章 82: First Mission Completed
"Now!"
Kid Flash was the first to make his presence known as he in short order took out twelve guys before they even had a chance to realise what had happened. But their cries of pain attracted the attention of the champion, as well as Kobra and Sportsmaster, who turned their gaze from the sight of the Champion beating Bane.
Yet before any of them could do anything they each heard the sound of a roar.
The Champion looked up, the shadow engulfing him being the signal that he was the target, seeing Superboy plummeting towards him, fist clenched tight as he wound his arm up for a powerful blow. Behind him, Batgirl used her grappling hook to swing towards a large group of cultists as Esau and Aqualad plummeted to the floor, readying their weapons as they charged forwards.
The ambush now sprung.
With a low growl, the Champion tensed its large legs before pushing off the ground with explosive power that ruptured the ground beneath his feet as he rocketed into the sky. Its big burly body met Superboy's much leaner yet powerful body, his punch smashing into the Champion's body only to have little effect. The Champion tanked the blow like it was nothing, continuing through to tackle Superboy in midair and carrying him further back where they came smashing down onto the ground.
It was a shocking turn of events to the sidekicks, but none of them paused knowing full well that Superboy could take more damage than any of them. Even then, Esau wasn't about to needlessly risk the lives of one of his teammates and that little moment showed that Superboy while on paper being the best matchup against the Champion, was clearly not powerful enough.
However, thankfully, Esau had a backup plan in place due to some input from Aqualad and Batgirl. "Aqualad, Superboy, switch to plan B." His orders were swift, trying to turn the tide back in their favour by getting one of their heavy hitters out of the sticky situation he now found himself stuck in.
Superboy just grit his teeth as he lay there, arms crossed over in front of his face as the Champion pummelled his guard with its fists, an unrelenting onslaught that sent echoing, destructive shockwaves ringing out with every blow. The ground beneath them broke apart as they sunk further and further into the crater that was being created, yet the Kryptonian kept his guard firm even as he felt each blow reverberate down to his bones.
"...Trying." Superboy relayed over the link, trying to find an opening.
Then it came, the Champion shifting and raising both arms above its head, no longer going with straight blows, but aiming to bring his fists down in crushing overhead strikes. Considering the power of the previous blows, Superboy did not fancy facing such power head-on even when confident that he could take the blow.
So, he swung his fist around, knocking the Champion's head to the side, slightly pushing him from the top position and giving Superboy more room to move. He then shifted his hips, swinging his right fist around with even more power than his left, finally managing to throw the Champion off his body, allowing Superboy to jump out of the small crater he had been trapped in.
Even so, his arms throbbed painfully, Superboy clenching his shaky fists as he glared out at the Champion who shook its head, getting to its feet.
"Superboy, lead him to me." Taking a quick look over his shoulder, Superboy saw Aqualad using his Water-Beaers to direct and control a large source of water into a shield that he used to protect himself from the hail of bullets. Though the amount was small, most cultists were busy dealing with Kid Flash, the speedster zooming across the factory, easily dodging the bullets as he knocked out the cultists with lightning-fast punches. "Now, Superboy!"
His body tensed in anger, releasing a low growl of his own as he looked towards the Champion once more, hating the feeling of pain emanating from his hands and the orders he had been given. "You elected me as the leader." That was all, Esau had to say, more focused on closing the distance between him and the leader of the Kobra Cult, Kobra, a number of cultists getting in his and Batgirl's way.
However, it was enough.
The Champion roared, once bursting towards Superboy with explosive speed, the distance between them closing in an instant. But Superboy was already moving, twisting his body ever so slightly as to let the Champion's fist miss his body by an inch all the while, his hands reached out and grasped ahold of the large fist.
Though Superboy knew that Esau's words had been for Aqualad's ears only, it didn't change the fact that he could hear every conversation taking place within Mount Justice. Esau had been right, he hadn't trained at all, but that wasn't because he felt like his time with the team was just a vacation for him to enjoy himself, he didn't even know what to do on a vacation.
No, the reason Superboy didn't train was that he didn't see the point in it.
He was designed by Cadmus for the sole purpose to be a living weapon and that was exactly what he was.
That didn't mean he hadn't ignored the sparring matches between Esau, Kaldur, Barbara or Dick either.
No, he had watched many of them closely.
It was clear to see that in terms of skill, they were the best out of all of them, even Superboy could admit that all he had was incredible strength and speed gifted to him by his physiology. Even without all the powers of Superman, he was still the most powerful and durable on the team to the point that not even the combined efforts of Kid Flash, Aqualad and Robin had been able to defeat him.
Yet, Superboy knew that when it came to skill, he was beaten.
When it came to those four, they were perhaps the best in that regard, but out of them all, Esau was by far the most skilled out of them all. Even when discounting his enhanced strength and speed, the skill he possessed was at a level even higher than Batgirl and Robin's who Superboy could not tell was better. Aqualad on the other hand, was, while incredibly skilled in his own right, not on the level of those three, though perhaps just slightly behind them all.
But in all their sparring matches, despite that disparity in skill, Aqualad had reigned undefeated in all his matches against Esau. The disparity in strength and speed was so overwhelming that even the higher skill level Esau possessed was not enough to bridge the gap. It was why Superboy did not believe he needed to train, he had already defeated Aqualad once when he fought alongside Kid Flash and Robin.
Just as Esau lost to Aqualad due to the difference in strength and speed, so would Aqualad lose to him for the same reason.
However, he could not deny that by watching them, he had picked up a few tips and tricks here and there.
Like this one for example.
Using his grip upon the Champion's wrist, planted one foot firmly on the ground and stepped around, using its own forward momentum to spin it around. There, as every muscle in his body tensed up, Superboy let out a roar of his own, throwing the Champion with all his might right in the direction of Aqualad, who, while shocked, didn't hesitate.
His Water-Bearers turned, the water smoothly arcing through the air before rushing towards the Champion in a straight pillar.
The pillar of water struck the Champion with force equivalent to that of a speeding train and launched him across the factory where he barreled through numerous crates of Venom and dug a huge trench into the ground before slamming into the wall at the other end. Yet his momentum had been sufficiently slowed down allowing the Champion, to use his position against the wall, to plant his feet firmly upon the floor and push against the unrelenting current of water.
Sharing a nod with Superboy as the clone passed him by, Aqualad continued to manipulate the water into pressing down upon the Champion in an attempt to push him further back. Yet, the Champion got to his feet and took one powerful, arduous step forward, feet skidding back slightly, but he had managed to move forward ever so slightly.
Then he took another step forward.
However, Aqualad did not falter nor did he worry about his surroundings, Kid Flash moved to support his exposed teammate by taking care of the cultists that came at him from behind. "Don't worry about these schmucks." Kid Flash proclaimed, the confident smile on his face wide and bright. "I'll take care of them."
"Thank you, my friend."
With the Champion thoroughly occupied, Esau and Batgirl also managed to break through the last vestige of guards surrounding Kobra and the young woman rushed to stop them. "She's mine." Nodding his head, Esau staggered his pace just enough to let Batgirl take the lead and engage with the woman, Esau rushed around the side and headed straight towards Kobra, the thick baton in his hand extending into a staff that he twirled lightly into a ready position.
"Superboy, take down Sportsmaster." Esau ordered, noticing Sportsmaster closing in on the helicopter as he swung the staff down in a heavy strike that Kobra blocked with both arms, knees bending to better absorb the impact of the blow.
"On it." Superboy replied, landing in a crouch in front of Sportsmaster who didn't even falter.
Just like Esau, he possessed numerous cylindrical objects, he pulled one from its hook, it extending into a javelin that with perfect form, he threw directly at Superboy. It was something so laughable that Superboy didn't even attempt to dodge or block, just letting it strike him in the chest as he went to rush forwards.
Except, it exploded upon impact with his skin.
The shock made, Superboy stumble, yet he growled angrily, bursting through the thick smoke without a scratch in sight only for another to come right at him. This time he was ready and planting his feet firmly, moved forwards, the javelin once more exploding upon contact but Superboy burst through without a pause.
However, Sportsmaster had already moved, a few cultists positioned near the helicopter taking aim and firing upon Superboy, only for them to be suddenly flung into the air. In doing so though, she alerted Sportsmaster to the presence of another and looked, catching a slight glimmer in the air, something so minuscule that no one would have noticed nor paid a second glance at.
Sportsmaster on the other hand was a man who had trained his body into a weapon, turning the sports he mastered and himself into a tool he could use to defeat his enemies. That slight shimmer was all the indication he needed and with flawless form, threw another javelin directly towards it without even breaking his stride.
Miss Martian, so focused on the guards, didn't see the javelin until it was too late.
It exploded right next to her, knocking her out of the sky and causing her invisibility to dissipate revealing her to the world. More than a few cultists were still around and more than one pointed their guns at her, ready to shoot before she could recover.
That was when Superboy landed in front of her, the bullets that had been fired bouncing harmlessly off his skin as he stood protectively in front of her.
Then from, behind the guards, Robin appeared with quick and precise strikes along with a few well-placed Batarangs that managed to take out most of them before they realised what had happened. The remaining few were left to the not-so-tender mercy of Superboy who with bone-breaking strength, struck each with enough force to fling them into the air where they landed with a heavy thud.
"Sportsmaster?" Robin asked, coming to stand beside Superboy and the recovering Miss Martian, the heat from the explosive javelin causing her to take more time in recovering.
Superboy just shook his head, turning to the still-grounded helicopter with a grunt. "He got away." They turned to see the helicopter lifting up off the ground, yet Superboy was far from done and leapt after him. Sportsmaster reacted quickly to this, twisting the helicopter to one side just enough that Superboy only felt his fingertips brush against the metal before he plummeted back to the ground. "Damnit!"
"Hey, don't worry about it." Robin appeased, raising one hand to show a detonator there. "I managed to finish my part." Pressing the detonator they watched the back of the helicopter explode, the Venom that has been stockpiled on it going up in flames.
Meanwhile, Batgirl ducked and weaved around a number of straight jabs, crosses and hooks from the woman, moving backwards as Shimmer pressed her advantage. Whoever she was, Shimmer was certainly very skilled and perhaps if it was a few months ago, she could have posed a greater challenge enough to make Batgirl uncertain of her chances of victory. But ever since she and Robin lost to Esau posing as Marauder, Batman had increased their training extensively, pushing them to their limits without rest.
As a result, their skills skyrocketed.
Shimmer was skilled, but at this point, it was just not enough.
Parrying one blow to the side, Batgirl stepped in close and landed a left hook to the liver that Shimmer couldn't fully avoid in time. She did remarkably well to step away to avoid a full-on strike, but the punch carried through enough to make Shimmer's knees buckle slightly, one arm lowering to over her side.
Batgirl chased her, a back fist clipping Shimmer's jaw, eyes slightly glazing over, arms dropping limply by her side leaving her completely exposed to the roundhouse that dug into her neck.
With nary a grunt or a sound, Shimmer collapsed to the ground unconscious as Batgirl looked to see how Esau was doing against Kobra. From what she was seeing, it was relatively close with Kobra taking the slight edge due to experience alone, but Esau's greater physicality allowed him to close that gap. Yet he was also mixing in his swords with his staff, seamlessly collapsing his staff, hooking it to his body and then unhooking his swords, sometimes just one or both. This rapid change was a dangerous thing to face, Esau constantly switching up the tempo and rhythm of his strikes in a way that allowed him to pressure Kobra in a way most would have not been able to withstand.
However, Kobra was not only a highly skilled hand-to-hand expert but also a man who had managed to get the best of Batman through trickery. To him, this was a type of combat that he understood and it allowed him to survive where most of that level would have been overwhelmed. What it did show Barbara was just how much Esau had held back as Marauder when fighting her and Robin months ago.
He had never fought them like this.
Each blow was fast and extremely powerful.
Yet, Kobra dodged them with the barest of movement, choosing to block some staff strikes in order to put himself in a better position to avoid the sword strikes. But each time he blocked the staff, the slapping sound that echoed out made her wince, yet Kobra showed no sign of even feeling pain, an unnerving sight.
Moving forwards, Batgirl came to Esau's aid, diving in with a jumping front kick that Kobra stepped back to avoid, she came in between him and Esau, blocking the blonde's path. However, she shifted it into a switch kick, foot coming around into Kobra's waiting palm, grabbing ahold of her ankle, but was forced to let go when Esau stepped around, sword swinging up, nearly taking off his hand. Kobra let go at just the right time, avoiding losing a hand, but his other moved, to block the spinning back kick that slammed into and broke his arm.
Esau's blow finally elected a response, Kobra grunting out as he stumbled back, both Batgirl and Esau closing in on him together. Esau took the brunt of Kobra's strikes, the man even using his broken arm to fight against them, while Batgirl acted as support, striking out from awkward angles.
Swinging his staff around, Esau watched as Kobra leaned his head back to avoid it before coming back around and going low to take out his legs. It worked, because at the moment Esau began crouching down, Batgirl had used his back as a springboard, coming down upon Kobra with a double-footed stomp.
Kobra did well to block it with a cross guard, knees bending under the force of her strike.
But it left him exposed, legs swept out from underneath him by Esau's staff.
Even then, Kobra went to get to his feet, ready to continue the fight only to have to block a kick to his temple courtesy of Batgirl, she was deadset on not letting him get to his feet. Intending to use this to his advantage, Kobra gripped her leg and brought her down to the ground while swinging her one fist up.
Esau had other ideas though, snatching the fist out of midair with one hand and then yanking Kobra up to his feet right into a fist of his own. Kobra tried to block, but it was with his broken arm and the fist broke through the weak guard, carrying on to slam into his jaw. Another few punches followed that in quick succession, Kobra managing to recover enough to knock one to the side with his shoulder, driving it into Esau's chest in an attempt to push him back.
Instead, this contest of strength was one Esau won easily, driving Kobra back till his back was slammed into an abandoned truck that had been nearby. Kobra didn't let this go lying down, head swinging up and smashing into the underside of Esau's chin causing his head to whip back with a grunt. Then went to the target Esau's leg, a foot lashing out into his inner thigh, just above his knees causing it to buckle just enough.
A knee then slammed into Esau's stomach followed quickly by an elbow to the back.
The blonde didn't let that go laying down, wrapping both arms around Kobra's legs and pulling him forward, just enough to take Kobra off-balance, the man having the skill to resist being picked off the ground. That was when Batgirl came in, rebounding off the truck, legs wrapping around Kobra's neck as she used all of her body weight to bring Kobra to the floor. Esau at the same time gave one sharp tug that lifted Kobra just slightly into the air to ensure Kobra couldn't resist.
As Kobra slammed onto the ground, Batgirl twisted, bringing his good hand into an armbar as Esau slammed one foot onto his chest, sword extending out and resting against his neck. "I suggest you stop right now." Esau offered and there was a brief moment where Kobra looked ready to continue resisting, but as the tip of the blade pricked the skin of his neck, he decided against it.
-X-
Tuesday 20th July 2010, 11:30.
Rhode Island,
Happy Harbour,
Mount Justice.
"A simple recon mission, observe and report." Batman's voice echoed loudly through the hall as he glared at each member of the team, all lined up in front of him. "You'll each give a detailed evaluation detailing your; many mistakes."
'Mistakes that wouldn't have been made if you allowed us to select a leader before going on the mission.' Esau snarked internally, restraining the urge to roll his eyes.
"Until then...good job." There were a few looks of surprise from many members of the team, nearly all of the, having expected to receive a bigger rant from Batman. "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is how to determine success. How you choose who leads, determines character." Here Batman spared a glance at Esau as he walked away from the team, giving an almost unnoticeable nod of his head to Esau that went unnoticed by the rest of the team.
クリエイターの想い 
Carrots123
Carrots123 So, another chapter is done and with it, the team complete the mission much more cleanly than they did originally as a result of Esau's interference. Not only that, but you can kind of get an idea of where the heroes rank among them, though it is biased. But also we see that in the fight with Esau, Batgirl and Kobra, we also get an idea of where Esau ranks. Kobra is actually one of those people who can match and has beaten Batman, similar to Bane (though it was through trickery than pure skill), but Esau managed to give him a good fight on his own. Yet when combined with Batgirl, he is able to beat Kobra with relative ease. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
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