Hal looks at the other two mercenaries and prepares himself. These two are at the top of their game and won't have mercy on him because he's a hero or something like that. He stands between them and their goal and has to be eliminated. Deadshot is the first to move.
*Bang bang bang*
He unloads his gun at Hal and tries to damage him. All of his shots are aimed precicely at weak points and joints, trying to do some form of damage. But Hal knew this would happen and, long before, had constructed his new suit differently. The bullets hit Hal's armour and bounce off. In response, Deadshot takes out a larger M-16 and is about to unload it on Hal, but he doesn't get the chance. Hal moves quickly and cuts the weapon in two with his sword. He takes another step and punches Deadshot in the face. But the mercenary isn't alone. Deathstroke starts to shoot at him as well and swings his sword forward.
Hal stops his attacks on Deadshot and blocks Deathstroke's strike with his sword. In one fluent movement, Deathstroke suddenly holds a gun in his other hand and points it at Hal's helmet, pulling the trigger.
*Ting ting ting*
Hal takes a step backwards and attacks Deathstroke, swinging his sword. But he is nowhere near as skilled and experienced as Deathstroke. The mercenary easily blocks the attacks and cuts Hal across the chest and limbs, searching for a weak spot. Hal senses danger from the sword and further enhances his suit, preventing any wounds. The sword is called Deathstroke. The Deathstroke is an ancient Scottish war blade and Slade's first and favorite sword. He acquired the sword by winning a poker game. At some point, H.I.V.E. had Promethium forged into the blade, making it more durable and capable of absorbing all forms of energy, including magic. It can also cut through nearly anything. The only reason it isn't working right now is that Hal's willpower is far more powerful than that. He has installed an energy absorption feature into his constructs, which he uses unconsciously at this point. After the fight against Atrocious, he saw the need for it.
[Warning. Danger located behind user.]
Hal dodges to the side and feels a sniper bullet fired from Deadshot scrap his helmet. The heat from the friction is distributed, though.
"That's some tough armour you have there, Nightlamp."
It was true. Hal loved Warhammer 40k and thought about Mesh Armour when creating his own. Mesh Armour is the primary type of personal protection worn by the Guardian militia and other front-line infantry of the Craftworld Aeldari. Mesh Armour is comprised of thousands of tiny pieces of a dense ceramic material known as thermoplas, which hardens on impact to form effective, lightweight protection much like a suit of high-tech chain mail or fish scales. The thermoplas also disperses heat rapidly, giving reasonable protection against directed energy weapons. The material is also psychically sensitive, automatically reacting to the wearer's movements and thoughts to maintain a glove-tight fit as they move and engage in combat. Guardian Mesh Armour also features additional capabilities, including an independent air supply and heat-sensing, auto-targeting lenses to assist the wearer in ranged combat.
Hal had taken inspiration from that and then enhanced it using his Ring to create something better. It was not psychically sensitive but reacted according to his movement and will. He added a variety of different weapons to it after researching them and filling his head with a wealth of information.
Both Deathstroke and Deadshot attacked Hal and overwhelmed him with their skill. His armour blocks the bullets and sword strikes coming from Deathstroke. But he isn't putting on a good show. As time passed, he started to visibly improve, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the two just yet.
*BOOM*
Another punch lands on his face, throwing him to the ground.
"How pathetic. You have that ring, which allows you to create seemingly anything you want to. But you waste your time creating weapons you don't even know how to use. Truly pathetic."
Deathstroke speaks for the first time during their fight. Hal is not an arrogant person and also doesn't believe himself to be more powerful than he is. He ensured that these two would not leave the dome he had created and protected the civilians. This was training for him, and yet this mercenary calls him pathetic ...
'Ring, how much could we record just now?' Hal asks his Ring telepathically.
[28.2742 Gb of storage available. No further recordings necessary.]
'Good.'
"I accept your reasoning and understand that you are trying to get under my skin. Unfortunately for you, that won't work on me."
'Download it into my brain.'
[Affirmative. 3% ... 18% ... 35% ... 59% ... 73% ... 100%. Download complete.]
Another broken way of using the Ring, Hal has found. He recorded the fight and the way both Deadshot and Deathstroke moved and attacked him. He knew that he was far worse than they were, but his suit protected him, and he still wanted to do it. A person must grow in this universe to survive. Now, he had their moves analysed and downloaded into his brain. Learning by doing and observing and then having what he doesn't already know downloaded into his brain using the Ring. That was the way Hal progressed and would continue to progress further.
Hal starts to move. His speed hasn't changed, but the way he moves has. He takes only as few steps as necessary and appears in front of Deathstroke. He swings his sword down at the mercenary, and they clash. He takes another step and attacks from the side. Then, a gun appears in his hand, and he shoots backward. The green bullets fly through the air and collide with Deadshot's bullets. Hal doesn't stop, though, and continues attacking both men.
His gun disappears, and a taser appears, which he fires at Deadshot, catching him off guard and electrocuting him. He continues to clash with Deathstroke, who is surprised at the sudden change in the fight. He gets more serious and deflects the attacks, taking out other weapons and shooting at Hal. He does the same this time and shoots at the bullets. He can feel how he is slowly adapting to all of this fighting and moving. His spacial awareness increases gradually, and he goes more and more on the offensive.
[Abnormal movement detected. New unidentified subject.]
An image of one of Hal's drones appears on the side of his helmet, and he sees a figure dressed as a bat making his way towards his position. The time is up, and since Hal got what he came for, he decides to wrap things up on his end.
"It seems our time has come to an end. Before I leave, I will provide you with a demonstration as a professional courtesy. Hal says and spreads his arms.
Suddenly, the ground starts to crack in hundreds of places, and from it, skeletons slowly emerge. As they rise from the ground, the green energy of Hal's Ring envelops them, restoring the faces they had when they were alive. Both Deadshot's, who is on his feet again, and Deathstroke's eyes widen beneath their mask. They recognise these people. They are all men and women they killed at some point. ... The dead eyes pin them, and they start to walk towards both of them. But unlike a conventional zombie, these people move as if they were alive. Among them, some aren't normal humans. Rival assassins and criminals from all over the world are also among them, and they all attack them.
The two mercenaries start to fight desperately, cutting up the men and women and trying to get away. But that's a fool's dream, as they are surrounded, and there is no way to defeat them indefinitely. Deathstroke is clearly doing better than Deadshot, as he is one of the deadliest assassins, even in close quarters and not just with a long-range weapon. But it doesn't matter. Slowly, they are overwhelmed and start to get beaten badly. Fists rain down on them until they both fall into unconsciousness.
...
After another moment, the skeletons walk back and disappear into the earth, leaving behind two badly beaten and wrapped criminals and Hal looking down at them. The protective dome disappears, and the person who was watching him comes closer.
Hal looks at the figure and raises his hands to show that he doesn't mean to fight him. It was very early in Batman's career, but he was still Batman, and he wouldn't trust anyone who wasn't Alfred. So, revealing as much as he could and being honest, among other things, would lead to either him appearing even more suspicious or making Batman trust him more quickly. At least trust him as much as he would ever trust someone.
.
.
- Some time in the future -
(Batman POV)
"You need to know ..."
"Know what?"
"About my second year ..."
"Oh, I remember."
"After it was over, I tried to see how it began. I went where they had gone. If there were recordings, I watched the recordings. If there were witnesses, I interviewed them. If there was evidence, I collected it. When I had found all I could find, I visited each of them in turn. I talked to them in their cells. I spoke to them across the bars. They told their stories, and some of it was true, while some of it wasn't. Ultimately, I knew everything there was to know. Or, at least, I knew every fact there was to know. What happened, what motivated them ... what motivated me. Whether I know that or understand that ... I don't ... all I can do is tell the story and let you decide."
"I am all ears, Bruce."
Riddler had been locked up for almost a year. During that time, some cops in the GCPD had begun using him. If they had a puzzle they couldn't solve, they whent to him. But they made a mistake. He had befriended a guard. Ronnie Barron. Sarted showing Ronnie how to bet on Football Games. Ronnie made quite a lot of money. When I talked to him, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. It was money for his kid. For his daughter. Ronnie told me Riddler never asked for anything that'd help him in an escape. Not a shovel, or a knife, not anything. All Riddler wanted was stories about the other guards. What did they do on their time off? Where'd they live? Where did they marry? Did they have kids, too? When he killed a detective ... none of the guards stopped him from walking out the front door."
...
"During the same time, Joker had become morose to the point of murder, unable to even crack a smile as he sought anything that would make him laugh. He had an accident, and he thought it would be funny if he broke his neck after all the people he had killed and all the people who wanted to have him killed. I got in the car and drove as fast as I could to get to him. But the Riddler got to him first. The Riddler approached the Joker with a proposition to kill Batman together as a mutual threat and the thing that had deprived both of them of the joy that normally came with their criminal activities. The answer he got was a 45-caliber from a few centimeters' distance. No one survives that much blood loss. Which was why I left, because he wouldn't survive, and others might. Alone now, he placed his hand on his wound. He squeezed it, and blood filled his hand. Later, he told me that it was like an old sponge, dripping with water and soap, waiting to be wrung. And so, while I chased the Joker and lost him in the panic of the building, the Riddler also got away."
"..."
"And so it came. Over the next months, as I fought to hold the city together, Gotham divided into slaughter, misery, torture, mayhem, havoc, betrayal, devastation, insanity and ... green light of hope."
"Green light of hope? What's that?"
"People think they understand me. Alfred, Gordon, the boys. All of Gotham, in its way. Even you. A man in pain, trying to save who he can. They think ... but ... They don't understand anything. They don't know a damn think about me. Because they don't know, Cat. They have no idea. You have no idea. Only one person does. However, you must also know. Before any of this. You have to know. What I did... What I had to do. During the War of Jokes and Riddles, if not for that one person."