___

The night held an icy grip over Gotham, blowing her winds ever so gently through the sky. Her clouds released little specks of snow that fell softly upon the frosted ground, beginning to coat it in pure white powder. The sounds of the city buzzed as if it were the blood that flowed through Gotham’s veins. The noises of cars and chatter indicated that life still inhabited her. With the chill of the air, the parts of my face unshielded by my mask stung in the cold, yet my eyes remained fixated on the alley below. Most people would be out and about at this hour, traveling home from their loved ones after this Thanksgiving night to cozy up in their beds.

Instead, I was atop a building, lying in wait.

Tonight, a weapons deal was taking place, and I had to be ready for it. Normally, Robin would take on these types of investigations, but I offered to take some overtime so he could enjoy the holiday with his wife, Oracle, and father-in-law. Despite his pestering for me to spend it with Sydney and Bill, I eventually got him to agree. A small part of me was sad I’d miss the holiday with my chosen family, but the majority of me wanted the work.

It kept me awake, and kept the nightmares at bay. For the time being.

I looked down at my gloved hands, clenching them into fists to stretch my fingers. My gaze traveled up my arm, looking at my grapple gauntlets. The black metal shone in the moonlight, gleaming in my eyes. The trigger mechanism was disengaged for the time being, but I knew soon it would be time to activate them. I put my foot up on the ledge, leaning to peer out into the alley below. The tip of my heavy buckled boots peaked out on the rooftop’s ledge as I leaned, the light woven material of my suit stretching with my movements. The black, diamond-shaped protective metal on my thighs, knees, shoulders, and chest plate seemed to chill me even further as they absorbed the cold temperatures of the night. Yet, my focus was unbroken. Sun or snow, cold or warm, I had a mission. I was going to complete it, just like the many others I had done this year.

My wounds were all but healed now, but the scars remained from that fateful night in Arkham. Since that incident, I worked tirelessly to forget. To fight my way through the trauma. Eventually, my fear turned to rage. My doubts turned into determination.

Nothing like that would happen again, I promised myself. I wouldn’t be the victim of another trap.

Despite my promises, it always loomed in my paranoid mind. So, I told myself that I’d work to be stronger, and smarter. Then, if I ever was in a situation like before, I’d have the knowledge and power to fight my way out. I wouldn’t depend on luck to help me.

A small gust of wind blew through, making my chin-lengthed hair sway to the left and exposing my neck to the cold. A shiver crept up my spine, yet I didn’t let it phase me. I couldn’t help but remain unused to the new length. A few months ago, in a rash move, I had slipped into the bathroom at Bill and Sydney’s with a pair of kitchen scissors. After another nightmare, replaying the night at Arkham, I needed to get rid of the memory somehow. I don’t know how I came up with it, but in a fit of desperation, I cut away the long chestnut strands of myself, hoping it would abolish the nightmares. In the end, I felt slightly better. There was nothing for my opponents to grab onto anymore.

But the nightmares remained.

The only thing that kept them away was throwing myself into my vigilante work. Fighting night after night to keep Gotham safe. And just my luck, a new emerging gang appeared a few months ago, giving me an investigation to keep me busy. The only thing I was able to piece together was they call themselves The Blood Movement. The why is unknown, for now at least. What is known is they are planning something big, based on their movements. For about two months I’ve been acquiring tips from an undercover about their operations. While he doesn’t know what they are planning, the informant has been detailing trades in drugs, counterfeits, and more specifically - weapons. In the last few weeks alone, The Blood Movement has been collecting and buying enough arsenal to supply an army. Including tonight, where he was clued into a trade happening between The Blood Movement and some unknown sellers. All happening right here in the alley I stood above.

The mission was simple - stop the trade, and interrogate. If I could get any information on what they were planning to do with the weapons they’ve accumulated, it could help me get ahead of the game to prevent a catastrophe.

As I continued watching the empty alley, something caught my eye. A pair of headlights to the left of me slowly turned down the alley, creeping up slowly before parking. A black car with a sleek, long hood. With how fancy it was, I shuddered to think how much it cost. I held my breath and squinted my eyes with intense focus, watching their movements. Suddenly, I watched as three men in tuxedos exited the car. Casually, it seemed, they walked to the front of the car, with one of them resting on the hood. Each of them looked similar, with two out of the three sporting grey hair and dimmed, round glasses. Whoever these men were, I knew immediately they were the unknown sellers, as their fancy attire didn’t match the descriptions of The Blood Movement.

These must be the sellers, I thought.

A voice from within me spoke softly, with a tone I had become familiar with since the night of Arkham.

“Quite right, dear one. Now we wait for the rest…”

A slight smile escaped my lips upon hearing his voice. It was always a comfort to hear, reminding me I was never alone.

Mortis, the Deathbringer, was the entity within me. The embodiment of death, I learned, was tied to my soul providing me with supernatural abilities that gave me an advantage. From phasing into an untouchable form to disappearing and reappearing in different places. A year ago, I thought it was a curse. That I was a monster incapable of controlling what I could do. The bodies at my door were too much to bear. With blood on my hands, I lost myself to fear. Until the incident at Arkham Asylum forced me to open my eyes and learn the truth about the beast inside. He was ancient, created when life first presented itself to the world. But after crossing The Three, his kind’s sacred leaders, he was cursed to join with a mortal soul. In this lifetime, he was bound to me. The youngest ever, he said. Since I fully accepted him, I’ve never been stronger. The abilities I’ve been gifted with have been fluid, flowing like a river. Everything felt in place, with me now in complete control. I had nothing left to fear, now that I understood him and myself.

All that was left now, was to find Caedes, the Bloodspiller.

Ultimately, our main goal was to stop her rampage. But since Arkham, she’s been radiosilent. So have her resurrected allies. Nothing was heard from them. As if they disappeared into the night. Yet, we all knew better than to believe she was gone. She’s been lying dormant for an entire year. Most likely waiting for the perfect time to attack.

What she didn’t know, was that I hadn’t rested since our last encounter. I’ve trained, studied, and practiced, especially with my abilities.

I was ready for her, I thought.

While I waited for her resurgence, I would take care of this Blood Movement. One weapons deal at a time, if I had to.

The three men in tuxedos waited for what seemed like an eternity. As soon continued to fall, I watched them from the shadows above. Their patience was soon rewarded, however, when another car turned sharply down the alley from the right. Another black car, this time a van, came hustling in before halting to a stop a few feet from the men in tuxedos. Despite the reckless driving, they remained unphased. After a brief second, three rugged-looking men popped out of the van, adorning black jackets and combat pants. As their boots crunched against the gathering snow on the ground, they came into my view. While each of the rugged men had different appearances, they had similar attire. Matching red bandanas around their lower faces obscured their features. Once my eyes grazed over each of their wrists, I saw the calling card I was looking for.

Tattoos of red thorns wrapped around each of their right wrists.

Bingo, I thought.

These were The Blood Movement members, here to collect their weapons.

Moving my neck slowly to the side to crack it, I then carefully stepped onto the ledge of the rooftop while listening to the transaction below.

“Glad you could finally join us, boys. We’ll cut to the chase-”

One grey-haired man in a tuxedo spoke up, holding out his hand and beckoning towards the rugged men in front of him.

“Penguin requires payment up front.”

A man with black braids scoffed, walking forward past his group of Blood Movement accomplices. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out three stacks of cash and placing it roughly in the hands of the grey-haired man.

“Greatly appreciated.”

The man said, beginning to count the money. Once he concluded, he then snapped towards the two men behind him. On command, they opened the fancy trunk of the car, retrieving four duffle large duffle bags before starting to bring them over. As the man in the tuxedo spoke, I activated my grapple gauntlets, readying myself for the fight.

“We have your boss’ request. Ten machines, thirty sawed-offs, and forty variety handguns, semi-automatic.”

As he began speaking again, I quietly stepped off of the building, straightening my feet as I plummeted below. Just before I reached the ground, I disappeared into the night to break fall. Envisioning where I wanted to go, I overheard the man’s words

“You’ll find they’ve been well built. We only provide the best-”

SMACK!

Landing atop one of the Blood Movement members, my feet collided with his back in a harsh thud. The sound he made as he fell on the ground under my weight made The Blood Movement members turn around and jump in surprise. Landing in a crouched position, I steadied myself before arising slowly once I had my footing. Their eyes conveyed a sense of concern and pure shock seeing me rise. Shadows danced around me in wild flickers, indicating I was still in a shadowed form. Looking at myself before, I knew how I appeared to be to them. A creature of pure black, as if the shadows themselves had a physical creation. Instead of displaying emotion, I simply stepped off of the man I had landed on. Hearing his grunts and moans of pain indicated to me he would be down for a while. My head lifted to look upon the remained men in front of me.

“Hey! What the fuck is that? What the hell!”

One of the men in a tuxedo called out, dropping his duffle bags to the ground in surprise. The closest foes to me were the other two Blood Movement members, staring me down while unsure of what to do. I decided I would take them out first, but needed one conscious for questioning. As I glanced at the man with the braids, I figured out he would most likely be the one with the most information to spill.

With a plan in place, I walked slowly toward the men, ready to fight. I watched as one of the rugged men had taken a step back as if to run. I decided that wouldn’t be a possibility, instead taking a giant leap towards him. Swinging my leg out, it collided with his side cruelly, sending him keeling over in pain. To ensure he stayed down, I quickly raised my leg again, this time swinging my foot down upon his head. With the blunt force slamming him into the ground, he grunted out in surprise. I watched as his body hit the snow-dusted asphalt roughly, and once I confirmed he was out of the fight, my attention turned to the man in the braids.

I watched as his dark brown eyes widened in complete disbelief, pondering the defeat of his allies with a shock that seemed to paralyze him. When he saw me staring him down, a sort of panic began to take over. Beads of sweat rolled down his face due to the worry burning up within him, and in a desperate attempt to preserve himself, he raised his fists up, ready to fight. I remained emotionless, speechless, instead only focusing on his next moves. I watched him carefully, starting to walk over to him with careful steps. The shadows from my being still flickered and waved around me, concealing me within its dark hands. Mortis still kept me tight in his grasp, giving his unwavering support. As I stepped, traces of my path presented themselves in the snow. I watched as the man with the braids shuffled back slightly, his worry growing more so seeing me step forward. His trembling hands began reaching into his black coat pocket, taking out what appeared to be a silver object. When I could finally make out what it was, I began to walk faster towards him. His aimed the object towards me, his frightened finger beginning to squeeze the trigger.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

BANG! BANG!

Two shots rang out, but I already knew what to do. Focusing my abilities, I phased, changing to a non-solid being. The bullets went through my head and my torso, passing out of me in clouds of black smoke. The sounds of bullets hitting the metal of the van behind me echoed throughout the alleyway we stood in, its piercing noise ringing in my ears. My fast walking turned into a small sprint, quickly closing in the gap between me and the man with the braids. His desperate eyes washed over with panic, as he continued shooting off more rounds into me. My head began to feel the splitting pain of being in a phased form, but I grit passed the pain, continuing to sprint toward the man as he fired pointless shots into me.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three more shots rang out, each exiting through me as if he shot into dark clouds of smoke. As I got closer, the man towered over me, yet I remained determined and unafraid. I was inches from the man in braids when he squeezed the trigger one last time in fear, aiming for my head.

CLICK!

His eyes widened in absolute horror, gasping when he heard the foreboding sound of his gun running out of bullets. I didn’t give him time to react any further, quickly switching out of my phased form to grab the wrist that possessed the weapon. I used all of my might to twist the gun out of his hand, listening to him scream out in pain from my assault. In a move that surprised me, he swung a fist in my direction, trying to get me off of him. Unyielding, I simply swerved to the side of the punch before yanking him forward. The palm of my hand came up, catching him by the chin as he repelled towards me. A sound of agony escaped his lips, and he began to fall backward from the force I had put behind my hit. Before he could hit the ground, I roughly brought my leg up towards my chest, before bringing it roughly down upon his chest and kicking him to the cold asphalt. Whilst he remained on the ground, I could see him turn over, spitting up a small bit of blood. I was about to pick him up when I heard a sudden commotion from behind him that distracted me from my target.

“Ay freak! No one interrupts a deal without some consequences!”

My face recoiled into a look of frustration when I saw that one of the men in tuxedos had retrieved a gun from the duffle bags they had previously dropped. From the looks of it, a machine gun. I rolled my eyes in discontent before sprinting towards the fancy car they hid behind. Just before he could shoot, I managed to slide to the passenger side, thrusting open the door to take cover behind for a brief second. Making it on time, a barrage of gunfire could be heard throughout the alley, holes beginning to fill up the door. As I collected my thoughts, I peered in the car mirror to see their positions. I could see the man firing into the car door, and when he ran out of his first round, he quickly adjusted his dark glasses before walking toward my location. I couldn’t help but smirk, knowing exactly what I’d do next. I readied myself into a crouched position, preparing to jump out.

As soon as the man’s feet reached where I was hiding, I quickly leaped up and swung my legs over the door like a hurdle, kicking the man with the machine gun square in the chest. He made a grunting sound before he hit the ground, coughing and gasping as if I had knocked the air out of him. When I landed, I quickly kicked the gun out of his hand before stomping down on his head. His eyes rolled to the back of his head in unconsciousness, indicating that was one less threat to deal with.

Before I could assess the threat further, a fist came out of nowhere, catching me on the cheek to the left of me. After recoiling in pain, I shook of the assault to face the perpetrator. Another man in a tuxedo, his grey hair shining in the moonlight. I looked up just in time to narrowly avoid the combat knife he slashed in my direction. Bending backward, I back-sprung away from his attack, letting my boot catch him upside the face. A yell erupted from him, and as I righted myself, I watched him stagger back in surprise. He shook his head to recover from the kick. Twirling the large combat knife in his hand, he began calling out to his fellow tuxedoed accomplice.

“Jonah! Don’t just stand there, get a gun and light this thing up!”

Just as he spoke, I rushed at him, landing an elbow to his jaw. He slashed at me again, but I spun out of the way of his blade. When I turned to face him again, he made another attempt to slice me down. Using every ounce of my strength, I grabbed the man’s arm before forcing it downward. Just as I did so, I swung my knee up to catch the man’s arm. A sharp crack could be heard throughout the night, along with cries of anguish. The man recoiled as I let go of his limp arm, bent unnaturally backward after the break. He held his limb while yelling out curses at me, falling to his knees in agony. I let him stay there for a quick second, preparing for the last blow. Using my forearm, I delivered a heavy hit to the side of the man’s temple, the brunt of the attack channeled through the grapple gauntlets I adorned. With a harsh thud, he fell like the rest before to the ground. When my gaze shot back up at the last one in a tuxedo standing, I could see him retrieve a large weapon from one of the duffle bags. As he fumbled with it, I only began to walk toward him, ready to take him down.

When he noticed I was drawing near, his panic seemed to set him straight as he righted the weapon. In his hands he held a sawed-off shotgun, trembling with uncertainty. Just as he aimed for me, I broke out into a sprint, disappearing into the night. Reappearing behind him, he shot out towards where I used to be. The blast sent a roar of sound out into the night, the bullets taking chunks of brick out of the wall to the right of him. When he realized I was nowhere in sight, a slight whimper of worry escaped from his throat. Not wasting any more time, I quickly elbowed the man in the neck, causing him to stagger to the left. His head turned sharply my way, seemingly frightened by my reappearance. When he righted himself, he tried to aim for me again, but a swift kick to his hand sent the weapon tumbling to the ground. Another kick landed itself onto his chest, sending him flying back into the wall behind him. I swung my elbow at him, but the slippery man rolled out of the way, causing me to hit the wall behind him harshly. I grit my teeth to hide the pain now shooting up my arm, letting it absorb into my skin. The man tried to back away, but I grabbed his arm roughly in a fit of anger. Turning to where my back was towards him, I flung him over my shoulder towards the frosted asphalt. His back hit the ground with such force a thud erupted throughout the alleyway. To end his consciousness, I quickly kneeled down, delivering a hard punch to the side of his head. I watched as the last man standing remained still, signaling the end of the fight.

The weapons deal was finally stopped, I thought. Now it was time to interrogate.

After the commotion, all that could be heard were the whistling winds of the cold night and the peaceful city sounds deep in the distance. I slowly stood up, taking deep breaths to steady myself. Letting go of the abilities within, I felt the shadows around me disappear. I glanced down at my hands, now taking their normal form while stretching out my wrists. My body was all too used to combat now, but to prevent injury I did everything I could to stretch and recover after every fight. Making my way to the man with braids, I could see him still drifting in and out of consciousness on the snow-dusted ground. Once I was over him, I quickly hoisted him up, slamming him against the brick wall to wake him up further. The man’s body hit hard against the surface, jolting him to consciousness as he stared me down in horror.

“W-What the hell are you?”

He managed to sputter out, the concern washing over him as he shook in my grasp. Keeping him held against the wall, I quickly pushed my forearm to his throat, applying pressure as I spat out my next words with a cold, unfeeling tone.

“I’m your worst nightmare… Unless you tell me what these guns are for, and why you Bloods need them so badly. Tell me what you know.”

____

“Lucius, are you there?”

I spoke into my communications unit, pressing the button gently on the device in my ear. Watching the police gather the men and the guns from above the scene, I remained out of sight. Once I was certain they had things under control I turned away, beginning to activate my grapple gauntlets. I aimed my hand towards another taller establishment, triggering the mechanism by pulling the trigger on my thumb. The grapple cable shot out into the distance, hooking onto its target. Once it had, I began to fly through the air, soaring against the windy night and her falling snow. I could feel little flakes catch in my hair as I breezed towards the distant building, the snow melting into my short strands. When I had gotten closer, I maneuvered my body over the ledge onto the rooftop, waiting for an answer from my guide Lucius Fox. The man who had risked everything last year to teach me about my powers and give me a second chance at life. Eventually, he trusted me enough to let me in on his secret life helping Gotham’s vigilantes after the death of his friend and boss, Bruce Wayne.

The Batman. The man who started it all.

Eventually, everything fell to Lucius. The Wayne fortune and the legacy of keeping Gotham safe along with the others Mr. Wayne had trained before. He saw potential in me with his infinite kindness and took a chance. I promised I wouldn’t fail, and I would fight to carry on that legacy with the rest, even though I had never met the man himself. Yet, I still fought like I had known him. He had become a silent idol of sorts to me, an example of who to be. Someone strong and determined, someone who believed in this city and its people. No matter how grim it got, he battled to protect her. With my own enemy out on the streets because of me, I vowed to do the same.

Once I was on the rooftop, I walked slowly to the opposite side while I waited for an answer. I leaned on the ledge, playing with my grapple gauntlets, trying to ignore the chill of the night. As I peered over the edge, I could see a young couple down below, seemingly embraced in a passionate hug. The woman laughed, entranced by the man as he told his jokes. As they held each other, it was as if I could feel the love they felt for one another. Vibrating through the air, as powerful as an electrical current. I couldn’t help but smile, seeing the two embraced. It warmed my heart. Yet, I part of me longed.

Longed for a connection like that.

My deep thoughts were interrupted by static in my comms, piercing into my ears like a bullet in the dead of night. I winced slightly from the sudden frequency, but my annoyance and shock quickly turned to curiosity when I heard the voice at the other end speak, breaking up with the static.

“Entity. I don’t have much… time to talk… You’ve only scratched the surface of their… plans.”

The voice was low, calm, and calculated. Unlike any I’ve heard before. A man’s voice, foreign in nature, was somehow in my comms unit.

“W-Who are you? And how did you get into this channel? It’s closed off.”

I managed to speak back, standing up straight and backing away from the ledge of the building. As if on instinct, I looked around me, trying to spot any suspicious movements in my surroundings. None could be found, however, and the man spoke on.

“That’s not… important now. What you uncovered tonight about The Blood Movement is only the beginning. Your enemies are more tight-knit than you… know… Be on your guard.”

“What do you mean? What do you know?”

Deciding to try and pry information from this mysterious voice, I pressed on.

“You were told about Red Rover. I… Overheard your interrogation.”

My eyes widened at the words he spoke. He was right, I was clued in on a plan in the works by The Blood Movement. The man in braids cracked, saying his boss had them preparing for something big. Something called Red Rover. They were plotting an all-out assassination of someone big. Of who, I was not certain. All I knew was that more information could be gathered at their warehouses. Luckily, I had the locations of at least three. But from what this mysterious voice was telling me, was that I was missing something.

That, and somehow he had watched me interrogate the man with braids about this. Instead of asking about his identity, I instead decided it would be wise to question the details of Red Rover.

“You’re right. I know all about that. What do you mean by tight-knit? Is there more?”

“Much more… You need to get Robin in on the investigation. This will require both of you… Red Rover is just a red herring.”

“If you know what’s happening, just tell me! I’m not playing games-”

I started to get annoyed by the cryptid information this mysterious man was telling me, but before I could continue I was cut off.

“This isn’t a game. This is serious. Red Rover is the main plan, yes, but it is a part of a larger scheme. One that connects to multiple sources. A word of advice… Entity… You’re still a novice. You’ve only been on the streets for a year. And your last big mission almost ended with you… dead. You’re not ready for something of this magnitude. Not alone… Get Robin. That’s your only chance… Once this issue is resolved, you’ll be closer to figuring out how to stop Caedes…”

“How do you know-”

I stopped myself, shock glazing over my face after hearing him speak her name. I shook away my surprise, instead continuing on.

“Look. Whatever happened last year- it’s old news. I may still be new, but I’m not the same fighter I was before.”

“This work is more than just combat skills, Entity. You still lack discipline and street smarts… You… don’t even know they are two steps ahead of you. If you don’t trust your allies and get everyone on the same page, you’ll all be sitting ducks. I’m… still trying to figure out exactly what is planned, but all I can say for certain is you need to involve Robin and the others. In on everything. Start at those warehouses. Get to the bottom of this… Gotham’s counting on you Entity. Figuring out The Blood Movement is the first step to solving the overall threat. This isn’t just one assassination attempt. There’s something more sinister at play, I just can’t figure out what yet.”

I sighed, kneeling down on the rooftop as I listened to his slight jabs, poking holes in my confidence. Whoever this man was, he never held back.

“Thanks for the heads up… I guess.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m doing this for the city. We all have our duty to protect her.”

“So what do I call you then? If you're hacking into our comms unit this won’t be the only time… Speaking from experience.”

Static continued to buzz through the comms unit, sometimes butchering and glitching the words the mysterious man spoke.

“I’m just a messenger. Keep your eyes and mind open. Not everything is going to be as it seems.”

Before I could speak again, the static whined again, causing my face to grimace again. Once it stopped, the sound faded into a comforting, familiar voice.

“Entity? Come in. How did the weapons deal go?”

My face shifted into a puzzled expression, raising a curious eyebrow while I pondered what happened. Eventually, I exhaled slowly before lifting my hand to press my comms unit, responding to the kind voice of Lucius.

“It went well, Lucius. Everyone was stopped and apprehended. I just had the strangest thing happen…”

___