Chapter 29: The Lazarus Tournament part 2.

10 advance chapters on P@treon.com/Saintbarbido.

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(Angel's P.O.V)

Besides Jinx, there were two more standouts on the Arena.

The first- predictably enough, was someone else I knew, though I hadn't expected her to be part of the first round. Or even the competition as a whole.

"She moves like the wind."

A soft voice commented from Cheshire's left side.

A brief glance showed it was the young girl who had worked with the latter and Ravager to get to the Island. X-23 I think. Strange name. And also, I couldn't shake off the feeling I knew her...

"Part of the League I would guess."

Cheshire answered.

"She's dressed like them afterall."

They were of course talking about Cass. Cass who was a prodigy at fighting. The one person I could for sure say would beat me in terms of pure skill.

She was part of the Battle Royale to represent the Shadows, I think. Though she wasn't going after anyone specifically, and seemed to only defend herself when someone attacked.

The second standout was a boy in an orange sleeveless gi, wild hair and a monkey tail. Yup, you heard that right, a brown monkey tail.

He was the shortest fighter out of everyone on the Arena. Scratch that, the tournament. But also the strongest physically. And fast too.

Each strike he made sent someone reeling back, and he alone was responsible for eliminating over five people when they tried to gang up on him.

He was the opposite of Cass, wild and battle hungry.

Wait a second...the hair, the tail...nah it couldn't be. Must be a coincidence. There was no way it was who I was thinking it was. There was simply no fucking way...

'If his name turns out to be Goku, I swear to the Presence or whoever is responsible for creating this fucked up world...'

A sigh escaped me, something that didn't escape Ravager's notice.

"What's got you in a mood?"

'Nothing much, just a small existential crisis.' I thought, but what I really said was,

"Trust me Rosey, you don't wanna know."

"I hate that name."

She growled to which I chuckled and changed the subject,

"Oh, the battle seems to be over."

On the Arena, 5 people remained. But with a powerful punch from the strange kid, 2 of them were sent flying off it.

Only 3 people were left standing on it now. Jinx, Cassandra and the Kid.

"Well, I guess that's that."

Wally said, getting up from his seat, only for Robin to pull him back down.

"What's the big idea?"

At the speedster's question, Robin motioned to Sensei who was climbing to the Arena.

"It's not over."

"Fighters! Stand proud for you three have managed to make it to the second round."

My old teacher warmly informed the 3 that had outlasted everyone else.

Jinx and the Kid were elated, the latter whooping and punching the air, before commenting,

"Great! Now I get to fight some strong guys!"

"Hmmph,"

Jinx stuck her chest out.

"Of course I made it. Those guys were too weak. This tournament is as good as won, hahaha."

Cassandra on the other hand, simply nodded at Sensei.

Sensei turned to face the second floor balcony, bowing in the direction of the Leader of the Shadows.

"Honored Master, the first round of the contest is over. I present to you the victors."

He motioned at Jinx and the other two.

Hey, wait a minute, when did he arrive? I must have missed it while watching the battle.

Ra's Al Ghul.

I couldn't help but stare at the man they call the Demon's Head.

Dressed in a green and yellow robe, his body exuded a dangerous aura, even while seated. Like a sharp knife in its sheath.

He had white hair and a beard, along with green eyes that surveyed the entire battleground with a single sweep of his gaze.

A shiver went through my spine when those eyes briefly landed on me.

I've only known a few people that can induce that kind of unintentional response out of me. My Father was one. Now Ra's is another.

This man is dangerous.

His eyes returned to Sensei. Then he nodded and a gong sounded out, signifying the end of the first day of the Tournament.

The second round would take place tomorrow at the same time.

Ra's and a black haired beautiful woman in a black dress, that had been sitting next to him, got up, no doubt intending to leave.

On our side,

"Can we go now? I'm starving."

Kid asked Robin but I didn't hear the response.

The reason being,

"Hey! Hey! Ra's Al Ghul! I'm a huge fan!"

Jinx, still on the Arena yelled, excitedly waving her hand at the Demon's Head direction.

The entire place went silent.

Oh fuck. That was dumb.

(General P.O.V)

Talia froze, eyes watching her Father's back.

The Demon Head had been disrespected. In his own home.

As his daughter, the obligation to guard his reputation and ensure no dishonor besmirched his name, fell to her.

"Death."

She decided and without another thought, a dagger had left her hand, flying towards the neck of the pest, that thought itself significant enough to utter her Father's name.

The dagger glinted in the morning sun, the tip cutting through the air at first speeds.

There was no helping it. Even if Jinx was fast enough to use her powers to somehow dodge it, another dagger followed behind the first one.

Death had come for her without her even knowing...

Only for Jinx to blink and suddenly a shadow had blocked her front.

Angel who had used his super speed to get to the Arena, grabbed the dagger off the air and used it to parry the second one.

'Clang!'

The metal projectile spun in the air towards the Fighter's stands, before getting buried in between the legs of a yawning Kid Flash.

"Aahh!!"

Wally let out a girlish scream full of fear.

The sudden attention on him and the snickers from Cheshire, turned his face as red as a Tomato.

"Hey! Are you trying to kill me you asshole!"

He levelled a finger at Angel on the Arena.

"Shh!"

Robin stepped on his foot, and that action caused Kid to notice the tension that had befalled the Battle Grounds.

"Oh, nevermind."

He let out meekly and shrunk back in his seat.

"Imbecile."

Sensei shook his head at Kid's antics, a serious look crossing his face once his attention was back on Angel.

Young Savage. A past student of his. One of his most talented ones.

When Ra's Al Ghul had loaned Sensei out to Savage for him to train the boy, he had never met someone who quickly took to his harsh training as he did.

And within a short span of 4 years, the boy had grown even more frightening.

Angel had moved so fast from the stands to the Arena, that even Sensei himself wasn't able to follow.

Exceptional.

'Speed will always be king in a fight' he remembered saying that to the boy. A part of him was glad Angel had embodied that lesson.

Unfortunately, Ang had offended Talia by saving the girl.

This wasn't going to end well.

Sensei begun to prepare himself to personally deal with his past student, when the order inevitably came.

Talia on her part, heard the commotion and thought it was due to the dead body on the Arena.

Only, she hadn't heard the corpse dropping.

In fact, a completely different thing happened. Someone actually called her out.

"That wasn't classy at all."

Who?

The Demon Head's daughter jerked around, her eyes immediately establishing contact with Angel's.

The cold light that flashed across his eyes was at odds with his easygoing expression.

It caught Talia off guard, rendering her mute. Her mind on the other hand, was running at hundreds of miles.

Naturally she was aware of who he was. Angel Savage. According to her father- her future.

It wasn't surprising that he had blocked her attack, given his known/perceived strength.

However, she couldn't reconcile with the fact that out of everyone else around, he was the one that had intervened and saved her target.

Why him? What would he gain from undermining her? Was he pulling a stunt so as to get noticed by Ra's Al Ghul?

Was he aware of her Father's proposal and was deliberately trying to show her up?

Her mind made the instant connection and came to an obvious conclusion.

Yeah...that was most likely it.

'This fucking brat...' She thought, now even more determined to ensure the deal would fail.

Of course, while she was half right, Angel had also decided to save Jinx because he was keen on making her work for him.

Her power, like Psimon's was too valuable to go to waste.

For this reason, he couldn't let her die yet, even if that offended the League of Shadows.

That said, the current situation needed to be delicately handled.

Seeing that she wasn't talking, Angel tsked, throwing the dagger up before catching it by the tip.

He pointed the handle at Talia.

"Did you really just try to kill someone for saying hello?"

Angel questioned, lowering the hand with the dagger.

Talia sneered down at him.

"Anyone that disrespects the Demon's Head deserves nothing short of death."

An amused snort escaped Angel,

"Respect is due when it's earned. And your daughter lacks the basic human decency, Ra's Al Ghul."

He directly addressed the Man, his voice audible enough for everyone to hear.

"You little..."

Talia begun, face going red in anger. Only to stop at her Father's raised hand.

Ra's turned around and walked forward until he was close to the balcony's railing.

His eyes cast downward, studied Angel with a keen interest.

"You have your father's spirit..."

He spoke in an authoritative tone, his sentence trailing off.

Angel merely smirked, waiting for the Demon's Head to continue.

"But you lack his discretion."

Ra's Al Ghul added.

"Thank you Ra's."

Angel mock bowed, surprising everyone with his brazen behavior.

"I consider that a compliment."

He and Vandal Savage might have been Father and Son, but in Angel's mind, they were nothing alike.

A sharp glint passed through the his eyes as he rose up.

"That said, I believe your daughter owes my friend an apology. Or is courtesy something that the League of Shadows lack?"

"Don't push your luck boy."

Sensei cut in gruffly, standing a few feet away from Angel and Jinx.

"Remember whose ground you stand on."

All the shadows gathered around the Arena drew their weapons halfway in warning.

Cassandra, who was behind Angel, hesitated to do the same, looking unsure.

Instead of being properly intimidated, Angel instead laughed, finding the threat funny.

"He's crazy."

Cheshire whispered, uncharacteristically serious.

"For once I agree with you."

Robin echoed.

Back on the Arena,

"I'm not pushing anything dear master."

Angel responded to Sensei.

"Apologizing is the least she can do. I know you're all in the business of killing, but that doesn't mean you can wantonly take a life when you feel like it. That's abusing Power."

"Big words coming from you!"

Talia seethed from Ra's back.

"You've killed more Shadows than anyone else here!"

She accused.

"Only because they tried to kill me first."

Angel shot back with a shrug.

"It's called self defense. But I'm glad you brought that up."

His eyes narrowed.

"I've been attacked by your people a number of times. 2 to be specific. Once in Santa Prisca and the second time, in my own home. One of the reasons I came here was to find out who ordered the hit."

Talia looked taken aback, especially as she could sense her Father's mood sour.

"We had nothing to do with the second attack!"

She hastily said,

"And any assassination contract taken on is done so at the orders of the-"

Ra's Al Ghul raised his hand once more, and Talia instantly bit her tongue, going quiet.

Jinx who had been surprised by the failed attack and had fallen on the ground, got up, hiding behind Angel.

It looked funny as she was a few inches taller than him.

"H-hey...t-thanks for that. I owe you one."

She said in a shaky tone.

Angel didn't reply. Instead his focus was still on Ra's.

Off to the side, the kid with the Wild hair grit his teeth in frustration. He didn't really know what was going on.

All he cared about was just how fast Angel had moved.

Being one of the few that had seen the dagger fly at Jinx- he was about to jump in and save her but Angel had beat him to it.

And he'd been seated on the stands, no less!

The strange kid was the only other person to make it to the Island by himself.

And he would have been in the top five, if the stupid chunks of ice floating in the ocean hadn't messed with his sense of direction.

Ra's lowered his hand, and all the Shadows sheathed their weapons.

Eyes still set on Angel, he addressed his daughter.

"Talia, apologize."

Talia turned to regard her father, disbelief coated on her visage.

"Father...but-"

"Apologize."

Ra's repeated in a hard tone.

"Don't make me say it a second time."

Talia's heart sank, looking as if she had been slapped. She swallowed her bitterness, her pride wounded.

And yet, her Father's words were law.

Face kept carefully blank, Talia turned to the Arena and bowed at Jinx.

"I apologize for trying to kill you."

She said in a neutral voice through clenched jaws.

Straightening up, she threw a hate filled glare towards Angel.

She would make him pay. This she swore.

Without a word, Talia spun on her heels and walked away.

Ra's sighed as he heard her leave.

"Please forgive my daughter, young lady."

He told Jinx, eyes jumping back to Angel.

"And Mr.Savage, I believe you and I have a few things to discuss. I shall send my Shadows for you at a later time."

He clapped his hands together, clasping the palms,

"As for everyone else, welcome to the Lazarus Tournament. I do hope you enjoy your stay here."

The Demon's Head gave a final nod at Sensei, before he too retreated back into the building.

All at once, everyone seemed to deflate with tension.

"Oh God, I thought I was going to die."

Jinx sighed in relief, leaning her head on Angel's shoulder.

"They were both sooo scarrrry..."

Angel breathed out, his gaze falling off the empty balcony as he walked off the Arena.

Jinx found herself bereft of his comforting presence and hurried after him.

"Hey! Wait up!"

She called but he seemed lost in thought as he exited the training grounds.

His meeting with Ra's had come sooner than expected, which was a good thing.

So why was he having this uneasy feeling?