Novels2Search

Chapter 6

The team of thugs was briefly stymied by the lack of lock on the warehouse door but the Penguin didn't hire TOO many low-brainwave flunkies, just some. The team of 8 slipped inside the warehouse and set to work. Unfortunately for them, that entailed opening some very loud storage containers. "Who dares to disturb my slumber!?" calls out a strong voice and the team freezes. Mikey, the leader, pulls out his pistol and waves at the team to do the same. Six men and two women follow the order, all the pistols matching the dark outfits they were wearing, along with the balaclavas. Joey, the youngest member, whispers to Joey Jr "Is it The Bat?" only to be shushed. After a few quick hand signals, the team starts to spread out to look for the source of the voice. Joey went off with Trini down a corridor, casting fearful gazes at the ceiling and any dark corner. The pair hear a set of boots touch the ground behind them and they whirl around and open fire.

What greets them isn't a billionaire dressed like a nocturnal animal, but a short man with spiky hair and a blue bodysuit. The sheer dissonance they feel stops their barrage of bullets. "First, you wake me from my nap, then you refuse to answer my question. THEN you shoot me." The man has several bloody welts from the gunshots, not the holes that a normal person would have. "I suppose if I wasn't feeling as bad as I am feeling right now, I'd let you off with only a few bruises." He snarls out "Instead, we're breaking some bones today." Joey takes a shaky step back and opens his mouth but the man leaps forward at Trini and gives her a hook to the jaw that drops her like a sack of potatoes. Joey's self-preservation instincts kick in and he starts to fire again. This time, with only one shooter, none of the bullets connect. They are either grabbed or dodged, which sets off the Flight response for Joey. He turns tail and runs towards the sounds of footsteps from his compatriots. "Oh, now you run. Typical cowardice." Joey ignored the taunt and rounded the corner and locked eyes with Mikey. "He's bulletproof, Mikey!" The man in the bodysuit didn't round the corner after Joey like Mikey had expected. After spitting on the ground, Mikey said "Bet he ain't electricity proof. Whip out your stun-rods, gang." and with that the gang members holstered the guns and all pulled out short rods ending in a metal tip that sparked with electricity.

A voice called out from behind the group "He's right you know. If you catch me with one of those, it'll definitely hurt." They all spun at the voice to see their soon-to-be tormentor sitting casually on a crate. He rolled his neck and continued, "I thought I wouldn't get a workout so soon after waking up but I guess that will teach me, won't it?" He hopped off as the gang took up a defensive circle. One of the men tried to taunt him "What's with the hair, you look like a troll doll?" Some of the other members chuckled at that. The man's eyes narrowed. "You'll be eating out of a straw for that, I hope it was worth it." Mikey decided for the hail-mary option, de-escalation. "Hey now. We didn't know you were squatting here, we just wanna grab some stuff and go our separate ways, all peaceful like, yeah? That sound good Mister...?" With a lazy turn of his head, the man stated his name. "Vegeta'' and dashed forward.

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Mikey cursed and swung wildly and missed. Vegeta kicked at his legs, knocking him to the ground and turned to his next target. The burly man who was next, swung and Vegeta punched his arm, forcing him to drop his weapon. This was followed up by a gut punch that lifted the man from the ground and then a kick to the torso that knocked him into one of his fellow gang members. "Augh! Mark ya fatass, get offa me!" Sadly, Mark was out cold and the remaining four members decided to take this fight a lot slower. The other woman had some martial arts experience and decided to hang back until Vegeta wasted the other three members. She was hoping this would tire him out. On a normal opponent this might work, maybe even The Bat, but Vegeta was no ordinary human. While she was patting herself on the back for her plan, he had uppercut Tommy and roundhouse kicked Kevin into unconsciousness. It was just her and Mitch.

Vegeta held his arms out and walked towards Mitch. "Here's your chance to put me down before I hurt you badly, human." Mitch was dumber than he was tough so he rushed in and swung his stun-rod. Vegeta deftly stepped aside and slapped him. This was not a gentle slap, it knocked Mitch back a few steps. "MotherFUCKER!" Mitch yelled at him and charged again. Another swing, a whiffed punch, and then he was slapped again. Harder this time. Mitch almost fell down but he growled and kept his footing. He reached down and grabbed another stun-rod. "It won't help, you know that, right?" With a howl of primal fury, Mitch ran at Vegeta and blindly attacked him. Vegeta either moved slightly or pushed Mitch's arm away, causing him to miss. This went on for almost two minutes until Mitch backed off, panting hard. "F-fuck you, short stuff... I'll... kill you..." Vegeta couldn't help but laugh at this bold statement. "Human, you can barely stand and I've not even started on you yet." With more of a gasp than a yell, Mitch charged again. Vegeta punched Mitch's left hand first, breaking the knuckles. Before he could scream and swing with the other arm, Vegeta punched out again. Breaking the right arm this time. A swift kick and Mitch was on the ground with a broken leg. "That should serve as a good lesson not to insult your betters."

As he turned away from Mitch he began to say "Woman, take your friends t-" but stopped himself. When he turned around, there was not a woman as expected, but a man dressed in a black cowl, with slightly glowing white eyes. He was standing over the unconscious form of the woman. The voice that came from this figure wasn't one of gravelly gravitas, nor guttural whispers. It was one of ease of confidence, one that had just the right amount of rasp and deepness to show that its owner meant business. "While I don't condone vigilantes in my city, you didn't go overboard or kill anyone so I'll hear you out. Who are you and what are you doing in my city?"