45 Famous Last Words #45

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...

Upper Gotham

The Coventry Docks

Kyle Abbot grunted in pain and exhaustion, letting out a steamy breath as he collapsed on the ground, reverting to his human form, causing his colleague's unconscious and bleeding body to fall.

He reached for his pocket and retrieved a small tablet with a red button, which he painstakingly pressed with the last of his energy. Unable to support his body weight anymore, his arms failed, and his face promptly kissed the ground.

Groaning, he lethargically touched his head and brought his hand in front of his face, frowning at the sight of blood and the feeling of wetness that reminded him of his near-death experience at the abandoned hospital.

He was a lycanthrope, a werewolf, and as such possessed superhuman speed and strength and was virtually unkillable unless someone knew to use silver against him.

He knew of his fatal weakness and steered clear of the supernatural side of the world, choosing to become a criminal to avoid religious zealots, werewolf hunters, and whatnot.

Putting his superhuman abilities to use, he made a name for himself and served in the League Of Shadows for a time, acting as a bodyguard for one Whisper A'Daire. And when she left for Intergang, he promptly followed.

Abbot had experienced his fair share of defeats, but he never came as close to death as he did today. And to add insult to injury, the man who almost beat him to death didn't need any silver to do so.

It started like any other fight he had with a superhuman. Although the man out-classed him in skill, power, and speed, Abbot had faith his near-immortality would win him the day once he managed to exhaust his opponent.

His faith was unwarranted.

Not only did his opponent not tire, he even managed to pin Abbot down and inflict unimaginable agony on the werewolf, constantly shocking him with electricity and bashing his skull in. But what should have been a quick fix for his regeneration turned out to be a fatal problem.

The man used a technique that infected his body with a strange energy, nullifying his healing factor and plunging him into a near-death state for several minutes.

Even now, he could still feel whatever the man injected into his body slowing down his healing factor that was already running overtime to fix his bleeding head, broken ribs, and scorched skin.

"What the hell happened?!" Abbot heard an exclamation, snapping him out of his daze, and he looked up to see a woman with bright red hair and green eyes, wearing a black shirt and tight khaki pants.

The woman was beautiful, enchantingly so. Her serpentine features and bright, glowing green pupils with slitted eyes would make any other person look hideous, but they somehow only managed to emphasize her beauty.

"We were attacked... Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and another unknown person..." Abbot replied, struggling to get the words out through labored breaths as he heaved himself off the ground, wincing as he did.

"The third attacker... almost killed me, ripped off Mike's hand..." he added, almost choking on the blood leaking out of his mouth as the woman began barking orders. The men accompanying her immediately went to work to carry the injured Abbot and the half-dead Mike into the docks.

They were blissfully unaware of the pigeon standing on an electricity pole nearby, intently watching their actions.

...

"I guess I should have chased after the werewolf after all... I was too cautious..." I remarked,sighing as I recalled my pigeon drone after seeing where the snake lady took the werewolf and his buddy.

Even though I didn't immediately chase after the werewolf when he escaped the hospital, I sent the pigeon drone after him, and luckily he didn't stray too far from its effective receiving range.

I tailed the werewolf to this place after I concluded my business in the hospital, keeping a mindful distance to make sure no one noticed me, jumping from roof to roof and sticking to the shadows.

I had the urge to let go of caution and ambush the snake lady and her men to finish them off, but I pushed it down. I had nothing to gain from attacking them right now, and I knew nothing about the woman and what powers she had.

Dealing with a werewolf was already more than enough for one day's work, and I was running low on energy after my fight with him, so I turned away and started making my way home.

...

The Batcave

"What have we uncovered about the Intergang's invasion?" Batman asked as he slowly approached the Bat computer, having just returned to Gotham after an emergency call from the League.

"Nothing much as of yet," Batgirl replied, furiously typing as she stood in front of the Bat computer, her shoulders slumping in frustration as she turned to Batman.

She wore her iconic black suit without the mask, putting her fiery red hair, green eyes, and delicate features on full display.

"I've been trying to pinpoint their hiding spots through the city's surveillance system, but I only found one..." she replied, the frustration growing in her tone with every word she spoke.

"But Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and the person Jason identified as the one who stole the executioner's suit got to it first..." she added, shaking her head as she turned back to the Bat computer, staring at the screens and typing even more furiously.

"Casualties?" Batman asked as he stood next to Batgirl, his eyes focused on the Bat computer's monitor as he inspected his sidekick's handy work without commenting on it.

"At least five, with three in critical condition; Harley Quinn's work, if the captured integrating members' testimony is anything to go by," Batgirl replied and began explaining the incident based on the testimony and what little she gathered from the city's surveillance system.

"I see. Anything else?" Batman asked, nodding his head after a moment's pause as he processed his student's words, his brain going to work as he began connecting the dots.

"Dick interrogated one of the Intergang members, and he learned that they're here for Catwoman, but he thinks it's just a pretense," Batgirl explained as she paused her work for a second to form her thoughts into words.

"Members of the Religion of Crime have begun moving in the shadows in Gotham, and they seem to be subtly helping the Intergang in taking out small gangs," she added, waving a hand to the side as she resumed working on the Bat computer.

"But that makes little sense. The Religion of Crime has been neutral and passive for the longest time..." she concluded, sounding genuinely confused as she shook her head.

"Bruno Mannheim, the leader of Intergang, has attained a copy of the Crime Bible," Batman casually replied, as if those words would make sense of the entire situation, and they actually did.

"Intergang has always wanted to take over Gotham, but they couldn't do it because of the many gangs and supervillains..." Batgirl muttered as she, too, began connecting the dots and made her own conclusion.

"Manheim is using the crime bible to sway the Religion to his cause to take over Gotham..." she added, her eyes widening in realization.

"He intends to use the combined force of the Religion and Intergang to take over the city!" she concluded, turning towards her mentor for confirmation. But the latter had already started walking away.

"Where are you going, Bruce? You just got back from the League mission! You need to rest!" Batgirl exclaimed, her tone concerned as she hastily followed behind her mentor, trying to stop him.

"One person started this entire mess in my city..." Batman replied in a blank tone without bothering to turn to around to face the redheaded sidekick as he walked to the Batmobile.

"It's finally time I had a word with him," he concluded, his tone brokering no arguments, causing Batgirl to sigh as she shook her head and returned to the Bat computer.

....

Gray's apartment

"Time to get to work..." I sighed in relaxation, wiping my hair with a towel as I exited the bathroom, directly equipping my clothes from my inventory on my way to the desk.

I sat in the chair and took out my newly acquired laptop, placing it on the desk as I opened it. I began working on setting up new security measures for the computer as I've already deleted everything with my network crash ability back in the hospital.

Once done, I connected to the internet and began downloading various programming applications, and started working on creating a simple calculator app to grind my Computers skill.

I finished two and a half hours later, sighing as I opened a water bottle and emptied it in one gulp, then began testing the calculator app I'd just created to see if it worked properly.

I didn't want or need a calculator since my evolved brain worked just as good, if not better, than any calculator, but it was a simple program, and I wouldn't need to spend too much effort on it, making it a perfect first project to grind my skill.

"Looks fine..." I remarked, nodding in satisfaction as I got up, intending to get some shuteye since I hadn't slept in a while. However, I suddenly felt a chill and froze for a second.

I felt my paranoia rise, and I quickly began inspecting my apartment, my eyes settling on the open window.

"Huh... must have been the wind," I remarked, blissfully unaware of the shadow standing right behind me.

...

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