Tuesday 7th April 2009, 14:00.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
East End.
Gotham, like always, was a dark and dingy place, but despite this, the city seemed to be lighter or the people were anyway. However, even by the standards of others, it looked and felt no different, just as dark and dingy, but to the people of Gotham, there was no denying the change. But the city of Gotham had changed after the death of Black Mask and the rise of Black Hood.
The people felt safer.
After all, despite Black Masks' death creating a power vacuum that the other crime lords capitalised on, it did not result in an all-out war like many had expected and prepared for. Whereas usually, crime lords would push in on the open territory, securing valuable areas and denying them as long as they possibly could from others, they would also target and destroy those very same valuable areas so that it would cost their rivals much more to get them back up and running again. The idea was that they would cost their rivals more money than it was worth to not only wage war but handle the aftermath as well.
As one would expect, these wars were not only destructive but chaotic.
Instead, things had been quiet.
Perhaps it was because the crime lords didn't want to incur the wrath of both Batman and Black Hood.
Or maybe it was for another reason.
Either way, things in Gotham had changed and while some thought it was for the better, many believed that this peace was currently the calm before the storm. The many denizens of Gotham were just waiting for the next spark to light the fuse, one that would bring about the deaths of many innocent lives before the fire was eventually put out.
It was this fear that caused many to start feeling more paranoid, just waiting for something bad to happen.
One didn't need to be a genius to see that despite all the good Batman had done for this city, the fight against crime was still ongoing and while victory seemed possible, it was a long way away from the present. Many feared that it would get far worse than it already was before it would get better, that it would be their children or their children's children that would live through the worst of it.
Even the smarter criminals could see this and even they were terrified.
They knew that their actions had brought about both Batman and now Black Hood.
If they continued, what other monsters would they create?
The thought terrified them all, most into hiding as they tried to figure out their next move.
Of course, not every criminal was afraid of the heroes and vigilantes of Gotham.
"Help! Pleuumgh…" A woman's screams for help quickly became muffled as a dirty piece of cloth was stuffed into her mouth to silence her.
Her struggles were fierce and violent as she tried to escape the grasp of her offenders as they laughed mockingly at her desperation. But their grip was too tight and she was dragged around helplessly, her kicks to fend them off doing little to stop them.
Instead, her resistance seemed to only excite them further.
"Shut the fuck up, bitch!" One of the men sneered as he held her hands behind her back, his two friends groping her clothed body as she was pushed against the wall. "Hurry up, dickheads. I can't wait to get a piece of this ass." He laughed cruelly, while the woman struggled, tears streaming down her face as she screamed into her gag.
Her eyes panned to the exit of the alleyway to see if she could find anyone that could help her, yet every time someone looked to see what the noise was, they quickly walked away, their heads quickly turning to the floor. As always, despite everything that had happened, the old rules still applied, even in situations like these. No one dared interfere with any crime they saw taking place, instead moving past as if they never witnessed it because if they did something, it could be them and their families that paid the price next.
It was an ingrained rule that everyone at Gotham had learned in order to survive, a rule they still followed to this day.
As the moments passed by, the sound of her clothes tearing as her assailants grew impatient, she realised that it was hopeless.
No one was coming to help her.
Just as she was beginning to give up hope, she heard the sound of something hitting the nearby bin with enough force to send it tumbling to the ground. She, just like her assailants froze in fear at being caught, all of them looking at the bin as the rats had been outside scurried away in fright, a large brick having dented the metal trashcan.
Then she looked around trying to find who had thrown it, only to see that there was no one nearby and her rising hopes crumbled. "Probably just one of the rats." One of her assailants reasoned, not the smartest of people before he grabbed her top and with one final tug, ripped it clean off her body, revealing her conservative bra. "Wooh, finally." He leered at her, a cruel grin on his face as he licked his lips slowly.
"Come on, boys." Another said, pushing her up against the wall and widening the rip on her skirt. "Let's have some fun."
While she and the men pinning her to the wall were unaware, in those few moments another figure had appeared.
Having used the distraction caused by the bin, he entered the alleyway out of sight and moved along, keeping to the shadows as best as he could, not needing to try hard with the situation unfolding before him. The woman was panicked and not seeing everything clearly, the men only focused on the woman before them and little else.
Then, keeping his footsteps quiet, grabbed the neck of the man closest to him, the very same man that had begun to undo his trousers and stabbed a knife into his neck. To keep him silent, before the man could even gurgle and grunt out in pain, a hand came around and clamped around his mouth, silencing his death as he fruitlessly tried to struggle.
In most cases, such a thing would never have gone unnoticed in such a tight space.
Yet, the other two thugs were too focused on the half-naked, struggling woman in front of them.
As a result, the figure lowered the would-be rapist to the ground and placed him down quietly so as not to make any unnecessary noise. He then rose up and saw that the man pinning the woman to the wall had nearly freed his manhood and so, stopped sticking to stealth and instead went for a surprise attack.
He pulled back his arm and threw the knife in his hand straight at the man, impaling him in the back of his knee.
A scream of pain escaped his lips as he dropped down onto one knee, looking back to see what had impaled him as the other man and the woman turned to look. However, the man looked to see the knife sticking out of the back of his knee, the blood pooling out as the figure rushed upon the second would-be rapist.
The front kick struck the man in the left knee, breaking it with a sickening crunch.
Continuing with the motion, the figure swung up and punched the man in the face, breaking his nose upon impact before walking to the guy with the knife now held in his hands. He was on his feet, pointing it towards him, but stood precariously and leaning heavily on his one good leg before swinging at the figure with a wild swing and a roar of anger.
However, with incredible ease, the figure parried the strike and slammed an elbow into his face, breaking the man's nose and sending his head whipping back. Yet, before the assailant could stumble back in a daze, the figure gripped the back of his head and repeatedly slammed his elbow into the man's face before letting him drop to the ground unconscious, jaw hanging loosely and teeth scattered on the floor.
Releasing a breath, the figure took the knife that had slipped from the thug's fingers and impaled the man's manhood while still on his knees, instantly waking the unconscious man as he screamed out in pain.
Leaving the thug to curl up in a ball sobbing, he then looked to see the final thug trying to crawl away and walked forwards.
As he neared, the thug turned over and looked up at the mysterious figure with tears in his eyes.
"Please, I beg you, let me go." He begged, his eyes wide and his hands interlocked, almost as if he was praying.
"You should have thought about that before trying to rape an innocent woman, asshole." He then stomped on the man's head with enough force that when it struck the ground it bounced off, only to be met with a second stomp that knocked the man out for good and simultaneously cracked his head open.
"T-thank you." Turning around, the figure saw the woman covering herself with the scraps of her clothes and gave a nod in her direction. She gave a small, teary-eyed smile noticing just how young the figure was. He was no older than a teenager with blonde hair and blue eyes, yet he saved her where none had.
"You're welcome." He said, offering her a hand that she gingerly took, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "Here." Unzipping his jacket, making sure to do it slowly noticing how she flinched at his sudden movement and passed it to her. "It'll cover you more than those."
Once again, she hesitantly took the offered article of clothing and after a few seconds of deliberation, put it on.
She was instantly feeling less vulnerable when not nearly fully naked before a man, even if he was her saviour.
"We should get out of the alleyway, the police will be nearly here." He informed her and she looked at him in confusion.
"Did you call them?" She asked and he shook his head.
"No, but I saw some people doing it." Despite this, the woman couldn't help but still feel bitter and angry at the people who had called the police. Here was a teenager, not even a man and he had jumped in to save her life where fully grown men had simply walked by, ignoring what had happened.
It made her wonder who her saviour was and why he saved her?
-X-
Wednesday 8th April 2009, 12:00.
New Jersey,
Gotham City
Gotham Heights.
Shaking his head with a smile on his face, Esau allowed Barbara to lead him through the busy streets of Gotham City. Things had cleared up between the two in the space of the two weeks since they had made up and in fact, it was even rarer to see the two separated.
It was like when they were kids again, always with one another and hardly apart.
Well, except for when Barbara was at school, Esau had not returned after his trip to the hospital when Black Mask had almost beaten him to death. Mostly because he quit spending his time training at local gyms and even practising his shooting having not done it since he was a kid with Jim and his father.
Both his father and Jim had been former marines in the US Military and while Jim had later gone on to be a cop in Chicago, Bill had returned home to Gotham to marry his childhood sweetheart, Joan. Esau didn't know much about what his dad did besides simply working odd jobs here and there, it seemed that his father hadn't been able to land a decent job at all. Jim on the other hand had been transferred from Chicago to Gotham soon after Bill and Joan's wedding with his niece, Barbara after his wife had left him. There, the two had spent a great deal of time getting together and while both were bogged down with work, Esau had on more than one occasion been brought to the shooting range with them.
Still, things were looking better for Barbara and Esau.
Whereas their friendship had become a little strained what with their difference in opinions about how Black Hood operated, they had decided to push that to one side and avoid bringing it up. It worked for the most part, especially with Esau deciding to put aside his double life as Black Hood seen as though his desire to get revenge against Black Mask was over.
Becoming Black Hood was never his intention, it was to kill Black Mask and leave it at that.
But, both before and during his crusade against Black Mask, he had considered continuing his war against the criminal element of Gotham.
That was until he realised just how unprepared he was.
He had done well against small groups of thugs, picking them off in smaller numbers or when they were on their own. Esau had never gone up against huge groups of them and his defeats at the hands of Robin and Deadshot made one thing very clear, he was nowhere near skilled enough to make a serious difference. Even more so when, after accepting the harsh truth of things, the only reason he succeeded in killing Black Mask was because of the Bat Family.
His attempted ambush of Black Mask on his journey from one safe house to another would have seen him more than likely killed had it not been for the Bat Family's arrival.
But even more so, during the fight at the warehouse, Esau had been soundly defeated by Deadshot leading to him being at Black Mask's mercy until Batman arrived to save him. It was his arrival that distracted the others enough for Esau to land the killing blow and escape, had Batman been a few seconds later, he didn't know what would have happened to him.
These things proved to Esau that if he was to continue this crusade against crime, he needed to be a hell of a lot stronger than he was right now.
But that would take time which from his time fighting against Black Mask, Esau knew was not a commodity he would have a lot of.
Being Black Hood required him to get stronger quickly, not slowly.
For now, Esau had decided to stop being Black Hood and at least train himself some more before making a decision, rather than risking his life as Black Hood. He had more than enough money anyway, generously 'provided' by Black Mask that enabled Esau to at least live comfortably for months without needing to work any jobs.
More importantly though, one thing Esau had discovered the hard way was that despite have being raised and lived in the criminal underworld, he didn't understand it fully. He had lived amongst it, but much like many, turned a blind eye away from a lot of the harsher and more dangerous things that surrounded him, instead listening to the restricted and biased media for information. But that proved to be one of many wrong choices he had made in his life because the media did not showcase everything.
Sometimes the context was removed, twisting things to suit their agenda.
Others showed the whole unrestricted truth.
But one thing was certain, what was shown to the people of Gotham and the world was nothing more than the tip of the iceberg. They did so in order to avoid mass panic and fear because Esau knew that if the people really knew what happened behind the scenes, they would be as afraid as he was.
It was why Esau had signed up at numerous martial arts clubs across Gotham to build up his repertoire while becoming a regular at a local gym. He was constantly training himself just as he had done since becoming Black Hood, constantly working to improve himself so that should he ever decide to become Black Hood once more, he was ready to face whatever came his way.
Though right now, Esau was being careful because of the number of injuries he was still recovering from having not let himself properly recover at many points. As a result, Black Hood had disappeared from the public eye, though was still the source of much online discussion as people speculated about what he was planning to do next.
But to be honest, Esau was unsure whether he should continue.
Death was very real and as he watched Barbara walk through the streets a smile on her face and her fingers interlocked with his, he couldn't help but wonder if Gotham needed his help.
It was safer than it had ever been.
The crime lords were keeping their heads down and while crime was still prevalent in Gotham, Esau stopped a few rapists and robbers that happened across his path. But for now, Esau wasn't really willing to do anything except keep his head down and avoid making bug waves as he had done in the past.
Not just yet anyway.
Black Mask had shown him how dangerous crime words could be when pushed into a corner and Esau didn't want to risk his life based only on luck as he had done before. Despite many acting like civil servants and even attempting to pass off as kindly individuals, when threatened they were animals that would tear apart anyone in their way.
He didn't want to experience the feeling of death again.
"Hey, Esau!" Blinking, Esau looked up and saw Barbara staring at him with one hand on her hip. "You've been quiet for the last few minutes, are you ignoring me?" She asked.
Esau gave her an apologetic smile and squeezed her hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get so distracted, what were you saying?" Barbara studied him for a bit longer before the two once again began to walk down the street.
"So what had you so distracted?" She asked and Esau looked at her with a smile.
"You."
It took a few moments for Barbara to register what he said and her face instantly turned a dark shade of red, shyly looking to one side a small smile on her face.
This made Esau chuckle lightly making her smack his arm in mock anger.
"Don't do that." She muttered.
"Do what?" Her asked.
Barbara looked at him exasperatedly. "You know exactly what I mean, don't come out with random stuff like that just to distract me." She explained making Esau smile this time.
"So it's you that's getting distracted this time, huh?" Shaking her head, Barbara didn't answer his question instead continuing to pull him through Gotham, it was a nice, warm day and he was glad that Barbara had asked him to come into Gotham. They had done it a few times here and there and they were always the highlights of his week.
"Shut up," Barbara replied, effectively shutting down his attempts at flustering her further.
To think that she could listen to her fellow students, thugs and even everyday civilians describe what they'd like to do to her, well Batgirl but that was still her and she could shrug it off without feeling flustered. Yet, Esau could make her blush like a schoolgirl like it was nothing and no one else could do that to her, it was honestly a wonder he hadn't figured out how she felt but then again, he had always been a little oblivious.
"Did you hear that?" Esau asked breaking Barbara out of her thoughts and bringing her back to reality.
She, like Esau, strained her hearing as they attempted to figure out what exactly Esau had heard and that's when they heard the bangs.
This wasn't just any bang like some firework or something along those lines, this was gunfire.
That's when the panic set in.
People ran screaming, rushing down the streets and even onto the road as more and more gunfire was heard from further down the street. They both watched as people clambered out of their cars to see what was going only to duck as if they were getting shot at when they heard gunfire and then join the horde of people.
"Esau…?" She went to speak as she felt him drag her towards a shop.
"Stay here. Don't come out, if you do you'll get caught in that crowd of people. Stay here and hide." With that said, Esau rushed out of the shop and instead of running left like the crowd of people, he instead fought against the flow and started moving right, pushing himself through the crowd of people and directly towards where the gunfire had been heard.
'Fuck! What the hell does he think he's doing?!' Barbara questioned, rushing out through the fire exit at the back of the shop and hiding behind the nearby dumpster. The smell was awful but she hadn't come here to hide and instead pulled out her Batgirl costume from her purse. 'What the hell are you doing, Esau?'
So, here we are, another chapter is done and with it, Esau has been distancing himself from Black Hood and considering retiring. This is all because of the numerous close encounters with death and being completely overwhelmed by superior fighters. He has realised that this world is much more dangerous than he initially expected and as a result, he's unsure if he wants to continue down this path. But as one can expect, Gotham isn't the kind of place that just lets you do that easily. Once you start down this path, you can't just give up and that's what Esau is facing with everything now taking place. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
Wednesday 8th April 2009, 12:10.
New Jersey,
Gotham City
Gotham Heights.
It took Esau longer than he would have liked to admit to realise that fighting against the flow of the crowd was not the most efficient way to get to his destination. Then, it took him just as long to push his way through the crowd and into an alleyway before he could finally start climbing up onto the roof, moving across them with greater speed.
Gotham Heights was perfect for this kind of travelling.
The attached buildings were perfectly positioned with small gaps separating some of the buildings with large stretches of unimpeded running that only had some obstacles in his way like gates and fences separating the roofs of one building from the other. As a result of this, Esau managed to make it to the source of the gunfire relatively quickly, something which would have been impossible.
Coming to a stop on the rooftop overlooking the junction, Esau crouched down to look over the edge and was shocked at the sight that greeted him.
Police cars had formed barricades on the north and east roads, no doubt done in an attempt to contain the incident before it unfolded further, but that had failed spectacularly. For in the centre of the four-way junction, police and civilians were engaged in a huge brawl, hitting not just one another, but even their own allies.
Esau had heard nothing of rioting, but there were always protests happening and what had probably started as an engagement between police and protesters, had turned into a mass brawl.
Again gunshots were heard as those carrying guns unloaded them without a care in the world at both police and civilians.
A brawl of this size and magnitude should have attracted the attention of Batman or at the very least his sidekicks, he was reluctant to admit it, but Esau knew that they were determined to save this city. They wouldn't just stand by and do nothing about this situation, they would be quick to act to put a stop to this all which meant only one thing, they were busy with something else.
Still, it seemed like Esau would have no choice but to get involved again.
This time though, it would be as Esau as he could blend quite easily into the crowd of people and act like he was a part of whatever was going on while targeting those with guns.
Rising to his feet, he went to start climbing down the side of the building only for a hand to grip his shoulder and drag him back behind the wall. Turning around sharply, ready to fight, he paused when he saw Batgirl crouching beside him and he glared at her.
"What are you doing?" He snapped making Batgirl blink at his tone before shaking her head.
"I should be asking you the same question." She replied and Esau scoffed like she had any right to tell him what he could and couldn't do. "You shouldn't be here, it's not safe."
"Not safe for me, but it is for you, right?" Batgirl didn't say anything, just staring straight at him, her eyes narrowed slightly.
Esau knew what she was trying to do.
She was trying to make him back down using intimidation and if he was anyone else, it would have probably worked. The thing was, that whoever was behind that mask, she didn't scare him in the slightest and he just matched her gaze, not backing down in the slightest.
"Whatever." He scoffed and once more went to start climbing down the building, only to be stopped once more.
"You're not going down there, you could get hurt." She continued as her grip on his shoulder tightened.
Esau looked at her hand and then at her. "Look, I don't take orders from you, I can do what I want and right now, I think we've both got more pressing concerns, don't you?" He jerked his head in the direction of the free for all and Batgirl looked over.
Using her temporary distraction, Esau ripped his shoulder out of her grasp and started climbing down the side of the building before she could stop him. "Wait! Uh, fine keep being stubborn." She groaned and he didn't know why, but that made him both smile and feel a sense of nostalgia.
Landing on the ground, Esau started to jog towards the chaos just as batgirl glided down beside him. "Be careful." She said and Esau ignored her as the two joined the fray.
-X-
Wednesday 8th, April, 17:00.
New Jersey,
Gotham City
East End.
Groaning tiredly, Esau stepped out of the shower having finally been released from the Gotham City Police Department and driven home by Gordon. It hadn't been a quiet ride, Esau being on the receiving end of a long tirade about how reckless he had been, especially as Gordon had quite easily figured out that Esau had not been under the influence of whatever drug had infected the rest of the people.
No charges had been pressed which Esau had expected as much.
Though he hated to take advantage of Jim's love for him and guilt for not being able to help him properly, Esau had known that he would escape without jail time. Jim had always covered for him when he skipped school and other things, only forced to take action earlier on in his life when Esau had done inexcusable things.
Esau hated it, but he still took advantage of that guilt on a number of occasions.
"Why did you do it?" That was Jim's only question, the only one that had not been rhetorical.
To be completely honest, Esau didn't know how to describe the reasoning behind why he got involved.
When he had become Black Hood, it had been to make sure that Black Mask could never threaten him, Barbara or Jim ever again. Getting involved in that brawl had nothing to do with them, but while he and Barbara were nearby they were far enough away for them to be safe.
There was also the worry that Jim could have been a part of the group, there have been numerous more across the city at the same time, but Esau knew better than anyone that while Jim was no Batman, he could look after himself. Especially when it was against a ragtag group of civilians that were just aimlessly using whatever they could get their hands on as a weapon with next to no skill.
So he had no need to get involved, but he did and he didn't know why.
"Why?" He questioned himself, pulling a shirt over his head, not even attempting to fix his messy and wild hair, having learnt his lesson a long time ago that it could never be tamed.
But as he was pulling his shirt down past his chest, he noticed a shadow in the corner of the room.
A shadow that dark, unnaturally dark.
Making sure to act like nothing was happening, he oped his sock draw and picked up a pair of socks, revealing a handgun resting there. He dropped the socks, pretending to reach down for another pair, before quickly spinning around and firing at the shadow.
The figure hidden within the shadow dived to one side, rolling along the floor to avoid each bullet.
Yet Esau never let up, constantly firing at the cloaked figure as they darted around the room.
Esau himself didn't standing still, walking backwards to keep distance between them.
But once his magazine was empty, Esau found himself coming face to face with the Darkn Knight himself, Batman.
"I wonder how the people of Gotham would react if they knew the Batman liked to watch boys shower." He snarked, gripping the knife he had out on his kitchen counter, having moved from his bedroom to the kitchen.
"That's not why I'm here and you know that," Batman replied, never breaking his calm posture.
Not caring for the reason, Esau charged forwards, swinging his knife that was held in an icepick grip down on Batman, aiming to piece him through his eye. However, his wrist was caught in one of Batman's iron-like grips having moved quicker than Esau had thought possible, the knife mere inches from his eyes.Despite his eyes locked gazes with Esau's, Batman managed to lazily catch Esau's free hand which had attempted to punch the caped crusader in the gut.
Leaning forward, Esau tried to push Batman backwards, only to find himself unable to move an inch. "I'm through with being Black Hood." Esau snarled, glaring out at him before spitting in Batman's face.
He then followed up with a punch to Batman's face, watching it connect with great satisfaction.
The caped crusader on the other hand had been temporarily caught flat-footed by the unorthodox move and so had been unprepared for the foll-up strike. Despite this, after stumbling back a step, Batman quickly recovered and parried the blonde's second punch before retalitiating with one of his own.
Moving back, Esau rubbed his jaw and glared out at his opponent before charging forwards once more, ignoring his aching jaw.
His two punches were parried and when Esau went to land a roundhouse kick, Batman just ducked down underneath it, coming up as Esau's leg fully extended. Hooking one arm around under the kicking leg, Batman burst to his feet, flipping Esau through the air, before landing on the ground, breath rushing out from his lungs.
Yet, despite being exposed, Batman did not capitalise on this.
Shaking his head, Esau lashed out with his feet in an attempt to sweep Batman's legs out from underneath him, only for the hero to step back, casually avoiding it. Using the opportunity, Esau got to his feet and charged at Batman once more, a renewed vigor behind his strikes as he realised that he was the only one taking this fight seriously, Batman toying with him.
Though what followed could not be called a fight, Esau always going on the offensive and Batman nonchalantly parrying and avoiding the strikes while landing devastating blows of his own. But despite the openings he would create, Batman would never capitalise upon them, just stepping back and watching as Esau regained his balance before allowing Esau to repeat the process all over again.
Growling in frustrating, Esau went for a roundhouse to Batman's midsetion.
It was intercepted by Batman's knee, the same leg he used to block then kicking the inside of Esau's other leg, strong enough to buckle his knees and drop him to the ground. This was then followed up with a spinning hook kick to the temple that sent Esau flying across the room, rolling along the floor.
Despite being dealt a blow that would have knocked out many, Esau quickly rolled to his feet and charged forwards once more.
A few punches to Batman's guard that masterfully held under the continuous assault and then on the seventh punch, Batman opened up grabbing the wrist and slamming the back of his knuckles on Esau's jaw.
Once again the opening he had created was not used which only angered Esau further.
More punches came and this time, Esau went for a kick to finish the combination.
Though angered by Batman's inactivity, Esau was still in control and remembered what happened the last time he had attempted this.
So, as Batman went to block the kick with his forearm, Esau instead shifted his footing and raised the trajectory of his kick to Batman's temple instead of his stomach. However, this sudden change in trajectory didn't catch Batman off guard who simply caught the kick with his other hand, while his original blocking arm gripped Esau's balancing leg. With a tug and what looked like an effortless display of strength, Batman used Esau's unsteady positioning to throw the blonde across the room where he collided against the wall.
Groaning, Esau rose to his feet and shook his head, still a little dazed from some of his earlier strikes. "You're holding back," Esau muttered raising his fists up in a standard boxing stance.
Batman said nothing knowing it was correct.
His strikes had never been at full power if they were, Esau would never have been able to last this long. Some of those strikes to the joints should have broken arms and legs, but he held back and only unbalanced him. Not to mention, he never went on the offensive, but beating Esau or Black Hood as he knew him to be really, was not why he came here.
"Give up, I didn't come here for a fight," Batman growled out in his usual voice to make sure that no one could link him to Bruce Wayne.
Smirking, Esau tensed up in preparation to charge forwards once more. "Well too bad, 'cause I can do this all day." Batman highly doubted that, but he would admire Esau for his determination to keep fighting. Still, this fight needed to end and he doubted Esau would stop.
As Esau charged forwards once more he allowed the blonde to throw the first punch and this time, instead of parrying, stepped inside Esau's guard and landed an uppercut into his solar plexus.
Spittle came out of Esau's mouth as his eyes widened in shock, the wind being entirely knocked out of him by that simple blow.
This time though, unlike he had in the past, Batman didn't give Esau time to recover and used the opening to further his counter-offensive.
A left elbow strike to Esau's left knee sent the blonde down onto one knee.
Then going with the momentum, spun round and slammed a right elbow upwards into Esau's face sending the blonde to the ground, his nose bleeding and his mind in a daze.
It was short and it was brutal, but it was effective.
In the space of a few short seconds, Batman had ended the fight and for good measure, placed one foot on Esau's chest to keep him pinned down. Though Esau was skilled and had a natural talent for fighting, he couldn't match Batman's combat experience and superior skills. Plus, Esau was used to fighting only common thugs and had gotten his ass handed to him by Deadshot. Batman fought guys like Deadshot on a monthly basis, hell sometimes weekly. He'd taken on guys like Killer Croc and other superpowered individuals despite being human and came out the victor.
Esau had a long way to go if he wanted to get onto Batman's level, that's why the very same hero wanted to teach him. Just like Dick, Esau had the potential and raw talent to actually surpass him and he didn't want talent like that to go to waste or end up in the wrong hands. But he also knew that Esau would never accept his training outright, Barbara had described his distaste and anger for superheroes quite vividly and so would spurn their offer for help.
It's why he came here tonight, to try and guide Esau without the blonde realising it.
"You done?" Batman asked.
In response, Esau tried to push Batman's foot off his chest but to no avail.
The heroes foot remained firmly planted there keeping Esau on the ground. "Yeah, I'm done."
Rising to his feet, Batman presented Esau with a hand who looked at it and then back at him.
With another sigh that made it seem like this decision physically pained him, Esau accepted the hand and allowed Batman to help him to his feet.
"Anyone tell you that you have no right to be that good?" Batman said nothing only allowing his lips to twitch upwards giving Esau all the answers he needed. "Right, of course they have." Rubbing his jaw and wiping the blood that was dribbling down from his nose, Esau walked towards the kitchen counter and started running the tap. "So, why are you here?"
Batman watched as Esau started to use the water to get some of the drying blood from his face before answering. "I need your help." The incredulous look Esau gave him once again reminded him that this kid was actually quite expressive with his emotions, a good thing for sure, but as a hero or vigilante, he would need to learn to control that.
For normal humans like them who weren't invulnerable to bullets, they needed to learn to act invincible.
To act like pain didn't affect them worked very well in making thugs extremely wary and paranoid.
This, in turn, would result in them making mistakes that could be capitalised upon.
"No seriously, why are you here?" Esau asked and Batman said nothing, once again giving him all the answer he needed. Turning off the tap, Esau rested against the counter, both arms crossed over his chest and looked Batman dead in the eye. "So, you're serious? Mind telling me what exactly is so troubling that you came to me for help?"
"You got involved in the large riot that took place in Gotham Heights with Batgirl." Batman began. "What neither of you knew at the time that it was planned," Esau said nothing, having already come to that conclusion due to it seeming too coincidental for it to be just that, a coincidence. "Or by who?"
"Let me guess, one of Gotham's many supervillains?"
Batman nodded his head. "Scarecrow or Jonathan Crane as he was known formerly."
"I thought Crane's whole thing was inspiring fear, they didn't look very scared at all, in fact, they looked pretty fearless." Esau recounted.
"That's true, Crane has always created Fear Toxins to make people see their worst fears. It is how he controls people, but it seems he's worked on a toxin that eliminates a person's fear entirely. For example, making random civilians want to commit their darkest and most evil desires. Stealing, murder, rape." Esau grimly nodded his head.
"And in a large area, making people erupt into all-out brawl in the middle of Gotham Heights."
"Exactly." Batman continued, pleased to see that Esau had a good head on his shoulders, he'd need that if he wanted to survive this world of superpowered individuals when he was only a human. "You were there when it happened, you know what this drug is capable of. I want you to help me stop Scarecrow before he can create enough of this stuff to turn Gotham into a war zone."
After a few moments of silence, Esau nodded his head and pushed off the counter. "Yeah, alright." He walked up to Batman so that they would stand near face to face, Esau having grown a couple more inches to stand at a respectable height of six feet. "But let me make one thing clear, this doesn't make me part of your little Bat Family and I'm not doing this because you asked me, I'm doing this for Barbara and Jim. No one else."
Nodding his head, Batman moved past Esau and towards the window that miraculously stayed intact despite the rest of Esau's apartment being wrecked. Luckily for the blonde, no one would really care or complain about the noise partly because people made just as much noise in their own apartments.
"Meet me in the alley across from the building when you're done." With those instructions, Batman jumped out of the window and used his cape to glide across the sky and onto the roof of the adjacent building.
Esau watched him go and then released a sigh of defeat. "What the hell are you doing, Esau?" He questioned himself before walking into his room and lifting up one of the panels of his bedroom floor and pulling out the duffle bag that was there.
Brushing off some of the dust that had gathered on it, Esau opened the bag to reveal his Black Hood attire.
"Seriously, what the fuck are you doing?"
So, another chapter is done and with it, things are starting to get even more chaotic with a mass chaotic brawl taking place in Gotham Heights as a result of the Fearless Toxin Scarecrow created. However, why did Scarecrow create a Toxin that removes a person's fear? That's the question I'm asking all of you. But we also see what a fight between Batman and Esau would look like and as you can expect, it was a slaughter. Esau didn't stand any chance at all against the superior fighter and got his ass handed to him. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
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GOT IT