I stepped back into the apartment and entered stealth mode. I killed four of them before they realized there was someone glowing like a lightbulb among them. I had to give it to them. They reacted well. I weaved between thrown knives and collapsed the chest cavity of one with a punch turning its organs and spine into liquid. I stepped back to dodge the blade aiming to pierce me from the side. Grabbing the arm it was attached to, I twisted and threw it and the body attached to it at another jumping undead. I turned away but knew I hit because of the meaty smack that happened. I took off another's head with a kick then stepped around its fallen body using it to block throw knives. I caved a head in with an elbow and cut another in half with a kick that I chained into a twist that let me fold another one in half. From the corner of my eye I could see more of them headed in this direction, I wasn't fighting twenty of them but a whole army.
I turned and headed south. Crushing an undead's head as it peaked over the ledge and using it as a stepping ledge to jump between buildings. I stepped onto the next building then turned to kill three or four more before heading south again. I was leaving a trail of dead undead with missing limbs, collapsed chest cavities or missing heads. I got about two or three miles south before someone else showed up. It was with a throwing knife in a weird shape headed towards the head of the undead I had just turned towards. Seeing that one was taken care of I turned to the next and put my fist through its chest.
Leaping to the next building I was met by the thrower. They wore a black suit with body armor with yellow parts and a hood. They had two knives in their hands and threw one over my shoulder and palmed another from somewhere on their suit dual wielding knives. I met her eyes through her full face covering and nodded which she returned. We fought the next group together. If i was pure power they broke against she was pure technicality taking them apart at their base, cutting tendons or arteries and ending them that way. She was very skilled but found oddly like she was one step ahead of them.
We turned and headed to the next building, "They are undead."
She didn't reply. I think she was just really focused. We turned and fought them again. I was starting to put together where these things were coming from by watching the angle they showed up at. My aura was burning so losing them wasn't an option. I was a big glowing target. We hopped a couple more buildings still fighting them and I glanced at her mid hop doing a double take. She pilfered swords from the undead while fighting. She was a lot more dangerous with those than her little throwing knives. She went from cutting them apart to using their body weight against them to cut them in half.
Eventually we got closer to central Gotham and the number of undead slowed to a crawl. One or two every few minutes. When five minutes went by without any of them showing up I turned towards central Gotham and started looking at buildings while burning essence. My new friend looked to be ready for more but was breathing hard from the white mist that left her mouth area. I looked down at myself. My arms were covered up to my elbows in goo. My shirt was trash and my pants weren't any better. I headed to the fire escape and asked, "What's your name?"
She was silent for a few moments before following me, "Orphan."
"Oof, bet there's a story there." I said as I walked down the fire escape with her following me.
Eventually I was standing on the side of the street and she had followed me.I was still glowing just no longer burning. I turned to her and scanned her up and down.. She had some gunk on her too, "Your face mask have a filter for the smell?"
She turned to me and seemed to think about it before shaking her head no. I nodded and said, "These don't help either," I said pointing to my nose plugs.
There was a pause but before it turned awkward I asked, "Is that suit hard to clean?"
She looked down at herself and saw the goop before turning to me and scanning me up and down. She didn't speak so I filled the air, "Yea I know. I'm going to have to trash this whole outfit." Looking down at my shoes I complained, "I liked these boots."
I was about to continue when I heard the sound I was waiting for. My motorcycle rolled around the corner up the street. "I figured out where they are coming from so I'm going to go there and stomp on the dumbasses who are resurrecting people."
She looked really alarmed when my bike pulled up riderless. I stepped onto the street and mounted the bike. I watched Orphan wondering if she wanted to come along before she put a hand to her ear, "Holy shit, you have a guy in the chair!"
I pulled the clutch and popped the bike into gear. I was just about to leave her behind when she stepped forward and hopped on the back. I flew to my destination. The slush on the roads didn't stop me. I just put my foot down and balanced that way. When I turned the final corner to the destination I pinned the throttle. The bike was probably going ninety when I stepped off it with a twist. I hooked Orphan with my leg and spun, picking the bike off the ground and throwing it at the wall with all our gathered momentum. When the bike hit the wall it folded in making an opening big enough to drive a car through.
Orphan eventually let go of my leg and set her feet down. I don't think she was ready for that. "Keep up," I said while leaping at the opening.
The building's insides were fake. I could tell with a glance. Support pillars that were useless, stone tiles that his fake flooring. I stepped farther in and met the eyes of a pailing secretary behind a desk. They were probably regretting getting hired here right now. I lifted my foot and with a burst of essence stomped down. The floor underneath me cracked and I fell twelve feet to the next level.I stepped off the rubble and looked around. This looked to be a fake basement. Pipes overhead shot water from where I damaged them and more support pillars. It was wide and opened in a way a basement would be. Whoever built this place knew when they were doing it. I took a couple steps away from the hole I made in the ceiling and stomped down again. It was a bigger drop this time before I hit the bottom and I could instantly tell this is where the undead came from. White walls and hallways everywhere. I stepped away from the hole and waited for Orphan to catch up. I turned and looked at a camera on a corner while waiting. Let them know how fucked they are.
Orphan dropped down the hole about a minute later but she wasn't alone. Nightwing dropped after her. He stood up and walked forward while looking around. Another person dropped when he was out of the way. This one wore a cape with a pointed face mask and red hair flowing behind them, "You guys sprout from trees don't you."
My comment was ignored, "Batman should be around here somewhere. He was tracking them down earlier."
"You guys going after him?"
"We are here to make sure you don't get killed."
I let out a laugh and a bunch of undead sprinted around the corner ahead of us. I started walking towards them getting ready for a fight. Nightwing pulled out his batons while Orphan looked at the two swords she was holding before tossing one to the other lady. I started channeling war charms when we attacked the undead. We went from working really well together to a group moving as one. The three of them started acting as one while I turned into a murder blender that spun around them. Eventually we found out where they kept coming from, it was a big room with coffins everywhere. There was a group of people running from closed coffin to closed coffin waking the undead up and sending them our way. About a football field away I could see Batman fighting with someone who was dressed as a talon with just more armor with robin bouncing around helping.
The three I was with went after the people waking up the talons while I headed for the nearest closed coffin. I stomped down on the coffin and felt bone break under my boot. I stepped past that one and did the same to the next. I stomped down on ten of them by the time Batman had the guy down and Nightwing's group got the rest. I didn't stop though. This was going to take about an hour to get them all and scour the facility to make sure I got the rest.
The two groups met and talked a little before they headed over to me where I was stomping on undead. "Man, you guys do this every night?"
"We're not that busy," Nightwing answered.
"Theres normally only one or two of us active at a time." The lady in the red and black suit said.
"Who are you supposed to be?"
"I'm Batwoman."
I gave her a disappointed look. She could have come up with a better name than that. "Were you expecting an attack tonight?" Batman asked.
I stopped stomping on undead and gave him an essence filled look. "No. These things came as a surprise to me." I looked across the room at the guy Batman was fighting earlier, "That guy fucked you up more than your letting on."
I stepped off the coffin I was going to stomp and really looked him up and down. He had a lot of badly healed wounds and a couple fresh cuts with one deep stab wound in his side. His cape was covering him but with my essence fuel gaze I could see the problem as if he was under a microscope. "I'm fine." He ground out.
"Nah you're not." I took a step towards him. "But I'll have you as right as rain.. Not Gotham rain though.. That stuff is on the verge of being toxic. Any of you got some medical supplies?"
Nightwing hopped on that with a grin pulling out a small med kit from his belt. Batwoman passed me some alcohol wipes I used to clean my hands. "Now hold still while I work my magic."
What happened next was essence fuel work. I patched the cuts he had and sealed the wound in his side then I started on the other stuff. His back was truely fucked up. It was amazing he wasn't in a wheelchair all the time. I realigned his spine and fixed where he had broken it before. He had a bunch of scarification that I purified and helped fix his knees where the cartilage was worn down from how hard he was on them. I stepped back when I was done and Batman stood just a little bit taller now that old wounds weren't slowing him down. He looked himself up and down while opening and closing his fists, then turned to me with a focus few men possessed, "Can you do this to anybody?" Award ReplyReport142Xiosdestro14/2/2026NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Tenth. New View contentXiosdestro15/2/2026NewAdd bookmark#52"So, tell me about your night." Jim Gordon sitting across from me asked.
We were sitting in the Gotham Police Station. I was not in an interrogation room because killing undead assassins didn't count as murder. After I healed Batman we talked a bit before the cops showed up. I hopped a ride down to the station to get a change of clothes and a shower. So here I was sitting down at a desk with the Commissioner on the other side asking me about my night. I was bare feet with sweatpants and a sweatshirt that had Gotham Police across the back. "I was staying the night at the jobsite to stop thieves from trying to steal stuff when I spotted one of those things. I could tell they were here for me because I could hear them trying to circle the jobsite when I stepped back under cover."
"How many do you think there were originally?"
"Fifteen or twenty with a whole lot more on the way."
"Why did you head south?"
"I was running out of room to step on the building we were currently fighting on so I just picked a direction when I realized there were a lot more than I initially thought."
He nodded before nudging the map on his desk over to me with a pen. "Can you write out the route you took? It would help us clean it all up."
I took the pen and did as he said. "This is where Orphan showed up." I pointed out.
He leaned over and looked at the map, scanning it up and down before commenting, "Damn, you fought them alone for quite the distance." He turned to me and asked, "Were you worried you were going to get swarmed at all?"
I shook my head and answered as honestly as I could, "No, I'm one of the most dangerous things on this planet. I don't think it's even a contest. That bunch of undead was more of a nuisance than anything truly dangerous to me."
He stroked his chin before leaning forward, "Why'd you chase them down to their base then?"
"People who raise the dead tend to come from the same cloth and none of it is good."
He let out a chuckle then leaned back and really relaxed the first time this night. "Are you going to need a ride back to your jobsite or do you have a ride coming?"
"I got a ride. I think the jobsite is fine for the night. I'm going to head home and switch out my clothes. I need to buy new boots."
He nodded and we chatted for a bit before I headed out. My truck was parked on the street where I had called for it earlier with a bit of essence. I swung around and got in the drivers side before heading home. It wasn't a long drive but doing it bare feet felt weird. I entered my house and went right to the couch and fell into it. Stretching out I put my feet on the table in front of me and just sat in the dark.This night didn't turn out the way I thought things would go. I'm probably going to have to make phone calls in the morning and tell everyone to take the day off.
The people who were running around waking up the undead and the guy who was dressed as one were being shipped off to Blackgate Penitentiary. The place where they stuff the criminals that are not insane enough to get thrown into Arkham. Learning about those places had been eye opening. The laws of Gotham are really weak. I've been writing to the mayor and the governor about slowly writing new little laws to straighten out the system. Even when I get all that settled I have to get the governors of two states into the same room and get them to come to an agreement about what to do with Arkham. Arkham Asylum was built on a state line so the laws dealing with it are questionable.
Looking at the clock it was past midnight so I grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV. flipping through the channels i found a documentary on the All-Star Squadron and World War Two. It was pretty much a World War Two documentary just with the added superheros and what they were doing at the time. It was the final interview of Alan Scott before he passed away a few years ago. Nobody knows what happened to his ring, I think Wonder Woman has it stashed somewhere.
I eventually got up and changed my clothes while grabbing my laptop and digging through the web for a place to buy new boots. I had used my old boots for a few years and they came with me coming here. They were getting old and getting broken down so replacing them was on the list of things to do. I was going to have to replace my bike too. I liked that thing but the engine was starting to tick so it was on the verge of blowing. Using it as a Shot-put put it in the grave. I could have rebuilt it but turning it into a weapon was a good last ride for the bike, I think. The TV rolled to another documentary. This time it was Martian Manhunter's interview. I leaned back and relaxed, late night TV threw out interesting stuff good to know.
A few days later in the morning I was being followed around by a bunch of new hires, pointing out things that were happening and teaching them while we took down the final building of the job site. I was channeling teaching charms so the people following me were learning quickly. We rarely had drop outs or people who didn't show up for another day. I paid well enough that hiring new people was a constant thing. When we finished building on this site I was going to have to expand and buy land in new cities. Go from just working in Gotham to start working around the country. There weren't a lot of entry level positions in Gotham for the impoverished to get a leg up but I was one of them. I would eventually start asking around about who wanted to leave Gotham and start sending them out to other cities and start expanding.
Working under me and learning from me came with quite the package. After a year, there was a good chance you were in the best shape of your life, Knew a blue collar job like a master in the trade for twenty years and had integrity not to fuck people over. I could have done better but perfection is the enemy of good enough. By the time you were at that level I had you squared off and running in a little group of people just as skilled as you, While I was working on new people. Some of the smarter people knew they were learning faster than me and shut the ones who complained up. Gotham has the tendency to try and drag people down.
After we finish tearing down the building we will start on the foundation. I hope we don't find any more buried bodies. We won't be able to start building the new place until spring rolls around and the ground thaws. We could do it but it was a fight we didn't need. When we were done here I was going to set up a repair website. If something happened to your house I would send out a squad of people to the place. If you had the money you could pay for it, if not I would and get kick back from the government. I imagine there was going to be a lot of repairs coming down the line for improperly sealed housing. Bad insulation fucks a lot of houses out of easy heating.
My group was watching a semi back a trailer up to the building we were tearing down. The building was multi floored so we would back up to them and just throw the innards of the building out the window into the back of a trailer. The trailer was almost there when the back end collapsed and sunk up to its axle. This wasn't the first time it happened, it probably won't be the last. I'm starting to think Gotham is cursed in some way. Fuel lines giving when they shouldn't or tires blowing out when they are brand new. That kind of stuff is strangely common. I waved my students off and walked over to the trailer. Work had stopped and people poked their heads out to watch me.
I pulled out a flashlight from my pocket and approached the hole. I shined light where the tires broke through and realized the axle and tires were in the way to see down it. Putting the flashlight back in my pocket I crawled under the trailer towards the axle.Getting under the axle i put it on my shoulders and with a burst of essence lifted the whole thing. I took a few steps to the side and slowly set it down, trying my best not to damage it. I had done this a few times. Something would happen on the job site and I would brute force it to fix the problem. The people here got used to seeing me lift crazy stuff or fix broken equipment on site to keep us operational.
I walked back up to the hole in the ground and shined my flashlight down it. What I saw made me sigh. It was a body quite decayed wrapped around an old rotten briefcase that from here I could see from the holes was filled with counterfeit bills. Burst of essence told me the story. A guy was trying to gamble with fake cash and the mob took exception. I shut the light off and looked up to see everyone looking at me waiting for the verdict. "Early day." My voice echoed out around the yard.
Everyone turned away and started packing up. I turned and headed out of the yard towards the single police car sitting down the street pretty far away and not in the way. The window started to roll down when I got closer and the cop inside leaned to the side. I looked down at him and spoke damning words, "You're going to want to call the feds for this one."
That alarmed the guy, "Why what did you find?" he asked while stepping out of the car.
I led him to the site of the body and handed him the flashlight. He waved me off and pulled out his own. He shined it down the hole and I saw his was a lot better than the cheap one I picked up from the store. I was kind of jealous. He looked down the hole and tilted his head back and forth before asking, "Is that what I think it is?"
"It's even worse," He turned to me in question, "Its fake money. Someone out there either didn't get caught or this is an old cold case and the feds are going to dive on this like white on rice."
He looked around the yard before replying, "Well, let's hope this is the last one you find. This place is getting kind of gruesome."
I facepalmed and hit him with a glare, "You just cursed us!"
The excavator arm pulled up and swung over to drop some foundation into the trailer that just pulled up. This was the third foundation we had dug up and we haven't found any bodies so far so I've been pretty happy. That last body turned out to be a cold case the FBI had on the back burner. I had the new people putting up fences all around the property, a high twelve foot one dug into the group so people couldn't dig under it and climbing it would be a struggle. The excavator arm came back around and pulled up some more foundation.some dirt below it shifted and a smaller hole was opened up. I walked up to the basement and dropped down after waving at people to stop. I shined my flashlight down the hole and saw it was a naturally formed tunnel. Looking down it both ways showed me one side going about twenty feet and ending abruptly where it hit the wall of a foundation. I pulled back and stood up to look at where everyone had stopped, "natural formation. keep going."
Later that night when the sun had gone down and it was just me I dropped down into a basement with a hammer and headed to the wall where the tunnel met up. This was Gotham and I've been around long enough to figure a naturally formed tunnel means something is screwy. I broke the wall down and cleaned up the stone and cement before I headed down with my trusty flashlight. There were branching paths I followed. Those tend to end up at cracks in the sewer or flush diverters. It started to get really creepy when it got deep. The wind started picking up speed into a higher pitched howl. The tunnel ceiling eventually got higher and the howl of winds turned into screams as it winded between stalagmites.
The tunnel took me deep. Unnervingly deep. I started watching the ceiling for falling stones and collapses. I think I was about a mile below Gotham before something changed. Light started reflecting off the stone. An eerie green light. A few hundred feet later I saw what was giving away the light. Pools of glowing green liquid. Large ones. A flash of essence showed me it was a lot worse than it looked. A ghost appeared. It was intangible wearing old rags as it heeded to the pool. It completely ignored everything around it until it fell face first into the pool where it vanished. Well. I found out how those owl people were reviving the undead.
I jumped into the room and started looking for entrances. Other ways to get to this pit of liquid. I found three of them so I turned back around and headed up to the surface. I was going to have to seal them. I got to the surface and jumped into the trailer with all the scrap metal from the job site. I got enough metal that I was forced to channel essence to carry it all. It took four trips to get enough metal down there for my purposes. I took some of the metal and headed towards one of the other entrances I found and started building a wall farther down the tunnel. Essence flashing into the tools I needed. When the wall was complete I backed away and started breaking rocks and boulders from around the cave and pushing them into the tunnel filling it. Someone could dig it up but it would take a lot of work and have a good chance to alert me.
I did the same to the other few openings I had found before returning to my tunnel. In this tunnel I built a door. With the rest of the metal I drug down here it ended up about five inches thick and heavy. I had to channel quite a bit of essence to twist the handle for it to open. You would need someone with quite the power to get through here. I cranked open the door and walked forwards to look at the pools one more time. I watched a few more ghosts fall into the pools. I had no idea what these things were. They were creepy and I could feel tingles up my spine just watching them. I could make this someone else's problem. I pulled out my phone.
It was daylight by the time I poked my head out of the hole. I headed over to my camper and had a quick shower, changed my clothes and grabbed something to eat. I was sitting on my camper steps when people showed up. We just stood around and waited for everyone to show up chatting, "Did you guys know Gotham has miles of natural tunnels under it?"
One of the former homeless spoke up, "those naturally formed tunnels are death traps. Every once in a while you hear about someone just vanishing down them. Living in the sewers is better than wandering down the tunnels."
Damn. Maybe the tunnels I found were just a smaller part of the whole. Something to do after I get this project finished. Hunt for the other tunnels. "Well, we got an opening on the jobsite so don't go wandering down it on break. I don't want to have to head down there and search for you. Your insurance doesn't cover suddenly vanishing."
That got a chuckle out of them. We started our day tearing up the rest of the foundation. We got a lot of stuff done today and finished putting up the fence. We worked through the day and eventually night rolled around, "Tomorrow we start doing more charity work so work might be slow. We won't be pouring the foundation until the ground thaws out and it will set right." I passed out folders, "Here's your team. Do work guys. We are helping a lot of people."
Everyone got in their vehicles and headed home or to the bunks and the sun slowly set. I pulled out my phone and texted Barbara. We chatted for a bit before she told me where she was at so I jumped into my truck and headed over to her place. She had a little place on the West End a few miles from mine. I parked out front and headed inside, Barbara was sitting at the kitchen table working on some papers so I headed towards the fridge when she looked up, "Have dinner yet?"
"No, I was just about to make some." She answered.
"I got it." I replied and started grabbing stuff to cook some food.
I finished cooking and Barbara set aside her papers so we could eat. After we were done eating I started grabbing dishes to wash them. I put them in the sink then pulled out my phone and flipped to the pictures of the tunnels and the cave with the green water. I set my phone in front of her and turned to wash the dishes. I could hear her spine straighten as she realized what was on those photos. Must be something pretty dangerous if that's her reaction. "Where did you get these pictures? Did you take them?"
"A tunnel opened up at the jobsite last night. I spent last night wandering around the naturally formed tunnels of Gotham last night and ran into that. I need to get a hold of Batman. He's probably ran into them with how much he haunts Gotham. I sealed it off pretty well but it won't stay that way forever."
She shifted in her seat and didn't speak for a while before she blurted out, "What makes you think I know how to get a hold of Batman?"
I stopped washing the dishes then turned and gave her the most disappointed look I could. We had been playing the game of do i or don't i know ever sense she realized i had extremely enhanced abilities. She flushed and turned away from me before answering, "That's a Lazarus Pit. The League of Shadows uses them."
"Those are the non undead ninjas you have running around right?"
"Yes. They are led by a man named Ra's Al Ghul. They use Lazarus Pits to revive their fallen."
"Huh.." I chewed on that for a bit. "What does Batman normally do when he finds Lazarus Pits?"
She stood up and said, "Collapse the caverns they tend to be in. You're going to have to show him where this one is. I'll meet you at your jobsite with Batman."
I watched her head towards her bedroom before shrugging. I put the dishes away then headed out to my truck. I was waiting around the tunnel entrance when I saw someone on top of a nearby building. They jumped off and glided down to me using their yellow and black came, landing in a roll before standing up. I scanned her up and down before turning my back to her and looking down the tunnel. She wore a black suit with bright yellow gloves and a bat symbol across her chest. "Batman is on his way. He should be here soon."
Speak of the man and he will appear. He was followed by Robin. They both dropped down into the hole, then Batman turned to Barbara and looked her up and down before turning to me, "Where is it?"
I waved for them to follow me and started heading down. Barbara and Robin followed Batman while he walked next to me. I pointed out all the side tunnels and where they ended up. Eventually we got to the door I made. I reached out, grabbed the handle, burned some essence and gave it a twist letting us in. Batman looked at the door and asked, "How much does it take to open that?"
"Quite a bit. It's up there in weight with how I built it."
He nodded then turned towards the glowing green pits. "That's a big one." He started scanning the ceiling, "Ra's Al Ghul uses them to stay young."
"So you just collapse the ceiling on them? I'm not sure that's a good idea. I can see ghosts walking down the tunnels and entering them. Seems like a waste."
Batman paused then turned to me, "You have suggestions?"
I chewed on my lip a bit before I walked up to one of the pits. I was going to regret this. I kneeled down beside it and poked a finger into the liquid. It felt like dipping your finger into soda with the bubbles sliding up your finger. I pulled my finger out and stuck it in my mouth quickly. Barbara and Robin stopped talking to watch my dumbass self. It tasted funky. Like water with the zing of battery acid and a chemical after taste. I spit to the side before I stood up and pulled out a small notebook. "Pump it out and filter it. It wont let you revive people but it will help heal them."
"The Lazarus Pits tend to drive people mad. How would that affect them?"
"Its pretty much liquid magic just corrupted by the chemicals of earth. It does revive them really. It restores the body, yes, but it slams your soul into your body sideways so you don't come back right in the mind." I tore the notes I was writing and handed them to Batman, "One a year no more. And only about a half a cup. Otherwise the other side will start pulling on your soul and you might just fall over dead some day."
He started reading what I wrote and Barbara walked over with Robin to read over his shoulder, "Could it have..?" Barbara asked, turning to me.
She was asking if the water could have fixed her spine. "Probably after a dose or two. I don't know how it will work against cancer and the like so you're going to have to do studies if you go that way."
Batman tucked the notes into his belt and started looking at the pit in a new way
17/2/2026NewAdd bookmark#73It was late at night a few days later and I was sitting in my camper at the jobsite reading a book I had bought. Now is as good a time as any to start filling out my library. It was a book by Lex Luthor on business. It let me get into the guy's head and from what I read, he was a piece of work. High intelligence, low wisdom. His intelligence was high enough it masked the low wisdom well but I could see where it bled through. I had just turned a page when someone knocked on my camper door. Closing my book I set it aside on the bed then stood and headed towards the door. I was expecting a cop or maybe a destitute person looking for a leg up, I had hired a few of those, so when I opened the door I was surprised.
Batman stood on my doorstep. He had stepped back enough to be polite when I opened the door. He didn't look to be in a hurry so I scanned the yard to see if he brought anyone else with him but when I saw no one I met his eyes and asked, "You need something?"
"I had some people look at the notes you gave me. They have questions."
"Are these scientist people or some of your super friends?"
"The latter."
I gave him a nod, "Trust but verify. Good on you." I looked down at my legs, "Let me get my pants."
The Batmobile was a lot quieter when you were sitting inside it. It went from a screaming engine to a quiet hum. I was looking at all the switches up and down the dash when I said, "I could do some crazy driving with one of these."
"Barbara said your power boosts things you can do, it applies to vehicles as well?"
"It applies to everything but my judgement, the better of a person i am the more power i have to use or burn."
"It's a renewable resource?"
"Yea, what kind of engine does this thing run? Sounds like a jet engine."
"It's a turbo jet engine. They use them in tanks."
"Damn, this thing is lighter than a tank so I'm guessing it get about four or five miles to a gallon of fuel?"
"A little less," He replied.
I turned from where I was sitting and looked at him. Jet fuel was about eight dollars a gallon. "Where are we headed?"
"Shadow crest. Zatara has some questions about the process of purifying the Lazarus Pit liquid."
We crossed the bridge to Bristol and drove past Wayne Manor. We took a few turns into Gotham county before we pulled into a driveway to an older home. It was a multistory house and as we passed the gates entering the driveway I could feel the magic in the air. The front windshield lifted and slid down on tracks so Batman and I could step out. The door opened as we approached the house and we were met by an older gentleman a few years older than Bruce. He nodded to Batman and extended a hand to me, "Giovanni Zatara, nice to meet you."
"Austin Lockwood. Nice to meet you," I shook his hand and tilted my head towards Bruce, "He said you had questions?"
He nodded and waved us inside, "Some of my associates and I had some questions about the process."
We entered the house, It seemed bigger on the inside than it appeared. Giovanni led us to a sitting room where two people were waiting for us. One was a lady who shared the features of Giovanni, a daughter maybe, but the other one took my attention. They were floating off the ground with their arms crossed wearing a golden helm with a matching cape and a blue bodysuit. A flash of essence showed me a man about my age with short cropped black hair hanging just behind the man's shoulders, powerless but watching. I started scanning him up and down getting ready for the fight while he did the same, "Godling." he spoke.
"That better be a consensual possession or your night just took a really bad turn."
Batman straightened beside me and Giovanni took a step towards his daughter.The guy set his feet on the ground, "I am Doctor Fate," He reached up and pulled the helm off, the person over his shoulder got sucked into the body, "I am Khalid Nassour. Wearing the helmet lets me channel the power of Fate. A Lord of Order with extreme knowledge of magic."
"Sounds kind of like a lich to me," I replied.
"It's not. It's a sacrifice I make willingly. Letting him use my body lets me learn from him while he has access to a body to do his work, fighting and stopping Chaos Lords."
I could tell there was more than just that but it looked ok from a quick read of the situation. Going to have to do some digging into what Chaos Lords are, "You guys had some questions for me?"
Giovanni's daughter just sighed and stood, "I'm Zatanna Zatara," She said before she waved her hand then spoke, "draobklahc nommus." a flex of magic shifted through the air before a chalkboard appeared with my notes written on it and comments on the side.
I scanned the notes and comments without seeing anything wrong with it before saying, "Yes that's how it works."
Khalid stepped forward when Giovanni got a frustrated look on his face, "Why does it work that way?"
That question gave me enlightenment, "Oh! You guys actually want to know why it works and this isn't an interrogation."
Giovanni and Zatana looked stunned while Khalid looked worried, "Did it come off that way?" he asked.
I crossed my arms and side eyed Batman who was standing there looking as innocent as someone dressed in a bat costume could, "It might have."
They all had a look of realization cross their faces before we moved on. I stepped up to the chalkboard and asked, "You guys got five hours of your time to waste? I'm going to be going deep into medicine while speaking about this."
Giovanni and Khalid nodded their heads while Zatana thought about it for a bit, "I'm not su-
"Make time," Batman cut her off.
She stalled, thought about it then pulled out her phone and started texting people. We all waited before she put her phone away and nodded to me. I grabbed a piece of chalk and started channeling my teaching charms. Giovanni pulled up some chairs and everyone sat down. Zatana and her father stopped asking questions about a half an hour in. Batman stopped asking questions around two hours in which was impressive from someone who was self taught. Khalid kept up almost to the end. They all learned something that night.
I think Batman was shocked about how much he picked up because he was unusually stoic and closed off. Giovanni and his daughter we huddled together chatting with each other swapping opinions and Khalid was watching the board where I had rewrote everything and how it worked. He had a passion for medicine I could respect. He stood up and his face firmed up, like learning about healing people put steel in his spine, "I need to go, It was nice meeting you Austin."
I gave him a nod, "You too Khalid."
He picked the golden helmet up from where he had set it on the table. He lifted it above his head and set it on his head. I could see the moment when Doctor Fate took over. His eyes went from human eyes full of compassion to glowing gold with power. His feet left the ground and he started floating. He stared at me before turning and with a wave of his hand a portal opened, which he entered and left the house. The portal shut behind him and I waited before voicing, "that whole thing gives me the creeps."
Giovanni stopped talking with his daughter to reply to my comment, The Lord of Order and Chaos have a push and pull relationship over all of creation. From the perspective of a magic user they are cosmic constants."
Zatana added in, "Doctor Fate fought in world war two alongside Wonder Woman when Hitler got his hands on some pretty dangerous artifacts."
Death world. I smiled at that a little. "Did you guys enjoy my talks?"
Giovanni sighed and rubbed his face, "I'm going to have to write a grimoire for shadowcrests library."
Zatana chewed on her lip before answering, "I might be able to heal people better now."
I nodded and we chatted a bit. Giovanni gave us a tour of his house. It was expanded on the inside by magic. It was pretty late when Batman and I headed towards the Batmobile. We were on my way back when I started pointing at random buttons and asking questions, "What's that one do?"
"It opens the back for prisoner transport."
"How often do you carry people in there?"
"More than I'd like."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Gotham seems pretty screwy."
"How about that one?"
"Fills the tires with a chemical, filling them with air and sealing them so I can drive with them full of holes."
I pointed to the next one and he answered, "shoots a harpoon from the front. It lets me stop cars running away from me."
I pointed again. "That's a set. It lets me choose from an armory of different batarangs. I punch in a code and it gives me what I need."
"Do all you bat people use the same throwing implements?"
"I use better steel."
I leaned back in my chair and thought about it. Types of steel can affect how the throwing implement flies through the air after it leaves the person's hand. "Makes sense."
We were quiet when we pulled up to the jobsite. Some of my people were standing at the gate waiting for me to step out of my camper and start our day. They turned to watch the Batmobile when it rolled to a stop farther down the street. Batman pressed a button and then front slid down, I started to stand up to get out before pausing and looking down at him. I made my decision and started to climb out of the Batmobile with a comment and a burst of essence, "You know Batman. Loss hits everyone differently. Letting your losses go and growing from it isn't saying good bye. It's an I'll see you later."
Batman stared at me intensely before he shut the top of the Batmobile and drove off. I watched him go before turning and headed towards the gate where everyone was watching me. I walked past them, heads turning to follow me, and walked up to a street vendor who had taken up the place outside our jobsite. I ordered some breakfast, it was pretty good for street food, and watched while the owner made it. I took my breakfast and headed to the gate and all the people in front of it. They all stood around, shuffled a little and stared at me, "What?"
"Are you going to start doing super hero work?" one of them asked.
I looked at the guy who asked, "I don't have time for that shit. I have to manage all of you. Now open the gate!"
There was shuffling before the gate opened and we all headed towards the job board. I headed for the front and started handing out folders with the jobs that I had printed the night before. A lot of it was just pipe work I paid for out of pocket. Gotham City had so many lead pipes its scary people still live here. "Make sure to replace as much of the piping as you can."
It was going to take a lot of work to fix that problem but I had to start somewhere.
18/2/2026NewAdd bookmark#86I set the old chimney stones down and started hammering away at the old mortar to clean it up. We were in the narrows working on a house. Spring was right around the corner so all the snow was melting leading to surprise leaks. All the people on the hard side of the profession were doing quick work, but quick work with four or five master carpenters working together will hold up for five or six years. I reached down and Tony, a hire that had been following me and learning at my feet for three months, handed me a bucket filled with new stone and mortar. Tony was on the verge of getting booted out from under me into his own crew. All the people under me rarely had time to spend the money they earned because of how hard I worked at the end of the day they all just headed home and relaxed, "Gotham Blades played the Mammoths last night."
"How'd that work out?" I asked while applying the mortar and new stones to the chimney.
"We lost but Ken Bomber got into quite the fight with Don Bo after half time. Almost got the team disqualified."
"Hockey is a pretty crazy sport like that. I like to watch MMA fights."
"Have you ever thought about buying tickets and going to see the fights live?" Tony asked.
"Don't have the time, I'm too busy here. They will have to do without my presence."
He let out a chuckle. I started cleaning up my work area and pointing out why I did what I did to the group of people sitting around watching. "This will hold well and do its job but in four or five years I'm going to have to come back around to tear the whole roof off and rebuild it to fix the underlying problem."
"What's the underlying problem?" one of them asked.
I pointed to the side of the house that faced the back yard, "That wall is curved making a gap where water can sink in. It's rotting the wood underneath us. What I did today is more of a patch than a fix. The water damage is already done."
We all climbed down the house using the ladder and I headed over to the front door, knocking on it to get the attention of the people inside. The person who opened the door was a lady with deep bags under her eyes, "We got your roof done. It should be good for a few more years but I'm going to need to roll back around and really fix the thing."
Her face fell before she replied, "I'm not sure my husband's survivor pension will let me afford that."
I pulled out a notebook and a pen before writing down a few code words and numbers, "Take this, you signed up online right?" She nodded so I continued, "Enter this code into the place where you list the problem and it will put you back in the system. Your name will come up before your house starts leaking again and some of my people will swing by and rebuild your whole room."
She looked really grateful when she heard that. I let her know more about how it was going to work before stepping away and continuing on my day. Stepping up to the back of my truck we started loading things up into it. We had brought two vehicles to this jobsite, my truck which carried all the tools we could ever need and a van for everyone else. We had almost finished filling the bed of the truck, we put all the scrap near the tailgate so we could pull it out quicker at the recycling center, when we heard it.
It was a weird cackling, like someone had just seen the funniest thing in the world and could not stop laughing about it. We turned to see some guy down the street wearing a jetpack with a flame thrower torching houses. The guys around me stared at the nut job while I reached into the back and grabbed a stone I had pulled from the chimney earlier. The guy had just lined up to start torching another house when I stepped forward. I twisted my hips and gave the stone a good spin when I threw it. It was a really good throw. I was proud of it, the burst of essence I released when it left my hand turned it into a dart.
I could hear it hit from here and the guys just behind me jumped from the sound. It hit with a meaty thwack and the guy went from a controlled hover to a twisting spiral that shot upwards before coming down in an uncontrolled spin. He hit the ground with bone breaking force, bounced once then stilled. There was a slight pause before his jetpack detonated. It must have broken something hitting the ground at speed and it touched the flame of his flamethrower. I was there before the explosion expanded too much. A burst of essence and a slap upwards turned the explosion into a shaped charge that shot upwards. The shockwave from my slap shot outwards and snuffed the rest of the fire and cracked a few windows.
I looked down at the guy at my feet but he was already dead. I could have checked if he died by my rock or the explosion but decided it wasn't worth it. I turned back down the street where my truck was and yelled, "In the back of my truck is a medical bag filled with stuff! Bring it to me."
They scrambled to do so while I headed farther down the street to the houses that took a lot of damage from the fires. Some people were coming out to see what happened, normally that wouldn't happen but the boom was quite loud. The first house I entered was run down and decayed. I was pretty sure no one was home but I still looked anyways. Exiting the house I was met by Tony with my medical bag, "Go check that house I got the next one. Make sure everyone is out of it and check to see if it is still safe to live in."
I walked up to the last house down the street. It was a single story and pretty much trashed. The whole front side of it was just ash and charcoal. There was a lady outside in her pajamas staring at the place in shock. Some of her clothes were charred and her hands looked pretty burnt so I knelt down next to her and started opening my medical bag, "You got a name?"
Her head snapped towards me and she looked down at my medical bag before she answered, "Pricilla."
"Anyone else in the house?" I continued.
"No, it's just me. I inherited that place when my mom died."
I started channeling essence and applying burn cream where she looked to be a little cooked, "Damn, childhood home?"
"Yea, I don't think my insurance is going to cover this."
That made me pause, "You're not insured by Bruce Wayne?"
"I wasn't qualified. I own the house so I had to go with a different company."
Bruce isn't going to like that. That poor insurance person. I had just finished putting the burn cream on her when the guys came back from checking the house, "The house was empty. It looked well put together before the guy torched it, now it's junk."
"That house is owned by a company. They rent it out. It's been empty for a few months." Pricilla pointed out.
I noticed she was shivering so I pulled a thermal blanket from my pack and wrapped it around her shoulders before moving to start working on the dog in her lap. It was a golden retriever with its side pretty burned up. It was as curled up into her as it could get whining and gasping. "Your place looks pretty screwed. Do you have a place to stay?"
She shook her head so i just nodded then paused what i was doing. I turned to the guys where they had started cleaning up the burnt down places, "Tony get over here!"" He stopped what he was doing and jogged over, "This is Tony. He's got one of those rent to own places going on in the West End. Have you heard about those?"
She gave a nod and Tony's eyes started to get big as he got where I was going, "You can crash on his place until you get sorted out. He can probably rebuild that whole house from the ground up." I added, tilting my head towards her childhood home before I started working on the dog again.
She looked down at her hands where I worked my magic, "Should I be going to the hospital first?"
"Nah, you'll be fine in a few moments."
I finished up on the dog before standing up and patting Tony on the shoulder, "Hope you're a dog person."
He hit me with a glare. I packed up my medical bag and started heading for my truck. Some firetrucks came flying down the road lights and everything and rolled to a stop. The firemen got out and wandered around confused and started checking the burnt houses. They met up with my guys and started comparing notes. I stuffed my bag into the back of the truck and started heading back. The dog was up and about then. Running around greetting everyone with half its fur missing. I headed over to Pricilla, "Did your bedroom get hit?"
"No. That's in the back of the house."
I nodded then turned to the guys, "The Lady needs help packing. Get to it."
They stopped talking and headed to her house and started packing stuff up. It was going to be a tight fit so I pulled out my phone and hunted for a moving van. Eventually an ambulance showed up and the medics got out and ran up and down the street checking everyone. When they got to Pricilla the looked quiet confused at her charred clothing and healthy skin. The moving van showed up and we started filling boxes and stacking them in the back. Priscilla started pointing at what needed to be stored where and healing.
The cops eventually showed up. The response time was harsh. Something must have happened. They wandered around checking everything before another car pulled up. Harvey Bullock stepped out. He met up with the police on scene before he headed over to the body lying in the middle of the street. He scanned it up and down before motioning to the other police. Those guys headed towards their can and rummaged around before pulling out a black bag. Harvey looked down once more before turning and meeting my eyes down the road. He pulled out a notepad and pen while looking around at all the damage. "What happened?"
I waved down the street, "We were working on that house down there when he showed up and started torching the place."
"Firefly." Harvey told me.
I nodded, "We were done for the day and packing up when he started. I grabbed an old chimney stone and beamed him with it."
He looked at the distance from where my truck was parked to the body, "That's quite the throw."
"He blew up after he crashed. I didn't expect that. What took you guys so long to get here?"
He looked around before answering. His eyes scanned everything as if weighing what he wanted to say, "There was a breakout at Arkham Asylum. Batman got most of them but a few are missing. Firefly attacking right now seems like it would be a good way to distract him." He met my eyes and I saw how pissed off he was, "Someone put some planning into this."
"Fucking Gotham."
It was the start of spring so I was sitting outside my camper under the awning watching the TV that I had brought outside. It was just warm enough that the ground was starting to thaw so there was mud and puddles starting to appear everywhere. This being Gotham all the puddles had a film of chemicals sitting on top of them giving a colorful sheen. The new anchor was talking about how one of the Green Lanterns, who are space police, was helping clean up a super fight. And wasn't that a mind fuck, space police. We had four of them I knew about. Does that mean the earth is some cosmic dumping hole? Or are we the planet equivalent to the bad side of town. Anyway, the news showed footage of the guy shooting out green beams of stuff that shifted into heavy equipment and moved rubble or just carried stuff to recycling centers.
I was leaning back in my little chair, relaxing and enjoying the night. It was no longer cold enough where people are forced to stay inside so I was sitting outside enjoying the night. I was kind of dozing off. I would power nap then wake up and see what was new on the tv before I would sleep again. I had almost nodded off again when I heard it. The sound of someone hopping the fence. I turned to see who it was and saw two people, one was Nightwing headed towards me with a very serious look on his face. He was followed by some guy with a cowl and a red chest piece. Nightwing stomped up to me and I rested my cheek on my fist. "We figured out who did the Arkham breakout."
I met his eyes before yawning, then pointing at the other guy, "Who is this guy?"
He stepped forward and offered me a hand to shake, "I go by Red Robin."
"Nice to meet you." I shook his hand then turned towards Nightwing, "What's this about Arkham?"
"The League of Shadows staged the breakout. We got most of the people that escaped; they were planning to use them to distract us."
"Those are the, not undead ninja people right?"
That caused Red Robin to snort while Nightwing just nodded, "They are coming after you."
"Oof, Bad choice that." I said.
"Whatever you gave Bruce Wayne last month pissed them off something fierce. They are throwing out contracts to everyone." Red Robin added.
I think they knew about the Lazarus pit juice they were just keeping up a facade. If the League of Shadows was throwing out contracts like these two were saying, my next few nights might be the kind that lay out stories. The kind of night that ends up in myth. "How much is the price on my head?"
"It's up there in the millions." Red Robin answered.
Damn, that's the kind of money that will have everyone stepping out of the wood work. I looked between the two, "I'm assuming you guys have a plan?"
"We are going to make you vanish. We have a few safe houses we can stuff you until this all clears up."
"Thats not going to work." I said while standing up.
Red Robin looked alarmed while Nightwing looked confused, "Why not?" he asked.
I reached up and slapped the bullet back to where it came from. That was a crazy shot, it would have hit my tear duct, while I was moving."Because they are already here."
Red Robin pulled out a Bo staff and Nightwing his escrima sticks, "We need to get out of here. This is a kill zone. It's too wide open."
We made it out of the jobsite and started running down the street following Nightwing when the next attack happened. I pushed off the ground and with a twist dodged the arrow that was shot at me. I saw Nightwing get engaged by some guy in a white suit and Red Robin turned to help him. I landed and before I could take a step in their direction to help I had a face full of a tiger man. He swiped at me with his claws using some mashed up form of martial arts. He went high and I ducked. I stepped back and twisted to dodge the next arrow then when the seven foot tall tiger man stepped forwards to try and tear my face off I stepped in and my palm hit his chest.
He folded around my palm then went flying down the street. For a seven foot tall tiger man he flew pretty good. He hit the ground and rolled before coming to a stop and not moving. I turned to Nightwing and Red Robin to see if they needed help just to see the guy they were fighting desperately trying to disengage. I leaned to the side and caught the arrow that slid past me. I turned and looked up at the archer that kept shooting at me before looking down at the arrow. These things look pretty fancy.
We were running down some side street a few moments later when Nightwing asked, "Do you even know how to use that?"
I looked down at my brand new bow, "Nope but i'm willing to learn."
Red Robin let out a chuckle before saying, "Orphan's going to be happy."
"Why is that?"
"That guy back there was her dad. We thought he was dead."
"That girl must have had a wild life so far."
We slowed to a jog then Nightwing popped a lid to the sewers. Red Robin jumped down then Nightwing looked at me. I rolled my eyes before dropping down followed by Nightwing a few moments later. We started walking down the sewers with Nightwing leading us. "Nights like this make me happy I don't wear a mask like you guys."
"Nights like these are rare." Red Robin commented.
"Wearing a mask takes a different kind of person. It's very satisfying helping people the way we do though." Nightwing added on.
"I like helping people my way." I replied with a shrug.
Red Robin nodded before saying, "There's nothing wrong with that. In the grand scheme of things you probably help more people than we do, our help is just immediate."
Nightwing chuckled before saying, "Batman would have an aneurysm if you ever put on a cape."
"Why is that?"
"He's not very trusting and tries to have a plan for everything. With how your powers work I think he would struggle to put together something for you."
I nodded, "Good on him. Mind control exists."
I thought about how I would stop someone like me from Batman's side of things. It would be bloody and messy but if you took all the amazons and threw them at me I would probably run out of essence before I could kill them all and I would fall. Then some other human on this planet would start glowing gold.
We eventually got to where Nightwing wanted us to go. We headed up a ladder and I saw Gotham's clock tower. Nightwing headed over to a wall of the tower and pushed in a brick. A keypad popped out that Nightwing entered a code into. A door opened to an elevator which we entered. The elevator slowed down a few times and the camera in the corner of it glared at us but we eventually made it to our destination.
The doors opened and showed me computer racks after computer racks of high ended hardware and a lot of ramps. I followed Nightwing and Red Robin and they led me to a room with chairs and a couch. Red Robin and I sat down while Nightwing started digging through something before pulling out some cases, "Batman's energy bars." He had a gross out look on his face and Red Robin grimaced, "Not the best tasting but they get the job done," He finished before throwing some to Red Robin.
He turned and handed me one. I unwrapped it and bit down. It was dry, tasted like cardboard and battery acid, and a struggle to swallow. I was about half way through the bar when someone yelled from up above. "Hey!"
I looked up and met the eyes of Barbara. She scanned all three of us before waving us up. We all stood up and started walking up ramps to the top. Nightwing and Red Robin had finished their energy bar so I stuffed the rest of mine in my pocket. Definitely an acquired taste. Barbara was sitting behind a giant curved wall of monitors that touched the ceiling. "I got the contract pulled five minutes ago. So no more people after your head." She told me with a grin.
"Did you see my new bow?" i asked while lifting it up.
She glanced at it and snorted before continuing, "You're going to have to stay here for a few hours until it spreads out that the contract is defunct."
"Is that common?" I asked her but it was Nightwing who answered.
"If we can get to the people quick enough to save them? Yes."
I nodded at him before looking at all the monitors, "What else are you doing?"
"Hunting for the rest of the Arkham escapees. Zsasz and Calendar man are the only ones left."
"Who are they?" I got looks so I explained, "I haven't been here for that long. I don't know half the people you all talk about."
Red Robin answered me, "Victor Zsasz is a mass murder who carves scars into his skin for the number of people he killed. He normally targets women. Calendar man likes to plant bombs in Christmas presents or things like that on holidays."
I shook my head. Fucking Gotham, "You guys got profiles of these people i could read? If I'm stuck here I'll try and help you."
Barbara pulled out two folders from the pile new to her and I started reading while the three of them threw ideas at the wall to see what stuck. Finding one person who didn't want to be found in Gotham was a nightmare. I started on Zsasz because there was no holiday for a few weeks. I flipped through everything from his eating habits to his time staring at the walls of his cell. I walked to the map they were looking at and looked it up and down with essence before stabbing my finger down, "Zsasz is here. He took this route and he's bunkered down here."
Barbara looked where I was pointing before turning to Nightwing. He met her eyes, chewed on his lip then nodded before heading towards the elevator. I grabbed the calendar man folder and started reading through it. Red Robin took a step back and just watched me with Barbara before the call came in from Nightwing saying he caught Zsasz. I turned back to the map and pointed at two different places. "Calendar man is in one of these places. He's trying to go to ground, I think."
Red Robin looked down at where I was pointing before he nodded to Barbara and left.
Our eyes met before I asked, "How's your night been?"
"Pretty good. You cut off the League of Shadows plan when you took out Firefly."
I nodded, "I got a lot of fate bending properties around me and im trying to help Gotham so being where i was when he attacked is kind of a given."
I started looking around the room while she rolled that one over. It hit me when I was leaning over the side and looking down at the server racks, "Holy shit. This is where you stayed when you were in the wheelchair. It's all ramps and elevators."
She rolled her eyes and turned back to her monitors "I did a lot of good work from my wheelchair. I helped a lot more people sitting here than I did running around in costume. It's pretty late, you can crash on the couch in the lounge."
I thought about that. It was late and my night of power naps was ruined by ninjas, "That sounds really good right about now."
"Blankets are in the wooden chest."
I started heading down to the couch before I paused, "Thanks."
She waved me off, "Night."
"Night."
I was sitting outside at the jobsite at night watching stuff on my new TV. Someone stole the last one when I was running around at night. We had just started pouring the foundation of the building. I expanded it and reinforced it. The current building we are putting up will be a really fat fifty story one. The foundation will have enough strength that I can continue building up on it over the years. It should be good for another one hundred stories. A nice project to waste away the years. I'll probably get to floor seventy and Bruce and Kate will realize I'm still building then start remodeling their own towers. There was nothing to watch on TV so I was sitting there flipping through the channels when a few people hopped the fence.
There were four of them. Three men and a woman. One was bald and really old, another looked to be in his sixties with a goatee. The next was a really tall well built man and a lady in a full coat. They walked up to me like they owned the ground they walked on. Very sure of themselves. I looked away from them to the TV and started flipping channels again. The guy with the goatee started talking when they got close enough, "So you the one who made the formula for the Lazarus Pits."
I looked from the TV to him, "Who are you?"
"Playing with my Lazarus Pits was a mistake." He ignored my question then waves his hand, "Ubu"
The big guy stepped forward and picked my TV up from where it was sitting on a little table. He raised it above his head and slammed it down onto the ground where it shatters with a flicker of light.I looked down at it and sighed before turning in my chair and facing them fully. I started scanning them with essence and picking them apart.The only one loyal to the guy with the goatee was the big guy who destroyed my TV. The old guy and the lady were here for their own reasons. The old guy and the guy with the goatee were pretty freaking old and they all seemed to be skilled fighters. "Are the Lazarus Pits your because you kill anyone who touches them or do you own them like owning the land they are on?"
I started channeling more essence when he started speaking again, "I have planted bombs all over this city. You will kill The Detective or I will detonate them."
That came off to me as a lie. A really blatant one, "Who are you people? How many bombs?"
"I am Rhas Al Ghul and enough bombs to sink Gotham."
The bombs were a lie. I threw more essence twisted into a charm and looked at all three of them. These people were cold with not a single hint of compassion in their bodies. I leaned forward in my chair, "Who is The Detective?"
"The Bat," the lady answered.
I leaned back and gave them all a look. The old guy and Rhas Al Ghul were related, probably father and son. The Lady looked to be related to Orphan and the last guy was from a northern descent which explained his size, "You're the seven hundred year old terrorist."
Rhas Al Ghul got a frustrated look on his face before turning it into a glare at me, "Times ticking."
Another lie to prove the bombs didn't exist. This guy just wants Batman dead. The old guy was probably here to support his son or something and Ubu was here cuz he was the dog of the group. Orphan's mom was the odd one out. "And what are you here for?"
"You defeated Bronze Tiger. I'm here to see if you're worth the fight."
Ah. She is suicidal. I'm not touching that. I turned back to Rhas Al Ghul. "You probably could have lived your whole life where you didn't even land as a blip on my radar."
"You think this is a joke?" He asked.
I stood, reached out and grabbed his hand to hand him his own heart while my essence ate away at his spirit. No more immortal terrorists. "I think you all picked the wrong person to play games with."
Orphans mom jumped back along with the old guy while Ubu took a massive swing at me. It wasn't a very good movement. It showed he studied but relied more on his bulk than skill. I ducked and slapped his chest stopping his heart before moving over to the old guy. I kicked the guy's head off and my essence was burned to eat his spirit too before I turned my kick into a spin where my heel met Orphans moms chin. She hit the ground hard, knocked out, I liked Orphan and didn't want to kill her mom. I stood straight then flicked the blood off my hand and reached into my pocket to grab my phone when someone spoke behind me, " I'll have to keep an eye on you."
I turned and got chills down my spine. It takes a lot to sneak up on someone like me and this lady did it easily. She was sitting on the table my TV was on kicking her legs watching me with a calm smile. She was pale, unnaturally pale with black hair and a necklace hanging from her throat. I took a step back and asked, "Who are you?"
"You can call me Didi." She answered before she hopped off the table planting her bare feet on the ground, "What you did sent them on a direct line to me." She wandered over to the bodies sparing a glance at Orphan's mom. "First time I've ever had something like that happen to me." She looked from the bodies to me standing in a puddle of blood leaking from the older guy "You frustrate my brother so much."
"Who is your brother?"
"Destiny. He's locked himself in his room rereading his book over and over. He wanted to come collect your soul when you got here and started doing stuff but I talked him out of it." She looked me up and down seeing something before she continued, "He will probably catch your soul when you die so no resurrection for you. I think it's funny. He needed a little excitement in his life."
She didn't peg my evil monster senses but she was really creepy in a friendly way, "What are you really?"
She started walking toward me and every movement she changed who she was from an old man with a cane to a child with a balloon or a lady with a baker's hat, hundreds in the few steps she took, "I am Death of the endless. I am the end of everything." She stopped in front of me just out of reach. She gave me a big grin then spoke once more, "And you are fun."
Then she vanished. I flipped through so many charms trying to find her that I started glowing. I couldn't find her or where she went that unnerved me more than anything I've seen since I got to this reality. I pulled out my phone and texted Barbara, telling her to send Orphan to come get her mom. Barbara texted me back with a bunch of questions I tried to answer but I was off center. I went back to my chair and took a seat looking out over the yard past the mess. If my Ghost Eating charm summoned that lady, I think I'm going to stuff it in my pocket and only use it when I really need it. I thought about that then decided I wasn't afraid of ghosts and she probably was one. Valor to the rescue.
Orphan eventually showed up. She paused when she saw the bodies before seeing me. She ignored her mom and walked up to me. When she spoke she talked slowly like she was deciding if those were the words i needed or if they were correct, "Are…You…Ok?"
I leaned back and crossed my arms before asking, "Yea i'm fine. You wouldn't happen to know someone named Didi would you?"
She shook her head before looking at her mom, "Is.. She.. ok?"
I spared a glance at her mom, "She will probably need a straw. I hit her pretty hard."
She looked at me, "Hard?"
"She wasn't ready for it. It was a snap kick with my heel. Her feet were set and she wasn't able to roll with the blow. I wasn't trying to kill her, I think she is suicidal."
She nodded before commenting, "You.. Fight… Odd."
"Seen videos of me fighting?" She nodded so I continued, "It's less of a fighting form and more like I'm forcing reality to do the things I want. I twist this way and reality knows I want this blow to knock the person out. When I hit, that is transferred over."
"I.. Tried.. to .. copy.. Batgirl." she then shook her head.
I felt a burst of amusement. "It's an essence art. You need essence to even touch on it. When someone like Batgirl uses her essence to do it she is asking reality pretty please. When I do, it's more of a demand and reality listens."
She nodded then walked over to her mom and rolled her onto her shoulder, "If you want to learn just show up with Barbara. I'll teach you."
She nodded before digging in a pouch at her side and pulling out a grapple gun. She aimed it before pausing when I asked, "What should I do with the rest of these guys?"
She looked at them before replying,"Call…The…Police." Then shot her grapple gun and left.
I looked at the bodies then looked around. If I call the police they will turn this whole place into a crime scene. I looked at all the cement bags sitting around, I could bury them and it would disappear. Until Batman started asking questions. It might fuck up the foundation too. Damn it. This is going to slow down my project again. I chewed on my lip before pulling out my phone and ringing the police. Response time, twenty minutes. Fucking gotham.
Three cars pulled up and Commissioner Gordon stepped out. I opened the gate for them and Gordon was followed by a group of police carrying crime tape and body bags. He walked past me ignoring me and marched right up to Rhas Al Ghuls body. He stared down at it before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He took a deep drag before saying, "That's Rhas Al Ghul alright. What happened?"
I nodded at the body, "Guy was trying to send me after Batman so I put him down."
He turned away from the body to me, "That's it?"
"He said something about enough bombs to sink Gotham but it was a lie. I think he was testing me or something. Didn't care, he tried to have me killed a few days ago with that contract."
"We are still going to have to check. You know who this older guy is?"
"Rhas father. Or something close to it."
"Hmm.. Where's the fourth body?" He asked, pointing to the scuffed up dirt where Orphan's mom had laid."
"One of the bats took them."
"Which one?"
"Orphan. You will probably get the lady later."
"It was a lady?"
"Yea. with a really long coat."
"Lady Shiva then."
I nodded my head like i knew who that was. "Probably."
"Was she dead?"
"Nah. I didn't hit her as hard. I think she showed up to see what id do, not as a part of the group."
He nodded before saying, "Ill keep a cell open then."
"You trust the bats that much?"
"Ive worked with them for years. Trust comes with experience."
I nodded before looking around at the cops taping stuff off with crime tape then turned back to Jim, "You wouldn't happen to know someone named Didi would you?