The Beginning Of The End #212

"The same result..." I muttered, rubbing my chin in thought as I watched the steel ingot I placed into the gravity machine lose its metallic color and turn transparent purple.

It looked identical to the glass crystal I used in my first experiment in appearance and function. However, its capacity to absorb gravitational energy was a couple of times stronger, based on how rapidly the soda can moved around it.

It made sense since the more dense an object was, the larger its capacity was to store energy, but what I didn't understand was why everything I put in the machine would lose its color and turn transparent pruple.

I have experimented using different materials with different properties, and I can now predict how every material would react after observing the samples, which was the purpose of those experiments.

The next step was to experiment with the amount of energy and other ways to imbue it into different materials to generate a different effect. As cool as generating an orbital field was, it wasn't really all that useful.

Besides working on my gravitational generator (that's what I called it), I kept an eye on Question, and he was doing as well as I expected. With Batwoman's help and the information I planted for him, he was getting closer and closer to the Religion's leader, the so-called Mother Alice.

He'd already found and questioned Abbot (the furry one), and the meeting went smooth since I'd already contacted the wolf man and warned him about Question and the massive chip on his shoulder.

If I'm lucky, then even Manheim would involve himself. If I'm even extra lucky, Question and Batwoman will take care of him too, and I wouldn't have to lift a finger myself.

Still, anything could happen, and I was ready and willing to lend them a hand if necessary, not to mention I still needed to figure out where Manheim and Intergang kept the good stuff.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan for once. The Question and Batwoman were doing their job, and the trial was proceeding as I'd hoped thus far.

Speaking of which, I didn't head straight back to my hideout after the trial and made a showing of looking for Logan in Gotham to sell the illusion I gave two shits about the waste of oxygen.

I wasted a couple of hours, but it was worth it since I knew some of Waller's people were tailing me. Waller even sent someone to warn me about getting in their way while they took care of business.

Naturally, I understood what business they wanted to take care of and "begrudgingly" agreed after making a few idle threats to avoid making my plans too obvious.

As long Waller believed she had leverage on me, she wouldn't do anything crazy, and by the time she realized it was all a bluff, it would be too late.

The trial will continue tomorrow, and the DA's office is planning to call Nightshade and Enchantress to the stand and bring out the evidence I'd gathered as soon as possible to prove Waller's involvement in task force X and prove her guilt beyond doubt.

I'm hoping against hope that Waller would recognize her defeat and stand down once it happened, but such a possibility was unlikely. Still, once the DA presented enough evidence to prove her guilt, Waller would lose a significant portion of her resources.

By then, any stunt she might pull would be considerably less crazy than anything she might do now, and that was the plan; to slowly push her into the corner without having her realize it.

And once she was in the corner, I'd have to keep her there and finish her off before she could do anything crazy or stop her when she lashed out, at least. But I'm hoping it wouldn't come to that.

"All that plotting is making me hungry..." I muttered with a chuckle as I lazily stretched my arms and moved away from the gravity generator, heading for the living area.

Almost on cue, Little Soot popped out of nowhere at the mention of food, meowing as he stopped at the workshop's door. "You know your bowl is already full, don't you...?" I said, sighing at the cat's blank expression as he meowed at me as if to protest.

"Whatever, come on, you little hungry demon," I said, rolling my eyes as I walked past the little feline and took out a tuna can from my inventory, to which he immediately followed.

...

Old Gotham

Inside a hotel room

"Did you find her yet?" Waller blankly asked as she looked up from her desk, turning to the clone that entered the room and stood behind her with a hard-to-read expression.

"We did," Multiplex's clone replied with a brief nod. "She's been hiding with the Penguin, but it looks like they had a fallout of sorts," He went on, shrugging his shoulders.

"My clones and your strike team are closing in on her position," The clone continued, his blank expression breaking as he let out a weird smile. "As long as there are no obstructions, we should be able to take her out before the end of the day," He concluded, nodding his head.

"Good. Dismissed, convict," Waller remarked, turning away from the villain's clone as it promptly disappeared. She sighed, shaking her head before she resumed working.

Now that Grayson was finally "convinced" to back down, Waller was free to start erasing evidence, and her first target were the two mysterious witnesses the young man mentioned.

Waller immediately realized one of those two witnesses had to be the heroine Nightshade, as the latter was privy to extensive confidential information that could condemn the task force director.

She was also the most likely to testify against Waller, considering her circumstances, her openly hostile attitude toward the task force director during her service, and her sudden escape from Stryker Island.

Waller had doubts about the identity of the other witness, but she wasn't entirely sure. She hoped that after capturing and questioning the heroine, she would lead them to her accomplice.

And now that Grayson could no longer interfere, thanks to the proverbial sword hanging over his father's head, she was finally free to clean the house and tie her loose ends.

"This has gone on long enough... it's time to end it..."

...

East End

Inside a shabby two-story house

Nightshade got out of her seat, frowning as she heard a loud noise from the first floor. Suddenly the door to her room snapped open, and men in tactical suits with rifles burst into the room.

The heroine scowled as she raised her hand and created a portal in front of her as they raised their rifles and opened fire. The rift absorbed the bullets and promptly closed.

Nightshade didn't stand still and started moving before the portal closed, jumping into a table nearby and lunging at the closest attacker. She used the momentum to wrap her legs around his head and sent him flying toward his colleagues.

The heroine landed on her feet and quickly rotated her body, planting her foot into another soldier's face as he tried to strike her with his rifle's stock. She looked around and saw more soldiers bursting through the doors and a red laser trying to lock into her from outside.

Having assessed the situation, Nightshade gritted her teeth in frustration but ultimately decided to retreat. She threw herself to the side to avoid getting shot as the laser settled on her torso.

She watched as a blue projectile flew through the window and hit a chair in the corner, obliterating it into countless wooden splinters. The scene only strengthened her resolve to escape, and she reacted accordingly.

Nightshade gestured with her arms, creating a large portal that quickly materialized in front of her. She took a deep breath and prepared to walk through it, but it collapsed before she could move an inch.

The heroine froze as she heard the click of a button and turned around to see a puddle of silver goo slither out of a soldier's pocket, slowly changing as it took a familiar shape.

"Multiplex...!" Nightshade said as she watched the silver liquid turn into a human carrying a strange device. "What the hell did you do?" She asked, lunging at the clone without waiting for a reply.

However, before she could close half the distance, more soldiers burst into the room and quickly subdued her with their tasers, tying her up before she could even react.

"Nothing much just pressed a button," Multiplex said with a grin after waiting for the soldiers to tie the heroine up. "The button of a space stabilizing device, that is," He went, shrugging his shoulders as he played with the strange gadget he held.

"Those eggheads working for Waller make the best of toys, don't they?"

...

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