The shock of how quickly he'd appeared had fully worn off.
I turned, locking eyes with him.
Batman.
He stared back.
I stared harder.
he stared harder
I stared even harder
Neither of us said a word.
There was a quiet, almost unbearable pressure hanging in the air between us—an unspoken tension that felt like it could snap reality in half.
A silent standoff. which I was enjoying was no reason as behind the mask i was smiling a little .
Neither one of us willing to speak first.
But I wasn't stupid.
If Batman was here… it meant his little army of orphan-soldiers might not be far behind. Robin. Nightwing. Red Hood. Maybe even the one in the wheelchair—Oracle. Barbara Gordon.
She was probably feeding him information. Whispering in his damn earpiece. Oracle, doing her thing from somewhere deep in the Batcave—or whatever bunker they kept her in. Watching me. Tracking everything.
Then yeah—I had a problem.
If I stuck around here too long, they'd eventually box me in. And judging by the way Batman was standing on the money?
Like, right on the cash?
All I could think was—
"Fuck, Batman do you have no respect for money?"
I wanted to say it out loud. For his sins against cash MY cash.
The money I risked my life for. The money I worked hard to steal from criminals. Not everyone's born rich, Bruce. Some of us got gacha pulls by working hard
But I wasn't about to break the silent duel. That unspoken game of who blinks or in our case, talks first.
Still… didn't matter.
I wasn't here to prove anything.
I was just here to get the bag… and dip.
So I could roll my gacha in peace.
But, of course—nothing ever goes that smooth.
Eventually, all good things come to an end.
A shrieking, metallic screech tore through the silence, echoing from above. It was a high-pitched, otherworldly sound—like metal grinding against rage itself.
Both of us instinctively looked up.
Something was descending—fast.
Wings flapped violently, kicking up wind and dust as a grotesque creature dropped from the sky, landing hard between me and the bag.
Its greenish skin , and golden armor pulsed with raw alien energy. Eyes glowing red. Snarling. Furious.
I froze for just a second, eyes widening beneath the mask.
No way.
A Parademon.
One of Darkseid's creatures.
And it was looking right at us.
"Right on time," Batman said, calm as ever—like he'd expected this.
Of course he did.
The Parademon didn't hesitate. It lunged straight at me, a blur of wings, claws, and murder, its massive arm cocked back, aiming to crush my skull with one brutal swing.
But before it could—
Clap!
I vanished.
Reappearing right behind it.
Boom.
I drove my cursed-energy charged fist straight into its back, right between the shoulder blades. The force rippled through its armor like a shockwave.
The thing screeched in rage and pain, stumbling forward.
I didn't stop.
I launched a quick succession of attacks on the demon—blow after blow, cursed energy laced into every strike.
Then, concentrating for a second, I activated Nanami's technique.
Spinning in place, I delivered a clean, cursed-energy-charged kick straight to the side of the demon's head.
It sliced through like I was cutting through butter.
The creature headless body hit the ground hard .
I let out a breath, shaking off the leftover tension.
"Why didn't I just start with that?" I muttered to myself.
Before I could even grab the cash on the table, more of those damned things came falling from the sky.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Batman already gearing up—removing equipment, prepping for battle like this was just another Tuesday.
Then he looked at me.
"Are you going to help?" he asked, in that usual Batman voice. Calm. Commanding. Like he didn't need me—just wanted to see if I'd step up.
Didn't even glance his way when I answered.
"Meh," I said in a cheerful tone, grinning behind my mask. "I'm a hero, after all… a hero for fun."
I raised my fist, cursed energy flaring up, ready to beat the hell out of these freaks—
Just like my mother used to beat me when I was a kid.
Trauma? Yeah.
But it builds character
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