章 26: Practise Makes Perfect
Saturday 18th April 2009, 13:00.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
East End.
After the Talon had left, the events of the night and the stress of it all seemed to finally catch up to him, Esau falling asleep on the couch right there and then. Five hours later he woke up with a painful crick on his neck, spending an extra two hours just thinking over everything that had happened the previous day.
That was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster.
Esau had felt a mixture of emotions: sadness, hurt, betrayal and above all else; anger.
Anger at the Talon.
Anger at Batman and Robin.
Anger at Barbara.
But above all else, anger at himself.
With everything that had happened, Esau didn't know what to do or how to deal with it and so had done what he always did and had gone out. Having gotten dressed into his Black Hood uniform, made his way out onto the streets of Gotham, stopping a few small-time drug dealers, but little else had happened so he returned home after venting some of his anger. It had lessened, yet was still there, but it was much more contained and simply shimmering beneath the surface.
That's when he saw the gloves still there on his coffee table.
He had ignored their existence all morning, it brought back memories of what Talon had said and what he planned to do.
In a way, Esau could understand Talon's point of view and even agreed with parts of it, but at the same time, he didn't like the idea of innocent people getting killed. Talon had been correct that saving Gotham was only a by-product of his quest to save Jim and Barbara, the latter apparently not having needed his protection at all. Even then, Esau didn't want innocent people to die and children to be made orphans as he had because life in Gotham was not easy for orphans.
That's what left Esau torn.
If the Talon was right and he could save Gotham, would there be a way to do it without killing people?
The chances of that were slim and Esau knew it, yet still, he tried to think of ways to save the innocents while letting the criminals and the corrupted kill each other in the chaos caused by the Courts plans.
Then that beggared the question as to what would happen next?
Even if the Courts plans worked and the Talon betrayed them, how would he be able to take control? The Court had the undead Talons under their control, so unless Talon had a way to take control of them then they would have to find a way to kill what was already dead. Then there was the problem of all the Courts agents, it was no stretch of the imagination to think that the Court had many agents scattered throughout the city just waiting for the right moment.
What happened if the Talon couldn't ensure their loyalty?
Would they rebel and cause more chaos?
Or would they go into hiding biding their time to strike at just the right moment to ruin it all?
At the end of the day though this all depended on if the Talon was being truthful about his plans and that was the biggest problem Esau had with this all. He didn't know who was to say that Talon wasn't just trying to manipulate Esau and use him for his own agenda and plans? All these questions and what-ifs had driven Esau slowly crazy as he sat in his apartment to the point he went out once more. Not to fight crime this time, but to instead give out his new gloves some practice.
He couldn't exactly use them in a fight if he didn't know how they worked.
Again, Esau had questioned if the Talon was telling the truth about his history as an orphan.
But either way, unlike with Batman there was no matter of differing ideals that stopped Esau from using these gifts as his own. He and Talon – if he was being truthful – had similar ideals and Esau was going to use these to help him carry out his own plans. Whether Talon could be trusted or not was unknown, but Esau would do his best to ensure that no innocent person would die when the Court made its move.
To do that, he needed to get some practice in.
It was pretty easy.
All that was required of him was to instead of throwing punches, use open-palmed strikes in order to cut his opponents with the claws at the end of the fingertips. Not to mention there were interwoven plates on the back that would be perfect in adding extra power behind each punch, as well as blocking knife strikes.
In all, the gloves were much better than his current equipment.
The biggest use he had found in them was something he discovered purely by accident and it was how Esau found himself in his current position suspended in the air with the fingers on both hands digging into the wall. The metal claws in the gloves had carved deep groves into the wall that slowed his descent till it came to a halt altogether.
It had been purely accidental; Esau had just been practising.
A mix of training his stamina as well as his parkour skills in order to allow him to last longer in a chase while simultaneously improving his ability to jump from one roof to the next. It was something Esau needed, if his fight against Robin a few weeks ago had taught him anything, it was that he lacked the ability to keep up with Barbara, Robin and Batman in terms of speed as well as skill and in Batman's case, strength as well.
He had been doing alright as well, only messing up a few landings, but nothing a quick roll couldn't solve.
Then he had just misjudged how big the gap was.
It wasn't an impossible jump; Esau had covered bigger distances before, the only difference this time had been that he hadn't put as much force as necessary into clearing the distance. So, as he flew through the air and gravity took hold, slowly bringing him back to the ground, Esau realised he wasn't going to make it.
As a result, he reached out to see if he could grip hold of the edge.
He hadn't, his hands instead missing by mere inches and so, began to plummet to the ground below.
However, the claws in his glove had dug into the wall, tearing up small groves as his descent slowed down to a halt.
Remaining there in mid-air, Esau released a breath before laughing. 'Let's not do that again.' He thought, but despite the fear that had clutched him, Esau couldn't wipe the big smile still on his face.
The fall while terrifying had been exhilarating.
Moving a little, Esau braced his feet against the wall and wiggled his left hand around, eventually pulling it free before stabbing it into the wall a bit further above him. As he slowly started to climb his way up the side of the building, Esau couldn't help but marvel at just how sharp these claws were.
-X-
Monday 20th April 2009, 21:00.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
East End.
Landing in a crouch, Esau took a moment to look around the rooftop for any sign of a threat before rising to his full height. Then, with his arms down by his side and his body relaxed, Esau moved slowly, ready to react at the slightest sign of something being wrong.
Yet he had barely been on the ground for a second, his eyes not even having taken in the area in front of him fully before a number of throwing stars were thrown at him from his right. Reacting quickly, Esau simultaneously spun round, his head leaning to one side as the shuriken passed through the area his head had once been. At the same time, his back foot had shifted, rising up onto the ball of his feet and pushing off, closing the distance between him and his attacker in an instant, claws swinging round.
Just as it came within inches of cutting down the shadowed figure, Esau halted allowing the claws to rest within a hairsbreadth of slicing the man's throat. The two remained there silently and still, Esau staring into the shadows that shrouded the man from sight, while the same man remained entirely still.
Eventually, the shadowed figure moved, giving Esau a short clap of congratulation. "Well done." Esau pulled back his right arm and the figure, revealed to be Talon stepped out of the shadow and into view. "Well done indeed, you've certainly improved greatly over the past two days."
"Whatever." Esau shrugged his shoulder. "I only agreed to you giving me some pointers cos' I was sick of getting my ass kicked by the Bat Family." He then narrowed his eyes at Talon. "This doesn't mean I'm helping you with your plan."
"Of course." Talon agreed easily, having come to Esau with the offer of some training soon after Esau had started practising with his new gloves. Esau had been reluctant at first, but he had accepted it as a means to at least improve himself in order to at least wipe the smug smirk that was always on Robin's face.
Part of him also wondered if he should take up Batman on that offer of help, the new suit would certainly do him a lot better than his current one. However, Esau had a feeling that Batman would take this as an opportunity to interfere with him more, which would also mean dealing with Batman trying to change his ways. It would also mean being around both Robin and Barbara, the latter Esau had avoided for the past two days, not that she had reached out to him either.
Both friends had been silent and neither one was willing to break that silence just yet. Nor did it look like that would change any time soon.
"Batman's been taking an increased interest in you recently." Talon pointed out, breaking Esau from his train of thought and he looked up at his pseudo instructor in confusion. "You're lack of activity in searching for the Fearless Toxin has made him a little worried I imagine."
"Is he here?"
"Oh no," Talon replied smugly, crossing both his arms across his chest. "He's too busy following the trail of breadcrumbs I left for him. It should lead him directly to the Court of Owls headquarters."
"You want him to go there?" Esau asked dubiously.
He may not know Batman all that well, and certainly not Bruce Wayne either.
But he did know some of what Batman was capable of and if he followed the trail Talon left for him to the Court of Owls, he would put a stop to them.
Talon nodded his head. "Oh yes, it should work in making the Court of Owls push up their plans a little and that means mistakes, mistakes that would make it easier for my plan to work." The last part was a hint and Esau shook his head in response to the unasked question while Esau couldn't see it, Talon frowned
"It's a trap?" Esau asked quickly before he nodded his head in understanding. "Of course, it is."
Chuckling, Talon moved forwards to the edge of the building. "Come on, I want to show you something." He said and jumped off the side of the building, Esau moved forwards and followed after him, his right arm moving with practised ease to dig his claws into the wall and slow his descent.
Landing with a roll, Esau came to a stop beside the Talon who was crouched down beside a grate. "We're not training in a sewer, are we?" Esau questioned not liking the sound of that plan all that much.
While training with Talon was hard enough, the guy was ridiculously skilled and had no qualms about beating Esau into the ground just enough that Esau certainly wouldn't forget any time soon, but at the same time ensured he could continue training. Even then, despite never having been put through the wringer as much in his life, Esau certainly wasn't one to shy away from pain.
So, while training with the Talon was helping improve massively, Esau certainly didn't enjoy the idea of going into a sewer at all, let alone sparring in it. Though, the blonde did know that eventually, he might not get a choice in the matter. 'Might as well tough it out if that's the case.'
"Oh no." Talon chuckled and Esau released a sigh of relief. "We're not training tonight; I'm instead going to show you something I think will interest you greatly." Lifting the grate off the floor, the Talon indicated for Esau to go first and while the boy hesitated, he eventually did so. 'And it will allow me to evaluate just how loyal you are and if you can be trusted.'
Smirking beneath his mask as he heard the boy complaining about the smell, the Talon closed the grate over his head before jumping down. Ignoring the glare sent in his direction by Esau who had sewer water coating his clothes due to the splash Talons landing caused, he moved forwards.
The tell-tale sound of footsteps following behind let him know that Esau was following. 'Good, it's almost time now.' The Talon thought as they moved through the winding path of the sewer. 'And you'll have to pick a side eventually. For your sake Esau, I hope you pick the right one.' He certainly liked Esau, he had potential, a great deal of it and a drive that kept him getting up when he really shouldn't be able to.
While he would hate to kill the boy, if he got in his way of realising his ambition then Talon would do just this. He had been betrayed before, by some of his own masters no less and the Talon would not allow himself to suffer the same fate as his predecessors.
The Court of Owls would be his to rule, just as he was once promised by those that betrayed him.
クリエイターの想い 
Carrots123
Carrots123 So, another chapter is done and with it, Esau has begun training under Talon and has become much more skilled. Esau's biggest weakness as shown by his fight with Deadshot is that while he has no form that is uniquely beneficial to him when he gets angry, as shown from his fight with Batgirl, he has too many techniques. The amount he has means he has more options which makes him unpredictable, but the number also means he has to take time to think about what to do. Talon has taught Esau to create a style for him which means his techniques have been limited making him more predictable, but better overall. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
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