Chapter 27

"So, that's how you got her to your side." Deathsroke made a snide remark.

"What are you talking about?" Batman said irritated by his remark.

"You're in a romantic relationship, aren't you?"

Batman and Ravager were both surprised. And that was enough to make Deathstroke laugh again.

"You couldn't even hide it!" He shouted.

Ravager frowned.

"To seduce my own daughter to go against me. That's low."

Batman glared at him. "Only someone who thinks like that is low."

"There's only one way to find out!" He threw throwing stars at them. As Batman and Ravager dodged the projectiles, Deathstroke was already sprinting towards them with his sword in hand preparing to strike.

Deathstroke slashed at Batman first. Batman blocked it. Then, deathstroke turned around as he stabbed at his daughter's shoulder while simultaneously delivering a front kick towards Batman's core. He looked like a wushu master as he balanced his body sideways with one foot or most probably, he really is a wushu master.

"Oof!"

Batman received the blow and got pushed back but Ravager successfully parried her father's sword and countered with an attack of her own.

Clang clang clang clang.

They masterfully exchanged moves with each other until they found themselves in a deadlock. With their swords pushing against the other, Deathstroke smiled. He was winning.

If it was a contest of pure skills, Rose would be on the losing end naturally but she should be able to hold out on her own against her father if it's a contest of strength since they both have the same powers.

So, why was Ravager losing? It was the seeds of doubt that Deathstroke planted in her heart earlier.

She was a victim of manipulation by her own father. She developed a defense mechanism, an instinct, to doubt if she felt like someone was using her.

'Am I really just being used by Terry to get to my father?' That's what's probably on her mind right now.

Unknowingly, she began to hold back her strength against Deathstroke.

Deathstroke noticed something was coming behind him.

"Leave me alone with your new boyfriend for a minute, okay?"

Ravager was taken aback by those words. While she was distracted, Deathstroke knee kicked her stomach and chopped her neck to knock her out.

"Now..." He turned around towards Batman "Where were we?"

----

Ratatatata

The Police and Derek Powers are at a standstill. Luckily no one died. Yet. But both sides still sustained injuries.

"Is the other unit still not coming?!" Barbara shouted in frustration at her subordinate.

"They're still in a shootout with the other members of the maroni family, ma'am!"

"Damn it!" Barbara cursed as she opened fire.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

She looked at what she was wearing afterwards. It was times like these that she missed wearing her old suit.

"I need to do something." Barbara muttered.

She started thinking about leaving the formation and somehow find an opening to attack on her own to reduce casualties on both sides.

Tink Tink Tink Tink. Poofffffff.

"Hey! Who threw the smoke bomb?!" One of the police shouted.

They didn't throw smoke bombs because then, their visibility would be clouded too. There was no openings to sneak into but the windows that the gunners on the other side used. But that was perfect for Barbara. Only she can avoid getting shot at when entering the windows. The problem was after entering. Then all attention would be on her.

Kiiiiiii

A car pulled up on the other side of the street where the police was. Everyone looked at them suspiciously.

From the driver's seat, a huge man with a horror movie mask on his face came out. That's probably where the rumors of the mutant leader's face being disfigured came from. But he wasn't the mutant leader. He was just the bodyguard. He opened the door of the backseat and a man wearing a fedora hat came out.

The man wore a three-piece suit under a trench coat with matching gloves. His lower face was covered by a scarf like mask. The color of his hair was distinctly white and his eyes were red.

He began walking across the street towards the cops nonchalantly.

Barbara smiled. She already knew who it was by the description that Terry gave.

"Civilians aren't allowed here! Who are you?!"

"I'm your back up." He said.

The police kept the suspicious man in their sights.

"Let him through." Barbara said.

"But commissioner!"

"I won't say it twice." She said as she narrowed her eyes at them.

They all lowered their guns but theywere still cautious of him and kept glancing.

The mysterious man shrugged as he passed through the barricade and walked towards Barbara.

"Nice to finally meet you personally, Commissioner." He said in greeting.

"Mutant Leader. Likewise. Were you the one who threw the smoke bomb?"

The police that heard this immediately turned their heads to who they thought was a myth created by street thugs.

"Yes. Your smile tells me that you already know what I'm planning."

"This is my type of way to do things." Barbara said in a grin. "I'll take the right window."

"Then, I'll take the left."

Both of them started walking towards the wall of smoke.

"Commissioner!" the vice-commissioner shouted anxiously.

"I'll be fine. Get ready to clean up after us when the smoke clears." She ordered.

Once they reached their pre-assigned windows, Barbara and the mutant leader looked at each other and nodded. That was the signal. When they broke eye contact, they jumped into the smoke. Somehow, even when they just met each other, they were in sync.

Somersaulting into the window and landing on their feet perfectly, they began their attack.

"What the f-" a man exclaimed as he was about to open fire but didn't get to finish what he was saying because he got kicked on the jaw by the police commissioner.

On the other side was almost the same exact scene with the mutant leader.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Shots were fired but it all missed the targets that were too fast for them.

"Aaaaah!"

"Urgh!"

"Kahk!"

The police heard all the gunshots inside but they also heard screaming and groaning which made them curious about...

"What the hell is happening in there?" A police officer said as he took off his hat.

As the smoke started to clear up, the noises inside the building also decreased.

"The smoke is clearing up. They got rid of the shooters from the windows. Let's move!" The vice-commissioner shouted as he gestured everyone to get inside the building.

When they entered the building, they found unconscious bodies lying on the ground everywhere.

"Woah."

"The commissioner and that guy did this all by themselves?"

All of them were in awe as they started to handcuff everyone lying on the ground.

"I went in the academy the same time as her." The vice-commissioner spoke. "Let's just say you don't want to f*** with the commissioner." He said as he grinned.

Barbara and the mutant leader went deeper into the building until they finally found Derek Powers in an office. His face expressed all the emotions he felt at that time. Anger. Defeat. Hate.

"It's over, Powers. Your court of owls is defeated. Don't wait for Deathstroke. I'm pretty sure he's busy." Barbara Gordon said.

"Bitch..." He said in a deep tone. "You have ruined us. We were on the verge of taking back Gotham and restoring order!"

"Gotham was never yours to begin with. Gotham rightfully belongs to its citizens."

"Gotham will be ruined if we left those cretins to their own devices. Someone must take control! How is the police and the mayor different than us!"

"We only hold this power to serve the people. Never to control them."

"And they would never think of taking a child from his family and robbing him of a good life." The mutant leader entered their conversation.

"What do you know? Who are you supposed to be?" Powers glared at him.

"You probably wouldn't be able to distinguish me from the many children your secret organization have estranged from their families, but this will be enough to explain my existence." The mutant leader took off one of his gloves and revealed his talon like finger, long, pointy and sharp.

"!!" Powers kept looking back and forth between the man and his disfigured hands."You're a talon!" He exclaimed.

"Correct," The mutant leader put his glove back on. "but not one to be used by you." He said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Are you going to turn yourself in or are you going to make it harder on yourself?" Barbara said to him.

Powers laughed helplessly like he has given up.

Derek Powers' face produced an evil smile and said "I surrender" with his arms raised up.

Barbara didn't pay him any mind and just passed his actions off as being prideful. She walked up to him. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back."

Powers was still smiling as he slowly turned around. He slowly put his arms down. As he put his arms down, he reached into his jacket's pocket.

"Hey! Don't attempt to do anything stupid." Barbara shouted when she noticed.

"I was just going to give you something."

"Thank you, but I have no interest in it. Take your hand out of your pocket. Now."

"...Fine." He revealed his hand holding a test tube.

"Wha-" Before Barbara could ask what it was, the test tube that Derek Powers was holding in front of her started falling down.

As it was falling down, her got blocked by something just before it shattered on the ground.

Tsssssss

"AAAAARGHH!!!" Derek powers shouted in pain.

The testtube that shattered released a chemical in gas form that deteriorates any living thing. The process of the deterioration causes unimaginable pain.

Barbara was saved from it. She immediately removed what was blocking her vision. The mutant leader's trench coat that he covered her with it.

"Urk!" The mutant leader groaned as he grabbed the back of his head. He got exposed to the chemical instead of Barbara.

Barbara rushed to his aid. "Why didn't you save yourself?!" She said with a distorted face as she shook his body.

"Haha. I won't die from this much. I have regenerative abilities because of the mutation process my body has gone through." He pulled down the scarf covering his face and showed her the back of his neck that had blacked. The black regions of his skin started to vanish and regained its pale white complexion. "Although it isn't complete, it still has its advantages." He said as he smiled.

They turned towards Derek Powers who is now lying on the ground. His skin was blackened as the nerve gas ate away at his body.

"He won't survive if we don't rush him to the hospital right now." Barbara said.

"Isn't that for the best?" The mutant leader said.

Barbara furrowed her brows at him.

"I was just joking." The mutant leader chuckled as he covered his face again with his scarf.

"I'll have someone carry Powers back." Barbara said as she looked at the unconscious Derek Powers then, turned to the mutant leader. "Batman hasn't contacted me yet. I'm worried. Their opponent is a formidable one. He might need help. Go to him."

"I was already planning to." He replied before sprinting towards the exit. He captured the attention of the police as he exited the building swiftly.

The mutant leader ran straight to his car where his loyal bodyguard was already waiting for him in the driver's seat.

"Cedric, you know where to go next, right?"

Cedric nodded and began to push the pedal down to the floor.

----

"Haaah. Haaah. Haaah." Batman was panting. Blood was flowing down from his busted lips. He wiped it off and readied himself to defend against Deathstroke's attacks.

"You're pretty resilient. I'm glad that my daughter has chosen someone with a backbone." Deathsroke said as he tapped his sword on his shoulder and circled Batman. "But don't ever think you're special. You're probably not her first."

"So, what?" Batman said.

Deathstroke smiled behind his mask. "Then, she probably has a lover in Jump city too. That must be the worst feeling in the world for men like us."

"She's your own daughter!" Batman defended her.

"I know, but women will be women." Deathstroke shrugged.

Batman gritted his teeth at him. It frustrates him more that Rose's own father would say such things about her than the idea of him being used by her.

He stopped himself from thinking for a moment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Stop trying to play me, Slade. I know your game." Batman said calmly as he opened his eyes and glared at him.

Deathstroke laughed. "Fine. I don't need to get in your mind to kill you anyway!" He said as he sprinted towards Batman.