(Davian's P.O.V)

Everything was messed up. Raven was out for the count and the second I stepped through the opening left by the missing chunk of the manor, I cursed myself.

There was a portrait behind the study that had remained unscathed despite the wreckage around. The portrait was of a young Bruce Wayne with his father and mother flanking his sides.

I could recognize that chin from anywhere. And although his mask covered half of his face, the blue eyes left an impression on me. It was like De javu, a half remembered memory.

I sat on top of the broken desk, Chesha Neko held loosely in my hand. There was a doorway that was half covered by debris from the book case; ruined books and shattered glass.

Someone had attacked the Wayne manor. Better yet, someone had attacked Batman's hq. The same Batman I wouldn't have minded seeing choke on his morals. But I like to think, I was past the unreasonable hate. Bruce might have done me dirty but if there was a chance of Alfred or whoever Robin was, getting hurt...

I sighed. I can't let it happen.

"You don't need to look at me with such judging eyes, Gordon. I can see past my grudge." I addressed the Spirit as it hovered around me.

"There are two of them, Deathstroke and Bronze Tiger. Mercenaries who only go for top dollar. They are highly trained and highly dangerous."

He warned as I stood before the entrance to the Batcave.

My palms were sweaty. This would be a real fight.

"Hey Jim, I gotta ask."

I turned to the disembodied soul.

"Did you know that Bruce Wayne was Batman?"

"I do now..."

He answered as his form faded from the room.

'Mmh, did you see that? Someone is getting really good at manipulating their soul.'

I noted, addressing Chase.

'Its more instinctual yes, but you're right. After more than a week exposed to your Reiryoku, It would be more surprising if he didn't attain a small measure of control over his spirit energy.'

Chase answered.

(Elsewhere)

Deadshot managed to get them both to the van without a tail. The huge form of the Snake man lay unconscious back in the woods after Deadshot had tried to carry him and failed.

Shimmer would not be happy. Deadshot on the other hand gave zero fucks. He was definitely getting out of here.

"I traced the jamming signal here."

A voice could be heard from outside the car window. Batman's glare made Deadshot's heart skip.

"Oh fu..."

The glass shattered as he was roughly grabbed out of the car through the window. Deadshot bit down a scream, his hand wreched out of it's socket before he could aim his wrist gun.

"We need to talk."

The Dark Knight growled.

(Davian's P.O.V)

Purple light bloomed from my sword, the Zanpakuto going from a generic longsword to a long bastard blade with a violet metallic sheen.

Similarly my body underwent changes. Reiryoku boiled inside my Saketsu, filling me with increased strength and speed.

A long white sleeveless shihakusho clad my body tightly, held together by a couple of purple strings above my chest. My belly was left open, showing strong shifting muscles underneath the skin. The Shihakusho flapped in a non existent breeze, the only item of clothing unchanged being my pants.

"We don't have time."

Bronze Tiger told Deathstroke.

"Can you handle this?"

Shunpo placed me in-between them, Chesha Neko flashing out towards Tiger's neck at fast speeds. There was a clash of steel on steel as my blade was blocked by his claws. I flexed, throwing him away towards the huge Batcomputer.

His back smashed onto the screen as Robin's unconscious form was ripped away from his shoulder.

A shot rang out, whizzing under my chin, only missing my neck by a few inches.

"How?"

Deathstroke wondered, surprised he had missed. His wrist was tightly grasped by a very thin wire that went over a metal frame above us before falling down to the pointy end of Chesha Neko.

"One move and you'll lose your hand. And then you'll be the one eyed, one handed Deathstroke the Terminator."

I smirked.

"Not really threatening, is it?"

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And that's when he saw it. All around him, strings sharper than any ordinary blade and tougher than tungsten carbide. Chesha Neko's Shikai, millions of thin threads made up of reiryoku, glowing in the almost dark cave, all connected by the tip of my blade.

The strings also held Robin aloft in the air above, far from both Merc's hands. Yay, my first hero gig and I wasn't messing it up.

I straightened, watching Bronze Tiger rise to his feet, murder in his eyes as he held his shoulder.

"You'll pay for that."

He promised, pointing a claw at me.

"Ooooh I'm so scared."

My response was followed by a small pull on my sword. The tip glinted with thousands of strings before they seemed to blend into the environment.

Tiger stopped, foot raised as a wire hummed right before his neck. We held gazes. His challenging look meeting my unyielding eyes.

"You have no clue who you are messing with. Leave before this get's dangerous."

Said Bronze Tiger.

The nerve.

"I respect that you're badass enough to say that with something sharper than a skinning knife, placed right under your balls."

He looked down, frowning at the thread going in between his legs.

"That sword."

Deathstroke called, his body stiff and motionless like a statue in the middle of a jungle of strings.

"It's what you're using to create these strings."

He touched one with his finger and a cut appeared on his skin. Blood dripped.

"I don't need to warn you to stay put or get sliced apart right?"

I asked.

Deathstroke burst out laughing.

"Oh you think you got us huh? Trust me boy, many have jumped to the same conclusion."

His smile sent an uncomfortable feeling across my spine.

Bronze Tiger's silence told me this was off the script.

"We knew coming in that things would not be easy. This is Batman himself after all. A code was broken. We brought the fight home. Made it personal."

A voice inside me was screaming to kill them and be done with it. These two were not enemies I wanted to leave alive.

"You're stalling."

I realized.

"It's quite simple. We were on a deadline. And that deadline just passed."

I felt it through my strings. A hum that pushed them away from a zone in space. There was a loud ping of noise as a yellow portal manifested right behind me. Without a second thought, I pulled on my strings and collapsed the grid around the two mercenaries. I'd rather face an angry Batman than let the two of them.lesve here alive.

A whoosh of displaced air, blasted right past me as something moved in speeds that I could NOT react to. Shunpo was designed for mostly linear trajectories. At higher levels I could use the skill to push myself in omnidirectional paths but for now, Shunpo was just a grounded instant leap. It couldn't hold a candle to a real speedster.

The grid compressed into black spools of strings that converged on both mercenaries' positions.

The speedster moving in a blur of scarlet and yellow saved both of them. They stopped and I looked down to find my Zanpakuto gone.

"What is this?"

I heard Bronze Tiger demand from my back.

"A change in your initial contract."

A female voice answered.

I turned around to face them, making a small annoyed grunt at the back of my throat.

Then my breath hitched. My eyes widened and I couldn't keep the surprise out of my eyes. A raven haired woman stood next to Deathstroke and Bronze Tiger. Next to Tiger however...

"You have no fucking clue what you've done."

I shook my head at their stupidity.

Standing beside her was a man with a huge cranium, the top of his head was transparent, revealing his brain. On the other side...was The Flash.

Barry Allen. His eyes the color of red. Red lightning seemed to flash around his boy. Lightning the same color as Reverse Flash.

"Oh and why would you assume that?"

The woman asked, stepping closer to me, Chesha Neko held in her grip. She was beautiful in a deadly way. Smug too. But the way she held herself...she was a fighter.

"I don't know what's going on." I began, also running my gaze around. Deathstroke had his hands crossed over his chest, Bronze Tiger was expressionless but the tightening of his jaw told me that this was something he hadn't anticipated.

"But believe me, whatever this is, you have escalated things. They will come at you with everything they have. 'He' will come at you with everything he has."

I told her.

There was no fear in her eyes, instead a look of excitement flashed in them before she hid her emotions behind a lazy smile.

"I can hardly wait."

"Talia...what is this? The deal with your father..."

Bronze Tiger was silenced by a mere snap of her fingers. Wait, Talia? As in Talia Al Ghul? This shit just got too complicated.

"My father has been offered mandatory retirement in his reclusive island. The League of Shadows is under me now. Under...Leviathan."

She replied.

"We should get going."

Deathstroke informed her.

"Get the boy."

She ordered and the Flash wordlessly complied, lightning flashing across his body.

Only to slam into a wall made up of compressed strings.

"You can phase through a lot but what about compressed spirit energy?"

My question was followed by a massive pressure slamming down onto all of them.

They all sank to their knees, groaning at the load of Reiryoku acting on their souls.

"How is...this... possible..."

Deathstroke ground out, glaring across the room at me.

I stood on a single wire, staring down at the group.

"I only let you think I needed the sword in my hands to control the strings."

I held my palm in the air and Chesha Neko, still on Talia's hands unravelled into energy. The strings around me formed the Zanpakuto anew in my hand. I wrapped my finger around it's hilt, pointing it at them.

A serious look appeared on the woman's eyes.

"I don't like Batman."

I said.

Somehow that sounded wrong.

"I hate Batman."

I amended.

"You ask me, he's an egotistic bully who looks out for the little guy but does it in a way you can't help but despise the dude."

Strings tightly bundled each one of them up. They had to have used something to portal in...I found it clutched in the Cranium dude's hands. My strings folded over the small rectangular device. I kept my face blank but inside my mind was running at lightning speeds.

The device was alive. I had gotten good at sensing disembodied souls. And the device had a strange soul. It's consciousness felt artificial yet not.

And then there was something about Cranium dude that bothered me.

"So yeah, I hate Batman. However, I sorta hate you guys more. You disrupt the peace. You make it so people like Batman are a necessity. Basically, you're done. Whatever this...scheme was meant to be, I'm spoiling it."

None of them could speak now.

'Be careful, they look ready to pass out. I'm not to sure killing them inside the Batcave will make your host happy. Especially the woman."

Chase said from inside my mind.

"You have made one very big mistake."

A voice stated from the ceiling. Batman seemed to glide down to the space between us, landing with his cape clasped around him, his hands hidden under. He loomed down like a dark cloud.

My fingers twitched. He was so close to a string...

I narrowed my eyes.

"Chase, is it just me or does he seem unaffected by my spirit pressure?"

I asked of my Zanpakuto.

"Mmmh...look deeper into his body... he's possessed. Those are two souls."

He replied, a note of curiosity in his tone.

"Two souls?"

I said, sending Reiryoku into my eyes while also activating Reikaku.

The answer came in an instant,

"Gordon."

Jim Gordon's apparation was like a blue cloak of energy around Batman's body.

"How is that even possible?"

I wondered.

Chase snorted.

"This is not Bleach. It makes sense that the universe would react differently to Spirit Energy. Especially in a world with an abundance of mysteries."

Gordon knew I wasn't a big fan of Batman. And he also knew my skills. It was a betrayal. The bitter pill was hard to swallow.

The Dark Knight seemed to ignore me completely, facing Talia and her group in palpable anger.

"1 hour ago, there was a security breach at Wayne Enterprises. 50 minutes later, I lost communication with Wayne Manor. 35 minutes later, the Flash was mysteriously kidnapped from his home as he healed. Talia, what HAVE YOU DONE?!!"