Renegade quickly grabbed a smoke bomb and threw it to the ground, being enveloped in smoke.
Flash darted forward and with his speed easily and immediately dispersed the smoke but Renegade was already gone. "What the heck?" exclaimed the speedster in surprise, looking around.
"Superman, can you see him?" asked Black Canary raising her fists in a fighting stance, her eyes darting in every direction of the dungeon.
Superman had already activated his x-ray vision and was looking around. "Not yet. Maybe-"
Two gunshots rang out loudly in the area and with a cry of pain Superman fell to the ground. As the other heroes turned toward Superman, concerned about his cry of pain, Batman threw two batarangs in the direction from where the shots came but they met no one.
"Kryptonite bullets." whispered Wonder Woman in surprise, worried for her friend.
An eerie giggle echoed throughout the dungeon making it impossible to determine where it came from. Shivers ran through the backs of the heroes who were all on high alert. "I didn't think we were facing the Joker." Green Arrow shuddered, his grip on his bow tightening nervously.
"Zatanna, can you track Renegade?" barked Batman without ever looking at her, his eyes shifting from side to side.
Zatanna nodded determinedly. "I can try."
The sorceress opened her mouth but before she could even utter the spell something lodged in her neck and she let out a surprised squeal. Some heroes turned in her direction and saw her pull a dart from her neck. Green Arrow paled. "Could it be poison?"
Zatanna tried to open her mouth but she failed, so she tried several times but the only sounds that came out were muffled noises. Frustration was clearly visible in her blue eyes. "Can't you speak?" asked Aquaman and the sorceress nodded in confirmation.
"Renegade must have injected her with a substance that paralyzed her mouth, preventing her from using her powers." Batman growled, squinting as the same eerie chuckle from before once again echoed throughout the dungeon.
"Guys! A little help!"
Everyone turned to Flash and saw him trying to stop Superman's bleeding that the two kryptonite bullets-one to his left side, inches from his heart, and the other to his right shoulder- had caused.
As the heroes turned their attention and concern to the Man of Steel, no one noticed a shadow falling silently behind Zatanna's shoulders. Renegade tightly squeezed the pressure points between her shoulder and neck and the sorceress gave a gasp before falling forward to the ground, unconscious. The sorceress' fall to the ground attracted the attention of some heroes but by now Renegade was gone.
"Zatanna!"
"Flash! Take Superman to the Watchtower and contact Mid-Nite! He must be operated on as soon as possible before pieces of the kryptonite bullets leak into his system, causing further complications!" barked Batman.
Flash took Superman in his arms, grunting from physical exertion. "Don't worry big guy. You'll be fine-"
"Attention bomb!"
Hawkgirl's warning scream scattered the heroes around and Flash started to run away but the bomb blast hit him anyway and the speedster was thrown far away. Flash rolled painfully a few feet to the ground and lost his grip on Superman who fell to the ground with grunts of pain. The speedster had to take a breath, wincing when he felt his back protest at the mere movement and thought that the explosion probably left a bad burn on his back.
Flash tried to stand up and looked up just in time to see Renegade plummet through the air toward him. The darkness and the play of light made Renegade look more like an Angel of Death than a living thing and the next thing Barry knew a kick connected painfully with his jaw.
Renegade landed on the ground and sprinted forward toward the speedster. He lowered his head dodging some batarangs and rolled under the trident thrown at him by Aquaman. He made a huge leap forward and landed in front of the Flash and before the speedster could get up from the ground, he grabbed his left leg and with a smooth move broke it while simultaneously the acrobat broke Flash's right leg crushing his kneecap with precision worthy of an expert assassin.
Noise of broken bones resounded disgustingly in the dungeon along with Flash's scream of pain. The Talon made a sympathetic grimace. "Nothing personal, I promise." he said apologetically, kicking him hard in the temple and sending him into the world of unconsciousness and he turned sharply, staring at the remaining members of the League who looked justifiably not very happy.
"You will pay dearly!" growled Green Lantern, losing all signs of levity and pointing his Ring menacingly at the young assassin.
Renegade threw himself to the side dodging the anvil created by Jordan and blocked two arrows aimed at his face on the fly. He crushed them with his hand and they were easily destroyed. The Talon saw an imperceptible movement behind him and turned sharply, blocking Batman's fist and then threw him into the air and the Caped Crusader's body struck Hawkgirl who was flying toward the meta-human wielding her mace menacingly and the two heroes crashed painfully to the ground.
The anti-hero's gaze focused intently on each hero, who rigidly returned the gaze. Both super-villain and the actively remaining heroes still standing -that is, all except Superman, Flash, and Zatanna- remained briefly at a standstill. The mercenary's attention remained fixed on the heroes, knowing that if he lost focus on any one hero it would surely be bad for him.
Wait a moment... it's missing-
Suddenly Martian Manhunter materialized in front of him and Dick felt him brush his mind. The acrobat minimally lowered his mental defenses, allowing the Martian to enter a little deeper into his mind, and when Dick was sure that he had lulled Martian Manhunter into a false sense of security, he brought back all his negative emotions related to the Court of Owls.
PainAnguishRageSadnessFearAgonyTerrorSufferingEmptyTortureAtrocitiesDarknessLonelinessDestructionDeathBloodViolenceBrutalityMutilationPleaseStopLetItGo-
Martian Manhunter emitted an atrocious scream of pain and staggered dazedly backward. He fell to his knees and pointed his flickering red eyes at Renegade, completely shocked and overwhelmed. "You-"
Renegade did not allow him to begin his sentence and threw a brutal roundhouse kick to his temple. The Martian's body flew meters away and he slumped unconscious on the ground. The young mercenary's breathing was slightly more labored than usual for the first time since the fight had begun and he was still mentally shaken that he noticed too late the giant hammer circled by green light and it struck him violently, flinging him far away.
The Talon emitted an involuntary grunt and turned the fall into a backflip, getting back on his feet but was forced to roll sideways to avoid the canary cry. The acrobat struggled not to wince at the excessively loud noise to avoid the heroes -especially Batman- discovering his sensory weakness. He got back to his feet and narrowed his eyes menacingly.
"That's enough playing now."
Renegade sprinted with his superhuman speed toward the heroes and used the constructs created by Green Lantern to his advantage. He easily jumped onto each one using his acrobatic skills, dodging several batarangs and the combined attempts of Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl to hit him, and jumped once more onto another of Jordan's constructs. Green Lantern, seeing Renegade a short distance away from him, surrounded himself with a protective barrier, thinking that the super-villain would attack him but to his surprise and that of the other heroes this was not the case.
In fact Renegade jumped from the construct and landed over Hawkgirl's shoulders and used all his weight to knock her down and he soared into a triple somersault in midair then landing in the midst of Green Arrow and Black Canary, both of whom were surprised by the assassin's sudden appearance.
The mercenary took advantage of the surprise of the two Star City vigilantes and first disarmed Green Arrow with a roundhouse kick and then hit him with a punch to the stomach. The archer automatically doubled over, spitting blood, and Renegade grabbed his head and crashed it brutally to his own knee. Green Arrow let out a cry of pain when he heard his nose crack with a sickening crunch of broken cartilage and blood splashed onto the assassin's armor, who ignored it.
Renegade saw Black Canary's fist coming behind him and ducked and in doing so the woman's fist ended up colliding painfully with her fiancé's ribs, which emitted a crunch and the archer spat more blood. Renegade laughed at the bewildered look on Black Canary's face and with a well-considered kick on her throat forced her to fall to her knees, making muffled noises, and the Talon finished her off with a brutal punch to the temple and then turned sharply and hit Green Arrow with a violent uppercut to the jaw, sending him flying away.
Renegade's head rumbled violently as Hawkgirl's mace connected brutally on his head and he instinctively staggered forward, feeling and ignoring the liquid that began to flow from his head wound. To Thanagarian's credit, she was not shocked by the black blood and charged the assassin with another blow.
The mercenary raised his left arm and blocked the blow of the mace with the spikes present on his armor, and with his other arm he pulled out an escrima stick that began to crackle with electricity -not at full blast, Dick did not want to risk killing her- and connected it to Hawkgirl's chest. She let out a cry of pain at the high electric shock and the mace fell noisily to the ground, the noise spreading throughout the dungeon.
A huge mass of heavy armor collided with Renegade, who fell to the side. Batman and Renegade collided on the ground and eventually it was the vigilante who stood over the mercenary. The Dark Knight struck Renegade with two violent punches to the face, breaking his nose and snapping his head left and right but the assassin never made a sound of pain, to the hero's surprise. Before he could hit him with the third punch, Renegade struck Batman with a brutal escrima blow to the temple and the Gotham vigilante fell to the side with a grunt of pain and stunning.
Renegade got back up but was greeted by a strong punch to the stomach from Wonder Woman that hurled him some 20 meters away at a great speed. The acrobat felt some of his ribs crack at the Amazon's blow and his back ended up slamming hard into an abandoned car, creating a huge dent in the hood of it. The mercenary barely had time to safely stow his escrima next to each other before he was swept away by a wave of water that sent him straight at Green Lantern who hit him back with a fucking piano right in the jaw.
The assassin fell with an involuntary grunt to the ground and forced himself to backlip to avoid being enveloped by Wonder Woman's lasso. He landed easily on his feet, satisfied when he felt some previous wounds healing quickly.
"How the hell do you still show no signs of fatigue?" Green Lantern exclaimed in surprise.
The acrobat did not dignify him with an answer and sprinted toward the heroes. He blocked Aquaman's trident in midair and without looking in the direction of the King of Atlantis sent it back to the sender, noting out of the corner of his eye that it lodged with surgical precision in Aquaman's left knee, who fell to the ground with a scream of pain and surprise.
With spikes along his arms, Deathstroke's former apprentice deflected several batarangs that exploded harmlessly behind him. Hawkgirl flew toward him wielding the mace and Renegade parried the blow with the spikes of his left arm while at the same time he struck the Thanagarian with a vicious uppercut to the jaw followed later by a kick to the chest, flinging her away.
Renegade dodged Wonder Woman's sword lunge by jumping on the blade and hitting her chin with a kick, causing her to stagger backward as he landed crouched on the ground after a backward somersault in midair. "I hope I didn't hurt you too much, Princess." he joked.
The Amazon frowned in confusion at the genuinely affection-filled way he had addressed her. "Princess?" she repeated, snapping toward her opponent.
"Yes, Princess." confirmed the assassin blocking the sword with spikes and once again he uttered the nickname with genuine affection, without any teasing. "I think it's a nickname that suits a woman of extreme beauty like you, don't you think? Especially since, you know, you're literally a princess but those are superfluous details."
Renegade chuckled at the completely shocked face of the princess of Themyscira and pushed her away from himself a few inches with a kick to the chest.
"What the hell, dude? Did you just flirt with Wonder Woman?" babbled Green Lantern shooting several constructs at the assassin who easily avoided them.
"You can put it that way."
The mercenary turned and blocked Batman's kick and he violently flipped the vigilante to the ground and then drew two knives from his utility belt and sticking them into both of the Caped Crusader's shoulders, making sure he got through the layers of his armor and then twisted them. The Gotham hero winced and Renegade performed several backflips while avoiding other Green Lantern constructs.
His fucking constructs are seriously bothering me. I better take Jordan down quickly before he is a further pain in the ass.
Renegade ran and slid under Wonder Woman's knees, meanwhile throwing a kick backwards and hitting the back of her leg, and the demigoddess fell to her knees with a grunt. "I'll be with you in no time, Princess!" shouted Renegade jumping over Hawkgirl's shoulders and knocking her to the ground.
"I'm not a damn trampoline, kid!" growled the Thanagarian turning and flying toward the mercenary.
Renegade spun 360° on himself, dodging Hawkgirl and her mace strike, and ran toward his target. Renegade pulled a shuriken from his utility belt and threw it toward Green Lantern who, as Dick predicted, created a barrier to protect himself. Unfortunately for the hero, the shuriken instead of being reflected by the barrier stuck on it, to the man's confusion.
The assassin closed his eyes behind the mask as he ran and the next second there was a giant violent explosion of white light that blinded the heroes. The assassin giggled at the screams of pain and surprise and after mentally counting to three opened his eyes again.
Shurikens were practically his version of batarangs and he possessed several versions of them: the explosive ones, the ones that exploded in blinding light, the ones that emitted ultrasonic waves, the ones that froze and others. He had become a master at mastering them courtesy of Lady Shiva who trained him not only in many forms of martial arts -which even Slade did not know- or to improve his ability to read people's bodies and moods but also trained him in the use of shuriken, scythes and other less common weapons so that he had become as expert as she was.
Green Lantern's protective barrier was gone and the hero in question was cursing sonorously, busy rubbing his masked, aching eyes.
This is my chance!
Renegade performed several forward somersaults and gave himself the momentum to make a huge leap toward Green Lantern. The Talon came flying in front of the man's face and threw a brutal right hook that made him spit blood and drop to the ground with a grunt of pain. He landed with his full weight on top of the hero's ribs, which cracked and Green Lantern's head rose as an automatic reaction, spitting more blood that ended up on his opponent's face.
The mercenary scowled in disgust and he grabbed Hal Jordan's head and then slammed it violently into the ground, creating a decent hole and guaranteeing him a nasty concussion.
"I hope you're vaccinated, man." huffed the acrobat, wiping away the blood that had ended up on his face. "Otherwise-" he did not finish the sentence as he saw a blur behind him and threw himself to the side just in time to dodge Wonder Woman's assault. "Princess-"
This time the meta-human was interrupted by a mace that connected with his back that sent him crashing straight into a wall. Renegade fell crouching to the ground and with both hands blocked on the fly two knives thrown in his direction. "Thank you for giving them back to me!" he shouted in the direction of the Caped Crusader, who scowled.
The Talon stowed the knives and drew his two swords from his back. He deftly twirled the swords and then pointed them menacingly in the direction of the last four remaining heroes standing, a shark-like grin on his face. "Bring it on."
Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl flew toward the mercenary and attempted to strike him from different directions: from the right and left, respectively. Renegade raised both swords and with one of them blocked Wonder Woman's sword while with the other parried Hawkgirl's mace blow.
Renegade gritted his teeth from physical exertion. It is true that thanks to the electrum he was endowed with superhuman physical strength but it was nothing compared to the superhuman strength of the Amazon and Thanagarian. Despite this he continued to hold out against the assault of the two superheroines who attempted to overwhelm him and Dick felt his muscles burning from the adrenaline and extreme effort he was exerting to the point that he briefly worried that they might tear.
Continuing to resist against the simultaneous assaults of the two women the Talon saw Aquaman running toward him, limping at his left knee whose ugly and bleeding wound was visible. Aquaman reached them and tried a lunge with his trident. Renegade ducked and felt the trident graze his hair and he let out a snarl while his arms did not lower an inch, continuing to hold his swords against the two superheroines.
Renegade thrust a hard knee into the stomach of the King of Atlantis, who doubled over and the mercenary, never lowering his defensive posture in the slightest against Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, delivered a vicious headbutt to Aquaman's face followed by a hard kick to the stomach that sent the Atlantean meters away.
The mercenary felt something overcome the layer of armor covering his shoulders and he felt the muscles in his shoulders tear. He turned both left and right, frowning when he saw two batarangs protruding from his shoulders.
"How the hell are you still resisting?" growled Hawkgirl as she continued to try to overwhelm the assassin with her physical strength. "It should be impossible for you to simultaneously resist my mace and Wonder Woman's sword with your swords and two of Batman's weapons sticking out of your shoulders!"
Renegade sent her an amused smile, hiding the grimace. "I am very resilient."
It is true that by now Dick could no longer feel pain but he still felt the muscles in his arms begin to tear and he came to the conclusion that he could not hold out too long against the Amazon and the Thanagarian and it was a matter of seconds before both women overwhelmed him and inflicted serious damage with their respective weapons.
So Renegade ducked and launched himself forward in a somersault, ignoring the burning muscles in his arms and shoulders. He scrambled back to his feet and used his swords to drop the batarangs protruding from his shoulders to the ground, thus beginning the healing process of his wounds, which would close and heal perfectly in less than a minute.
He turned and saw that it was only because of the superhuman reflexes of Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl that the two of them did not collide with each other. They charged him but the acrobat rested his swords on his back and dodged their blows.
The swords would have to wait a little longer.
Out of the corner of his eye Renegade saw Aquaman struggling to get up with blood gushing rapidly from his left knee and split lip and nose. Confident that the Atlantean would be able to handle a few more wounds, Renegade performed a backflip dodging Wonder Woman's attack and when he landed on the ground he had already drawn his gun.
A shot rang out loudly in the dungeon and Aquaman fell with a thud to the ground, a bullet hole in his right shoulder.
The assassin saw Batman stiffen and made a mental grimace, feeling a little guilty for having brought back in the vigilante surely very unpleasant memories. He holstered his gun, rolled under Hawkgirl's mace blow, and launched himself at Batman.
The Gotham hero blocked his kick but quickly lost his grip when a violent elbow connected in the face and he staggered to the side, spitting blood. He barely managed to dodge a punch but Renegade hit him with a brutal roundhouse kick to the jaw that sent him crashing painfully with his back against the wall. The Dark Knight fell to the ground with a pained grunt but, despite all the injuries he had sustained, he attempted to get up. He did not have time to do so as Renegade hit Batman with a strong kick to the temple and the meta-human saw the vigilante roll a few feet to the floor and then stay down.
"And there's only two left." hummed Renegade with his eerie chuckle and turned, drawing his swords and turning them deftly with mastery unique in all the world.
The anti-hero saw Hawkgirl tighten her grip on her mace as well as Wonder Woman tighten the hilt of her sword more tightly. "I thought you didn't hurt innocents, much less heroes!" growled the Thanagarian.
"I have never hurt an innocent and never will." the assassin wrinkled his nose, offended. "And as for you heroes, I am only defending myself. If I really wanted you dead, you would already be dead."
The two remaining League heroes exchanged a glance, recognizing the authenticity in the words of the world's second most dangerous mercenary. "Instead Hugo Strange?" questioned Wonder Woman, not really expecting an answer.
So she was actually surprised when she was proven wrong.
"Strange?" Renegade burst into genuinely amused laughter. "Strange was anything but a saint. Of course, I killed him because I was hired to do so but I assure you, Princess, that Strange was a dangerous criminal with very specific plans."
Wonder Woman scowled and growled. "Stop calling me Princess!"
The assassin snapped his tongue loudly. "I don't think I will." he sent the Amazon his best bright, charming smile. "Princess." he purred seductively.
With a fierce growl the Amazon flew toward the assassin with a war cry. Renegade blocked her sword strike and kicked her in the chest, pulling her slightly away from him. Renegade then deftly twirled the sword wielded by his left hand and brought it protectively behind his back, parrying Hawkgirl's mace blow without ever turning back.
"How the hell?" exclaimed the Thanagarian, surprised.
The mercenary did not answer her and turned with a deadly 360-degree roundhouse kick that struck her jaw painfully. Hawkgirl fell to the ground with a pained grunt and her helmet rolled away due to the force of his attack.
Renegade turned sharply and blocked Wonder Woman's sword lunge just in time but her physical strength forced him back a few steps. Renegade tried to disarm her with his other sword but the princess of Themyscira deflected the direction of his sword thanks to the bracelet on her other arm. The acrobat attempted to strike her with a knee strike but the Amazon flew up and suddenly extended her right leg, striking the meta-human with a strong kick to the face.
The Talon instinctively staggered backward and an involuntary grunt escaped from his lips when behind him Hawkgirl struck him with the mace in the back, sending him flying away. Renegade distorted his body in midair and thanks to his flexibility landed with his feet on the ground. He narrowed his gaze and ran toward the two superheroines. He rolled under Wonder Woman's sword lunge and, anticipating Hawkgirl's blow, he leapt over the grip of the mace and launched himself into a double somersault in midair over the Thanagarian and, while still upside down in midair, pulled back both of his sword-wielding arms.
Both swords went past the layer of Nth Metal-coated armor and thrust into the Thanagarian's shoulders, who made a surprised choking noise. Renegade pulled back his swords and landed on his feet behind Hawkgirl and turned around, watching the blood gush from the superheroine's injured shoulders.
"Hawkgirl!" Wonder Woman flanked her friend and looked worriedly at her wounds.
"I'm fine." was Hawkgirl's abrupt statement, who with an animalistic snarl darted in the air toward the assassin.
She swung the mace toward the assassin who twisted his body downward in a way Shayera thought was humanly impossible and her mace missed Renegade's face by a few inches, in Matrix style. Renegade hit her weapon-wielding hand with a kick and Hawkgirl grunted, losing her grip on the mace, and the mercenary rose up with a vicious uppercut that sent her meters away.
The young mercenary raised one sword parrying Wonder Woman's blade and with his other hand in milliseconds he deftly swung the other sword so that he caught it by the blade and pulled it back with the result that the hilt struck the Amazon's stomach.
The blow abruptly knocked the air out of the demigoddess' lungs and she let out a pained grunt when Renegade hit her with a right hook, sending her to the ground. The acrobat momentarily ignored her and ran toward the Thanagarian who was trying to get up.
As soon as Hawkgirl got back up she was greeted by a vicious punch to the stomach that drew some blood followed soon after by a brutal kick to the left knee and a violent punch to the face. She fell abruptly backward to the ground and did not move again.
Renegade turned sharply with his breath slightly labored and adrenaline coursing through his veins -this was much better than sparring sessions with Slade and Sandra, Dick thought excitedly- and stared at Wonder Woman who rose to her feet. "We are left alone, Princess." he chuckled.
The demigoddess's lips thinned as she saw Hawkgirl knocked down and she returned her gaze to the assassin, anger burning in her beautiful and bright blue eyes that also blazed with reluctant respect. "I admit your earlier move with the sword surprised me. I did not expect it."
The acrobat gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you, Princess."
Wonder Woman sighed at his nickname for her but soon her annoyance turned to surprise and confusion when she saw her opponent stowing a sword at her back. "What are you doing?"
"This way the fight will be more balanced, don't you think?" Renegade smiled at her, confidence and a sense of security coloring his tone of voice.
The demigoddess narrowed her gaze menacingly and assumed a fighting stance. "You won't get away with hurting my friends, assassin!" she growled, tightening her grip on her sword.
She was surprised and had to do a double-take when Renegade -the fucking second most dangerous mercenary in the world who had just taken down the entire Justice League like it was a walk in the park- pouted. "You're mean, princess. I prefer the term mercenary or anti-hero, if possible."
With an annoyed growl Wonder Woman flew toward her opponent. Renegade raised his sword, parrying her blow, and over the next few minutes in the dungeon the metallic clatter of blades clashing violently could be heard. Both were very skilled and were among the best sword fighters in the world, which is why neither left their defenses uncovered, preventing each other from striking.
If there had been anyone watching them, they would have seen nothing but two blurs moving at an impressive speed. Their movements of both body and swords were so rapid and lightning-fast that they were impossible for the human eye to see.
Besides the metallic clang of the blades clashing noisily, the only other audible sound was Renegade's voice and his rather one-sided conversation with the superheroine that turned into appreciations for her.
"You know, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life."
The mercenary's words spoken so casually as if they were on a date and not in a sword fight to the death froze Wonder Woman in place and she stared in surprise at her opponent's arrogant smirk. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she growled, trying to hit him.
"What?" Renegade danced around her sword, dodging her blow and giving her an innocent smile. "Can't a mercenary make a genuine appreciation for the best woman on the planet? By the way, are you single by any chance?"
The Amazon opened her eyes wide briefly before narrowing them angrily and coldly. "You can also stop with your appreciations. And my love life is none of your business. As if I would ever date an assassin." she taunted him.
The Talon feigned a hurt and betrayed look as he merely blocked her every blow with an ease that was getting on her nerves. "Gee, I hope you don't treat the immense crowd of suitors you're sure to have that way." he chuckled.
The princess of Themyscira shrugged off the chills his creepy giggle gave her and she continued to attack him to the best of her ability. "Stop babbling and take our fight seriously, kid!" she growled.
Renegade shrugged his shoulders and the smirk on his face did not please her at all. "Your wish is my command, Princess."
Wonder Woman barely had time to blink and the next thing she knew, with a smooth move faster than her eyes could follow Renegade disarmed her, forcing her to hold her bleeding hand as her sword fell to the ground with a metallic clang, away from her. Her look of surprise quickly turned to anger and humiliation as she turned her indignant fury on the mercenary. "You were holding back!"
"Guilty." the assassin shrugged and rested his sword on his back, crossing it at X with the other. "If I wasn't holding back you and all your friends would have been dead long ago. By the way, you're welcome."
"Arrogant kid!" she snarled and darted in the air toward her opponent who dodged her blow with a backflip.
Renegade's playful look became frowning and annoyed. Any sign of levity in him vanished and suddenly he was surrounded by an extremely menacing, dangerous and deadly aura that froze Wonder Woman in place. "I'm. Not. A. Kid." he stated in an icy, emotionless voice. "I am the second deadliest and most dangerous mercenary in the world. I am the assassin with a death count second only to Deathstroke The Terminator in the world.
"I have no qualms about maiming, torturing and beheading people. In fact, I am an expert in this area. I am also an expert in giving people the slowest and most painful death possible to the point that they beg for mercy until their voice allows after all their screams of agony, pain, terror and fear. I have been trained by the most dangerous, deadly, cruel and efficient assassins this world has ever known and I have far surpassed them all.
"Now answer one question, Princess."
His nickname for her was spoken not with a genuine affection to which Diana had become accustomed but in a hollow voice colder than ice and that tugged at her heartstrings. He took a step forward and the demigoddess forced herself not to take a step back, refusing to be intimidated by Renegade.
"Would a kid be able to be and do everything I just described? Would a kid be able to take down practically the entire Justice League completely on his own? By the way, even restraining himself?" a cold, emotionless laugh escaped his lips at the shocked look of the demi-goddess. "That's right. I have and am still holding back with you heroes. And by a lot, too. Because if I had fought to my full potential, the battle would have ended long ago and all of you would be lying dead and maimed at my feet.
"I could have fired one kryptonite bullet at Superman's heart but I didn't. I could have broken Zatanna's neck but I didn't. I could have easily killed all the other heroes but I didn't. I could have pierced your heart with my sword but I didn't. And do you know why?"
Wonder Woman could not find her voice to answer him and merely shook her head. To her surprise, Renegade's angry, icy gaze dissolved into a sweet, resigned, sincere look. He took another step forward until he was a short distance from the superheroine who could do nothing but stare at him shocked, her heart beating rapidly, and the reason was not adrenaline.
It was pure, genuine fear. A feeling never experienced by the fierce Wonder Woman.
All her Amazon warrior instincts screamed at her to attack him mercilessly, to make him stop talking and end this damn battle.
To prevent her from feeling this feeling of terror again.
However, her body did not respond to her mind's commands. It was as if her feet were glued to the floor, preventing her from moving, and it was as if her voice was completely gone, preventing her from speaking. The Amazon could do nothing but stare at Renegade's masked face, realizing only now that their faces were only about ten centimeters apart and she could feel his soft breath on her face, sending slight shivers down her spine and accelerating her heartbeat.
"Because-" Renegade paused briefly and when he recovered, his voice was full of emotion. "Because you heroes are the best thing this world has ever had. You have saved the Earth and the universe dozens and dozens of times, saving billions of people every time. You all protect our planet whenever it is hit by natural disasters, alien threats, crazy super-villains and more. Each of you has a city that you protect intensely and you do it fearlessly, spitting blood. You continually put your lives at risk when no one is forcing you to do so.
"Just because you have superpowers this does not mean that you are forced to save your cities, the world, the universe. Just because you have superpowers this does not mean that you are invincible, that you feel no fear, that you have no trauma, that you will always get back up every time you fall. Yet you do and I admire you with the depth of my heart.
"As I think you know, I accept contracts only on evil people, on criminals who commit the worst crimes. Because they are the root of all evil on Earth. They are the worst scum of the world and they are criminals who do not want to redeem themselves and never will. All they want is to cause suffering to others for a sick idea of fun and pleasure and to satisfy their own selfish desires. My intention is to weed out as much bad weed as I can until someone can kill me.
"The Justice League enacts the ideal of justice and for that I admire you very much. But justice doesn't always work. How often are judges, policemen and all those who are supposed to defend society corrupt? How often do the world's worst criminals escape from the prisons and asylums where you lock them up weekly or monthly and cause further suffering?
"I know that you heroes do not kill and I am not disappointed in you for that. On the contrary, I admire you greatly because you do not risk getting lost in a darkness from which it will then be difficult to rise again. Someone has to lead the world with his noble and righteous ideals of justice, someone has to be a lighthouse guiding billions of people to the right path, to the path of good. And that beacon of light is you: the Justice League.
"But me?" Renegade gave a sad smile. "I have always lived in a nasty darkness and always will. But I eventually learned to harness the darkness around me for a greater purpose that makes me alive: namely, to end the miserable lives of the world's worst irredeemable criminals. I know that legally my methods are wrong but they are very efficient in making the Earth safe.
"Being a mercenary as I am, with my own rules and moral lines, gives me the feeling that I am doing the right thing and no one in the world can ever convince me otherwise. Being Renegade helps the world. It is not me saying this but the various statistics on reduced crime rates in many cities. This is because I strike terror in criminals far more than heroes do and their fear of me far exceeds their desire to commit crimes. I know I am doing the right thing and no one can ever stop me. I want to prevent everything that happened to me from happening to others. I want people to feel safe and although I know this is a pure utopian desire because there will always be evil in the world, no matter what, I have done, am doing and will do my best to permanently eliminate not only the greatest evils of world menace but also the evil that rages in ordinary cities.
"I know that I represent one of the greatest threats in the world, that there is an international arrest warrant out for me and that I am one of the primary targets of the Justice League and federal agencies around the world. And I don't care at all. I don't care what the Justice League, federal agencies, nations, civilians and everybody else think about me and my methods. I do not want to receive any credit and glory nor do I care. I kill because I know that there are plenty of people out there who will always commit the worst crimes without regret and my intention is to eliminate them, allowing the Justice League not to descend to the same level as me. You heroes cannot afford to kill even the worst criminals because you represent the leadership of the planet, the beacon of light and salvation for billions of people. You represent justice, goodness, hope precisely because you show that you truly believe in your ideals and do not plunge into darkness. You do not stain yourselves with blood by murder, no matter if you are dealing with even the worst person on Earth.
"I, however, have no such qualms. This is because I have personally witnessed things that I would not wish on even my worst enemy. I choose the path of murder because it is the only option to apply to the worst criminals who do not want to redeem themselves. I could never, ever ask you heroes to compromise your morals. It is right for heroes not to kill. The world needs someone to lead it. The world needs someone to enlighten it with hope, justice, goodness, freedom, safety. And that someone is the Justice League. But I have no such restrictions. I have no qualms about doing the dirty work. I don't care at all about killing, torturing, maiming, beheading, tormenting and making those who deserve it suffer. I do not care at all about getting blood on my hands. I don't care if I make powerful enemies both on the side of heroes and villains. I am and always will be a mercenary anti-hero who will continue with his own way of operating and his own ideals and no one will be able to stop me, even if I am always recognized as a villain rather than an anti-hero. But I don't care if I will be seen as the villain of the situation.
"I will be the villain so that you can be the good guy."
To say that Wonder Woman was shocked by Renegade's speech was the understatement of the millennium. Never had Diana Prince been so shocked, so surprised, so speechless before. Renegade's words... his had been the most philosophical, the most moving, the most beautiful, the most astonishing speech she had ever heard in her entire ultra-centenarian life.
Renegade was right.
He was not a kid.
No kid could be the second best assassin in the world, the second deadliest and most dangerous mercenary in the world, capable of taking down the entire Justice League practically single-handedly and capable of such a well-thought-out, planned, and engineered speech. No kid could be capable of such a complex philosophy of life.
It is true that from his appearance Renegade looked like a kid and was probably between eighteen and twenty years old. But he certainly was not a kid mentally and emotionally. He was certainly more mature than most people she has ever known, especially in the working world.
And... fuck, there was so much to think about and process that Diana didn't even know where to start.
Wonder Woman was abruptly distracted from her thoughts when she felt something wrap tightly around her body and to her horror she saw that Renegade had trapped her in her own lasso of truth. "You-what the hell-was this all a ruse to distract me?" the demigoddess snapped angrily, her blue eyes flashing with rage and fury but she knew deep inside herself that the answer to her own question was no.
Because even the best actor in the world could not fake for so long the raw emotions Renegade had put into his speech and firmly believe in what was being said.
Renegade cast her a look of understanding, doing his best to ignore her so fiery gaze directed at him. "You already know the answer, Princess." he sighed and assumed a guilty look. "I know it was not very fair and honorable of me to defeat you in this way but I had to hurry before some of your friends woke up." his gaze then grew embarrassed, surprising Wonder Woman. "Besides, it was not my attention to linger so long and I apologize for that."
Diana could not believe her ears and eyes.
Had Renegade not only been embarrassed but also apologized for lingering too long in a matter of seconds?
Something was not quite right. This did not fit the personality she expected from the world's second deadliest mercenary... even though Renegade had definitely shocked her several times in this first meeting of theirs.
Renegade walked past her and positioned himself behind her, still holding her lasso. The Amazon gave an impatient and defeated sigh. "Come on, hurry up."
The mercenary chuckled and she imagined a smirk on his face as he spoke the following words: "Every wish is your command, Princess."
Wonder Woman shivered when Renegade swept her hair to the side, his touch softer and gentler than she had expected from him. His breath brushed against her bare neck and she felt a shiver go up her spine, shivers that increased when one of his gloved hands gently placed itself between her neck and shoulder.
"Good night, Princess."
That was the last thing Wonder Woman heard before Renegade pressed the pressure points and she passed out.
Wonder Woman blinked several times, slowly regaining consciousness. She heard someone calling her name worriedly but could not say exactly who it was. The only thing she could see was a blurry figure in front of her and she tried to get up but, once standing, she staggered to the side. Fortunately, the figure caught the demigoddess just in time by the shoulders, preventing her from falling, and Diana blinked further to banish the fog from her sight.
Eventually the demigoddess discovered that the figure was Black Canary -her face covered with her own blood and bruised- who was looking at her with concern and she cast a grateful glance at Dinah when she handed her lasso to her. "I'm fine, don't worry. How are you rather?"
"Honestly? Like shit." she groaned, making the ultra-centenarian woman giggle. "Who knew Renegade hit so hard? I swear that kid hurts more than a truck going 100 miles an hour!"
At the mention of Renegade Wonder Woman felt a vastness of memories overwhelm her and she brought a hand to her temple, gently rubbing it.
It was the most peculiar first encounter ever.
And it was also reductive. Seriously, Diana needed some time alone to process all that had happened because it was just too much.
"Renegade is not a kid." the Amazon belatedly realized that it was she who had uttered those words and she sighed at the blonde's confused look. "Of course, he is physically but emotionally and mentally he is much more mature than most people I have ever met."
"How can you say that?"
Wonder Woman opened her mouth to answer but froze briefly in place. "Is everyone else okay?" she asked instead, looking around worriedly. She barely had time to see anything when someone tapped her shoulder and when she turned around she met Superman's small smile. Her shoulders sagged in relief and she smiled back. "How did you get back on your feet so quickly?"
The smile disappeared from the Man of Steel and he scratched the back of his head, a puzzled look on his face. "In truth, I don't know either. When I woke up, I realized I no longer had pieces of kryptonite in my body."
Strange.
In a few minutes the heroes were reunited and Diana noticed that Aquaman had bandages on his left knee and right shoulder that stopped the bleeding, Hawkgirl was wrapped in the bandages at her injured shoulders as was Batman. "When do the three of you have time to medicate?" she asked.
"We didn't have it. When we woke up, we were already bandaged." Aquaman admitted. "We don't know who did it."
Hawkgirl nodded. "Whoever it was definitely knew what they were doing. If it had not bandaged us, we would most likely still be unconscious from too much blood loss."
Batman remained silent but tilted his head slightly to the side, the only sign that he agreed with his teammates.
"Lucky you. I feel like I've been hit by a moving train." Green Arrow groaned, holding his stomach and head in pain, his face covered in his own blood. At his side his fiancée nodded.
"So we have a stranger on our hands to medicate us. Well, that's better than someone who could have killed us while we were all unconscious." Flash stated, his legs healed by his healing factor.
Could it have been Renegade?
Wonder Woman was surprised at her own thought but, thinking about it a bit, it would make sense after all the praise the mercenary had lavished on the heroes in his philosophical speech. She could not be sure but it was a good possibility that she nevertheless decided to keep to herself.
"Are we really ignoring the elephant in the room?" asked Green Lantern with a humorless chuckle, drawing everyone's attention. "Namely the fact that a single kid kicked the Justice League's ass?"
The demigoddess bit her tongue, avoiding just in time to reply to Hal in the same way she had previously replied to Dinah.
"Renegade is not a kid." Batman stated abruptly. "His youthful appearance should not mislead you. A kid should not be able to take down the Justice League on his own nor should he be the second best mercenary in the world. Although his age is unknown to us, we must still treat him fully as an adult who poses a world-threatening danger."
Wonder Woman scowled at the Gotham vigilante's abrupt words but decided to remain silent, recognizing that deep down he was right. It was Hawkgirl who then spoke. "I remember inflicting such a blow on him that I wounded him in the head and drew his black blood. Maybe-"
"Already checked. Renegade cleaned up every trace of his blood." Batman interrupted her abruptly. "There's nothing to trace back to his civilian identity."
Shayera frowned annoyed at the abrupt interruption and Diana mentally sympathized with the other female warrior.
"Let's not put ourselves down, guys. Miraculously we are all alive and that is the main thing." Superman tried as usual to boost morale down the team with a comforting smile.
"It wasn't a miracle." Wonder Woman intervened and everyone looked at her. "Renegade voluntarily decided to spare us. He had so many opportunities to kill us but he didn't. I'm sure he was holding back and by a lot."
"She was holding back by a lot?" shouted Oliver hysterically.
"Unfortunately for our egos, yes. If Renegade had fought to his full capacity as the world's second best assassin and mercenary, we would all be dead now." Diana asserted, taking up Renegade's words that resonated fresh in her memory. "If he had really wanted us dead, we would not be here talking now."
"Wonder Woman is right." Batman grunted and the Amazon sent him a nod.
"Fantastic." Hal groaned annoyed. "We've been completely humiliated by someone who won't even be twenty years old. This is a blow to our pride."
"Why didn't Renegade use the opportunity to kill us?" asked Zatanna confused.
"Because Renegade has never killed a civilian but only criminals. He has no interest in killing heroes." replied Wonder Woman to her as she went to retrieve her sword. "When I was the only hero left standing, Renegade always referred to himself as an anti-hero."
"Anti-heroes do not exist. The moment you kill a murderer, you become a murderer yourself." growled Batman.
The Princess of Themyscira gave him a hard look. "It's not that simple, Batman. You cannot have a worldview solely in black and white."
The Dark Knight coldly returned the stare. "Our role is not to protect murderers but to put them behind bars and Renegade is no exception."
Before Diana could retort further -with what, even she did not know precisely- Green Lantern dramatically snapped his fingers, drawing attention to himself. Hal had a shit-eating grin aimed directly at the demigoddess and she did not like it at all. "Now that I remember, if I'm not mistaken, our mercenary was shamelessly flirting with you."
Wonder Woman frowned and cast a glare at the heroes who giggled. "He wasn't and you know it too."
"I don't know. Maybe, Princess?" Hal teased her, tossing her the same nickname Renegade had given her but this time the nickname was not thick with affection but teasing.
Diana gave him a deadly glare and she noted in satisfaction as Hal swallowed in fright.
"If I may add something-" the demigoddess mentally thanked Martian Manhunter when he got the heroes' attention. "I was able to get slightly inside Renegade's head, just on the surface."
"Discovered anything?"
"Nothing about his civilian identity, if that's what you were asking." affirmed Martian at the question from the Caped Crusader who frowned. "I didn't get a chance to get into the depths of his mind since surprisingly Renegade has solid mental defenses but I was only able to glimpse so many emotions and all of them were negative."
"Negative?" repeated Black Canary.
"That's right." the alien confirmed with a nod. "Mostly pain. There was so much pain to the point that even I was overwhelmed. And that was only on the surface of his head. I honestly admit to being frightened at the hypothetical idea of going into the depths of his mind. I have never felt so much pain and so many negative emotions in a single individual, let alone one so young. It is obvious that Renegade has suffered a lot in the past, more than we can imagine."
At Martian Manhunter's words a heavy, tense silence fell. Wonder Woman swallowed, overwhelmed by the Martian's words.
Based on what Renegade had vaguely mentioned about the darkness that always surrounded him, Diana had understood that the mercenary had suffered so much but now, given what Martian Manhunter had just said, she began to think that it was reductive.
I want to prevent everything that happened to me from happening to others.
Renegade's words resonated in the mind of the Amazon who sighed.
There were so many questions about the dark and mysterious figure of Renegade and they had no answers. And it was troubling that not even the best detective in the world could decipher the mystery represented by the world's second best mercenary.
Wonder Woman knew that she would have to say everything Renegade had told her in his philosophical speech that so surprised her since perhaps from it Batman would extract some detail that she had missed.
The demigoddess knew that this was what she should have done and, in any other situation, she would have done so.
But not in this case.
There was a selfish part of herself that pushed her to keep every single word Renegade uttered to herself and she did not want the other heroes to know about it.
Almost as if it was some kind of secret between her and Renegade, something that only they would know about.
Diana let out another sigh.
It was obvious that she was going crazy. Maybe Renegade had given her some kind of concussion that was driving her crazy.
Damn it.
She wanted nothing more than to go home, take a nice hot shower, rest and not think about Renegade.
And if the notorious Wonder Woman couldn't take her mind off Renegade, well, only the hole in one wall of her house was witness to that.
"What the hell do you mean you took down practically the entire Justice League by yourself?"
Richard Wilson shrugged with his typical shit-eating grin directed at his father. "What I just said. My mask recorded it all." he stated as he raised the hand that held his Renegade mask.
Slade stared impassively at his mask and the acrobat already knew that the man would see the entire fight, probably even more than once. "Which heroes were there?"
"The seven founders, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Hawkgirl and Zatanna."
Slade's head snapped abruptly toward his son. "You defeated eleven Justice League heroes by yourself? How the hell-" he paused and shook his head, a chuckle coming out of him. "I shouldn't even be surprised but damned if I am. Kiddo, I knew you were extremely skilled and capable but not to this extent." he stated, genuine surprise and pride in his voice. "Even I would need preparation time to defeat them but you took them down in a chance encounter you didn't even expect and I know you had to hold back a lot. I'm so fucking proud of you, Dick."
Dick lit up at his words and he hugged his father tightly. "Thank you!"
Slade returned the hug and gave him a few pats on the back. "Really, the feat you have done is beyond extraordinary. I just hope word doesn't get out, otherwise this is the time Renegade will definitely surpass Deathstroke." he huffed, half-joking.
A playful glint appeared in Dick's blue eyes that flickered in the golden from excitement. "Once I tell practically everyone, I'll tell them not to spread the word to not publicly shame the infamous Deathstroke." he teased his father.
Slade stared at him impassively but his lips lifted a few inches in amusement. "Brat." he huffed playfully ruffling his son's hair, smiling when he heard him chuckle.
There was a comfortable pause in their conversation that was soon broken by Slade's sigh. "I have a question to ask but I'm afraid of the answer."
"Shoot, old man."
"How did you do with Wonder Woman?"
"Very well."
"Dick."
"Seriously. I'm offended that you doubt me."
"Richard."
"...I may have accidentally flirted with her during the battle."
"What the fuck? How the hell do you accidentally flirt with a woman who could literally crush you in half with her strength?"
"These things happen."
A weary sigh. "How did she take your accidental flirt?"
"Well, I'm still alive, right?"
A chuckle. "Point conceded. What else?"
"I gave her a nickname."
"I'm afraid to ask what nickname."
"Princess. See? It's not bad."
"...It's not bad, I'll give you that. You can go now."
"Finally."
"One last thing Dick."
"Yes, Slade?"
"If you ever meet again your crush since you were eleven fucking years old, don't flirt with her again."
"..."
"...You'll still flirt with her, right?"
"Of course."
"You know what? I'm too old for this crap. If your beloved crush ever crushes you in two, don't call me. I don't know you."
"Please, Slade. I'd gouge out both my eyes to be crushed in two by Wonder Woman."
"RICHARD JOHN GRAYSON-WILSON!"
"What? My eyes would grow back anyway! Besides, technically my legal name is just Richard Wilson."
"For God's sake- DICK!"