Chapter 18: Intentions (Part 4)

Quick shoutout to this week's Patreons, @Estefano Torres and @sumit pal! Your support is extremely appreciated!

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Date: August 16, 2008

Location: Central Gotham City, New Jersey, Gotham Proper (Upper), Gotham General Hospital

Time: 3:19 P.M.

"Let's move it, people! We're short on time here!"

Doctors and nurses were on the clock inside the hospital's emergency room as EMTs kept pouring in with officers and firefighters helping out where needed around them. Moans of pain and aching kept echoing within the room, an unknown fear gripping everyone, regardless of their health status.

"Hey!" an officer called out to one of the doctors, stopping him. "I need an update on the men who got gassed earlier."

"Robin dropped by a while ago and administered to us a newly synthesized antidote for them." the doctor paused in his stride as he explained. "They've been moved to recovery. We don't know what a few them of witnessed just yet, but it was bad enough for their psyches to have been heavily damaged. Otherwise, the rest are just feeling frail."

"Got it." the officer thanked, speaking a few words into the radio on his shoulder. "Keep in mind that we have men stationed outside the room for a suspect of interest." the officer warned.

"Yes I saw them." the doctor confirmed. "What's the latest news outside? Why are we being flooded with patients here? Did another bomb go off?"

"Nah, nothing of the sort." the officer muttered, looking at the lines filled with men and women nursing broken bones and bruised skin. "This ain't as special as you're thinking. The same thing's been going on in every available hospital right about now. Everyone's been throwing away their common sense, playing whack-a-mole with each other."

A nearby patient suddenly started thrashing and a couple of firefighters went over to hold him down. A doctor grabbed a nearby needle and filled it with some anesthetic before administering it.

"It's like a warzone…" the officer's voice turned haunted as he looked down at his hands.

"Ever been to one?" the doctor noticed the man's reaction.

"Did a couple of tours in Afghan once, ran into a few skirmishes…" the man explained, clearly wanting to keep mum on the full details.

Not every man needed to be exposed to Fear Gas to re-experience a traumatic event…

A buzzing sound suddenly echoed from the man's radio as he went to answer, becoming extremely serious at what he heard.

"%$*@($&@!!" he cursed.

"What happened?" the doctor wondered.

"You jinxed us, that's what!" the man's tone was bitter as he signaled the officers in the room to follow him. "Reports coming in about a massive explosion going off near Miller Harbor."

As the unit of officers hastily started making their way out of the emergency unit, the doctor watched them go before turning to get back to work, bumping into a man.

"Oh." the doctor stumbled for a bit, looking up to meet an older doctor with a pale face in a similar white coat. "I'm terribly sorry."

The doctor felt bad since the man was obviously overworked, needing a break like everyone else.

"It's alright." the older doctor nodded. "I was in a rush and wasn't paying attention."

As the doctor thanked the older one and ran to help with a newly arrived patient, the old man's face turned a bit more somber as he carefully scanned the place, leaving the door after dumping his white coat.

Walking down a couple of streets before he stumbled into an alleyway, the older man leaned into the brick wall, completely spent.

"Master Bruce…"

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Date: August 16, 2008

Location: Downtown Gotham City, New Jersey, Old Gotham, Storage House Near Gotham Clock Tower

Time: 3:26 P.M.

Inside the storage house, for what felt like the billionth time in a day, the room was put on pause as the people gapingly stared at the sight before them.

*DRIP DRIP DRIP*

David wheezed as he uselessly tried prying the mini-constructed katana lodged within his abdomen, his blood making the blade's tip slick while Ben's hand was holding onto the hilt, his grip firm in its refusal to grant his supposed grandfather any leeway.

"I don… don't understand." David grunted, trying and failing to look back and meet Ben's eyes.

Ninjas moved to surround Bruce, the rest of the crowd quickly snapping out of it as they became alert, looking for an opening to take Ben down as he placed David's body in front of him like a shield.

The young girl in black beside Ben stepped back a bit as she took on a combat-ready stance, Lady Shiva opposite her doing the same, but with much more grace.

Ben wasn't worried about them since, unless one of the Al Ghul's gave the order, loyalty compelled the obedient assassins to do nothing.

"I don't understand either." Ben's response was extremely delayed, dull, and far off.

He was too preoccupied with trying to reign in the black gas floating out from his body to pay any mind to the people in front of him.

Ever since he first learned about the Black Light, it became clear to Ben why he struggled so hard with keeping his wandering mind in check back when he first trudged through Gotham's streets.

The Black Light favored total apathy and rationality, filtering the thoughts going through someone's head by removing the influence of any other emotions.

And 'rationality' in this case, only means taking into account the hard facts.

For example, even though judicial bias is not allowed in a court and it's the judge's job to only listen to the facts, there are still times when judges allow their feelings to cloud their judgment, sometimes feeling enough sympathy for certain criminals to the point where they lower or alter the punishment given in a manner favorable to them.

The Black Light had no time for that, selfish and uncaring in nature. It was more interested in making one a perfect situational judge, a slave to obeying the truth.

The reasoning behind why a decision was made is inconsequential in the face of the outcome.

Excuses were worthless. Only the results were worth a damn.

Back then, Ben's 'truth' was that he was homeless, in constant danger, and without any food or clothes. In response, the direction in which the Black Light tried steering his mind wasn't pretty…

It considered morality and idealistically waiting for help to be a detriment in keeping him alive, favoring any possible action instead.

That meant any decision you considered shouldn't be affected by notions involving "good" or "bad". Anything stands as long as it allows you to live another day.

Whenever he was shambling down the city's dark mazes, Ben's mind progressively worsened as he tried to think up ideas for improving his circumstances.

At first, Ben would think up one option before the Black Light ran with it, trying to rationalize and change his decision on a matter by offering a second one.

'I need to barter for some food with this vendor.', would become, 'I need to steal some food when he isn't looking.'

Although not favorable, that sounded okay on paper at the time. Ben could get behind such minor offenses as long as he returned the boon at a later date.

But then, things took an unacceptable turn…

At some unknown point, his first thought soon became, 'This drug dealer has enough cash, taking some wouldn't hurt.', turning into, 'Take the cash and kill him. You can sell the drugs yourself.'

The Black Light was slowly poisoning his mind to the point where it was encroaching on his decisions too.

Ironically, the 'rationality' that the light provided was what allowed Ben to notice his rapid mental turnarounds, causing him to start putting his foot down and constantly preventing himself from performing any form of criminal activity.

He only slipped in his stance around when Selina took him in, the few times he caved in to her pestering on joining her on a heist allowing the Black Light to further ensnare his perceptions.

It wasn't until Bruce took him in and provided the training he needed that he was able to stabilize himself a bit.

Time has proven to Ben that as long as he tried channeling the Black Light in little amounts, it would no longer be a danger to him. Any slip-up in the amount he felt would usually mean that he'd go back to those days where he had to choose between which darker water he should steer towards, or keeping his mind clear so that he wasn't forced to decide.

But of course… things had to be different this time.

'You're barking up the wrong tree.' a strangely familiar whisper resounded. 'You've been thinking that there's something to gain by staying with these people when there's no benefit in sight.'

'They pull strings in the dark, toying with you.'

'They speak false greetings, lying to you.'

'They force you to feel wearisome, wishing harm to you…'

Similar murmurs and insinuations continued bouncing inside Ben's head, droning on till they rose in intensity, struggling to make themselves stand out.

As turmoil continued rising inside Ben, a ninja approached the bound Bruce and tried touching his utility belt, earning himself the zapping of a lifetime as he dropped like a fly.

"It's futile to disarm him." Talia knew Bruce's preparedness all too well. "Merely surround him for now."

Ra's eyes bored into Ben's mask While the rest followed Talia's orders, Ra's eyes bored into Ben's mask.

"Tell me why boy? Was my offer insincere? Were my words taken as empty promises?"

Unaware to even himself, Ben's gaze was slowly becoming calculating, any semblance of himself being shoved away. His eyes, previously scanning the room with stoic calm, started looking at everything like it was just another problem missing a solution.

"It's simple." Ben's tone held hints of the apathy he first had when he arrived. "Even if you're telling the truth, why leave me with no way to verify?"

Other than the multiple ninjas in the room who failed to give him any information, he still couldn't sense the emotions of the new arrivals…

"And even if I somehow agreed with you… I'm nowhere near ready or prepared for the life you're trying to offer."

Ra's was right. Ben was stuck in a cage full of lies and deceit.

What the man wasn't aware of, however, was that he was at the very least ready for it.

Bruce already gave him an idea of what he was signing up for when he gave him the option of moving into the manor.

Right now, with all his gathered experience from picking between two lose-lose options… a cage of lies still felt better to Ben than a cage full of slaughter.

"...I must admit, Detective." Ra's spoke up after a moment. "I underestimated your methods. This boy has been raised much more efficiently than previously anticipated."

When Bruce didn't bother responding as usual, Ra's didn't bother waiting in return.

"We've attempted diplomacy as you've requested." Ra's lamented to the tired and annoyed David. "I find it prudent now to end this farce."

Everyone knew it was a farce from the beginning. Although the wound seemed ghastly, Ben didn't hit any of David's major organs or arteries when he ran him through, angling his katana in a non-lethal manner.

"At the very least…" Ra's turned his head to Bruce. "You can finally meet your end at my hands."

"Not likely." Bruce suddenly straightened himself as a card appeared in his hand. One that Ben slipped to him when he was punched earlier.

Before the two ninjas flanking Bruce could react, they were thrown back by a split kick as he threw the card toward one end of the room, Ben doing the same a moment later in the opposite direction.

As the thin magic paper swiftly turned to ashes, the shape of the cards still lingered a few more moments as translucent phantom images before evaporating, a screeching sound blaring through the area.

Scraps of metal floated off the ground as they darted towards each end of the storage house, some loose bolts and screws following right after.

After performing a two-day intense ritual, Ben was able to seal a magnetic polarity spell inside his Traveler cards for later use.

Although magic allowed Ben to alter most fundamental aspects of the universe in incredible ways depending on what he wanted to do and how he did it, it took a lot out of him to create the more powerful effects. Not to mention, affinity to certain branches of the art played an important role as well.

First, beginner magic users usually play around with natural elements like fire, water, earth, and lightning to find what they connect to best. The next step becomes learning more commonly applied tricks for that branch alongside the more usual knowledge like locating magic energy, how to deal with artifacts, how to identify rituals…

Spells involving any type of alteration to the magnetic field were unheard of for upstart magicians, but Ben had an advantage. Although hardly considered a surprise, it was still a "duh" moment when Ben realized that the EES (Electromagnetic Emotional Spectrum) rewarded him with a small connection to that field, giving him just enough of a leg up to perform the spell.

Unfortunately, it would only last for a couple of seconds and he doesn't have another saved up for the moment. Performing the ritual takes a lot out of him, and although his energy reserves were large, they weren't yet as big as Zatannas, less said about Giovanni.

Before Bruce and Ben could be sent flying themselves and lose some of their gear, they clicked a few buttons on their utility belts.

Every one of their suits came with a magnetic signature harness, a nifty piece of tech that allowed them to easily keep their bodies glued atop moving trains and airplanes. Reversing the polarity and tampering with a few settings, it allowed Ben and Bruce to ignore the pull on them and their equipment.

"This is not how I expected my Saturday to go!" Sportsmaster cursed as he tried his best to resist, failing since he was unable to throw away the many magnetic items on his personage. As he was the first one to go, Scarecrow and the green kimono girl followed him a moment later for similar reasons.

Riddler and Hush were a different story, ecstatic to have been given a way out of their ninja encirclement as they allowed the force to carry them away, one holding onto his cane and the other his guns.

Then… the chain reaction finally went off.

The attraction steadily turned stronger as the loose bolts and screws sent flying soon became forklifts and metal shelves lined with plastic and wooden crates. Even the earlier monitor setup Riddler had prepared wasn't spared.

Ninjas started parting like the Red Sea, yanked away either by the swords strapped to their backs or held in their hands.

Ben dismissed his sword construct pinning down the disoriented David. A bit weak from the blood loss, the man was unable to resist the call as he flew backward and stuck to the far side of the wall over a railing.

Meanwhile, the remaining big names were divided on their reactions.

Sensei, the black-clothed girl, Ishmael, Talia, Lady Shiva… the entire majority of assassins allowed themselves to be disarmed of their swords and shurikens, still confident in their deadliness even when subjected to using just their bare hands.

Ra's, already unarmed, merely unclipped the brass buttons keeping his green cape in place, letting it drop to the floor. Bronze Tiger was also unarmed alongside the forgotten mini-giant hovering behind his master, except he wore some piercings and other jewelry on his body which he promptly threw away.

"I shall take the Bat." Sensei moved forward while Ishmael and Bronze Tiger followed him. Lady Shiva and the unknown black-clothed girl stayed behind together with the Al Ghuls and the unknown giant.

Bruce noticed the old man's approach while performing a flying jump kick on a nearby ninja, sending him flying into one of his associates.

'Did you manage to punch it all out of your system?' Bruce took the small window he was given to transmit his question to Ben over the contract's link.

Ben didn't give any response to show that he heard, sweeping the legs of a ninja out from under them as he brought his elbow down on their sternum. He twirled around another trying to get the jump on him, chopping their nape and shooting a red energy bullet towards an approaching crowd.

'He treats you like an unruly child…' the voice continued filling his ears. 'He thinks of you as a nuisance that can't care for itself.'

The light within Ben's eyes had already dimmed significantly, unnoticed behind his mask. Also unnoticed to everyone else was the black gas surrounding him as it increased in both amount and depth, no one seemingly capable of sensing it.

Merlyn, having already thrown away his steel-tipped arrows, nocked an unaffected titanium one instead as he steadily pointed his bow at Ben.

Ben swatted away each shot one by one as he charged towards the man. Using a couple of ninjas as stepping stones, he left behind cards attached to their shoulders which exploded into nets that quickly bundled them up.

As he reached the Dark Archer, Ben was forced to bend low to the ground to avoid Ishmael's outstretched hand, allowing himself to finally touch the floor as he rolled across the rest of the way when Bronze Tiger tried to stomp him into meat sauce.

"You will pay for your previous offense, Lost Son." Ishmael promised, Bronze Tiger hovering behind him and cracking his knuckles in silent agreement.

Eyes momentarily turning back to grey, Ben holstered his guns, the invisible black gas coalescing together in his hand to spawn a similarly colored bo-staff. As Ben twirled it around a bit, his remaining hand formed a "come hither" gesture.

Meanwhile, Bruce met Sensei's side kick with his own, using the front of his palm to slap away the two-finger stab at his shoulder. He dropped a couple of flashbangs in between the exchange, rapidly retreating from the man when he was momentarily dazed.

At this point, the magnetic interference dispersed, alloys and humans sliding back down from the ceiling and walls.

Riddler, Scarecrow, and Hush were the first to recover as they shoved away a few crates, the former two trying to flee the place while the latter charged at Bruce.

"Batman!" the trigger-happy mummy turned on his aimbot, streams of bullets firing on Bruce's location with uncanny accuracy. Bruce knocked a few out of the air with his batarangs, weaving between larger pieces of debris to avoid the rest.

The unknown green kimono girl was the next one to pick herself up, moving to protectively stand by those surrounding the Al Ghul's.

"No, Cheshire." Talia shook her head, stopping the girl. "Go and retrieve Scarecrow."

"Sportsmaster!" Talia called out for the mercenary who awoke right after, the slightly dizzy man turning to her as she pointed at Riddler who barreled into a few ninjas. "He can not be allowed to flee."

"I hear you missy." the mercenary shoved a small metal pole off him as ninjas also gave chase. "He won't be going anywhere."

A collapsible javelin appeared in Sportsmaster's hand as he hurled it out towards Riddler who managed to dodge it by a hair's breadth, the steel point embedding itself inside the wall behind his head. He wasn't ready for the explosion that went off, but lucky for him, it only pushed him farther away without causing too much harm.

Bruce tried running towards Edward, quickly being tackled from the back by Hush who wrapped his arms around his waist and tried to German suplex him. Bruce managed to twist himself when he was raised in the air, torso facing Hush as his legs locked around the man's armpits and used the generated force to backflip and slam him into the ground face first.

"Thomas!?" Bruce growled as he kept Hush's face pinned into the ground, pressing on the man's back with his body weight.

"So you figured it out, Bruce." Thomas whispered in the lowest tone possible, grinning like a loon as his free hand picked up a nearby shard of glass and swung backward to Bruce's face. "How have you been these last few days? Did you mourn for me at my funeral?"

Bruce leaned back to dodge, Thomas making use of the lessened load bearing down on him to unholster another gun from his jacket and try shooting Bruce point blank.

"Of course I did." Bruce managed to avoid it, slapping the firearm away. "I treated you like a brother. My PARENTS treated you like a son!"

"Your parents are the reason you're in this predicament!" Thomas first laughed before gritting his teeth. "You get showered with all the praise, worship, and wealth, while I get showered with NOTHING!"

"Is that why you went through with all of this..." Bruce demanded to know. "Why you decided to work with Riddler?"

"No." Thomas continued struggling in Bruce's hold. "I thought that Edward hated you just as much as me. But now I know he only cares about the mask more than the man under it. He-"

Before Thomas could continue, a shout came from across the room.

"* 'Ahlam saeidatun, alsamt!"

(*Translation - Sweet dreams, Hush!)

Thomas froze as his body started convulsing, Bruce's eyes widening as he quickly dismounted him.

Froth started coming out from the man's mouth, Bruce quickly angling his head so that he wouldn't choke on it.

But all was futile as Thomas' skin paled, his grip on Bruce's arm weakening, luster dwindling from his eyes.

Within moments… his body went still, living no more.

Bruce's mind became stunned as the last moments of Thomas' former powerfully beating heart reverberated inside his head, his mind flashing to the first time he found his friend's bleeding body in one of Gotham's alleyways, believing him to be dead.

Even though he was fighting against him right now… as long as he was alive, there was still a chance to change him back to the person he knew before… the man he grew up with.

Especially since it seemed like he was brainwashed and thrown away when he outlived his usefulness, almost harming his controller's interests.

Bruce mechanically turned his head towards the other end of the room, meeting Ra's' emotionless stare.

"Haven't you heard, Detective…?" Ra's slow tone was loud and clear to Bruce, even among all the mayhem.

"Left untreated… addictions can be deadly."

Bruce was silent, the world around him also turning deaf to assist him in keeping that silence. He slowly rose, the white space on his lenses locking into slits.

And then… he charged.

As Bruce tried nearing Ra's, Sensei stepped forward once more to intercept, Lady Shiva accompanying him this time around.

'Look at him…' the voice whispered into Ben's head.

Snapping in two another arrow aimed at him, Ben smashed the side of his staff on Bronze Tiger's thigh, adding to the generated counterforce by twirling it and bringing it down on the man's head when his body fell forward a bit. Sensing a disturbance behind him, Ben used the staff to vault himself up onto the railing above, Ishmael's punch hitting nothing but air.

'Look at him…!' the voice turned a little more forceful, Ben finally obeying as he turned his head to look at the charging Batman.

He watched Bruce throw some batarangs at Sensei and Shiva who split up to pass through them. They performed crisscrossing zig-zag formations, anticipating the batarangs' return trip.

However, other than doing their best to mitigate the force, there wasn't much they could do against the explosion that went off right next to them. Their attempt at defense left them disoriented, and therefore open, as Bruce gave a straight double kick at their chests to separate them.

'No…' the voice became dissatisfied with Ben's actions. 'Look within!'

Robotically, Ben read Bruce's emotional aura.

Red, light red, amber yellow, gold orange… all of it intertwined to surround his father, the briefest particles of teal also present.

'Watch how he mourns for the death of the one who betrayed him, uncaring for the heartbreak caused by his treachery instead.'

Ben's eyes once more turned gray briefly as he looked around the storage house.

Sportsmaster was still running in circles with Riddler… Scarecrow was leaving a trail of gash-marked bodies in his attempt to flee as Cheshire tried to stab at him with her claws and clip him with her shurikens…

But what brought Ben up short was that he couldn't find David anywhere, the man's whereabouts unknown.

Unfortunately, that was all he could glimpse before the groaning sounds of metal cut him short, the railing collapsing underneath him.

As Bronze Tiger's thick, meaty biceps clamped around Ben's body, Merlyn kept an arrow trained on him, Ishmael coming to stand before him with a hungry glint in his eyes.

"I've been waiting for this moment…"

Ben kept trying to wiggle for some leverage, kicking back with his feet against Bronze Tiger's abdomen, Ishmael finally placing his hands on him…

…and letting out a guttural roar of agony.

Like a vacuum cleaner, the imperceptible black gas surrounding Ben rushed forward into Ishmael's body, the assassin's skin turning into flakes of ash as he kept trying to pull away the hand that was stuck in place.

Slowly, Ishmael's body shriveled up into a twig as he flopped backward powerlessly, life and death unknown.

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Date: August 16, 2008

Location: Upper Northeast Edge Outskirts of Gotham City, New Jersey, Wayne Manor, Batcave

Time: 3:30 P.M.

"Dammit!" Julia slammed her hands on the console in front of her, alerts constantly going off in her vision. "What the hell happened?!"

Files and videos kept streaming in on the Batcomputer's monitor in front of her, reports coming in about explosions at Miller Harbor and Park Row, or more specifically, near Dr. Thompkins's clinic.

The Batcomputer was an extremely well-made piece of tech that was connected to all of Gotham's servers via Wayne Enterprises signal towers and satellites. That meant that if he wanted to, Bruce could dig up every man or woman's darkest secrets.

And in Gotham, rarely any secret wasn't dark...

Of course, Bruce wouldn't cross that line unless given a reason to do so, but GCPD records were a must for him to be able to peruse at his leisure.

That's what Julia was looking over right now. While the police responding to the harbor were reporting that there was a definite death toll being sighted, Julia only breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that almost everything was okay by the clinic.

Dick may still be alive…

But now, just like with Bruce and Ben, he also wasn't answering his comm line.

"Don't do this to me, kid…" Julia kept trying to ping off his locator, failing time and time again as damage and faulty status icons kept popping up.

She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she became the reason that Dick died…

"Penny-Two." Superman's voice suddenly echoed off the Batcomputer's speaker system. "The last check-in was more than fifteen minutes ago and we haven't heard a thing since. I picked up on some explosions earlier too. Is everything alright?"

Julia's fingers paused as she became unable to decide her next course of action.

Things were growing worse and she should be asking for help, but what little she learned from Ben and the others about Gotham has her thinking that bringing in other superheroes, unless absolutely necessary, would prove disastrous.

So the main question was…

'How am I supposed to decide when it's absolutely necessary!?'

This was her first time dealing with this kind of stuff for Pete's sake! That crime lord Shen Fang wasn't even a freak and she nearly died from his sword!

The moment Julia's decision was waning, an alert that popped up on the Batcomputer drew her attention, a few clicks to zoom in on the reason why causing her to become stunned.

An officer had taken a photo of a mostly intact piece of scrap metal on the scene of the harbor, showing a very familiar image.

Messily spray painted on the charred piece of steel... was a scarecrow.

'Ah fiddlesticks…'

Although not nearly as intact as the first one, more and more alerts kept coming in as officers scavenged photos of similar burnt or seared pieces.

'Crap...'

Although the problem they were dealing with earlier seemed to be solved, the magical way by which it occurred hinted at something even more disastrous lurking...

Exhausted, Julia went to click a button on the Batcomputer, pausing as her finger hovered over it.

'What would he do...?' the image of her father entered her mind for some reason.

She hesitated for a moment, thinking things over for a bit before she finally made up her mind.

"Superman. The bombs have been dealt with but things aren't over yet. Just be prepared to start helping out with the relief efforts…"

Her father would listen to Bruce Wayne, the Batman, till the end.

And although she didn't think she would do the same, she'd try to stand by Alfred just this once...

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Date: August 16, 2008

Location: Downtown Gotham City, New Jersey, Old Gotham, Storage House Near Gotham Clock Tower

Time: 3:30 P.M.

Bronze Tiger and Merlyn were stunned as they looked down at what may be the possible husk of Ishmael, their partner having been fine moments ago.

Meanwhile, clarity finally returned to Ben as he allowed his body to slim down just a bit, weaseling through Bronze Tiger's arms and throwing a small exploding card at Merlyn before dashing away.

'What happened…?' his head pounded a bit as he looked around.

Earlier, Ben tried to keep his mind rooted in anticipation of the dark thoughts that came with an influx of Black Light. But instead of what he expected, most of his cognitive senses were taken over as the battle raged on. In the time when he was facing off against the ninjas or the trio -now duo- he only had the briefest lapses of awareness.

Lapses that weren't nearly enough to help him know what was going on at the moment…

Quickly trying to get back up to speed, Ben found his father tackling a ninja as he tried crossing the battlefield littered with shattered crates and boxes to reach Ra's. Riddler zapped another ninja with his cane's tip while ducking under an explosive discus thrown by Sportsmaster. Scarecrow was moving sluggishly as Cheshire maintained some distance from him, throwing a few shurikens once in a while.

-Finally your back!- ESAMAL's cheering voice took away Ben's attention. -I kept trying to call out for you, but something was blocking me.-

'I remember my father…' Ben began, stopping in the middle as black gas started coming out from him once more.

-Hey!- ESAMAL panicked. -Let's go for some happy thoughts until we figure out what happened later, yeah?-

Ben agreed for the moment as he faced the recovered Bronze Tiger and Merlyn.

Except, he was forced to halt his ideas for confrontation.

In fact, everyone was forced to halt their confrontations as one side of the wall cratered inward, a massive dust cloud erupting as the building's foundations shook from the force.

"WHERE'S. MY. CURE!!!!" a prehistoric shout was heard, the dust clearing to show a ten-foot tall lizard observing the place full of prey.

'Of course, he couldn't stay down...' Ben looked over Waylon.

-Improving the mirror prison spell has been added to the checklist.-

"Great." Sportsmaster complained from across the room. "Now we have man-shaped dinosaurs to deal with."

"You… You're the one trying to get my head on a pike!" Riddler used his cane to slap away the javelin nearly skewering his stomach, his face red as he panted in anger and shame.

Uncaring for the taunts being thrown between the two, Waylon's eyes locked onto the barren Thomas' body, a quick sniff of air causing him to turn to Ra's and bellow in rage.

"YOU! YOU… KILLED!!… MY ONLY…. CHANCE!!!!!!"

Waylon started bounding on all fours toward Ra's in a frenzy, Bruce, Sensei, and Lady Shiva rapidly evicting themselves from the beast's path while jumping or going under its spry tail. Bruce took out a miniature handheld taser when Waylon passed him, two lines extending onto the reptile's lower back. A powerful electric shock traveled towards the base of its spine, the creature not paying any mind to it, feeling nothing more than a tickle.

'His senses have become heightened in an entirely new way…' Ben noted, redirecting an arrow towards a nearby ninja and meeting Bronze Tiger's gargantuan fist with his own.

From what he could tell, Waylon was practically able to sniff out that Ra's was the cause of Thomas' death, even when all the man did was speak a few words.

"Don't worry Master…" the unknown giant shouted, finally stepping forward. "Ubu shall take care of this creature."

The now-identified Ubu began running to meet Waylon as he raised his fist, sending a punch straight at its chest…

…only for the blow to do nothing, connecting harmlessly onto Waylon's scaly hide as the reptile swung his tail like a baseball bat, socking Ubu away through some metal shelves and out the same wall from where he entered.

'That's embarrassing.' Ben spared a moment to take a look.

Imagine getting one shot right in front of your boss after giving such a declaration…

"Bronze Tiger!" Lady Shiva called out, pointing at Ra's and Talia who dodged Waylon's wild claw swipe. "Do your duty and protect your Master! Merlyn and I shall take the boy."

Bronze Tiger rapidly disengaged from Ben as orange and black fur grew out from his body, a roar of challenge escaping his throat as he barreled into Waylon's side, dragging him out another wall to places unknown.

Bruce tried to make a final lunge for Ra's when he saw the coast was clear, but Sensei once more met him in the middle, kicking him away instead.

Ben watched Lady Shiva come near him with a few more ninjas, Merlyn finally aware enough to once more have another arrow ready to be let loose at him.

'Incoming!'

The crack of a whip sounded from behind the crowd, ninjas were sent flying away in a spread-out arc. Their one-way trip made way for the sight of a woman clad in a black skin-tight suit, a pair of goggles over her eyes, and two cup-shaped ears atop her cowl.

'Did you miss me?' Selina purred, flipping over Merlyn's arrows as the archer dodged her whip.

'Where have you been?' Ben asked, playing Twister around Lady Shiva's kicks and finger stabs. 'Since you were watching Waylon, couldn't you have given us a warning beforehand?'

'I tried...' Selina corrected. 'But nobody bothered responding, so I didn't think I got through.'

Parrying the elbow reaching for his abdomen, Ben already had an inkling why that was the case…

-We'll run emotional diagnostics later. Right now, FOCUS PLEASE!-

Merlyn swung at Selina with his bow's edge when she managed to get up close to him, the bullwhip part of her weapon wrapping around his ankle as she tugged on it, her heeled foot lashing out at his shoulder as he went rolling through the wind.

'Since I couldn't do anything to stop a giant like him, I just followed behind.'

Selina surveyed the place for her next foe, eyes interlocking with the only Arabian woman in the room.

"Oh…" Selina's eyes turned cold. "I didn't know you'd be here, Talia. Count me surprised."

"Catwoman." Talia's look was equally frosty. "I see you've ignored my last lesson… Still forgetting to bring a sword with you."

"But Talia dear…" Selina stretched out the cat-o'-nine-tails in her hand. "Why cut you when I can whip you into shape?"

'Selina.' Bruce spoke up for the first time, forearms clashing with Sensei's own. 'Don't.'

'Don't what…?' Selina ignored him as she latched her whip around a ceiling support beam, swinging over the multitude of ninjas trying to block her path. 'Gut a fish over a disagreement you know nothing about? Oh please… what are you doing right now, Mr. Vengeance?'

That made Bruce briefly delay his actions, giving enough time for some ninjas to try and pile onto him as Sensei stepped back.

'We're going to be overrun at this rate…' Ben calculated, looking at the men constantly pouring in from the skylight, torn-down walls, and multiple entrances.

Meanwhile, before Talia could go to confront Selina, Ra's held her back.

"One Who Is All… Kill her."

The black-clothed girl charged, jumping up at the perfect moment to grab Selina's ankles, her upper body strength and lithe body allowing her to contort her legs in the air over the woman's neck and strangle her.

Knowing the danger she was in, Selina let gravity take over as she rapidly reoriented herself, rolling on the dusty ground to disperse her momentum while also ditching her hitchhiker. Eventually, Selina was back on her feet in no time, the same with the unknown girl a few feet away from her.

"This is going to take a while, isn't it?" Selina grumbled.

As Talia watched the two begin exchanging blows, she looked back at Ra's. "Fath-"

"I know of your feud daughter…" he interrupted. "But we have long overstayed our welcome and must complete our objectives. We shall depart as soon as we are finished."

Cheshire and Sportsmsater took that exact moment to come up to them and bow, dragging the battered and beaten Scarecrow and Riddler in tow.

"Excellent." Ra's nodded in a pleased manner. "Now, go and assist Sensei with the Detective as we slowly make our retreat."

Ben overheard their discussion, so as the duo charged at Bruce, he picked up a card ready to distract them.

But soon, he was forced to pause and ignore everything in favor of quickly turning his head to the unknown girl.

'How did she…?'

Right at this time, somehow, her emotional signature came back online to his senses.

But that wasn't the weirdest thing… not by a longshot...

'What is that…?' Ben's eyes widened underneath his mask.

Covering up all the usual colored emotions that made up a person was a black gas not at all dissimilar to what surrounded Ben earlier, hovering over the girl and forming a smoke trail that led to Lady Shiva in front of him before it just vanished meters around her body.

'What does this mean?'

-Ignore it for now and hit the deck!-

Ben quickly backed away from Lady Shiva's twist kick, focusing on the girl as he tried to get some information.

Although it was a bad move to try using his psychometry mid-battle since it took away lots of his attention, Ben couldn't waste the chance given to him.

Information was key, and although capturing Ra's seemed important, Ben couldn't give half a mind about the man right now.

Too much was going on and he was starting to HATE being in the dark.

As his high-speed processing prowess worked overtime, rapidly sifting through recent memories, many things stood out to Ben, one thing chief among them…

'Selina.' Ben transmitted, Shiva kicking his knee as he was distracted, slinking behind him to lock her arms around his neck in a chokehold. 'Take her down in an easy, believable way.'

'What?' Selina became surprised, whip cracking as she kept a couple of ninjas at bay, catching a kick from the girl and shoving her away. 'Why would I do that?'

'There's no time for explanations.' Ben took out a card and flicked it, snakes of lightning frying a crowd of ninjas that tried jumping back into the room as he once more controlled his body to slim down, slinking out of Lady Shiva's hold. 'Just know that she's on our side, going easy on you, and will cooperate with whatever you do.'

'THIS is going easy!?' Selina gaped as the girl landed a scissor kick on her, briefly knocking her breath away. 'What does her normal mode look like?' she shook her head in complaint.

Life would be so much easier if she didn't have a conscience…

'If I tell her out loud, "Hey, act it out!", won't that defeat the purpose of making it believable?' Selina suddenly wondered.

'Just fight please… she'll understand the second you do.'

As Selina ran to carry out her orders, Ben once more quickly scanned the room.

He saw Cheshire and Sportsmaster had teamed up for a frontal assault against Bruce, the man throwing away Cheshire's two sai with his vambraces as he stayed on the move around the heavy Olympic hammer Sportsmaster was swinging by a chord.

Sensei had moved back to retreat alongside Talia and Ra's, his slightly elevated breathing showing that he was tired.

'Father is dealing with them, David is missing, Thomas is apparently dead, but I couldn't sense him to make sure. Same thing with Ishmael. That guy named Ubu is also gone, Scarecrow and Riddler have been captured, Bronze Tiger and Waylon are tearing each other apart somewhere…'

'Merlyn!' Ben finally accounted for the forgotten archer, rapidly checking the place.

"How insulting it is for you to constantly look away from me…" Shiva stood in place to stare at Ben before calmly trudging forward through the rubble. "Do you not care for this battle?"

"I'm more interested in getting to know you." Ben finally looked back into her eyes when he didn't find the archer. "Can you first tell me if you have any attachments with that girl over there?"

In comparison to his earlier fight against the trio of men, Ben could barely lay a finger on Lady Shiva the whole time he was fighting with her, mostly on the back foot and forced to react instead of making the first move. He had already copied most of the woman's martial arsenal, her experience in Dim Mak included since they were the most advanced he'd seen to date…

But he still couldn't touch her for a reason that eluded him.

'It's like she knows what I'm going to do even before I do...' he hypothesized.

He could do something similar with his photographic reflexes, but the woman went above even that somehow.

"Oh…" Lady Shiva glanced at the unknown girl, the smoking trail of black gas in Ben's senses flaring up for a moment before settling back down. "How amusing… you torment yourself in trying to understand me when your mind is not yet ready to do so…"

"Foolish!" she looked up at him, eyes sparking with a light Ben couldn't identify. "Fighting was the only way you could've earned a glimpse!"

More ninjas had already flooded the already packed building by now, taking the place of their fallen partners as they tried to gang up on Bruce, Ben, and Selina, upping the difficulty level.

'Where do these piranhas keep coming from?!' Selina shouted, ducking under the kick directed at her while the unknown girl before her tried to punch her jaw, swaying in 'exhaustion'.

-Alright buddy, the moment we've been waiting for… take them all down!-

Ben ignored his friend as he faced forward.

An invisible, colorless wave of energy inside his body mingled with the green light surging in his eyes before it erupted outwards, traveling harmlessly through everyone's body in waves.

And yet, like a house of cards… ninjas began crumbling down within moments, pebbles and dust being disturbed as they thudded on the ground like heavy stones. Sportsmaster, Cheshire, and the unknown girl ended up staggering as a feeling of weakness befell them, slowing down their actions.

'...Why didn't you do that earlier again?' Selina looked all around, making use of the pause in the battle to wrap up the fully fatigued girl with her whip.

Alongside Ben and Bruce, Selina was the only other person who wasn't affected.

…Except for Lady Shiva too since she seemed perfectly fine.

'I'm still training this power.' Ben explained. 'I don't have much in the way of energy reserves when it comes to this. If I try doing it one more time, I might drop unconscious.'

Back during the Mt. Justice incident, Ben once told Bruce that with enough training, his emotional manipulation powers were capable of branching out into at least 606 different ways.

All those branches came from theories on the power systems of many different fictional works from his last world, some of those amazing works of literature still not created here or present in any way.

What Ben tried doing right now was to emit a wave of spiritual power mixed with the Green Light, wanting to superimpose the willpower he honed over time onto everyone and give them a powerful shock.

Basically, Conqueror's Haki.

Haki was explained to be the power of using one's spirit or intense 'will' to perform certain feats such as glimpsing into the future, coating and strengthening one's body, and more.

And wouldn't you know, he already had both components.

Ben had already discovered spiritual power on his own, and the Green Light worked under 'will'...

He theorized that by using his self-emotion manipulation powers to cause a surge of will within himself and mixing it with his spiritual energy, he could accomplish something similar to the famed ability

But things can never be so easy…

Most forms of energy usually joined together very easily, and thankfully, the same did happen with the Green Light and Ben's spiritual energy.

The problem was finding the ratio required for each type of energy being used and the amount needed to carry out the process, just like a chemical equation. It took Ben months of practice to succeed in that step, and even then, as mentioned earlier, his energy reserves weren't enough to carry out the process.

Magic, spiritual, emotional, solar… all of these were their own separate energy system, therefore having their separate energy reserves as well.

Surprisingly, although Zatanna and Sindella also had more spiritual energy than Ben thanks to their Medulla Jewels, it wasn't as much of a difference compared with the distance between magic reserves.

Although he had the energy necessary, what happened just now couldn't be guaranteed to happen again since Ben didn't think it would work, what with the failure rate still being 3 out of 5. Ben could only attribute his stroke of luck to the extra hours he put in while trying to help out Maggie with her troubles.

"Well that didn't pan out all too well…" Sportsmaster shook his head a bit, nudging a nearby ninja with his leg before looking back at Lady Shiva. "Do we still have to put up with this nonsense?"

Shiva glanced at the girl tied up in Selina's arms. "No. We have concluded our objectives."

"Sweet." the mercenary took out a long and thin cylindrical switch, flicking open the top cap to show a red button.

'Not again…' Ben watched as the man's thumb pressed down.

Surprisingly, the explosion was quiet, only going off at two or three points throughout the room.

But the place was already on its last legs…

The already strained building shook as glass, wires, and hanging lamp lights fell from the ceiling, the support columns withering away one by one as the plating from the roof started collapsing.

-Time to skedaddle!-

Turning to the nearest entrance, Selina ran with the unknown girl bound in her arms, grouping up with Ben as they ran alongside each other, pausing a moment when they didn't see Bruce near them.

"Batman!" Selina shouted, managing to earn a glimpse of Bruce running over to Thomas' body.

"Let's go." Ben grabbed Selina's shoulder and nudged her powerfully. "He'll be fine."

As they managed to reach a few sidewalks away...

*CRAAAAAAASSHHHHH!*

...the building finally succumbed to its fate, falling into pieces

Seated by the curb, Selina violently started hacking away due to the clouds of sand and dust that erupted, Ben and the unknown girl safe from inhaling it thanks to their masks.

"Wher- *COUGH COUGH* Batman?" Selina peered into the wreckage.

A figure was outlined within the smoke, a cape billowing behind them as two points stood atop their head.

Bruce exited with a rebreather on his mouth and sand falling from his suit, the body of Thomas carried in his hands as most of the man's bandages hung loosely, in tatters.

Ben gave some space to his father as he looked at the girl who came to stand beside him, bowing her head to him.

"It's fine." Ben whispered as he looked around for a bit.

As expected, there was no sign of the main figures of the League of Assassins, just the scattered bodies of some ninjas lying around, abandoned to die or already dead.

'At least I got one for later.' Ben picked up a card, an image of a shriveled Ishmael being presented to him.

Earlier on his way out, Ben threw one of his cards storing a mirror prison spell before Sportsmaster could grab the man.

-I'm amazed he's still alive.-

Ben put the card away, scanning the area once more for any more clues.

He looked at a nearby road, the tar by which it was made having been violently parted in the center, large tracks showing that a massive figure had been dragged through at some point.

'This is in the direction that Waylon and Bronze Tiger left…' Ben analyzed which way they traveled as he measured the tracks' size.

'These footsteps are bigger than Bronze Tiger's animal form, so it looks like Waylon managed to overpower the man, still retaining enough awareness to try and lead the fight to his terrain.'

The tracks led to the nearby Gotham Harbor's water, so if the croc managed to drag his foe in there, the domain advantage would prove the final straw for Bronze Tiger.

If he wasn't yet defeated...

'Fortunately, it's not my problem.' Ben looked a the few people lying beside the road, injured to varying degrees.

This part of the Old Gotham neighborhood served as an apartment complex, one filled with a couple of buildings that the two behemoths managed to take down in their clash. Although the majority of people had fled at the first sign of a clash, some others were not willing to do so for whatever reason.

Looking towards Bruce and finding him preoccupied with Selina and Thomas, Ben turned his head, ready to help.

"Bat…-an! Wil…ard!" Julia's static voice came over Ben's comms before evening out. "Can you hear me?"

"Penny-Two." Ben greeted her, moving to lend a hand to a man who was having trouble standing. "What was the situation when we were unavailable? Did Robin manage to disarm the remaining bomb at the clinic?"

Even if he was unable to get the locations for the rest from Riddler, Ben felt that as long as Dick dealt with the immediate threat, they could find a workaround for the rest after.

"The bomb was disarmed all right… "

"...What's wrong?" Ben finished helping the man up as he turned his full focus back to her, not liking the tone by which she spoke.

"All the bombs, known and unknown, somehow gathered together in Miller Harbor before they went off simultaneously."

Ben stopped in his steps, turning to make eye contact with Bruce.

"...And Robin?"

Julia's voice hesitated for a moment.

"Unknown."

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I just wanted to give a reminder that Chapter 9 was retconned for now. Although I will be including similar powers from other works of fiction if believable in a way following DC power systems, it will only be based on the MC's theories and what he read from his last life, not the omniversal library that no longer exists.

An author's note will be issued after the end of this story arc for my future plans regarding this story.

Thanks!

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