Annnd we're back once again folks. Please see the bottom for a longer A/N. In the meantime, Let's jump into it.
GOTHAM CITY – THE NARROWS
June 22nd, 2008. 2115 (9:15) PM EST
David Cain's POV:
After leaving the meeting with Miss Falcone, David had told Turner to follow him, and they had quickly hopped into his black 1979 GMC Vandura.
Turner upon entering said vehicle had remarked as though it looked like Cain lived in it.
And that's because he did.
David had learned a long time ago, that keeping his operation mobile was one of the key elements to staying at the top of his game.
He had everything he needed as far as gear in the van, and sleeping on a portable cot was one of the more pleasant of places he'd had to sleep in his life; so, it mattered little.
'After all, you can't be caught if you can't be found.'
David had learned early on in his teenage life that he had a predisposition towards violence, and only a few years later did he also learn that violence could pay.
It had begun as a small business for him while he'd still been in school, and quickly transitioned into his minor military career from there.
After a standard, and quite surprisingly boring four-year tour with the army rangers, David relocated to working under a former CIA spook turned mercenary.
By the age of 27, David had a reputation.
He was a consummate professional, and he had a simple motto that he adhered to.
'Amat Victoria Curam.'
His after army service mentor had literally beaten the Latin phrase into him and the others amongst the kill squad he'd served with before striking out on his own.
David's many successful years as a mercenary since had proven that victory did in fact love preparation.
David had once himself been burdened by the faces of those he'd killed…
But such a thing had only lasted for a short period of time, and now that he was in his forties, he could clearly say that the amount of faces had over-ridden any possible recollection of his targets.
'They're all the same now, just more dead meat.'
David had spoken to Turner about his own methods, and his plans to flush the hero out of hiding.
Plans within plans were proposed, and the younger assassin remained engaged with David although a bit guarded as they plotted the best format to setting up a battle plan to utilize against their enhanced target.
As David had glanced at his so called partner, he couldn't help but be pulled into some side-bar recollection.
His main thought going towards what he'd been worried about for a few years now…Legacy.
David knew for a fact that his name was not only known across the world, but feared as well.
That tended to happen when one picked up not only the body count that he had, but the high profile of some of so said bodies.
David wasn't a fool though, he understood on a visceral level where his profession would most probably land him one day.
'Just more of the same dead meat on the floor….'
That thought had long ago spawned his thoughts on legacy, and while he'd been looking at his now temporary partner, he couldn't help but wish that he had had a chance to help mold and train such a man as Benjamin Turner when he was young.
While he had intentionally taken a dig at his fellow assassin while in Sofia Falcone's office, and while he never admit so out loud, he admired the younger man sitting next to him.
Turner had already established a reputation that Cain had to admit was even greater than his own.
'He could have been an amazing successor.' Cain thought as he continued to prep his gear, pulling himself slightly closer to the present moment.
As he did so, his mind quickly again sidetracked though, as the thought of his missing progeny came to the forefront.
'Cassandra…'
Meeting Sandra Wu-san had been one of the defining moments of David's life.
She had been beautiful in a primal kind of way, and he was glad that he had chosen her to help him bring Cassandra into the world.
'But I hate myself for the weakness that led to where we are now as a whole.'
He hadn't even gotten the chance to see the birth of his own daughter, the one that was meant to solidify his legacy in this world as one of the greatest killers in history.
Much as he applied to his every day operations, David had concocted and documented a thorough plan to turn Cassandra into the literal definition of a living breathing weapon; the pinnacle of what a human being could become when focus was applied to the art of killing.
Training regimen, dietary plan, eventual introduction of growth hormones, counter interrogation techniques…he had documented all of it in a journal; and had planned to implement it all almost as soon as Cassandra had been born.
But…a moment of doubt had overcome him, somehow, and that was apparently enough to have given Sandra her opportunity.
The woman was literal master of reading others and fought and moved in a way that David could scarcely describe; the only fitting definition of her skills being preternatural.
Sandra had clearly homed in on David's doubt at that time and had capitalized upon it.
She had absconded with the journal, a collection of his liquid funds, and his unborn daughter.
It had been a little over five years since Sandra had disappeared into the world as he himself had trained her to do, and while he was impressed with her ability to avoid his own detection, he was not only frustrated but vexed.
Even with as an impressive as a student as she'd been, Sandra shouldn't have been able to stay off of David's radar for this long; not without aid.
The list of who could be helping her was small, as no simple clandestine agency could keep them away from him.
'After all, I have my own moles and backdoor entries into every possible system, if a branch like the CIA had her; I'd know.'
That left very few options for Sandra to have disappeared into, and said list left David almost gnashing his teeth.
The League of Shadows was probably the highest probability…
He had done one or two jobs for the so called 'Demon's Head' before, as had the man he now found himself working alongside, and that more than anything was the reason he would go along with this co-op.
When all was said and done, he'd ask Turner to aid him, would even offer to pay him.
'I'm getting my daughter back…even if I have to end Sandra to do so.' David thought before double checking his armaments.
A large black rucksack contained his now custom worked AAI ACR in its collapsed and disassembled state, along with four fully rigged explosive charges.
Entering one large apartment complex with Turner at his side David nodded at the other man as they walked into the fire escape stairwell.
David's ascent was slower than Turner's own pitched pace, as the younger man headed directly for the roof access door.
David placed three of the four charges at intervals up along the stairwell of the 20 story section eight building, and upon dropping the third charge, synced up his detonator before finishing his own ascent.
This particular building of a set of three side by side section eight housing apartments here in the Narrows had been chosen, simply because the roofs weren't very far apart; and a set of rigging wires had also been packed inside David's rucksack along with some other minor supplementary gear.
David had run some calculations, not only on the blasts and how they would affect the building, but on what info he had to work with from previous movement patterns that All Might had displayed.
While both of those things typically wouldn't give much higher than a 50% chance of success in drawing the desired outcome, the deciding factor came from the fact that All Might was still presumably human.
'And humans typically behave in a pattern, even when they try to deviate, there's always repetitive bits that shine through.' David thought as he used the rigging to move to one of the separate apartment buildings, quickly pulling out and reassembling his custom rifle.
The fourth charge was now synced to his detonator, and left in the rucksack, which he now had underneath the tripod he had setup for his rifle.
The plan and its execution were simple.
David had a radio in his possession and had hacked the police bandwidth in an attempt to track All Might's current activity.
It was clearly known that All Might would openly act with the police, and in a city like Gotham, especially in the Narrows; it was only a matter of time before the shield slinging hero made his presence known to handle some kind of problem.
Turner would remain on the roof of the first building closer to the side that the set up grapple rigging was on, while David would be on the opposite roof beside the roof access door; behind the scope of his rifle.
Previous footage showed that eight times out of ten, their hero target would actually make his way to the roof and work downwards into the building.
'A smart move, considering reports claim he has ways of dealing with fires. Getting those that would be trapped higher up in a building is a good look.'
If all went according to plan, from there the attack that they'd planned would quickly kick off.
Turner would engage the hero in hand to hand combat, and David would be his backup.
With Turner's reputation, the fight while probably a bit more difficult than he was used to, would still be a forgone conclusion.
David's radio crackled at that moment, revealing that All Might was actually only a few blocks from their position, having just finished putting a stop to a carjacking.
'And of course, if Turner winds up not being able to handle it himself, that's what I'm here for.' David thought as he racked the slide for his rifle, chambering the first of his specialized AP rounds; before bringing the detonator up next to his right ear where his recon link was.
"Turner, brace yourself. Fire in the hole."
CLICK
Even being inside the opposite building, the concussive force from the three simultaneous detonations caused David to have to steady his footing, and he clearly was able to see that Turner wound up having to do the same.
While the C-4 charges that David had rigged to the first trigger on the detonator were only two pounds each, these older section eight buildings were considered to be of a more broken down nature; and the placement was for a two pronged strategy.
Not only would the explosions cause an issue requiring EMS and Fire rescue to swarm the area and limit the police in their duties thereby lessening the chance of interference in the OP, but the status of the building would also hopefully keep the hero distracted enough that he'd suffer a mistake during the planned onslaught.
'Turner may have to worry about the status of the building as well…but fuck em'.' David thought, as he considered that if things dragged on too long he'd be unable to capture the hero's shield for the promised bonus.
While the extra bonus money would be nice, and one would think David would extend a little care as professional courtesy to his fellow assassin/mercenary, both of those things really took a back seat for this specific operation.
'I've got enough stashed in my accounts as is, so I can't dawdle trying to recover a trinket while the Bat and his bird boy sidekick are possibly en route; and Turner knows the risks. I'd expect nothing but the same from him in regard to myself.'
Barely a moment passed by, and yet it seemed someone somewhere was watching as All Might alighted upon the roof from the East from the fire escape.
The hero quickly began to move towards the roof access, probably in an attempt to help evacuate any civilians while simultaneously attempting to deal with the fallout of the blasts.
David didn't plan to let things go that way.
"Taking an opening shot Turner."
BANG
Same Time
Bronze Tigers POV:
After passing through the roof access door and walking towards the edge of the building, Ben turned back and faced the door before sinking down to his knees and crossing his fists in his lap.
A deep inhale and solid four second hold was executed, before he contracted his core muscles and exhaled slowly.
He was able to repeat said process eight more times before the roof access door opened again, Ben barely cracking his right eye open to observe his partner as he joined him on the rooftop.
He kept executing his controlled breathing exercises before standing to his full height as the older man began pulling gear out of the large rucksack he'd brought with him.
A small gas-powered grapple gun launched a line across the twenty or so foot distance between the crowded buildings to the second of the three.
Said grapple gun echoed out a further two times, as dual anchor points were made before lengths of light rope were hooked up.
A moment later the older man had used some kind of contraption to actually propel himself across the line that was lodged into the side of the roof access on the other building, and that left him standing alone.
"Com's check Turner."
It took a great deal of his honed discipline to not roll his eyes slightly at the gravelly voice of his partner.
"Com's are good. I'm reading you loud and clear."
No response came, and Ben found himself thankful for it.
David Cain was clearly a professional, and that alone was where Ben's respect began and ended for the man.
Ben had heard plenty of stories of Cain's illustrious career, and while Ben would admit that the man was clearly a gifted killer and espionage artist; as far as Ben was concerned the man had no honor.
Cain would take any contract put before him, even if said contract involved killing women and children.
'And I can't abide that.' Turner thought, memories of his deceased Fiancé running through his head as he briefly ran himself through some slow flowing katas to keep himself loose as the man working alongside him set himself up for the planned ambush.
Ben had listened to the man's reasoning and basis for his plan as they'd entered his van, and truth be told, in the planning is where he saw how the man had earned his reputation.
David Cain was clearly an intelligent man, but what really shone through with his planning was his meticulousness.
The way that he looked at the footage of their mark and was able to devise his strategy, the way that he weighed the odds of everything against their plans, all of it coming together much like a symphony does.
Ben knew much about that, as it was like fighting, or dancing.
Ben was a master of both, and understood how the man expected his execution of his plans to play out.
He had voiced his own concerns to the older assassin as they'd been going over any and all relevant data, siting that Batman and his sidekick could be a problem…
Ben had watched as he'd first made a phone call, and then logged into his laptop.
Apparently, Cain had somehow broken into Sofia Falcone's highly fortified home at some point the day before the meeting and had already been working on his plan; the man already two steps ahead without their employer even knowing it.
A small-time group of thieves had been found, equipped, and tasked.
Cain had quickly found an easier mark to set the smaller team on, their goal to actually work as a distraction; something to hopefully lure the Bat and his bird away from their activity.
Once that had been explained is where Turner found he at least had his grudging respect for the old killer.
Ben had been in outright disagreement to the man's plan before all of that.
It was too loud, too obvious.
It would draw attention from not only the police and emergency services, but most probably the Batman.
While the prospect of taking on the Batman made Ben excited as he'd heard the man was a true warrior, and had the record to prove it with all the 'super' criminals he'd defeated over time, Ben preferred to keep a low profile.
Sure, he left his calling card at every mark he took down, but Ben wasn't out to make an outright spectacle of himself.
'That's not what an assassin is supposed to be.'
Understanding the ways to operate while in this line of work is what distinguished you from either being labeled a professional, or a chump.
'That, or you wind up being labeled a domestic terrorist.'
At first listening to Cain's plan, Ben had believed that's exactly where this whole thing would lead them both; and Ben wasn't interested in that kind of rep.
Granted, his own face was well known enough amongst the larger letter name driven agencies…
But he was nowhere near interested in having his picture plastered on a television screen during a late night run of the news.
Tiger preferred to conduct himself in a manner more like that of a scalpel.
Quiet, quick, and efficient.
That was the draw of hiring someone like him.
That, and the fact that he was a hands on kind of person.
The truth of the matter was that any moron could pick up a gun, and with even just a few months of training could be considered a proficient killer. Proficient enough to carry out a hit on someone.
But when someone hired the Bronze Tiger, they were sending a message.
Ben had infiltrated plenty of places, most of them being ridiculously dangerous for the uninitiated.
In doing so he'd not only proven that he was a dedicated and gifted killer, but he'd shown plenty of times that you could always run…
'But that you can seldom hide. Especially not from someone like me.'
Finishing a final stretch Ben brought himself up to his full height and shook his arms out a final time before his com link crackled.
"Turner, brace yourself. Fire in the hole."
The building shook slightly under him, and the sound while not deafening, was most assuredly loud as an acrid smoke and wisps of flame began to surface on his left to just behind the roof access box.
'Hopefully this pans out just exactly as Cain's thinking it will…I'm fighting against the clock too.' Ben thought.
Barely a few scant moments passed by, and then his com clicked on again, and Ben peaked his head out just barely from the one side of the roof access box; catching sight of their target before Cain's words registered in his ear.
"Taking an opening shot Turner."
A scant second barely passed…
BANG
And Ben was already in motion, barreling across the open rooftop from behind his own cover at a full sprint as he took in the form of his mark.
All Might was still in motion and clearly had caught sight of him, but even then, somehow turned, angling his back towards the direction of Cain's rooftop.
DING
The sound of the bullet ricocheting off of All Might's shield reached Ben's ears as he watched a small spark lance off the defensive tool, though much like himself All Might didn't cease his movement; not even really losing a step while he changed trajectory to come straight at him.
A slight grin found itself on Ben's face, as mid run he jumped while barely five feet from the hero, his right gauntleted hand coming down in a vicious 'superman' punch.
SCRAAAAPE
The sound of his claws glancing off of the shield as the hero turned slightly was grating, but Ben didn't allow that to throw him off, as he came down rolling from the redirection; only to turn again and spring into a back kick that his opponent jumped back from for some distance.
Another loud shot rang out, and again the hero turned his back while slightly ducking his head and tucking into himself.
Just as that happened, the green lightning aura that was around the hero seemed to sputter and fade, the force from the gunshot actually staggering him forward a half a step.
Ben wasn't idle, and had already begun to close the distance again, and in doing so he was able to see the relatively shocked or even panic stricken look on the hero's face.
The echoes of his own footsteps off the dilapidated roof drew the hero's attention, and he dropped into a slight boxer's stance, while also trying to look in the direction of where Cain's shots were coming from.
Ben feinted with a rushing left jab, before leaning back quickly on his right heel, his left leg coming up and thrusting out in a side kick.
The green lightning aura seemed to sputter back into place for a second, the hero's movement speed upping tempo for just a moment, said moment being good enough for him to shift his footing, sliding into a horse stance. Said horse stance had him facing towards Ben with his right arm positioned as he redirected his kick off target with his right forearm, the shield on his back eating up another shot from Cains rifle.
Ben spun with the force of the redirect and came around sliding in just a bit on his right foot to launch an uppercut into All Might's chest.
The hero grimaced as he backed off just slightly, the swing not connecting with his body.
The long-lined gashes that were left up the front of the hero's uniform as Ben's fist grazed by his uniform were a clear statement though.
Ben thought to push the advantage, but the hero actually made the first move, advancing forward.
Ben prepared to block and then lock up the hero due to a right straight, but it wound up being a feint, and a teep kick pushed him back a bit; the connect surprising yet agitating him.
The guy was clearly no amateur, but he shouldn't be able to land any decent hits.
Ben's mind realized what was holding him back, and he quickly back pedaled for a moment, his hand coming up to his ear.
"Back off. I can't really fight him full on if I'm worried about catching a stray from you."
Quickly his com registered a muttered "Copy that."
From there the fight was back on, and Ben pushed himself full gas on the next exchange.
A quick four step advancement that was met in the middle, and Ben opened up with a three hit combo.
The hero leaned back from the two front back to back jabs weaving slightly as he did the hits just barely missing the side of his face and helm, but the follow up right cross connected with the hero's body as Ben lunged ever so slightly with the swing.
The claws ripped through the now clearly ballistic enhanced jacket next to the white star right on top of his previous slash marks, and while he couldn't tell if he'd drawn blood, the hit had connected; though surprisingly the hero had rolled slightly back with the hit and absorbed some of the blow as demonstrated that he flinched but wasn't a wheezing heap on the floor.
'He's clearly been trained, quite well at that, if I'm to admit.' Ben thought begrudgingly.
The retaliatory head-butt that came and caught him unawares as All Might quickly grabbed his wrist while he'd still been extended was unexpected, and Ben knew he'd have a bruised left cheekbone only thanks to his own experience and observational skills.
Staggering back just slightly from the strike as the hero danced back a few steps bringing his own hand up to his chest while sucking in a deep breath, Ben felt a half snarl etch itself onto his face, as again his opponent began to have the sparks dance around his body.
Ben barely had a chance to perceive the next move his opponent made, and while he was already being paid to kill the hero, thus far it hadn't been personal.
It was just a job to him.
But then the hero's arms had blurred, and while the sparks almost immediately began to fade again, and Ben was able to pick up what had happened; the move caused not only some surprise but a bit of damage as well.
Two small throwing knife like blades had blitzed passed Ben, his own senses allowing him to just barely dodge one, a small line actually opening up along the middle of his right cheek; while the second clipped the lower left side of his stomach leaving behind a similar mark.
The blades had actually had enough force behind them that they went disappearing over the one side of the roof towards the third building, and that fact alone made Ben even angrier as he started to sprint towards his opponent.
'Now I'm pissed!'
Another shot rang out, though this one came from a completely different direction... the third building.
Ben was still mid sprint as he watched the hero actually stumble mid move, a bloom of red starting to slowly appear on the side of his left thigh.
'His loss, my gain.' Ben thought as he moved into striking distance and began throwing combos at the hero, his target for the first time unslinging his shield from his back to try and help fend off Ben's attacks.
The first strike had been picture perfect, and yet it had actually cost Ben.
The sound that came from the front of his right gauntlet as it collided with the hero's shield this time, was unlike anything he'd ever heard before.
All Might had actually pushed forward with the front of his shield in a pushback maneuver, and said tactic caused Ben to have to pull away and examine the claws of his gauntlet quickly.
'They're crumpled!' Ben thought with surprise as he found himself quickly on the backpedal, as the sparks began to flicker around the hero again; who looked as though he was equally frustrated and exhausted.
Ben spun on the back of his right heel, lashing out with a high roundhouse kick before then springing back, the kick giving him the distance he needed to quickly remove the now useless right gauntlet.
While the metal itself would have still protected him from any overt strikes, he had other plans.
The tempo of the fight quickly continued to push forward, as the hero made a gesture that was still unfamiliar to Ben for a second, before his com crackled.
"Duck Turner!"
Ben wasn't in the habit of working with others, at all.
But he trusted his own instincts and training and dropped barely a second after the words had been spoken, his hands catching him on the ground as if he'd dropped to do a push up.
The move was correct, as the hero had wound up and thrown his shield at him from only about five feet away, the green sparks quickly petering out again.
Ben actually heard the whooshing sound of the shield as it flew over his head, and that wasn't the only thing that his hearing picked up.
"What the hell?!"
Ben looked up as he performed a half a burpee from his position to get back up and got to see the hero standing there with his arm extended, a look of shock on his face, as the sound of skidding metal echoed behind him on the rooftop.
'He was trying to recall the shield like in some of the footage…but it didn't work…'
A strange feeling passed over Ben as he considered what was happening.
Then it hit him.
'Rene….so, those bastards are here somewhere.'
It was the only thing that made sense to Ben, and he quickly tapped his com.
"We've got gate crashers Cain."
His partner for this whole debacle was quick on the uptake thankfully.
"I've got em', they're on the third roof. Bald African American Male, White Male with glasses. Friends of yours?"
The hero didn't stay idle while Ben tried talking to Cain, as he tried to run forward at speed, even considering the gunshot wound to his leg.
Ben charged to meet the slightly hobbled run of the hero, but at the last second, said hero actually gestured towards the ground; and Ben immediately knew what was about to happen.
A large cloud of smoke erupted into the air, and Ben was forced to drop his center of gravity and brace himself, as he believed that the hero was going to charge him.
While he did this he responded to his partner.
"They aren't friends, they're probably here for me after we're finished here."
Surprisingly, Cain's response was one he hadn't considered.
"We'll deal with it when it comes."
Another shot rang out, but then a slight hiss came over Ben's comlink.
"I don't know how he's doing it, but somehow he reacts to my shots. I've got a thermal function on this scope and it's in overdrive watching this guy. Whatever those sparks are, he's fast."
Ben tried to absorb his partner's words while also listening for his opponent advancing, but it was difficult.
A second later, and he didn't need to worry about splitting his focus as the com crackled again.
"Duck!"
This time the warning came too late, as his opponent's shield came flying vertically into his chest through his guard, slightly checking him in his already injured cheek as the force of the blow took him off of his feet.
The sound of said implement clattering to the ground through the smoke told him that his adversary hadn't been able to recall the implement again, but that mattered little, as the sound of pounding feet on the roof reached his ears.
Ben rolled just in time as a foot came down and actually splintered the material of the roof in an axe kick, Ben propping himself up and lashing out with a double mule kick as he used his hands to push himself into the blow.
The blow connected solidly as he listened to the hero grunt in pain, and Ben watched as the now dissipating smoke revealed his target backing up while cradling the right side of his face; Ben betting from the feeling of the hit that his feet had connected with the super's chest and part of his face.
'Tough little bastard. That should've put him down.' Ben thought as he quickly rolled from into a handstand to place himself back to a standing position from the kick he'd lashed out with.
Another shot rang out, but the hero was still wreathed in his lightning, and actually dropped into and almost split to avoid the shot, and Ben found himself having to dodge to his left as well; feeling and hearing the whiz of the round as it passed by his previous position.
'That was them.' Ben thought with agitation as he considered asking Cain to take a warning shot at the third party.
All Might pushed off the ground, his aura dying away suddenly again, and he seemed to stumble for a moment before touching his belt with his right hand while his left seemed to press into his gunshot wound; three slight capsules flying at Ben as the hero quickly arced his hand up and tossed them at him.
Quickly dodging to his left a bit, Ben heard a strange sound from behind him, like a small burst from a Taser going off.
'He's got all kinds of toys.' Ben thought ruefully as he charged at the hero.
A lunging sidekick sent the hero tumbling backwards over himself before he came to lay on his back, and Ben rushed over to stand over top of him.
A hard right slammed into the side of the hero's head, causing his helmed head to bounce off of the ground, and the hero looked dazed for a moment.
Ben quickly grabbed hold of the front collar at the neck of All Might's uniform, rearing his left fist back.
"Sofia Falcone sends her regards."
The blow flew down, but at the last second the hero began to spark, and his dazed look was replaced by a razor focused one.
The hero dodged his head to one side, and just as Ben's gauntlet was in line with the side of all Might's head, said hero's hands lashed out.
His right hand came up, caught and curled around the gauntlet, and then the hero started to wrench against the metal with his physical strength. At the same time, All Might's left hand lanced up and proceeded to swiftly chop Ben in the throat before finding purchase on his front collar.
The wince and choking gasp was unavoidable, but Ben took a page out of All Might's book, fighting through the pain he pulled himself closer and launched a head-butt from their interlinked position.
Both combatants held tightly to the other for a moment, but Ben was forced to break the hold he had, pulling back so that he could kick the downed hero in his side; said maneuver being executed to get All Might to release his grip on Ben's left gauntlet.
Ben had surely harmed himself with the head-butt, still seeing stars as he backpedaled, though he believed he'd broken the hero's nose.
Glancing down at his left arm, Ben found himself immensely frustrated.
His gauntlets were special.
Heat treated and hardened, and they had always served him well.
'And yet in this single engagement, both sets of my knuckles have been broken. And what's worse…'
Pain continued to throb and lance in Ben's left forearm.
The downed hero was struggling to get to a knelling position, and in that Ben saw his opportunity.
He started to try and pull the second gauntlet off.
'To think this guy has that kind of strength. Unreal.' Ben thought as he gingerly finally undid the straps and roughly yanked the slightly warped metal off of himself.
As Ben looked up a consecutive two shots rang out, the first shot causing a loud ping to sound out, as again the hero had seemingly called his shield back to himself, though again his aura was now seemingly gone.
The second shot Ben couldn't place, and quickly panned his gaze around to see what had happened.
He quickly understood what was going on.
'Rene and Bennet.'
Both men had pulled back into cover behind the door of the roof access box.
'So, it looks like Bennet took that shot, but Cain just told them what the score is.'
The bad blood between Ben and the CIA was something else, and while he understood that this was a situation of his own making, he found it funny that those two honestly believed that they would have been able to take him.
'They needed this situation to try and get to me. They wouldn't have been able to pull it off without me gutting them both otherwise.'
Ben gathered the spit and bit of intermingling blood in his mouth together before spitting it out, taking a second to massage the middle of his head; before focusing his gaze on his mark once more.
The hero was in the midst of putting his shield back in its rightful place on his back, and his left pants leg was slowly but surely starting to be covered in more blood, though it was a slow-going process. Additionally, the puncture openings in his chest area were finally beginning to show signs of leaking blood, meaning that Ben had actually found purchase when he tagged him right at where his heart should be.
Reaching into his padded under pack at his lower back, Ben pulled out his dual pair of back up steel knuckle duster tiger claws; each blade being three and a half inches long.
Locking eyes with the hero, Ben couldn't help but feel he needed to nod downwards at him in respect.
'He's given me one hell of a fight I'll give him that.'
Ben couldn't help but speak his mind out loud about the feelings he had.
"I'll give it to you. Your no novice. But you've gotta know that this isn't gonna end in your favor. You're outnumbered. Stand down now, and I'll do ya clean. I give you my word. I'll make it a warrior's death."
The hero stared at him for a moment, saying nothing, and the silence was broken up by gunfire between his partner, and their third-party taking pot shots back and forth at one another.
The lull of silence began to rankle Ben after a moment, so he pressed again.
"Did you hear me? Why don't you just give up, huh?"
The hero simply brought his right hand up and wiped at the gathered blood under his nose before actually cracking it back into place, confirming Ben's thoughts from earlier.
After doing that, he brought his hands back up into a boxer's stance, and actually had the gall to put a small smile on his stupid face before responding.
"I can do this all day."
Ben couldn't help but respect that he wouldn't quit fighting, and he resolved to himself to give him a clean death either way.
"We'll see."
Jackson's POV:
He found himself feeling a lot of things.
Anxiety, exhaustion, pain…and frustration. Frustration being the chief among them.
Frustration that the city seemed to constantly need someone watching after it.
Frustration with all of the pain and hurt that he was carrying ever since the other night.
But most of all, the frustration that he had for himself for his behavior since finding out.
Jack trusted and valued, hell, he'd even say though probably not to their faces; that he loved Ted and Helena.
But…
Talking about his loss was just the magnifying glass that he felt he didn't need right now.
So, he'd fallen back into a bad habit that he'd had even when he'd been on his home earth.
He'd thrown himself into work to keep himself from simply dealing with the issue.
'And how that old thing has seemingly blown back in my face, huh?' Jack thought to himself as he set his nose back into place again after wiping the blood from under it.
Thankfully the break wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.
Taking a moment Jack analyzed his situation.
His powers, hell even his connection to his shield was in flux.
Why? He had no clue.
It made zero sense as far as Jack was concerned.
He hadn't inhaled or been exposed to any kind of gases since the beginning of this fight, he hadn't been hit with any kind or dart or bullet or ray before the fight, and he sure as hell didn't have one of the Belle Reve Penitentiary's inhibitor collars on his neck; that was for damn sure.
'So why in the hell have my abilities been on the fritz? They've been that way since this started, so it's not the shot I took.'
The thought was sobering…terrifying if he was being honest.
Not terrifying because he feared losing his powers, because to be frank Jack had already solidified in his head that if the day ever came that he thought he would die, he'd pick a successor and pass 'One for All'.
It would give someone the chance to help make a difference for the world like he was trying to do.
'Just didn't think I'd be dying anytime soon if I'm being completely honest. And without a successor in sight too.'
The fact that he'd found himself in this situation, the fact that Sofia Falcone had sicked not one, but two high end assassins on him spoke volumes to how shitty the situation was.
Jack would be kicking himself for a long time for not ensuring that he was fresh for this kind of confrontation, and resolved to try and never make this mistake again…
'If I survive that is.' Jack thought sardonically.
Jack knew of the man standing before him, and if he was correct with his view of Bronze Tiger's partner, then he was also dealing with David Cain of all people.
Jack didn't have a completely encyclopedic knowledge of all of DC continuity, but one thing that had always intrigued him was the normal humans.
Normal humans in DC that went about either being hero's or villains were of a completely different cloth than normal people.
Granted, fiction…but still.
Batman being the perfect example of being someone that had done and could do things that boggled the mind when one really considered the gravity of some of those things.
Bronze Tiger and David Cain were some of the greatest mercenary killers that DC had to offer.
The fact that Jack was actually trading blows with the one, and having to defend himself from the others gunfire was equal parts frightening and equal parts surreal.
He'd honestly be having a geek out moment about it all if the circumstances were different.
One of these men had literally helped train Bruce Wayne to become the Batman, though whether or not Cain knew that would remain up in the air.
The other, Jack knew was stated by Batman himself in continuity to be faster than himself.
The man historically came to a draw against Batman most of the time that they engaged one another, even coming out the other side with a victory on one occasion, though Jack was still fuzzy on the details.
All that being said, he was surprised he was doing this well, and could only find himself grateful for the combo of his training, and the power that Toshinori had gifted him.
'Though it would be nice to actually be able to utilize it properly.'
Not only was the timing of said fluctuations worrying and inconvenient, but the mystery itself of said issues dueled with the inconvenience of being unable to go all out.
When 'Danger Sense' had almost half failed the first time was when Jack became suspicious, but when the previous wielders all collectively shouted out to him as if seemingly disappearing, now that had been the wakeup call that something was going on.
Adrenaline could be the only answer for why he was doing as well as he was, because he'd honestly already felt dead on his feet tired.
Earlier in the evening he'd stopped back at the apartment, and Ted had tried to get him to stay in and rest for the evening…
But Jack took that as Ted wanting to talk, and at that time Jack hadn't wanted to hear any of it; let alone talk about his own feelings.
'Really regretting dodging that whole thing now.'
Jack obviously found out during this whole engagement that Sofia Falcone had sent this one set of hired killers after him, but the intermediate gunfire between who Jack believed to be David Cain and some unknown third party was itching at the back of his brain for an answer.
'Hopefully when this is all said and done if I come out the other side the winner, I'll get those answers.' Jack thought before thinking quickly on all that Bronze Tiger had said in the past few moments.
Thinking ruefully to himself, Jack could only put his arms up at the ready, steeling himself mentally for what was probably going to be the conclusion of this fight.
"I can do this all day."
Jack watched as Bronze Tiger seemed to slightly nod to himself, though what about Jack could only guess.
The older man than locked eyes with him again.
"We'll see."
Turner started to run at him, and Jack lamented the fact of the gunshot he'd taken to his leg…
'Which really hurts. Never thought anything could burn, hurt, and itch this much all at the same time.' Jack thought as he started to weave in and around the swings that Tiger was now taking at him.
His original claw gauntlets were used far differently than this pair, as Turner's strikes were now less slash infused, and now more thrusts for stabbing.
The points were wickedly tipped, and Jack already knew that Tiger's words about him being on the back end of this situation weren't far off the mark.
Jacks margin for error was incredibly small and had only gotten smaller with Turner's shift in his fighting style.
Jack had trained with Ted in disarming techniques, this was true, but more often than not Jack preferred to not be close to a weapon that was being aimed at him.
A slash came a hair's breadth within the front of the slots where were his eyes were, and slightly lunging backwards to throw a full-on sidekick was the only thing that saved Jack, though the maneuver cost him.
A nice set of slash marks tore through the calf area of his right pants leg as Tiger lashed out as he was pushed back, and Jack could feel the blood already weeping from the newly open wounds.
Setting his leg down as lightly as he could, trying to ignore the fresh marks, Jack took in his opponent.
The man was clearly starting to tire a bit, but Jack couldn't count on outlasting this man; he'd trained too hard for too long to be as good as he was for Jack to win a battle of attrition against him.
'I need to close this out, but without a full power strike I'm in trouble…'
Jack knew he had options of course, but a lot of the ones he still had available to him would paint him in a bad light if they became known, and they most probably would.
The explosive capsules were out for obvious reasons, just as much as the liquid nitrogen caps would be, as the second of the two he'd need to try and help combat the fire if he came out of this, which even now fire was starting to slowly grow up the one side of the building as the once distant echo of sirens was becoming louder with each passing moment.
Jack winced as he attempted to once again take hold of the power of 'One for All', and again found himself dissatisfied.
He had two easy ways to describe the distinct feelings he got from what was going on right now…
At most moments through this, Jack couldn't even feel his power, it simply seeming to have never even existed for him at all; leaving him feeling more vulnerable than he had in a while.
In the moments where he could grab hold of and use the power, the best he could akin it too was like having a handful of sand while having said hand submerged in water.
The power would be there, but it would quickly slip through his fingers, and that left him with only spurts of ability.
'Though thankfully said moments have sure counted.' Jack thought, as he took in his opponent who had now decided to approach at a more moderate pace.
The thought of going to beyond 50% on his next strike when he was able to rally against Turner crossed his mind.
Jack was now at the point where he could use small spurts of 50%, though those moments were dangerous.
Jacks hand was still throbbing at intervals, and he was relatively sure as he clenched his fist and fought back a hiss that there were indeed stress fractures in at the very least his fingers.
Strikes were easy utilizing the power, as he wasn't focusing on holding onto it, but letting go and amping down after impact.
'Focusing to bend his gauntlet was definitely too much too fast, for more than one reason.'
The fact that he'd been able to bend metal of any kind at that output, was good; and yet also very concerning to Jack.
He had amped himself to what he knew was 50%, as he'd been practicing for some time in his pursuit to push his boundaries, and he had committed to the move; though he hadn't known what would happen as he did it. Even still now, he wasn't sure if it was the fluctuating state of his abilities, or his intent to hold back for fear of actually mangling or possibly even removing Turner's limb permanently that had simply seen the gauntlet slowly warped.
Jack knew that Eva and Helena would probably tell him that in this moment it wouldn't have mattered if he'd mangled the man, as he was clearly defending himself…
'But the last thing I need is any of the League thinking I'm about crippling my opponents… bad enough that I had to pancake the damn mech in Chong Mai. Eventually Batman and I are gonna cross paths, and he's probably already chomping at the bit to know how powerful I actually am. That probably gave him a decent baseline, if he's been able to look into it.'
Jack shook his head lightly and brought himself back into the moment, shelving his paranoia over Batman to be worried about another time.
Turner closed the gap and began throwing more combos at Jack, Jack doing everything he could to weave in, out, and even around each of the swipes.
Slipping some Capoeira into his own movements was probably a bad idea considering he was barely a novice at the art, but at this point he was at least confident enough that his fluidity of movement on top of Ted's insistence to beat the fundamentals into him; that he'd at least be able to throw the man off for a moment.
Said moment seemed to work, as Jack slipped under a swing from one of the mercenary's claws, and quickly grappled him into a hip toss; said hip toss causing one pair of the claws to clatter out of his grasp.
Jack felt his power slip back into being for a moment, but just as quickly as he tried to concentrate and capitalize on it, the power was gone again.
That moment of distraction cost him.
The second pair of claws that Tiger had were launched at Jack at speed, and it happened right as Jack was experiencing the slipping loss of his power.
The blades didn't fully pierce the weave of his ballistic jacket, as they'd struck somewhere completely new.
But they found some purchase, and now Jack had a pair of the claws lodged into just below his right collarbone in his pectoral.
Jacks' moment of reeling back from the attack allowed Turner to get to his other claws, and the man was already coming at him again.
Jack quickly pulled the protruding weapon from his body and tossed it away, which was done just in time for him to enter into another close quarter's bout with the famed warrior.
Kicks began to intermingle with Tiger's focused right arm thrusts, though now that his left was free, his normal jabs and even a spinning back hand at one point kept Jack on the defensive.
Spinning at the right moment at one point knocked Turner's newest lunge off course, and Jack attempted a half turn to capitalize and throw a back fist with his right hand.
Turner proved then and there why he was a Master.
Tiger discarded the other set of claws, and jumped while coiling around Jack's right arm, the older assassin's full weight dragging him bodily to the ground.
Jack found himself on the same end of the situation as he himself had put Rough Cut in all that time ago.
The only difference being, was that Jack while knowledgeable enough to counter the move, wasn't amped like Rough Cut had been at the time. He was too tired, and too slow.
Jack had had his shoulder dislocated a few times before back home, but that didn't mean that the feeling was a welcome one; though he did everything he could to focus on his breathing so that he wouldn't cry out in pain.
Turner after pushing in on Jack's ribs with his foot for the dislocation then tried to bend Jacks elbow up for a full-on break or dislocation there as well, though thankfully Jack's elbow protections prevented it.
Two tries of that had yielded no results, and Jack wasn't idle, trying to fight out of the hold.
CRACK
"Arrrrrrrrgh!"
Jack hadn't been able to hold back his exclamation of pain at the man breaking his wrist.
Jack felt 'One for All' slip back into his control for a moment, and it couldn't have come at a better time, as Tiger while still holding Jack kicked him in the side of the face.
The durability boost, plus Jacks own time of having to deal with both Helena and Ted knocking him around, made it so that while there was a bit of pain; there really wasn't any damage.
Jack turned and primed his middle finger into his thumb on his open hand and unleashed a flick almost dead center into Turner's face.
The man quickly let go while shouting out an expletive of pain, and Jack took the moment to yank his arm free, before swinging around while on his back and using the fact that his shield was still on to slide a bit away from the hand-to-hand specialist.
'Thankfully I'm below the barrier wall…would be a shame to get shot right now.' Jack thought as he glanced at Turner, who was slightly curled in on himself.
Jack took a few moments to steady his breath, and tried to reassert his hold on his power, but all he got was a mumbled fading exclamation from Nana.
'Nin- '
Jacks focus was quickly pulled back to Turner as the sound of scraping metal reached his ears.
The man stood to his full height, his face heavily coated in blood as with his free left hand, he reset his own broken nose.
'Tied up I see.'
"You little bastard. I'm gonna give it to you, you're a hell of a run down. You could of just killed me with that. Not very heroic. I'm over this, I'm tired now. Game's over."
Jack attempted to rally and stand, but without his enhancement, and being weighed down by his already built-up exhaustion; Jack staggered out in the attempt.
Turner was still almost fresh and was on him in an instant.
Jack attempted to block the swing, but all that resulted in was him being subjected to a right feint.
Jack screamed in agony as Tiger grabbed him by his already broken wrist, dropping himself down to almost sit on Jacks midriff in a squatting position while he slammed Jack's arm to the ground, driving his claw into Jacks bicep.
"ARRRRRGH!"
He did everything he could, he really did, but his vision began to swim in black from the mingling sensation of exhaustion and pain.
A hard slap to the right side of his head brought the world back into focus.
"Eyes up you little punk. You don't get to check out on me before I end you."
Turner yanked the claw out of Jacks, eliciting what Jack would have probably called a pitiful moan in any other circumstance.
"Any last words?"
Jack tried to bring his left hand up to swing, to buck his hips even, but Turner went and stepped on his left elbow; and Jack was well into being too tired to try and fight back now.
"I got you. You lost. Now, I'll ask again. Any last words?"
Jack tried to think, tried to come up with something to say, but he was too tired.
It also wound up not being necessary, because the last thing Jack heard before he lost his relative consciousness; was music to his ears.
"ARRGH!"
"HE'S NOT THE ONE THAT NEEDS LAST WORDS JACKASS!"
Ted's POV:
Tracking him down wasn't the hard part, not at all, considering he'd given him the opening to plant the tracker like he'd planned.
Normally Jack tended to air on the side of just a smidge south of the definition of paranoid.
'But he must've been that tired since he clearly didn't find and ditch the tracker.' Ted thought as they approached where the signal had stopped.
Quite a few Emergency service and Fire rescue vehicles were already on sight when Selina, and Helena and he were getting to the area via rooftop.
Thankfully they'd chosen to come at the area from the north and were coming from one of the higher apartment high-rises.
They'd immediately heard the gunfire, and Ted had had Helena look into what was going on; his protégé telling him about the three separate scenes at play via the scope on her large repeating crossbow.
Helena volunteered to deal with the unknown group that was farther away, but Selina wound up overruling her along with Ted.
Selina explained how she planned to attack the second roof's single occupant and take his weapon to then continue harrying the final group.
That tactic actually wound up being unnecessary, as a loud strange humming noise drew their groups attention upward.
Batman and Robin had arrived and were dropping out of a fracking stylized airplane onto the second roof.
Selina gave a single barking laugh and claimed she was going for the third rooftop after witnessing that…
Which left Ted and Helena to directly go to Jack.
Helena shot off a large repelling line, and the two of them quickly zipped down it; each rolling onto the roof in time to hear Jack scream out in pain as his attacker drove something into his bicep.
The gunfire had picked up in the area, but the man didn't seem to notice as he was busy talking to Jack up close.
'Scum sucking, Mother- 'Ted thought as he ran full tilt at the man sitting on top of Jack.
As Ted was only a few feet away he heard the bastard talking to his boy.
"I got you. You lost. Now, I'll ask again. Any last words?"
A large crossbow bolt flew right by Ted's masked face and slammed into the man's lower left side, but Ted was unsurprised and undeterred.
In normal circumstances he'd wanna chew Helena out for such a blatant kill shot…
But this time he wasn't even worried about it.
"HE'S NOT THE ONE THAT NEEDS LAST WORDS JACKASS!" Ted bellowed as he finished clearing the distance, his right leg lancing out in a front snap kick that caught the already leaning man full on in the left side of his face.
The man tumbled off of Jack, and Ted quickly grabbed Jack and pulled him slightly back as he looked him over, the shield helping as it made the sliding easier.
Without looking back at her, Ted gave Helena her marching orders.
"Secure Might, make sure he's safe."
A mumbled "you got it" reached his ears, but Ted was already again sprinting at Jack's downed assailant.
Ted barely picked up some mumbled words to Helena as he ran forward.
"The…the blood."
"I know baby doll, I know."
The exchange sent flashes of Jacks current state through Ted's mind's eye…
And all it did was full the raging fire in his gut.
The man came up swinging, some kind of knuckle duster or bladed brass knuckle variant in his right hand.
Ted knocked the attack off course dislodging the weapon from the man's hand, and full out boxed his opponent's ears, before throwing a quick throat chop into him.
A wild left came up at him in retaliation, but it was summarily caught, and then a quick three hit combo lashed out.
Ted grabbed the man by his left wrist as he swung a hard left hook into the offending forearm, quickly cocking back and sending a left straight into the man's clearly previously broken nose; before jumping back a step and throwing out a sidekick with his right leg that propelled the man off of his feet onto his backside.
Ted took a second to try and breath, to calm the fire, but the man actually started to stand again, and that set him off.
Ted took three long strides, and ducked underneath a wild right swing, throwing a single deep uppercut shot right into the man's liver: before locking his massive hands around the man's waist.
A quick buck of his hips and Ted turned the man ass over tea kettle with a German suplex.
Ted got up, and the man had the telemetry to groan.
'Oh, Imma give ya something to groan about ya little bastard.'
Ted was on him and grabbed him by his hair, and though the man swung back and connected with a few well-placed hits as Ted dragged him to his feet; every blow rolled off of Ted like water off of a duck's ass.
Ted allowed another blow to come by and he slipped it to the left, driving his meaty right hand into the guy so hard his feet came off the ground.
Ted quickly dropped his center of gravity and speared the man upwards onto his right shoulder while wrapping him in a bear hug; before he jumped off his feet turning down towards the rooftop itself.
"OOOOOOORA!"
They're collective weight came down onto an already slightly cracked piece of roof, and said roof gave way as they then plummeted down.
Not once, not twice, but three times.
Their bodies broke through three different roof/ceiling assemblies before their momentum ceased.
Ted rolled off of the still groaning man, and brought himself back to his feet, stretching for a moment after he took a deep breath.
'Yeah, you still got it. Not too shabby.' Ted thought with a bit of pride.
Ted would honestly forever give the guy credit, as he'd laid it on him pretty hard, on top of the fact that Jack was no slouch and had clearly given the guy a fight.
Even so, a single groan came from him, and as Ted turned the man was already up and had set his stance again.
A single right cross decked Ted right on the chin.
Relative silence reverberated throughout the apartment that they'd fallen into for a moment as the man slowly pulled his fist back.
The man actually looked shocked, and cocked back for another swing when Ted didn't drop outright.
Ted was faster, and quickly leaned in and head-butted the guy, before putting him in a half Thai-clinch.
"Your gonna have to do better than that, Junior."
The following four knee strikes were devastating, as the man actually moaned in pain a bit on the third, with Ted bringing the man's head down into his knee for the fourth as he then pushed off.
The man laid on the ground, slightly moaning and breathing heavy as Ted started to crack his knuckles again.
"You come to my hometown, and you wreck the place up good and proper. But worst of all, you messed with my boy! So now I'm gonna take my time, it's gonna hurt, and I'm gonna enjoy it."
Ted was cut off from moving forward when the man seemed to catch a second wind, rallying to one knee.
"Enough!"
The man cast his hand to the ground, and smoke began to fill the small space of the apartment they'd crashed into.
"Another time, old man."
'Old Man?! Why you little sonova- '
Ted attempted to surge forward to try and grab the man.
But the sound of broken glass is all that he found in the next instant.
It took a few moments for the smoke to properly filter enough out of the apartment for Ted to make his way forward.
He had thought that it was all a tactic, something to get him to drop his guard…
'Little asshole actually ran.' Ted thought derisively as he tried to pull himself together.
A second later, Helena's voice called down to him through the holes he'd made.
"Wildcat! Are you okay?!"
Ted walked to the hole and looked up, clearly seeing Helena surrounded by the backdrop of the glowing clouds of the night sky.
"I'm okay! Is Might okay?!"
Ted watched as Helena sort of nodded at him before answering.
"I trauma patched him and sprayed all the blood with ammonia like he asked. Can we go? We should get him back to really get a better look at him. This is a lot of blood."
Ted could only nod quickly at that.
"Yeah. Get me line and let's get the hell outta here! I gotta make a couple calls."
Annnnnnd there it is folks! Scene! Well, that happened. This scene has been a long time coming in my head. I've gone through several ideas, retuning and discarding the things that I feel work; and most of all the things that I felt didn't. I wanna nip this in the bud by saying this. This Needed to happen and was always part of my plan. To reiterate what I'm sure I've said before. This is NOT a crack fic. I know that some of you are gonna say on the quick draw that Jack shouldn't have lost that fight. But he definitely should have and did. I hope I properly illustrated that he gave a good resistance all the same. One of MY personal gripes with other SI Fics is when someone is made overly powered Too quickly. It feels like it detracts from the actual story telling in my eyes. There are amazing characters throughout almost any continuity you can name that deserve their flowers, and while this is Jacks story, I also plan to give other people their spotlight. I did things a little different this chapter with the POV shifts, and I hope you guys appreciated it. It felt more streamlined to me personally. Next chapter is gonna be a far less action-packed chapter, but I'm really happy with where my ideas are taking me. As always, please let me know what you thought. My inquiring mind wants to know lol. I hope that you all have been staying safe, happy, and healthy as this summer seems to be flying by to it's inevitable close. Something I meant to touch base on Last chapter. THIS FIC IS FOUR YEARS OLD! Holy crap. I can't believe it. Once again, just the biggest thank you to each and every one of you that has faved, followed, and commented on this story. The appreciation you guys have shown means the world to me, and I can't really put it into better words than that. One thing I wanna cover before I stop chatting your ears off. I've been considering Omake's for a long time. I've broken it down like this. One's that will be completely non canon, just done for funsies when I have the time, will be done as a separate fic. Sometime soon there will be a chapter that like this one I've had some trouble plotting the way I want it to end. THAT chapter will be slightly longer than normal, as I'm going to post the alternate possibility before the typical ending A/N. Please let me know what you think of the chapter, and all of these plans that I have going forward. I can't wait to drop the next one for you guys, but in the interim please as always know that I wish you all nothing but the best. Until next time guys. This is Sojiro, signing off. Laters Gators!