Defeat

Wednesday 2nd December 2009, 23:20.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

Gotham Heights

Bruce frowned in thought as he sat in a comfortable chair listening to the auctioneer explain the latest artefacts' history to come out on display. However, Bruce wasn't paying much attention, he had already done his research and his mind was preoccupied with other matters, like trying to figure out the reason for Batgirl and Robin's radio silence.

He had specifically ordered them to constantly keep him updated and the fact that they were being silent was definitely a cause for worry.

Rising to his feet, Bruce headed towards the men's bathroom, or that's what he told his date for the night anyway. "Batgirl?" He whispered only to receive nothing in return. "Robin?" Again there was nothing but silence and Bruce's frown deepened as he realised what this meant.

'I was right, someone is trying to steal it.' Heading into a nearby storeroom that he had personally scouted for the simple reason that it was hardly used. The copious amounts of dust in the room were a sign of its lack of use and Bruce reached up onto one of the nearby shelves and pulled out a small briefcase he had hidden there.

Lifting the lid up, it revealed his Batman suit.

A few moments later, Batman pushed open the door to see if anyone was in view and once it was clear, Batman burst out and made his way to the roof. If Batgirl and Robin were in trouble it would allow him to see where they were, the auction building had a great view of the surrounding area.

However, what Batman didn't know was that as he pushed open the door to the stairs, a little way down the corridor, the door to the security room opened and Ravager looked out.

With a smile on her face, Ravager raised one hand to ear. "Batman's on the move." She said before locking the security room behind her and then she made her way down the corridor having forgone stealth altogether. The virus she had put into the security system not only served the purpose of blocking all communications except on their personal frequency but also shut down all security cameras and other measures.

Nearing the main hall where the auction was taking place, Ravager could see the guards positioned at the doors.

No more than five with more being inside and with a calm, steady walk, Ravager unsheathed the broadswords on her back and walk towards them.

"Drop your weapons!" One of the guards exclaimed as he put one hand on the gun at his side, they were scared as they rightfully should be, they knew what type of world she was linked to and the power and skill that brought with it. Yet he was brave enough to give a warning, but one Ravager ignored and so he and the other guards unholstered their guns and pointed them at Ravager.

The sound of breaking glass and the screams of people inside temporarily distracted the guards giving Ravager the opening to close the gap between them. A single slash sent one man to the ground with a deep cut on his chest and while spinning around the falling man, she swung her blade upwards killing another.

That's when the other guards recovered and went to fire, but it was too late.

Dodging the first bullet that was fired, Ravage cut the heads off of the three remaining guards.

Then with a quick dash, passed the three guards and opened the doors.

A flood of people came out as soon as she did, all of their screams increasing when they noticed her bloody swords and the five guards on the floor, dead.

Paying them no attention, only feeling her smile widen as the crowd parted around her in fear, she watched as Batgirl jumped down to land beside Robin, the latter no doubt had been the cause for the sound of the glass breaking. Her eyes then trailed up to see Marauder standing at the edge of the skylight, looking down upon Batman's sidekicks.

-X-

Wednesday 2nd December 2009, 23:35.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

Gotham Heights.

Blocking one blow from Batgirl, Esau ducked under a punch from Robin, the young hero having left himself a little exposed as a result. Something he capitalised on as he slammed an elbow into his stomach before quickly grabbing his face. He held him there, lashing out with a kick to Batgirl's stomach causing her to gasp in pain, a sound that made him frown.

He didn't like it, causing her pain, hated it in fact.

But he knew the price of failure.

Deathstroke did not let things go unpunished.

However, this was proof to him that he was still weak, mentally that was.

He and Barbara were on different sides, despite all those feelings there, all the memories and the bond they shared, they were enemies. Esau knew that this would happen many times more in the future and he couldn't afford to be so weak, he needed to be willing to keep going further. If he wanted to really change the world for the better, his methods would naturally bring him into conflict with Barbara and she would stand in his way, that was the type of person she was.

He needed to be strong and hold firm.

Hardening in his resolve and mind, Esau spun, throwing Robin at Barbara who reflexively caught him, she falling to her knees, all the while Esau closed in. There was no blocking or dodging this, Esau slamming a front kick into Robin's back, throwing the two back where they skidded back along the floor.

But he did not let up, continuing to force them to engage him in close combat.

One thing that had become very clear to him in this fight was that for all the new skills he had learned and mastered under Slade, the one area in which he had improved the most had been in hand-to-hand. Whereas before he could have fought on near enough equal footing against either Barbara or Robin, with him having around a fifty-fifty chance of winning. Now he was fighting both of them at the same time and while they had managed to land a few blows, it was no contest.

Barbara was the first to get up, Robin had taken the brunt of the kick.

She went to parry his straight jab, only for him to grip her wrist with the same strike, it had been a feint to land a straight cross to her jaw. Yet, Barbara was quick enough to get her other hand in the way and while it didn't stop the strike, it did mitigate its damage. But that left her open, Esau snapping back his arm and coming back with a few quick blows to her exposed midriff, ignoring the painful look on her face.

From there, Esau flipped her around, Barbara smacking cleanly on her back, knocking the wind out of her, she was completely open.

Yet he hesitated.

This gave Robin all the time he needed to recover and come at him.

Frustrated, he turned his attention to the young hero, parrying the tired blow, Robin having overextended in an attempt to save Batgirl. This left him completely defenceless against the roundhouse kick that struck him in the stomach, his body folding around Esau's leg. Thrown back, Robin slammed into the glass of the skylight cracking, laying there groaning and dazed as Esau walked up to him.

Slamming one foot down on it, the glass shattered and Robin plummeted to the ground below.

"Robin!" Batgirl cried as she ignored him entirely and leapt down after him, the former landing on a table causing those sitting at the table and around the hall to cry out in fright.

"Marauder, deal with the sidekicks!" Esau looked to where Deathstroke was currently engaging the recently arrived Batman. "Now!" He shouted and Esau nodded his head.

Turning back to face Batgirl and Robin where the former was checking the latter condition, Esau pulled out his semi-automatic pistol and aimed it at them. Each bullet was precisely aimed, he knew the condition of their armours and what they were capable of, the first few struck, the two jerking around, but they recovered and managed to avoid the rest.

He would have never fired if he believed they would die.

Esau would never kill Barbara and despite their problems, he found that he had quite liked working with Robin when fighting against the Undead Talons. They were alike in some ways, but also different and Robin certainly wasn't afraid to say what he thought, which Esau could respect, not to mention he had some serious skills.

After having emptied the extended clip, Esau stepped forwards and dropped down.

It was a quick and sudden drop as he landed on the table, the legs breaking underneath his feet as he slightly bent his knees to better absorb the damage and to also balance himself as the table collapsed.

"Ravager, finish the job," Esau ordered, his voice muffled by the mask as he walked towards Batgirl and Robin slowly.

At the far end of the room, Ravager just gave a nod and ran across to the other end of the room, intent on breaking into the storage room.

When Batgirl went to turn and stop her, Esau fired his newly reloaded gun, the bullets piercing the ground at her feet and halting her movements, "You really want to add another opponent to mix when you can't even handle me?" Dashing forwards, Esau dodged the Batarangs sent his way by Robin and threw a number of punches, each one was parried or dodged by the young hero and while reluctant, Bargirl eventually joined in. She knew above all else that Robin would struggle against Marauder, he having handily kept them both at bay for a long time already.

But above all else, despite how much time had passed, he still showed no signs of slowing down.

In fact, she would wager that he was still slightly holding back, there were a number of times in which there were openings to kill them or land a crippling blow, but he had not.

Either way, she just hoped they could stop this...Ravager before she stole the mysterious artefact that had gotten Batman so worked up.

Though with the way things were going she doubted that would be the case.

-X-

Wednesday 2nd December 2009, 23:40.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

Gotham Heights.

Grunting, Batman twisted his head to one side to avoid Deathstroke's punch while raising one arm up, the blade that the mercenary brought down getting caught in the prongs sticking out from his vambrace. With a twist of his arm the sword broke, Batman followed this up with a punch that knocked Deathstroke's head to one side.

However, the mercenary was skilled and went with the momentum to land a hook kick to Batman's temple that sent the dark knight stumbling back.

Righting himself, Batman quickly blocked and parried a number of blows before coming up with an uppercut that Deathstroke avoided by leaning his head to one side. Going with this, Batman threw a few punches of his own, each one missing, but forcing Deathstroke back, yet never once did it overwhelm the mercenary.

Eventually, an opportunity presented itself, Deathstroke put some distance between the two as he pulled out one of his pistols and fired. To avoid this Batman leapt to one side while throwing a Batarang at the gun knocking it to the ground and not letting Deathstroke get any time to recover, Batman came at him once more with quick and powerful punches and kicks.

It took a few moments longer for Deathstroke to regain a sense of equilibrium, but when he did he began to respond in earnest with attacks of his own. The two fighters easily able to attack while also defending against their opponent's attacks, a perfect display of masterful skill that very few in the world could match.

"What's your game, Deathstroke?" Batman growled out only causing the mercenary to give a short laugh as he ducked under a kick and went for a sweep. Raising his front foot, Batman avoided it and instead used this raised foot to kick Deathstroke, only for said man to catch it and then use this to throw Batman away.

As soon as he landed, Deathstroke was upon him and landed a spinning kick to Batman's stomach who barely managed to manoeuvre his arms in the way of the kick.

Even so, he felt the power resonate throughout his body.

"You already know the answer to that," Deathstroke said as Batman rolled to his feet to once again have to avoid slashes from Deathstroke's newly unsheathed second sword.

Eyes narrowing in annoyance, Batman caught Deathstroke's wrist in one hand while swinging his other elbow around into the mercenaries face. He followed this up with a jumping spinning hook kick that sent Deathstroke rolling across the ground.

Batman, however, didn't let up.

He couldn't give Deathstroke the chance to stall for more time.

He had seen that other mysterious man take on both Batgirl and Robin and was winning.

If that person beat them then he would be unimpeded in retrieving the artefacts and what lay inside.

Batman couldn't allow that, not when its contents would pose a risk to one of the most powerful heroes on this planet.

-X-

Wednesday 2nd December 2009, 23:45.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

Gotham Heights.

Growling in annoyance, Ravager threw another wooden box into the wall, causing it and its contents to shatter into many tiny pieces. She'd been in here for what felt like ages searching for the artefact, all the while her father and Esau were out there fighting Batman and his sidekicks.

It wasn't fair.

She wanted to be fighting, not in here searching for the artefact.

She was every bit as good as Esau, so what if he was a little better at some things?

Ravager was better than Esau at some things as well.

But no, instead here she was, looking through box after box.

The injustice of it all!

Ravager liked how heroes posed a threat and how they made missions just that bit more difficult, but what she didn't like was how they had caused supervillains to start making their appearances, and then caused security to start thinking differently as well. Now instead of auctions having the artefacts neatly organised, they were instead randomly positioned in unlabelled boxes. This ensured that only those working here knew exactly which ones were which. And it also bought police and the likes of Batman more time to stop them.

Some boxes were just empty, put there to just stall people.

It was a smart tactic, but she would kill the person who came up with it, simply because of how frustrated she was.

The number of bodies behind her was just a simple act of stress relief, nothing more.

However, as she ripped the lid off another box, she finally found the artefact she was looking for.

Picking it up she raised it to her eyes taking a moment to admire the beauty of its craftsmanship, yet she didn't preserve it.

Instead, she dropped it, shattering it against the ground.

Kneeling down, Ravager moved a few pieces of the vase to reveal a piece of glowing green rock lying innocently on the ground.