Reunion#61

I took Ebony out of my inventory and immediately fired at the man standing on the rooftop, causing his smirk to become more pronounced as he tilted his head to dodge the projectile.

Still smirking, the man beckoned me to follow as he turned around and started sprinting, casually jumping from one rooftop to another as he zoomed away.

I let out a scoff as I had my pigeon drone follow the man and moved to the nearest alley, activating my Phantom belt and disappearing into the darkness as it spread its light-refracting field around me.

Though I'd admit I've become a bit cocky as of late, that didn't automatically make me stupid enough to blindly follow some random, obviously up-to-no-good guy who was clearly trying to lure me somewhere.

I did not know what the man was capable of, and even if I did, I still wouldn't blindly follow him since he could be leading me into some elaborate, inescapable, deadly ambush or something along those lines.

You'd be surprised by how regularly this kind of shit happened in DC and how often the alleged heroes of this world would walk right into it every single damned time.

They eventually walk out of it unscathed for various reasons that sometimes made sense and sometimes didn't, but still. Haven't they heard of our lord savior Vaas and the message he brings about the sin of insanity?

In any case, I situated myself on the nearest rooftop and waited for my pigeon drone to follow the man to the limits of its receiving range until I started following him.

I couldn't help but grin as I watched the man's smug expression gradually fade as he realized I wasn't following him, turning into a mixture of disappointment and bewilderment as he frowned.

Still, he kept moving, and I kept the pigeon drone on his tail as I followed from as far as I could. The man clearly was up to no good, and he'd likely show up again eventually.

I needed to know who he was so I could figure out his motives and be ready for him when he does show up again, or even strike preemptively and get rid of a possible threat if I thought such extremes were necessary.

...

Ben sighed as he entered Gray's abandoned apartment through the window, barely holding back a scowl at his friend's smug expression as the latter stopped meditating and turned to him, grinning.

"Save it, Richard," Ben remarked, annoyed as he shook his head and sat next to his ginger friend and fellow student on the ground.

"I told you he wouldn't fall for it..." Richard replied, his expression growing even more smug as Ben let out a scoff and turned away. "The kid is too cautious. He'll die before letting you lure him in like that," he added, chuckling and shaking his head.

After saving Ben and removing the explosive chip from his head, Richard had spent another two days helping his fellow student regain a sense of self, and they had only returned to Gotham yesterday.

Learning that Richard now had a student, Ben decided he wanted to see what the student was capable of by provoking him into a friendly spar.

Although Gray was hard to find, Ben had spent years working as an international assassin, then as a member of the suicide squad, and he only needed some basic information from Richard to track Gray down since the latter was beating thugs left and right.

However, he was disappointed and somewhat satisfied to learn that Richard's student wouldn't fall into such an obvious trick.

"He's definitely not what I expected from someone studying under you, Richard," Ben thoughtfully said as he leaned into the wall. "You've only ever relied on your fists, the kid, on the other hand..." he added, trailing off as he recalled the rumors about Richard's student and what little footage he got his hands on.

"It's like he's trying too hard," Ben remarked with a chuckle, causing Richard to scoff in amusement. "Advanced gadgets, bulletproof armor, and even that weird pair of guns," he concluded, trailing off and suddenly freezing as a white gun materialized in front of his face.

...

"You mean these?" I asked, pointing my guns at the man's head as I made myself visible and smiled under my mask at his shocked expression and slightly widening eyes.

I've been following the man for an hour now and eventually tracked him back to my old, still-empty apartment, much to my surprise. Luckily, the cameras I'd installed to watch Harley's reaction were still there.

I activated my Personal Computer power and peeked into the apartment, my surprise only growing as I found not only the man making himself at home in my old place, but he was there with my teacher too.

I immediately felt a mixture of annoyance, exasperation, amusement, and a bit of happiness at what I saw in my apartment. It's been a while since I last saw Richard, and I'd grown used to seeing him every day, even if he did little other than kick my ass all across the park.

Seeing Richard there, even my paranoia had to give way, and I made my way inside, despite not knowing much about the other guy.

"I thought you said he wouldn't follow me?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to Richard as he quickly got over his surprise and shrugged.

"I only said he won't fall for such an obvious trick," Richard said with a chuckle as he turned to me with a smile. "I tried something similar when we first met; it didn't work," he added as he started rummaging through his pocket.

"Which reminds me," he concluded as he took a watch from his pocket and threw it at me, which I caught and gave an inspecting look, immediately recognizing it as the one he swiped from my pocket in the park.

"You still have this old thing?" I remarked, my eyes widening as I removed my helmet and turned to Richard, to which he smiled, and I returned the gesture and put it in my inventory.

"So... guns, huh?" Richard asked after a second, raising an eyebrow and I visibly cringed, sheepishly laughing as I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Yes, and no. It's kind of complicated," I said as I presented the two guns to my teacher. "See for yourself," I added as I offered Ebony and Ivory to Richard, and he gave them an inspecting look before taking them from my hands.

"Chi-powered guns? Now I've seen it all," Richard remarked, his eyes widening in surprise as the two pistols immediately reached out to him and tried draining some of his energy.

"But how are you able to use them? Did you awaken your chi while I was gone?" my teacher asked after a second of thoughtful silence as he turned to me.

"Not just chi, any form of energy would do as far as I know," I replied with a shrug as I took off my leather gloves. "A lot happened in the past few days..." I added, channeling energy into my hand, causing it to shine in a golden hue, much to the surprise of Richard and his friend silently observing our interaction.

"How are you..? You don't have an artifact to focus your chi — you don't, right?" Richard asked in genuine shock, correcting himself mid-sentence, his eyes alternating between the pistols and my glowing fist.

"An artifact? No, I just do it on my own," I replied, scratching my head as I dissipated the energy in my hand, tilting my head to the side in genuine confusion.

"No matter, we'll get to the bottom of your ability to generate chi on your own later," Richard said with a sigh, his tone firm as he turned to the pistols in his hand.

"Where did you get those?" he asked, raising the pistols in front of his face, and I barely held back a wince at the question. I knew Richard would start asking questions eventually, even though I hoped he wouldn't.

"The same place I got the rest of my stuff," I replied with a shrug as I gave Richard's friend a side glance, hoping to use him as an excuse to postpone the talk I've been dreading and expecting at the same time.

"Ben is like a brother to me, and I'd trust him with my life... though I'm sure he wouldn't mind going on a walk if you insisted," Richard replied with a shrug as he turned to Ben, who smiled and nodded without hesitation.

"And you know that's not what I meant by my question," Richard added, narrowing his eyes as his tone gained another degree of firmness, causing me to sigh in defeat.

"I don't trust where they're coming from if that's what you're asking, but it's not like I have much choice in the matter..."

....

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