Slade barely had time to react. Batman moved like an animal, like something had snapped inside him. A right hook slammed into Slade's jaw, the Nth Metal sending a shock through his skull. He staggered back, vision flickering.
"Shit," Slade muttered, steadying himself. "You're losing it."
Batman didn't respond—he attacked. A flurry of punches, elbows, and knees came at Deathstroke like a storm. Slade twisted away from a brutal knee strike, countering with a slash of his sword—Batman ducked, the blade singing past his cowl.
CRACK.
A backhand from Batman sent Slade skidding across the concrete. He spat blood, rolling to his feet just in time to block a spinning kick. The impact rattled his bones.
"You're fast," Slade admitted, grinning behind his mask. "But not fast enough."
He feinted left, then drove his sword hilt into Batman's ribs. The Dark Knight grunted but retaliated with a vicious elbow to Slade's temple. Stars burst in Deathstroke's vision—but he didn't stop.
BANG.
A gunshot.
Batman jerked back as one of the Nth Metal knuckles shattered off his gauntlet. His movements slowed, clarity flickering back into his eyes.
Slade smirked. "There you are."
Batman exhaled sharply, then—with deliberate force—ripped off the second knuckle. It clattered to the ground.
Deathstroke lowered his sword slightly. "I almost chopped your head off."
Batman's voice was rough. "...I know. I'm sorry."
Slade scoffed. "Save the—"
A Sudden Interruption
A sudden crackling, like a whip—then a pink, sticky rope wrapped around their necks.
Both men froze.
Hisoka sat up. Blood dripped down his chin, his eyes wide, pupils blown out. The greenish hue in his irises flickered. He flexed his fingers. His body twitched.
"Heh," Hisoka breathed, rolling his shoulders. "I think... that actually hurt."
Slade raised his sword. "Stay down."
Hisoka grinned.
"Make me."
Hisoka's grin stretched wider, his teeth stained red. His muscles bulged, veins throbbing under his skin as Bane's venom surged through him. His aura crackled—darker, heavier, unhinged.
Batman and Deathstroke exchanged a glance.
This just got worse.
CRACK! Hisoka's fist blurred forward—Deathstroke barely raised his sword in time. The impact shattered the reinforced blade, sending Slade flying into a concrete pillar. Bones cracked.
Batman lunged, aiming for a pressure point—but Hisoka's hand snapped out, Bungee Gum yanking him mid-air.
"Tsk tsk," Hisoka purred, slamming Batman into the ground. "You're still holding back."
Batman gasped, ribs screaming. His vision swam—Hisoka's foot came down like a hammer.
CRUNCH.
The cowl cracked. Blood pooled beneath him.
Deathstroke staggered up, drawing a pistol—BANG! BANG! BANG!
Hisoka twisted, contorting like liquid, the bullets embedding harmlessly in the walls. Then—he vanished.
A whisper in Slade's ear: "Too slow."
A palm strike exploded against Deathstroke's spine. He arched, choking on blood as his enhanced body failed him. Hisoka's other hand gripped his skull—
SLAM.
Face-first into the pavement. Again. Again. Again.
Hisoka stood over them, breathing heavily, his body trembling with raw, unnatural power. Batman lay motionless, one arm bent at a sickening angle. Deathstroke's mask was shattered, his one good eye swollen shut.
"Ah…" Hisoka sighed, stretching. "That was fun."
He stood up, lifting Batman's head up with a sticky finger. "You are indeed something."
Hisoka's grip tightened around Batman's throat, Bungee Gum suspending him like a grotesque puppet.
"You're still breathing," Hisoka said in admiration. "Still fighting. Even now, when you know you've lost." He gave the Bungee Gum a playful tug, lifting Batman higher, forcing him to stare down at the wreckage of the battle. "Look at you. The great Batman. Hanging by a thread."
"You know," Hisoka mused, tilting his head, "in my world, you'd be nothing more than an appetizer." His voice was a velvet purr, laced with amusement. "There are creatures there—monsters who could crush you without blinking. And yet… here you are, struggling like a trapped little bird."
Batman's fingers twitched—not in surrender, but calculation. His eyes, half-lidded with pain, still burned with defiance.
Hisoka's grin widened.
"Ahhh, that's what I love about you," he whispered, leaning in so close his breath ghosted over the cowl's cracked lenses. "That fire. Most men break when they realize they're outmatched. But you?" A chuckle, dark and delighted. "You'd rather choke to death than admit defeat."
Batman's response was a weak, but deliberate, rasp—a sound that might have been a laugh.
Hisoka's golden eyes gleamed. "Oh? You think this is funny?"
Batman's lips moved, shaping words without sound.
Hisoka loosened the gum just enough to let him speak.
"...You talk... too much," Batman gasped.
A beat.
Then—Hisoka threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing through the ruined battlefield like the toll of a madman's bell.
"PERFECT!" he crowed, shaking Batman slightly, as if to emphasize his delight. "Even now, you taunt me!"
His laughter faded into a sigh, his grip tightening again. "But all good games must end."
And then—the gunshot.
"Nice speech."
BANG!
A single gunshot split the air.
Hisoka's eyes flicked to the side—Deathstroke, barely alive, arm trembling but gun steady. The bullet flew straight between Hisoka's eyes.
Time seemed to slow.
Hisoka's grin didn't fade. His fingers twitched—Bungee Gum stretched outward, a sticky, elastic web catching the bullet mid-air. The projectile warped the gum, straining it to its limit…
"Tsk. Close," Hisoka murmured.
Then—
SNAP.
The gum ripped.
The bullet punched through...
The bullet hovered, suspended in the air, a mere inch from Hisoka's forehead.
"Ah…" Hisoka exhaled, his mind detaching from reality, slipping into that infinite space between seconds where only he existed.
Why?
Bungee Gum had never failed him before. It was elastic, yes—but strong enough to halt bullets, to catch blades mid-swing, to withstand the force of a charging beast.
So why now?
Hisoka's golden eyes flicked down, observing the bullet.
"How?" he asked himself.
"Deathstroke's bullets were ordinary.
Was it fatigue? Perhaps. His body was still burning through Bane's Venom, muscles fraying at the edges.
Or… was it something else?
.... Did some part of me want this?" Hisoka's phantom self grins at the notion. "After tasting their desperation, after feeling Batman's pulse flutter in my grip... did I crave an ending worthy of this performance?"
Hisoka's last thought was a smile.
Time resumed..
A wet crunch echoed as the round buried itself in Hisoka's skull.
Blackout...
Silence....
Hisoka's body locked up, his grin still frozen in place. His fingers spasmed—Batman dropped to the ground, gasping.
Then, like a puppet with its strings cut—
THUD.
Hisoka collapsed, lifeless.
Batman coughed, rolling onto his side. Deathstroke's arm dropped, the gun slipping from his fingers.
"Took… long enough," Slade rasped. "The freak is gone, another bounty collected." Deathstroke said, "Thanks, you really though this through ey? An Nth Metal Bullet...".
Batman didn't answer. He just stared at Hisoka's corpse, the monster who had toyed with them, who had spoken of worlds beyond their own.
"He wasn't lying," Batman finally muttered. "If there are more like him out there…"
Deathstroke grunted, forcing himself up. "Then, you better get ready, don't expect me to help you again."
Batman chuckled "Sure".
Slade took a proof of the kill for his employer, and walked away. "Say hi to Ra's" Batman said, and Deathstroke looked back and utterd "Hmph" .
Batman called the Batmobile, and he settled Hisoka's body inside, He barely managed to climb inside. He said through the radio "Alfred",
"Master Bruce, thank goodness you're alive. You made me worried" Alfred said in an anxious tone.
"I'm fine Alfred, just prepare the morgue for me."
"Sir...Did you–?"
"No," Batman interrupted "Slade took care of it, I tried to stop him but...the bullet moved faster"
Alfred, knew something was off, he saw the footage too, he knows bullets are useless. He choses to not pry further, he trusts Bruce. "Very well Sir, I will prepare it"
The Batmobile roared through the city,
The Magician is gone, but the city is far from clean.
---
Somewhere...
in the void between worlds, where time fractures and reality unravels,
A voice murmured. "Next time, I'll—"
The voice cuts off.
---
THE END.