CHAPTER 211

"GCPD, we have this building surrounded, put your hands in the air and slowly exit the building or else we would have no choice but to smoke you out ourselves and I promise you it won't be pretty." A voice said through a speakerphone from outside.

"I would have liked to completely break your spirit tonight but that's our que to leave, see ya around." Before she could utter a word, I immediately cloaked Talia and myself, nullifying any sound emanated from us at the process.

"Wait, where'd you go?" She asked as she watched us suddenly disappear. "Come back, we are not done yet!!" She yelled out.

"Stay close and follow my lead." Talia who had already taken a battle stance, looked at me with a raise brow. "Relax you deadly assassin, there's no need to engage her tonight. The police are right outside and we both know Batman would be here any second now."

"There's no way she is just going to let us leave like that, and how about the police right outside the building?" Talia questioned, full of doubt but they were clearly understandable. The orange haired meta-human looked around for a bit before giving up, then turned back to the door as she was probably thinking of an immediate escape plan as her colleagues were already dead.

"Then it's your lucky day, or should I say night." As Talia gave me a confused look, I shoved both hands inside my pocket then walked past her, and out of the building. Looking up I saw Batman and Batgirl as they arrived at a nearby rooftop right next to the scene, while the hostages who escaped earlier were giving reports, information to the police so they could get a better understanding of the situation they've stumbled upon.

There was no way she could come outside pretending to be an innocent victim of the incident as everyone there would definitely identify her as their captor and oppressor.

The Commissioner of the Gotham Police signaled for the SWAT and quite a number of teargas was tossed through the top windows of the building. Being a private establishment, there were no windows at normal level but about eight foot high along the wall.

Few seconds after hurling the teargas inside, a fully geared up SWAT team smashed through the doors, others crashed through the windows using harnesses.

Talia and I were already up in the air, with her in my arms and about flying off when the heavy sound of multiple gunshots emanated from the establishment as the sound of men screaming in fear and agonizing pain caught everyone's attention.

Batman immediately dived into the building through the window but was sent flying back out through the door as he crashed into the hood of a police car, damaging the windscreen that instant.

Wearing her mask from earlier, she jumped out of the smoke and attacked the officers at a speed faster than they could react to. Others opened fire but she cleverly moved in a pattern that lead to friendly fires.

Batman and Batgirl engaged her in a two V one combat as they traded blows and kicks, it was quite entertaining to watch until she punched Batgirl in the guts so hard that she dropped to the ground.

Batman did a back flip then leaped into the air to put some space between them. He shot his grapple hook to wrap around her leg to restrict her movement but she evaded it and took a boosted step towards him, then punched his jaw with a fist crackling with electricity, enough electricity to give him a slight concoction while falling to the ground.

"You should be safe here, if I don't do something she would end up slaughtering every officer at the scene. We can't have that happening now, can we?" Dropping Talia at a rooftop I turned back down to see an officer shoot her with meta-powers dampening cuff but she dodged it and gave him an instant head shot with a piece of glass on the ground.

"Since when do you care about the life of the police?" Talia asked.

"I don't, but they are part of the reason why Gotham isn't a complete lawless city, even though a bunch of them are so rotten that they would look the other way for some change."

"Ugh… Admit it, you just want to fight her."

"True, she already picked a fight with me and it would be rude to ignore her challenge. She wouldn't stand a chance against me but she might serve as some entertainment for me tonight, especially after seeing how she moves." I said as a smirk slowly found it's way to the corner of my lips.

She kept shooting Batman with jolts of electricity as if playing with her meal before devouring it.

"You know, I've always wondered why a superhero without any powers remains alive even after fighting meta-humans with extraordinary powers. Well, this is the end of the road for you, rodent." She taunted, then she rose both hands into the air as electricity crackled and gathered around them.

"Haaaahhh!!!"

She screamed in agonizing pain as she held on to her ears. Batman had reached for a sonic tech in his utility belt which produced a frequency that could affect meta-humans in it's radius. "Just kidding, you'd have to do a lot better than that." She said as she gathered electricity around her hand like some anime character. As she was about to strike, I quickly grabbed her arm  from behind, still cloaked, I made her instantly disappear from the scene.

…

The evening unfolded with a sudden crash as the orange-haired  girl collided with a large container in a ship yard, leaving a pronounced dent in its metal surface. As she staggered to the ground, a mix of frustration and determination flickered across her eyes. "Hey, don't you dare interfere with my business. Batman was mine. But don't worry, you'll compensate with your life," she declared, her voice a blend of madness and arrogance.

Meanwhile, Tom, seemingly unfazed by the chaos, descended leisurely onto a nearby crate, his demeanor calm and collected. "Easy there, no need to get all blood thirsty on me. How about we start with introductions? I'm Tom," he suggested, his tone casual yet alert.

The orange-haired girl scoffed at his attempt to defuse the tension. "And what does my name matter to a soon-to-be-dead man?" she retorted, her grip tightening around a metal rod that lay within reach. "This place is deserted, no one will hear your screams. You've chosen a perfect spot for your demise."

With a swift motion, she infused her powers into the metal rod and hurled it at Tom with deadly accuracy. However, to her surprise, Tom remained unperturbed, not even flinching as the rod hurtled towards him. Just before impact, a subtle shift in the air occurred, and the rod was sent back with incredible force, surpassing the girl's initial velocity. It narrowly missed her by a hair's breadth, piercing through the container behind her with a resounding clang.

"They said you were indeed powerful, I didn't take it you would be near invincible too." She grit her teeth and took on a firm stance as if ready to give it her all.

"They?" Tom asked, replaying everything that had happened that evening as if piecing them together as he watched the black iron sand begin to raise up into the night air. "As in the robbery wasn't a coincidence but an assassination attempt against me?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Shut up and die already." She replied as electricity ran through the iron sand around her and she extended it around Tom who just seemed to be a bit fascinated by the light show. "Controlling the iron sand with magnetism, I have to say that's quite brilliant."

She seemed to get more pissed off by his remark as she created a vortex with him in the middle, then caused it to implode within itself and with Tom right in it's eye.

"That should do it." She muttered, but to her surprise the imploding iron sand vortex was suddenly dispersed like it was canceled out.

"Okay, I see you're quite skilled and creative with your powers, but I'll give you just one last try to prove this wasn't a complete waste of my time. Then you'd have to answer a few questions of mine." Tom informed her, still curious as to why he would be targeted even after living a life of a teenager who doesn't seem to have anything notable going on.

Gritting her teeth in shame, surprise and humiliation, she thought to herself. 'He's able to repel my attacks without even trying. There is no way he is that strong there has to be a trick behind this ability of his, at least a blind spot.' A slight smile appeared on her face as an idea came to light within her.

"That's it, give it one more go." Tom said with a smile as the iron sand began to rise up into the air again while they swirl and shaped into numerous spears all around him, from every angle imaginable, including some hidden ones beneath the ground right below him, hoping there must be a blind spot or draw back to him repelling each and every one of them.

"You better give it your all because I can't really break your spirit until I've belittled the most powerful attacks you have in your arsenal."

"Shut up and die already, you scum." She yelled and every one of them began to rotate so hard that they began to emitting a radiant glow due to the intense friction and electricity coursing through them. "This is the end." She declared and the rotating spears  began launching themselves at Tom from all direction and with slightly different timing from each other as the heavily magnetized spears tried drilling their way into Tom.