Poison Mist

A Sai.

That's what flew at me, and if I were a second slower in my reaction, I would have been dead.

"You have quite decent reflexes," Despite the compliment, her voice held zero interest.

"Lady Shiva, I presume?" I knew who she was. Penguin had given me enough info about her for me not to be stupid with her. "I hope you didn't kill the pilot, at least."

And Penguin wasn't wrong when he said most fell in front of her even before the fight.

And it was because of her beauty.

She was of mixed descent, a Haitian father, and a mother that was half Chinese, half Japanese, with a bit of Korean blood.

And she had only taken the best features from such heritage.

The beauty had the perfect curves mixed with sharp facial features that made her what one would consider an exotic beauty.

She had a well-trained body that didn't fall shy of Chesire's and physical prowess that went even beyond the Vietnamese assassin.

"The pilot is alive, but if he tries to pull some heroic stunt, he will most certainly be dead," Lady Shiva assured.

"He is good," Chesire complemented, "He is possibly the one we were told to look out for."

I am quite sure that they were not told about me specifically but most likely warned about someone that Penguin sent.

"I didn't know that I had become an overnight celebrity," I looked at the not-so-amused assassins, "So, I should not let down your expectations, right?"

There was a certain reason I wasn't using my powers yet. Or well, not in the usual style that I used.

"Chesire…" Lady Shiva spoke, "You go after the girl, I'll handle him."

Chesire didn't want to take orders, but after our fight, she knew that it would be a waste of time to stay engaged in a fight.

"Ferris," I turned my head a little, "Don't move a muscle."

The girl was scared, but I must respect that she was still standing her ground.

Ferris gave me a nod as she hid behind one of the seats.

"Chesire," Lady Shiva said, "Go."

As she said that, Chesire bolted towards Ferris, all while Lady Shiva jumped at me with her Sai blades.

Now…

I would have been in trouble under normal circumstances. I was decent at hand-to-hand, but I wasn't good enough to face someone who spent her entire childhood mastering the art of killing.

And I was definitely not capable of handling BOTH the women at once, maybe in the bedroom arts, but definitely not in the martial arts.

So, I decided to play dirty.

Ditching hand-to-hand, I finally used my powers.

Like they were supposed to.

"What the–" Chesire had to make an abrupt stop as metallic spikes sprouted from all four directions before lunging at her.

She jumped back as the spikes crashed onto one another to form a spiky mesh that was impossible to go through without destroying.

"I am sorry, ladies~" I gave them my most charming smile, "But I will have to get serious if you decide to go after my client."

…

…

Carol knew that superheroes existed.

She was oh so familiar with them as she was saved by Green Lantern once when her jet went out of control.

And she also initially expected the guy that Oswald sent to be capable of some supernatural things – which died the moment she saw Jasper in his casual attire.

But now, she realized why Oswald had sent a man that was as young as her to guard her.

It was because the guy was far better than any security that she could get her hand upon.

She was left baffled when she saw him tackle Chesire, the mistress of poison, with his bare hands. And while she was furious that he did not save her butlers or maids, she understood that unlike Green Lantern in the past – the man in front of her wasn't a hero.

He was far from it.

He was working for a crime lord – Yes, she knew that her father was friends with a crime lord – which meant that he was anything but a hero.

He was a hired guard, a man on a paycheck whose mission was nothing more and nothing less than to keep her safe.

That's why he did not use his abilities when her other guards were killed – because they were not his responsibility.

SHE was.

And thus, when Chesire rushed towards her, he finally used his powers.

'What is his power?' She wondered, shocked to witness metals sprouting from the walls of the aircraft.

The mesh formed by the spikes made it difficult to clearly see the fight, but she was still able to make out the scene.

"I must say, I wasn't planning on fully expanding my powers," She heard Jasper say, "Kudos to you for making me sweat enough to use them."

He was cocky, ridiculously so.

Carol wasn't sure if he knew how strong those two assassins were or if he had abilities that rivaled the top dogs of the hero and villain games.

But he definitely had an ego that could match that level.

Realizing that Jasper had been hiding his abilities for such a long time, Chesire finally broke out in curses.

"You fucker… You were toying with me since the start," She gritted her teeth, not even bothering with Carol.

"Not exactly," Jasper smiled, "I was 'testing' you."

But that was enough provocation as the moment those words left his mouth – he saw two fists flying at him from two different directions.

"Easy there~"

Despite the danger, he acted playful.

Creating a spiral-like metallic dome around him, which as the two women punched – resounded into a loud sonorous sound.

"Strong," He praised, "Sadly not enough to break tungsten."

But he did notice how Lady Shiva was able to put a much larger dent in the metal compared to Chesire.

But it was perfectly understandable as Lady Shiva excelled in martial arts and brute strength, whereas Chesire excelled in the poison arts.

Shiva was an expert at dealing with such situations.

She pulled out a pair of vibrant sai from her belt, amusing Jasper.

But what he didn't realize was for those Sai to cut through the tungsten like butter, exposing him for Chesire to strike.

"Woah."

Carol witnessed a scene that felt unreal, as the man created defenses on defenses while the woman cut through them with the utmost ease.

She saw how the three fought, and it felt like nothing that she had experienced before.

It felt horrifying.

As even a single wrong move, she would lose her life.

But she thankfully did not have to worry.

As Jasper was done with his games.

She had no idea what Jasper was trying to achieve, especially when she saw him waste his time.

When he could have done this way before.

What he showed just now – the insanity.

Adding the property of repelling magnets, he caused the two assassins to fly back.

But he wasn't done.

"WHAT!" Lady Shiva yelled, "CHESHIRE BACK!"

But it was too late, Jasper had created lava near them.

All while making sure that the craft's material was able to withstand the heat without melting. 

"Thank you for showing me what you are capable of," he said, "I now have an estimate of your capabilities. However, we must end it here."

And saying that, he created a green mist fog around him that surrounded the two assassins in seconds.

"W-What is t-this!" Chesire yelled, realizing what they were exposed to.

Jasper smiled, "Nothing fatal, just enough to knock you two out cold for a while."

And before they could say anything else – they were on the ground.

Leaving a mess of an area and a smiling Jasper.

"Well, I should get you out of there now, shouldn't I?" He said as he looked at Carol, "Miss Ferris." 

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