Battle #116

Author's note: I wanted to take a break today, but I got a call from my friend, and I'll be going on a road trip tomorrow which would take a couple of days, so here you go.

I'm not sure I'll be able to write another chapter tomorrow, but I'll resume updating the story on Friday or Saturday either way at the latest!

Enjoy!

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'Now that's troublesome...' I mused as I knocked out Rick Flag and swung away before the humanoid could reach me. I then retrieved Ivory and started rapidly firing.

I frowned as I watched the medium energy output bullets dissipate without slowing down the humanoid shark. However, I didn't have time to overthink it as the sharpshooters went to work, sending a hail of projectiles flying toward me.

'I need to thin out the numbers, or I'll be in trouble soon...' I surveyed the area and quickly came up with a plan of action. Maneuvering myself in the air while dodging bullets, I landed amidst the crowd of nameless government agents.

They were quick to react as one of them was already swinging his electric rod at me before my feet could touch the ground. I adjusted my posture and kicked the man in the face, using him as leverage to send myself flying toward another agent with a gun aiming at me.

The latter adjusted his aim and tried to shoot me as I landed, but I caught his wrist, moved it to the side, and forced him to shoot two of his fellows in the legs before I spun around and sent him flying and knocking even more of his buddies.

Suddenly, a flash of copper appeared as Copperhead swiped at me with claws that dripped green deadly venom. I won't lie; I didn't see the surprise attack coming, which was astonishing, considering Copperhead's gaudy fashion choices.

If I was a little slower, the swipe might have hit, not that it would have done any damage, but it was still impressive enough for me to prioritize knocking him out and neutralizing his threat.

After dodging, I punched at Copperhead's chest and was surprised to see his body contort unnaturally, causing my attack to miss, but I had enough control to stop my fist and swing at his head.

My attack connected, and I only realized I put too much strength into it out of surprise too late as I watched the serpentine assassin go flying with blood gushing out of his ears and nose.

'Shit...' I internally cursed, hoping I didn't just kill another person because of my lack of control. However, I didn't have time to dwell on the subject as King Shark was rapidly approaching like a particularly enraged cargo truck.

I retrieved my wire, ready to swing away, but two government agents quickly lunged at me, clinging to my legs. They didn't stop me, but they slowed me down for half a second before I pried them.

Half a second might seem like a short time, but it was nothing to scoff at when a gigantic humanoid shark was charging toward you with all his might.

King Shark closed the distance before I could move away and caught my leg just as I was finally in the air, and I immediately put away my steel wire, channeling energy into my free foot.

I kicked at the humanoid shark's arm to force him into letting of me, but he merely grunted in pain before slamming me to the ground. I didn't suffer any damage because of my hardened skin, but the impact drove the air out of my lung and dizzied me.

I gasped for breath, quickly rolling to the side as King Shark tried to stomp me to the ground. I then retrieved my Ebony and Ivory and started firing at the humanoid shark's face, targeting his eyes.

He raised his hands to shield his vulnerable eyes, but he was slow as one managed to hit him in the corner of his eyes, causing him to reel back, roaring in agony.

I kept firing as I made use of King Shark's brief distraction to retrieve my steel wire, wrapping it around the closest ledge and using it to pull me away from the amphibian brute.

However, I barely moved a couple of meters before an explosive arrow hit the ledge my wire was latching on to, obliterating it and stopping my momentum.

'Fucking Merlin... I need to neutralize him...' I pushed myself off the ground and jumped back as King Shark recovered and came swinging at me to widen the distance between us.

Looking around, I quickly found the bow master, and he was already knocking another arrow while aiming at me. I dodged as he let it loose and started sprinting towards him.

More government agents threw themselves at me, but I didn't even spare them the time and kept running, bulldozing everything in my way. If I'm to have a chance at winning here, I'd need to keep moving and never stay still for more than a second or two.

Thus, Merlin needed to go as it would be impossible for me to move around as much as I liked with the bastard blowing up every ledge I latch on to with my steel wire.

The bow master was quick to react, moving away from me without stopping his barrage of arrows, utilizing cover and his bow's flexibility to shoot arrows without giving me a clear shot over him.

I still fired several energy projectiles, hoping to catch him off guard with my ricocheting bullets, but he'd already seen it before and managed to avoid getting hit.

I still managed to close the distance relatively quickly despite Merlin's efforts, even as Dead shot and the other sharpshooters kept sniping me from a distance, and a dozen or so agents threw themselves at me.

However, I was interrupted before I could take Merlin out of the fight as a line of blue musical notes came at me, forcing me to divert my attention away from the bow master.

Gritting my teeth in frustration, I infused energy into my steel wire and ripped the notes to shreds, turning back to Merlin, only to find that he'd already fled and created more distance between us.

To make things worse, Deadshot shot a flash grenade that exploded right in front of my face, blinding me momentarily, and by the time I regained my vision, King Shark was already upon me.

The humanoid shark rammed me with his shoulders and sent me crashing into the nearest wall. I quickly recovered and jumped out of the way as King Shark came sprinting to finish the job and turn me into a bloody pancake.

'They're adapting to my fighting style... fuck...' I internally cursed as I resumed moving, watching as the sharpshooters did all they could to stay away from me, content with shooting from a safe distance as they watched King Shark chasing me around the vicinity.

'I need to stop holding back or leave before I get overwhelmed...' I mused, analyzing the situation as I debated my options and tried to figure out the best course of action.

If I stopped holding back and utilized everything I have, taking care of everyone here (at the risk of casualties) wouldn't take much effort except for King Shark.

Still, even if the situation turned into a one-on-one fight between King Shark and myself, I wasn't sure I could beat the humanoid shark since he was a recurring enemy of Superboy. You know the one, Superman's angry clone or cousin or something.

I'd also have to display more power than I was comfortable with, and I honestly had no idea if someone was hiding in the shadows somewhere, watching the fight.

However, I might blow away any chance I had to neutralize Amanda Waller and make sure she doesn't become a future headache now that I blew my cover and went guns blazing.

Amanda now knew that I knew about her, and even though I managed to track her down with the call, I had no idea how secure the Task Force X database was and how long it would take me to break into it.

How Waller would react during that time might make me into an official enemy of the US government and put a massive target over my back that most heroes would be happy to go after.

In other words, I needed to oust Waller and her Suicide Squad to the public before she manipulated the facts and did the same to me.

I had a plan for that, but I'd need to beat down everyone here for it to work, which wasn't possible without killing some and possibly causing the entire thing to backfire.

'Fuck it... one more try...' I concluded, intent on trying to win the fights without killing one last time.

If it still doesn't work? Well, I'll just have to look out for number one and do what needs to be done.

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