12 advance chapters in my Patreon.
Patreon.com/Saintbarbido.
::------------------------------------------::
(General P.O.V)
The ground was hit by tremors along the street, shaking the concrete and the burning rubble above it. Sirens sounded from far away. The sun's rays pierced through the smoke, highlighting the devastation. A huge piece of a skyscraper blocked the street, glass from the windows covering the tarmac.
There was a shift in the debris and a ghostly figure dressed in a pale white tuxedo with coattails, a top hat and a monocle above a non existent face, phased through the wreckage.
Gentleman Ghost watched the ground as a small vine sprouted through. Then the vine grew, pushing away the debris. Concrete rumbled as the wreckage rolled off the entrance to the Tin Roof Club.
Something covered the doors. The remains of a pod, the outer skin scorched by heat from the explosion. A creation by Poison Ivy to protect the glass doors once they saw the utterly massive fire mushroom blooming from afar. Then the shockwaves had hit and it was all Ivy could do to reinforce the interior with multiple vines.
"That was too close."
Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman said while walking out. Then she jumped, using her whip to grab onto a rebar from a piece of concrete sticking out. Then she pulled herself up onto the roof of the Tin Roof Club. And at such a height, Catwoman had a wide view of the city.
She removed her mask, her face set in an expression of immense shock.
"Oh God."
Selina didn't have a lot of close friends, but those she did, she treasured. With the state the city was in, most of it's inhabitants would likely be dead.
For her personally, the news didn't get any better. There was a massive hole at the back of the tin roof building.
"This is bad..."
She brought a palm to her face. After all the effort she had put in to this...
"Wait up!"
A cheerful voice called out from within the club. Catwoman wiped away a lone tear, her face hardening.
Ivy and Harley broke through the entrance riding on top of a massive vine.
"Hold on."
Poison Ivy told Harley.
"Wheee!!"
Harley screamed in glee as she held onto a spike.
The vine begun stretching towards the sky, crawling along the length of the collapsed Skyscraper towards Catwoman. An emergency services aircraft whizzed past their heads just as the vine crested over the broken building, depositing them onto the roof.
"Oh..."
Harley blinked. Her grip on the baseball bat she had with her, tightened. Harley was mad. The back portion of Selina's club was missing. Harley knew how much this place meant to Selina.
Her anger only increased as she saw the collapsed sign of her favorite restaurant a street over. Julio didn't care that she used to roll with Mistah J. And he had really good Tamales.
"Someone's gonna pay." She said hoisting her bat.
"I loved Julio's!"
"Who else thinks this destruction has something to do with that Black dome?"
Ivy pointed out.
"Maybe. But the Justice League can handle it."
Catwoman said coldly, scrolling through her phone.
"No cell service."
She told them.
Harley could see the slight working of Selina's neck muscles. Selina was mad as hell. She was just hiding it better. Harley also knew she was sad.
"Pardon the intrusion, but I believe the cell towers must be down."
Gentleman Ghost said, floating towards them.
"Now that I have ensured you ladies are safe, I best be going. I am not particularly useful in these types of situations."
"Thanks Jimmy!"
Harley shouted after him in false cheer. Gentleman Ghost stiffened.
"It's James, miss Harley. You can address me by Gentleman Ghost if you prefer to be more formal."
He replied like he had a few times before. One might think he would give up. She was Harley Quinn, craziest broad in Gotham!
"Ok Jimmy!"
Harley called out as the spirit flew away.
"What are you thinking?"
Ivy crossed her hands, staring at Catwoman, who was sitting on the edge of the roof. The latter sighed, getting up to her feet.
"Obviously this is less than ideal. Business will slow down as the insurance company rebuilds this place. They'll fight me on it. Which means, I might start relying on my...'hobbies' for a short period of time."
She recited but there was no real passion behind it.
"Huh guys?"
Harley called out but the other two ignored her.
"No. Selina. I know you."
Ivy shook her head.
"Don't use that excuse to close shop. I know how hard you have worked for this place. You're not going to give up on it."
Catwoman shrugged.
"Maybe it's a sign. I've only had this place open for a month and we've already had a few incidents. Maybe I'm lying to myself Ives. I'm no good with the quiet life. I haven't earned it."
She said, turning around to walk away.
"We should leave before the rest of the club caves in."
"Huh guys..."
Harley called out again.
Poison Ivy grabbed Catwoman's arm.
"The Selina I know wouldn't give up that easily."
"The Selina you know would tell you we have other things to worry about. The city is in shambles. By the time they organize rescue services it might be too late for some. We need to help. There's no one else Ivy. Batman is one man. He can't save this dump alone. We have to help."
She concluded, wearing her mask.
Ivy knew this was Catwoman's way to change the subject.
Harley tugged on Ivy's sleeve.
"Huh guys? There's something headed..."
Before the statement was over, a heavy impact smashed onto the skyscraper.
The three of them found themselves thrown to the air by the resulting pressure wave. A shower of metal, concrete and glass exploded outwards.
(Davian's P.O.V)
"You can't stay in this form for too long. You have no mastery of it. You risk death."
Chase warned.
I looked down at my hand, everything was tinted purple. That was because I wasn't seeing through my eyes, I was seeing through my strings. Perceiving the fine strands waving in the air, reacting to any movement. Paired up with Reikaku and I acquired a sort of enhanced Proprioception. I knew where everything was.
Enhanced senses, check.
I made a fist with my hand. The skin was clad in a fine layer of strings woven together in a costume that covered me completely. The costume was similar to what a Black Panther would wear. Only mine was purple and lacked any aesthetics. Like I said, it was an incomplete skill. That's not to say it was lacking. The outfit was padded in places where I compressed the strands into tough plates to block attacks.
To complete the look was my red oni mask and my white Soul Reaper Haori which flapped in the air.
I felt Constantine place a card on the ground. Then through Reikaku, magic power was funnelled to the soil of the park as he chanted too low for me to hear. He was doing his part. Time for me to do mine.
People were already pouring out of the buildings. I even spotted a man on a kite gliding through the air. The streets over were blocked by collapsed buildings but those who could were headed towards the bridge that would take them out of the city.
I constructed two huge stop signs on either side of the street. I was hoping they would notice it and stay away.
Superman and I were about to break Gotham again.
"You allowed us to take down your companion. Why?"
I enquired.
"Why not?"
He shot back in dismissal.
"He was a weakling. A weakling that turned out to be less than useless for our master's plan. If you hadn't dealt with him yourself, I would have."
To punctuate his statement, his four eyes begun glowing.
"The other one was impulsive. This one is arrogant. You can use that to your advantage."
Chase advised. With the Life Fibers skill, I could probably tank a few blows before Constantine managed to exorcise him. Play off his arrogance huh.
I tilted my head to the side.
"You might have Superman's body, but you're just a poor imitation to what he can actually do."
I shrugged and continued,
"Your friend might have been a weakling but at least he had the speed working for him. What have you done instead of floating in place with a giant stick up your ass?"
I mocked.
"I know I said use his arrogance to your advantage but I didn't mean make him furious."
Chase pointed out.
"Trust me."
I replied. There was no reason to...
Oof! One second I was upright, facing off against the Man of Steel and the next I was breaking through the remains of trees as the mad Kryptonian slammed into me faster than I was expecting.
His eyes lit up as we cleared the length of the park. Then my back was rammed against the wall of a wrecked Target store. Cracks spread out from the impact in a spider web formation.
"You will die for your insolence!"
He roared in my face.
Superman pulled back his fist and brought it hurtling towards my head. I brought my forearms together, thickening the padding and creating a small diamond shaped shield. There was a loud bang as I received the attack easily.
He looked shocked for a second before clenching his jaw.
"Diee!!!! Human!!!"
His eyes lit up and I immediately extended the shield to cover my whole body. The impact this time, made my ears bleed. The heat from the heat vision scorched my strings and I found myself pushed through the walls and into the store.
I tore off a chunk of the counter, my body shredding a piece of the wallpaper lining the walls before I broke through to another room.
Cries sounded out as I quickly scrambled to my feet.
"There's people here."
I told Chase seeing a few staff hiding behind the couch in the break room.
"You can't afford to have a fight near them."
Chase replied.
He was right. Not to mention, I was steadily growing more confident. I could take his punches. Which means, I could now start retaliating. The instant four glowing red eyes appeared through the dust covering the hole I had created with my body, I made my move.
'Shunpo!'
My body launched forward. This time the Shunpo was clean and more than that I was faster than before. It was almost a double increase in speed.
I slammed onto his chest and pushed the two of us out of the store, controlling my strings to both propel and hold me in the air by way of telekinetic control over them. A streak of blue and purple cut through the morning air, ascending to the sky.
Then he simply decided to stop. It was jarring and almost caught me off guard. His double fist landed on my back and the blow was like nothing I had ever felt before. Breath left my lungs as I crashed onto the street, carving out a wide groove.
"Get up!"
Chase's voice came in not a minute too late as I flipped away, dodging the stomp that made the ground cave in. The whole section fell down into the tunnels under Gotham. I stomped down on my shock. If that had been me... I shook my head, hanging in the air with an arm pointed down at him.
"Hado no 4: Byakurai!"
A jagged piece of lightning streaked out towards him, humming with power. The attack landed, pushing him back slightly. I dove after him, pulling my fist back and landing a punch to his jaw.
His head whipped to the side. I leaned out of the way of a haymaker that was literally world breaking. A pressure wave erupted out of the fist.
"It's like you said, he doesn't know how to use that strength."
Chase told me.
It was true. These devastating attacks were terribly telegraphed. I dodged another punch that easily destroyed a part of a collapsed building. Each miss was making him madder.
"Stop running away!"
He shouted, his chest inflating. Oh shit.
The entire street was awash with freezing breath, causing ice to form along the whole street. It had the consequence of putting out the fires though.
Kido was the only thing that had shown to be effective even just a little. And Superman had a weakness for magic right? Maybe that's why he got hurt. I evaded the attack by taking flight.
"Hado 5: Akai Inazuma."
Predictably, Superman followed after me. His body plowed through the red lightning but he wasn't unhurt. His body smoked, the erratic and wild red electric energy causing him pain to the point he howled. And that gave me a chance to come down on top of him with an axe kick.
He hit the ground face first and formed a crater. I landed on his back with both knees.
"Hado 5: Akai Inazuma!"
Another blast of Kido and his body locked up. Even his suit was lightly scorched.
"Hado 5: Akai Inazuma!"
Another blast and he went limp. I dragged myself away from his body, breathing out a sigh of relief.
Wait, where is the red smoke...
"Got you!"
My leg was pulled out from under me. Then I was slammed face first onto the ground. Then again. And again.
Superman wound up and threw me away. I flipped uncontrollably through the air. My back bloomed with heat, no doubt from his heat vision and I did my best to reinforce the strings, creating more to take the place of the ones destroyed.
"Dammit!"
I could only manage to slow down somewhat before I crashed unto a collapsed Skyscraper, metal and glass giving way until I landed on something hard. I lay inside the wreck of what might have been an office space for a few seconds, stunned.
"You let your guard down. You shouldn't have done that."
Chase tskd.
"He tricked me. Didn't think his arrogance would let him play possum."
I hadn't seen that coming. In retrospect, I should have. He's a demon after all.
The piece of skyscraper started groaning as something pushed through the open window panels.
"Is that a vine?"
Chase asked.
On the other hand I was internally groaning. My attention was stolen by who was standing on top of the vine. Harley fucking Quinn.
"Oh hiya Copkiller?!"
She waved from a far.
12 advance chapters in my Patreon.
Patreon.com/Saintbarbido.
::------------------------------------------::
(General P.O.V)
The ground was hit by tremors along the street, shaking the concrete and the burning rubble above it. Sirens sounded from far away. The sun's rays pierced through the smoke, highlighting the devastation. A huge piece of a skyscraper blocked the street, glass from the windows covering the tarmac.
There was a shift in the debris and a ghostly figure dressed in a pale white tuxedo with coattails, a top hat and a monocle above a non existent face, phased through the wreckage.
Gentleman Ghost watched the ground as a small vine sprouted through. Then the vine grew, pushing away the debris. Concrete rumbled as the wreckage rolled off the entrance to the Tin Roof Club.
Something covered the doors. The remains of a pod, the outer skin scorched by heat from the explosion. A creation by Poison Ivy to protect the glass doors once they saw the utterly massive fire mushroom blooming from afar. Then the shockwaves had hit and it was all Ivy could do to reinforce the interior with multiple vines.
"That was too close."
Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman said while walking out. Then she jumped, using her whip to grab onto a rebar from a piece of concrete sticking out. Then she pulled herself up onto the roof of the Tin Roof Club. And at such a height, Catwoman had a wide view of the city.
She removed her mask, her face set in an expression of immense shock.
"Oh God."
Selina didn't have a lot of close friends, but those she did, she treasured. With the state the city was in, most of it's inhabitants would likely be dead.
For her personally, the news didn't get any better. There was a massive hole at the back of the tin roof building.
"This is bad..."
She brought a palm to her face. After all the effort she had put in to this...
"Wait up!"
A cheerful voice called out from within the club. Catwoman wiped away a lone tear, her face hardening.
Ivy and Harley broke through the entrance riding on top of a massive vine.
"Hold on."
Poison Ivy told Harley.
"Wheee!!"
Harley screamed in glee as she held onto a spike.
The vine begun stretching towards the sky, crawling along the length of the collapsed Skyscraper towards Catwoman. An emergency services aircraft whizzed past their heads just as the vine crested over the broken building, depositing them onto the roof.
"Oh..."
Harley blinked. Her grip on the baseball bat she had with her, tightened. Harley was mad. The back portion of Selina's club was missing. Harley knew how much this place meant to Selina.
Her anger only increased as she saw the collapsed sign of her favorite restaurant a street over. Julio didn't care that she used to roll with Mistah J. And he had really good Tamales.
"Someone's gonna pay." She said hoisting her bat.
"I loved Julio's!"
"Who else thinks this destruction has something to do with that Black dome?"
Ivy pointed out.
"Maybe. But the Justice League can handle it."
Catwoman said coldly, scrolling through her phone.
"No cell service."
She told them.
Harley could see the slight working of Selina's neck muscles. Selina was mad as hell. She was just hiding it better. Harley also knew she was sad.
"Pardon the intrusion, but I believe the cell towers must be down."
Gentleman Ghost said, floating towards them.
"Now that I have ensured you ladies are safe, I best be going. I am not particularly useful in these types of situations."
"Thanks Jimmy!"
Harley shouted after him in false cheer. Gentleman Ghost stiffened.
"It's James, miss Harley. You can address me by Gentleman Ghost if you prefer to be more formal."
He replied like he had a few times before. One might think he would give up. She was Harley Quinn, craziest broad in Gotham!
"Ok Jimmy!"
Harley called out as the spirit flew away.
"What are you thinking?"
Ivy crossed her hands, staring at Catwoman, who was sitting on the edge of the roof. The latter sighed, getting up to her feet.
"Obviously this is less than ideal. Business will slow down as the insurance company rebuilds this place. They'll fight me on it. Which means, I might start relying on my...'hobbies' for a short period of time."
She recited but there was no real passion behind it.
"Huh guys?"
Harley called out but the other two ignored her.
"No. Selina. I know you."
Ivy shook her head.
"Don't use that excuse to close shop. I know how hard you have worked for this place. You're not going to give up on it."
Catwoman shrugged.
"Maybe it's a sign. I've only had this place open for a month and we've already had a few incidents. Maybe I'm lying to myself Ives. I'm no good with the quiet life. I haven't earned it."
She said, turning around to walk away.
"We should leave before the rest of the club caves in."
"Huh guys..."
Harley called out again.
Poison Ivy grabbed Catwoman's arm.
"The Selina I know wouldn't give up that easily."
"The Selina you know would tell you we have other things to worry about. The city is in shambles. By the time they organize rescue services it might be too late for some. We need to help. There's no one else Ivy. Batman is one man. He can't save this dump alone. We have to help."
She concluded, wearing her mask.
Ivy knew this was Catwoman's way to change the subject.
Harley tugged on Ivy's sleeve.
"Huh guys? There's something headed..."
Before the statement was over, a heavy impact smashed onto the skyscraper.
The three of them found themselves thrown to the air by the resulting pressure wave. A shower of metal, concrete and glass exploded outwards.
(Davian's P.O.V)
"You can't stay in this form for too long. You have no mastery of it. You risk death."
Chase warned.
I looked down at my hand, everything was tinted purple. That was because I wasn't seeing through my eyes, I was seeing through my strings. Perceiving the fine strands waving in the air, reacting to any movement. Paired up with Reikaku and I acquired a sort of enhanced Proprioception. I knew where everything was.
Enhanced senses, check.
I made a fist with my hand. The skin was clad in a fine layer of strings woven together in a costume that covered me completely. The costume was similar to what a Black Panther would wear. Only mine was purple and lacked any aesthetics. Like I said, it was an incomplete skill. That's not to say it was lacking. The outfit was padded in places where I compressed the strands into tough plates to block attacks.
To complete the look was my red oni mask and my white Soul Reaper Haori which flapped in the air.
I felt Constantine place a card on the ground. Then through Reikaku, magic power was funnelled to the soil of the park as he chanted too low for me to hear. He was doing his part. Time for me to do mine.
People were already pouring out of the buildings. I even spotted a man on a kite gliding through the air. The streets over were blocked by collapsed buildings but those who could were headed towards the bridge that would take them out of the city.
I constructed two huge stop signs on either side of the street. I was hoping they would notice it and stay away.
Superman and I were about to break Gotham again.
"You allowed us to take down your companion. Why?"
I enquired.
"Why not?"
He shot back in dismissal.
"He was a weakling. A weakling that turned out to be less than useless for our master's plan. If you hadn't dealt with him yourself, I would have."
To punctuate his statement, his four eyes begun glowing.
"The other one was impulsive. This one is arrogant. You can use that to your advantage."
Chase advised. With the Life Fibers skill, I could probably tank a few blows before Constantine managed to exorcise him. Play off his arrogance huh.
I tilted my head to the side.
"You might have Superman's body, but you're just a poor imitation to what he can actually do."
I shrugged and continued,
"Your friend might have been a weakling but at least he had the speed working for him. What have you done instead of floating in place with a giant stick up your ass?"
I mocked.
"I know I said use his arrogance to your advantage but I didn't mean make him furious."
Chase pointed out.
"Trust me."
I replied. There was no reason to...
Oof! One second I was upright, facing off against the Man of Steel and the next I was breaking through the remains of trees as the mad Kryptonian slammed into me faster than I was expecting.
His eyes lit up as we cleared the length of the park. Then my back was rammed against the wall of a wrecked Target store. Cracks spread out from the impact in a spider web formation.
"You will die for your insolence!"
He roared in my face.
Superman pulled back his fist and brought it hurtling towards my head. I brought my forearms together, thickening the padding and creating a small diamond shaped shield. There was a loud bang as I received the attack easily.
He looked shocked for a second before clenching his jaw.
"Diee!!!! Human!!!"
His eyes lit up and I immediately extended the shield to cover my whole body. The impact this time, made my ears bleed. The heat from the heat vision scorched my strings and I found myself pushed through the walls and into the store.
I tore off a chunk of the counter, my body shredding a piece of the wallpaper lining the walls before I broke through to another room.
Cries sounded out as I quickly scrambled to my feet.
"There's people here."
I told Chase seeing a few staff hiding behind the couch in the break room.
"You can't afford to have a fight near them."
Chase replied.
He was right. Not to mention, I was steadily growing more confident. I could take his punches. Which means, I could now start retaliating. The instant four glowing red eyes appeared through the dust covering the hole I had created with my body, I made my move.
'Shunpo!'
My body launched forward. This time the Shunpo was clean and more than that I was faster than before. It was almost a double increase in speed.
I slammed onto his chest and pushed the two of us out of the store, controlling my strings to both propel and hold me in the air by way of telekinetic control over them. A streak of blue and purple cut through the morning air, ascending to the sky.
Then he simply decided to stop. It was jarring and almost caught me off guard. His double fist landed on my back and the blow was like nothing I had ever felt before. Breath left my lungs as I crashed onto the street, carving out a wide groove.
"Get up!"
Chase's voice came in not a minute too late as I flipped away, dodging the stomp that made the ground cave in. The whole section fell down into the tunnels under Gotham. I stomped down on my shock. If that had been me... I shook my head, hanging in the air with an arm pointed down at him.
"Hado no 4: Byakurai!"
A jagged piece of lightning streaked out towards him, humming with power. The attack landed, pushing him back slightly. I dove after him, pulling my fist back and landing a punch to his jaw.
His head whipped to the side. I leaned out of the way of a haymaker that was literally world breaking. A pressure wave erupted out of the fist.
"It's like you said, he doesn't know how to use that strength."
Chase told me.
It was true. These devastating attacks were terribly telegraphed. I dodged another punch that easily destroyed a part of a collapsed building. Each miss was making him madder.
"Stop running away!"
He shouted, his chest inflating. Oh shit.
The entire street was awash with freezing breath, causing ice to form along the whole street. It had the consequence of putting out the fires though.
Kido was the only thing that had shown to be effective even just a little. And Superman had a weakness for magic right? Maybe that's why he got hurt. I evaded the attack by taking flight.
"Hado 5: Akai Inazuma."
Predictably, Superman followed after me. His body plowed through the red lightning but he wasn't unhurt. His body smoked, the erratic and wild red electric energy causing him pain to the point he howled. And that gave me a chance to come down on top of him with an axe kick.
He hit the ground face first and formed a crater. I landed on his back with both knees.
"Hado 5: Akai Inazuma!"
Another blast of Kido and his body locked up. Even his suit was lightly scorched.
"Hado 5: Akai Inazuma!"
Another blast and he went limp. I dragged myself away from his body, breathing out a sigh of relief.
Wait, where is the red smoke...
"Got you!"
My leg was pulled out from under me. Then I was slammed face first onto the ground. Then again. And again.
Superman wound up and threw me away. I flipped uncontrollably through the air. My back bloomed with heat, no doubt from his heat vision and I did my best to reinforce the strings, creating more to take the place of the ones destroyed.
"Dammit!"
I could only manage to slow down somewhat before I crashed unto a collapsed Skyscraper, metal and glass giving way until I landed on something hard. I lay inside the wreck of what might have been an office space for a few seconds, stunned.
"You let your guard down. You shouldn't have done that."
Chase tskd.
"He tricked me. Didn't think his arrogance would let him play possum."
I hadn't seen that coming. In retrospect, I should have. He's a demon after all.
The piece of skyscraper started groaning as something pushed through the open window panels.
"Is that a vine?"
Chase asked.
On the other hand I was internally groaning. My attention was stolen by who was standing on top of the vine. Harley fucking Quinn.
"Oh hiya Copkiller?!"
She waved from a far.
