.
He felt pain lance up and down his right arm, as he felt the world shake around him though battled through the dust and debris that had kicked up from the right hook that he'd just thrown.
All other sound was dulled.
He could feel hot tears streaming down his face under his helm, but he didn't care.
He launched himself forward full tilt as the dust slowly started to clear showing the overly tall visage of Grundy as he stood back up.
He blitzed into Grundy's personal space and threw a barrage of punches, causing his foe to bend over from the force of the blows.
The blows came to an abrupt stop however when Grundy's own bellowing broke through Jack's rage, as he wrapped one of his large hands around Jack's head and started to squeeze.
A large amount of pain lanced through Jack's skull, proving that Grundy's strength was indeed monstrous.
With quick thinking Jack reached up and undid the strap holding his helm on his head, allowing him to slip out of it.
Upon his feet touching the ground Jack utilized the technique he'd been practicing since unlocking the quirk 'Smokescreen', and did his best to control the output as he let it go off from around just his neck and face.
Jack then put all of his 30% might into the Spartan kick that he threw next ignoring the spike of pain that went up his leg at its execution, as the blow sent Grundy flying back towards the far end of the church near the broken raised dais.
Jack took a breath as best as he could, but his heart was now beating like a war drum again…and it wouldn't be silenced.
The entire area inside of the dilapidated church was wrecked looking like a bomb had gone off, the numerous pews broken down to almost kindling. The dust and debris could be seen scattered about as the others of the group dragged Ted's body towards the front felled double doors.
"RAAGGGGHHHH! GRUNDY GONNA SMASH SMALL SMOKEY SHIELD BOY!" Grundy Shouted as he brought himself up to his full height to run back at Jack.
Jack's anger reached a crescendo upon Grundy speaking.
This thing…This monster…who'd taken one of the only people Jack had on this world.
He was gonna pay.
"THE ONLY ONE GETTING SMASHED IS YOU!" Jack shouted back as the lightning coalesced around his body, the smoke churning around his neck and face doing its job to conceal his civilian identity from the others until he could get his helm back into place.
'How the hell did I get here again? Why? Why did it have to be like this?' Jack thought to himself as he cocked his right hand back to throw his next swing as he charged at his lumbering titan of an opponent.
Jack ran forward and slid through Grundy's guard on his knees and delivered another right straight into his opponent's gut, which he followed by bringing the back of his head up in an ark to connect with Grundy's face ignoring all the spikes of pain that were now wracking his body.
Grundy cried out in pain himself, as Jack jumped up from his kneeling position and proceeded to take his shield off of his back, intent on finishing the fight for good.
Grundy took a lunging grab at Jack, but a spin on the ball of his left foot put him out of reach before it was followed up with a kick between the legs.
Shield bash to the back of the skull…
Another spin…
One shot to each kneecap pulverizing them to broken bits and dust…
Teep kick putting Grundy on his back letting Jack mount over top of his body again…
A hit to each elbow joint leaving his arms useless…
Jack was back in it again…the rage from earlier driving him. He could hear his heart in his ears, and almost nothing else.
But then something got through…
"KID!"
The world stopped for Jack, and he whipped his head around to stare at the man he'd sworn was dead, the man he considered a second father though he'd never said it to his face.
Ted was standing there, barely a foot away holding Jack's helm.
There was a massive tear in his jacket exposing the man's muscled physique, hale and hearty as always, conspicuously missing the giant hole that should have been there considering the smattering of blood that was left behind.
It took everything Jack had not to let his control slip, to keep Smokescreen in place so that he wouldn't just outright expose his own identity. Ted's was basically common knowledge, though most younger people these days had no idea he had even been a hero at any point. Jack slightly trusted Eva now considering all they'd been through over the course of this adventure, but he wasn't sure if he wanted her and more specifically John inside his circle of trust just yet.
Jack brought himself back, remembering that he needed to deal with Grundy.
Jack focused his gaze back down on the zombie and focused his resolve as he tightened his grip on his raised shield.
He intended to bring it down and decapitate the him, but in that moment he locked eyes with his opponent.
…He was shocked by what he saw there.
Tears.
Tears were running down Grundy's face.
Jack was about to ask as all the strength had left him from the shock of what he'd seen, but Grundy beat him too it by speaking aloud about what Jack had intended to question him over.
"Grundy…Grundy doesn't wanna go baaaaack! Pleeeease! Grundy Doesn't like the black plaaaaace!"
Jack listened as Grundy essentially wailed his words at him, and more than that Jack took a closer look at Grundy and took in their collective situation.
He was healed. Grundy was already healed.
Grundy could have easily kept fighting, kept trying to fight Jack but he hadn't. Jack had foolishly taken his sight off of Grundy to look at Ted, and yet Grundy hadn't tried to hurt him.
…
Jack took a breath, and then he stepped off and away from Grundy and over to Ted.
As Jack was adjusting his helm the others approached, though all of them seemed to still be on edge; each of them most probably wondering just what the hell was going on.
Jack stopped using Smokescreen as he finished getting his helm on straight, the act causing Eva to speak up.
"Ur' jus' full o' surprises, ain't ya?"
Jack would have responded under different circumstances, but he still only had eyes for Grundy.
Grundy was now in a sitting position on the ground, bearing a countenance that reminded Jack of his son when he'd been caught doing something wrong.
'...well, this is either super smart... or Super dumb.'
Jack being beyond his reach by about a foot, came to a decision.
Jack lowered himself to one knee after putting his shield on his back again, doing his best to put on a comforting smile Jack removed any possible aggression from his tone by clearing his throat.
And then he asked...
"Grundy, what's the black place?"
ANNNNNND That's All Folks! What did you think? I hope it lived up to the expectations! If it hasn't been clear beforehand, it should be clear now that while this story is set in the YJ universe, I will be using a lot of elements from the comics to build up Jack's story while he is here. There's a couple easter eggs and things like that here and there in this chapter, please do leave a review in the general sense or even one if you just wanna point out which one's you think there are in this chapter. So, all out Gang war has been averted. Does that mean that it's completely gone? Absolutely Not. This is Gotham, and it's the crime capitol of the world. It's gonna be some time before it looks like Gotham overall is back from being stuck in its ridiculous status quo that is canon. Now I wanna cover something really quick while I'm remembering it. I appreciate everyone's interest in this story, but that being said, Rude or inflammatory DM's or reviews spouting things like 'Go die' or 'Your writing is shit, go kill yourself' will be summarily ignored and reported. Okay, that's done, and I feel better as I did it without being nasty right back, which is honestly a chore, but I digress. Once again, I thank you all for the faves, follows, and especially the reviews. Please do leave more if you have questions, remarks, predictions, etc. Please remember that if you leave a question, and you want it answered post haste you can always DM me. I will do my best to get back to you in a timely manner. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but I can tell you now that it'll be a wind down chapter and will probably be a little shorter. It's gonna have multiple POV's. I apologize if that isn't some people's thing, and if you have any ideas that can help, please feel free to share. I hope everyone has been staying safe, happy, and healthy, and I will see ya'll soon. Take care!