章節 142: CHAPTER 140
"Why would Raven be targeted and by whom?" The question raced through my mind, catapulting me into action. My fingers danced across the keyboard as I cloaked my IP, determined to thwart any attempts at tracking her last contact. Simultaneously, I breached their military-grade firewall, unveiling a chilling revelation: Raven had been shot with a tranquilizing dart and was en route to their base.
A slew of young heroes, including Superboy, Beast Boy, Wonder Girl, Impulse, Blue Beetle, and Kid Flash, were in their crosshairs. The League's remaining members were prime targets, while the younger ones were potential bait. I marked Raven's captors' location with an X—it was a countdown to their imminent obliteration.
Messing with other heroes was one thing. But involving my girl was an entirely different realm of mistake. Our connection had been a delicate dance, understanding the complexity of her mind while concealing my true nature.
I sought to shatter her self-doubt, freeing her from the shackles of undeserving happiness. She was haunted by her formidable powers, a legacy of her enigmatic father—someone whose name I struggled to remember, starting with a T or something. No matter, it was time for her to embrace her potential.
I couldn't outline the exact path, but her raw power held too much potential to be stifled by self-doubt. Rising from my desk, I strolled calmly to the living room. "I'll be back real soon, boys," I casually informed the duo lounging there.
"Another outing?" Leo quirked an eyebrow.
"Yup, just need to handle something real quick," I replied, already at the door. "By the way, do you two ever plan to step outside? It's been days."
"Coming from the guy who doesn't have real friends," Leo retorted with a smirk, exposing my solitary habits.
"Hilarious. My taste in friends isn't exactly conventional."
"Anyway, I'll be hitting the road soon. It's a mess out there, and Redhood has a date with destiny, cleaning up some of the city's more colorful characters. Gotham's a pressure cooker, and with Batman and Batgirl's wings clipped by the military crackdown, they can't roam freely anymore. If it weren't for their relentless street patrols, the city would've plunged into an abyss even darker." Jason stated, rising to snag his signature leather jacket.
"In any case, watch your step out there," Leo cautioned, adding a mischievous grin.
"I can't promise that, especially when trouble has its own magnetic pull," I retorted, nodding toward Jason.
"Somehow, trouble just follows this guy," Leo chuckled, his tone dripping with amusement.
"True enough," Jason interjected, feigning an attempted punch on my arm, only to have his fist deflected by my barrier. "I'd forgotten about this annoying shield."
Laughter ensued, shared between Leo and myself, while Jason grumbled. "Just remember to keep your head on your shoulders," Leo advised, his tone turning more serious.
Jason and I made our way out, his leather jacket donned as he hopped onto his bike. As he revved the engine, I soared skyward, the night wind whipping through my hair. The world outside was a chaotic canvas, colored by upheaval and uncertainty. But that's where we thrived.
…
After a few moments in the air, Tom tapped his watch, and nanotech began to flow over his body, enveloping him in its embrace, much like a symbiotic being akin to Venom from the Marvel universe. The transformation complete, he stood clad in his Ace costume, ready to take on whatever challenges lay ahead.
Flying through the moonless night sky, the base's location materialized on the map only visible through his customized glasses. Before leaving, he had marked the spot with a pin, and Gwen, always on point, had sent him the coordinates without him needing to ask.
He surged forward with explosive speed, tearing through the air like a missile, his passage punctuated by a resounding sonic boom.
"General!!! Something's approaching us at high speed," a soldier reported as they picked up a rapidly moving object homing in on their position.
"Is it an enemy missile?" General Smith Kirby questioned his officers, concern etching his features.
"Negative, sir. It's moving faster than any missile we've encountered."
"How much time do we have until impact?"
"Not enough time, sir." The swift response came before a shockwave reverberated throughout the base, a nonexplosive bomb landing squarely in the middle of their operation.
Soldiers hurriedly converged at the scene, armed and battle-ready. To their astonishment, they found a figure shrouded in conflict, the individual bearing the highest bounty, surrounded by craters, exuding an aura of casual confidence that didn't seem perturbed by their encirclement.
Tom stood there, undaunted, and posed a single question that cut through the tension. "I've got one query for you all. Depending on how you respond, I'll take action. Where's Raven?" His gaze fixed on the unflinching General, a man who displayed an unexpected lack of fear in the face of a conflicted menace like Tom.
"I don't know how you got wind that we had her, but I can assure you that you won't leave here alive. I'll ensure that you regret ever barging into my facility." The General's words dripped with arrogance as he raised his hand, giving a signal that triggered a response.
Blue lights illuminated the base, an apparent trump card intended to deter Tom. He raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by their theatrics. "All you've done is turn on some fancy lights. Should I be intimidated?"
"No, why don't you find out for yourself?"
Tom smirked, undaunted by his bravado. "You're really starting to annoy me. I couldn't care less about your childish tricks. If a single strand of hair on her head is harmed, I'll ensure you experience the slowest, most excruciating death imaginable." Each word dripped with a chilling resolve as he took a deliberate step forward. The soldiers hesitated, wary of the man who had dealt with Joker in a brutal and public manner.
"Tyrant Ace, it appears you're ignorant of your current predicament. Allow me to enlighten you."
"FIRE!!!"
The General issued the command, yet his soldiers found themselves shooting their comrades, writhing in agony as they fell victim to their own bullets. Others lay lifeless on the cold ground.
"What did you do?" The General's voice quivered, uncertainty replacing his arrogance. The unpredictable nature of Ace baffled him; the metahuman dampeners he activated should've neutralized Tom's abilities, but it seemed he had a few tricks up his sleeve.
"I suspect you're not familiar with my capabilities. Those were power dampeners. Perhaps you should test them on yourself," Tom taunted, while utilizing the X-ray vision in his glasses to pinpoint Raven's exact location within the base. This way, he could maneuver the chaos without inadvertently endangering her.
Suddenly, gunfire erupted as four snipers launched simultaneous attempts on his life. However, their bullets ricocheted off him, striking them instead. The excruciating agony that followed was poetic justice. The battlefield had transformed into a scene of desperation and confusion as he stood amidst craters, a determined figure with the highest bounty.
"Two snipers confirmed deceased, sir. Two others are injured due to self-inflicted gunshot wounds," the report crackled through the transponder device the General held.
Tom's gaze locked onto the commander, his crimson eyes piercing through the glass eye-hole of his mask, emitting an eerie aura that sent a palpable chill down the spines of the soldiers. Behind his mask, a wicked grin curved his lips. "As you've probably deduced, I'm not your typical metahuman. I am something else entirely, something infinitely more menacing."
"Care for a demonstration?" Tom's words dripped with narcissism as he tapped his foot against the ground, immediately triggering a transmutation of the earth itself. Sharp rocks erupted from the ground, bursting through the soldiers around him, impaling them and elevating their bodies like grim totems atop pillars of death.
The gruesome tableau elicited horror, causing the remaining soldiers to instinctively retreat to avoid his deadly reach. Unbeknownst to them, his influence extended beyond the immediate vicinity; the entire base was his dominion. Tapping his foot once more, armored tanks were propelled off the ground, soaring through the air before crashing into a sea of soldiers. The ensuing detonations transformed the base into a chaotic battleground.
Undeterred, the General signaled for three trucks armed with missile launchers to take aim at Ace. As they readied their attack, Ace remained unfazed, the sinister grin still tugging at his lips.
"Fall back," the General barked, and his troops scrambled to safer ground. Yet, Ace had no intention of relenting. He relished the opportunity to showcase his power, proving unequivocally that he was no ordinary metahuman, and that underestimating him was a dire mistake.
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章節 143: CHAPTER 141
That night, Tom found himself surrounded by craters and soldiers. Six controlled-range missiles soared towards the sky, homing in on him. With a gloved hand outstretched, he faced the oncoming projectiles, his determination unyielding.
"Take cover!!!" a lieutenant shouted, and bodies hit the ground in a scramble.
BOOM!!!
The earth shook, shockwaves rippling across the base as the missiles struck. Amidst the chaos, General Kirby couldn't hide his prideful smirk, thinking the threat was over. "Good, that's gotta do it." He said, but the smoke that hung in the air hinted at a nightmare far from finished.
"Thanks for the warmth, General. It was starting to get chilly out here," Tom's voice sliced through the suspense as wind cleared the smoke, revealing the ongoing onslaught.
"Is he some kind of alien?" The surprise in General Kirby's eyes warred with fear, yet his resolve solidified.
Tom's hand remained extended, two missiles suspended mid-air, his other hand nonchalantly in his pocket. The explosions of the others didn't faze him. He expertly held one missile in front of him and the other behind, shielding them from the fiery bursts.
"Care for a return gift, gentlemen? "How about I return a piece of your gift boys, it was indeed mind blowing. Sharing is caring, as they say." Tom's words dripped with menace as he sent the two missiles back to the soldiers.
BOOM!!!
A severed leg plopped at Tom's feet, blood staining the ground. He glanced at the grotesque offering before looking back at the soldiers. "Hey, looks like someone dropped a leg," he quipped before bursting into a chilling laughter.
"His sanity's gone, General. We can't beat him like this. Can we use Weapon X-052?"
"Use whatever it takes. Since we aren't aware of his weakness, he might be a bigger threat than even the Kryptonians." General Kirby's order rippled through the base.
Tom's gaze pierced the ground using his X-ray glasses, revealing an underground labyrinth that extended beyond sight. He clenched his jaw, frustration seeping in. Finding Raven couldn't wait.
"I've wasted enough time here. Time to finish this." Tom's thoughts were a determined whisper. Among the soldiers, some carried peculiar blaster-like weapons with disc-like appendages.
"General, could we wrap this up? Got lasagna waiting, and I doubt those savages would save me any." Tom's exasperation rang out as he referred to his new housemates.
"He's underestimating our millitary power. Fire!" General Kirby commanded as he clenched his teeth in anger.
The men took aim and Shot at him. A sonic-like wave came from each of them and it was a direct hit, or so they thought. Tom seemed to just stand there as the air around him vibrated and waves resonated around him, with him in the middle and without making contact with him but the soldiers relentlessly pressed on.
'Impressive,' Tom mused as he absorbed the sonic onslaught. With strategic deflection, he thwarted the soldiers' assault, leaving them flustered when they stopped firing. He made it resonate around his deflective field and it seemed like he had absorbed or stored the energy.
Since he was being attacked by more than nine soldiers who were firing that weapon at him, it made the attack powerful enough to make a Kryptonian ears bleed, and bring them to their knees as it affects a being at a cellular level, unless the Kryptonian were quick enough to attack the weapon before it started to shatter their cells or melt their brain.
"Now it's my turn." Tom said, barely above a whisper. The sonic wave he reserved and had flowing around his deflective field, he suddenly released it and the wave hit the soldiers.
"How is that possible? If he isn't a metahuman then what is he? How are we supposed to deal with a monster like that?" General Kirby's voice trembled, watching his men die horribly. His soldiers were bleeding from their eyes and ears as they dropped to the ground, an instant death.
The remaining soldiers looked at him with terrified stares. It wasn't a fight anymore, it seemed more like war and the enemy who stood right in front of them was more than a nuclear power.
"Like they say. If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself." Tom said before dashing through the concrete barricade the remaining soldiers were using to take cover.
As if with brute force, Tom destroyed it with a punch and grabbed two soldiers by the head and smashed them on the ground, they burst open and brain matter was splattered on the ground.
The gruesome scene and his red pupils sent insane chills down the spine of the soldiers as it made him seem like some a fearful demon from hell who enjoyed killing, and they just ignorantly picked a fight with him.
Nothing worked, there was no point shooting bullets because it just got sent back at them. Missiles and all weapons they had available at the base were effective, not even the blasters.
"I've wasted enough time already. Okay boys, let's quickly wrap this up." Tom proceeded to create a hole in the ground which linked to their underground facility as the one at the top was just a cover up for the research facility down below. Looking around, Tom saw that the soldiers didn't have the will to fight anymore but tried to steel their resolve in order not to disgrace their country, or abandon their duties as soldiers.
*SIGH*
"I guess I just have to crush your hopes, or what's left of it at least. No need to fight, just survive for your families' sake. Don't let duty blind you into dying a pointless death." With two fingers directed at some rifles, he looked at General Kirby who was bleeding from his arm. Kirby slowly lifted up the ground and four rifles levitated into the air.
The first one struck the General's right hand. His agonizing screams filled the battlefield as he was pinned to a wall behind. Tom had him stretch out his limbs as the second one went for his left leg, digging easyly through his thigh and into the wall.
Tom waited for him to scream before letting out a psychotic laughter which made him seem like he complete lunatic. He seemed like had a few screws loose. "You expect your soldiers to die unnecessarily even though you know that it was a futile attempt to try to bring me down." Tom said as he sent the third riffle through Kirby's right left and into the wall.
His screams were as loud as the previous ones, he was slowly losing his strength and was almost passing out due to the loss of so much blood. The soldiers watched sympathetically and in shame as they couldn't do anything about their general's predicament.
A few brave ones who couldn't hold themselves back ran towards Tom, one tossed a grenade at him, the others kept shooting at him, saying he must have a weakness of some sort.
The grenade dropped at his feet and he just sent it back to him as he buried it in the soldiers chest before it exploded. The others just committed a pointless suiside as the bullets got deflected back at them. "Well, that was foolish." He said as he sent the last riffle through the general's other thigh and hanged him on the wall like a scene from a satanic ritual, while the few remaining soldiers watched in horror.
He flew over to the edge of the hole he had made and turned back to look at the general. "Well, I'll be going down this hole now. If you are lucky enough, you'd be dead before I get back up here." Tom looked back at the hole as he continued.
"If not, I'd take pleasure in sending you to hell myself. Painfully." He added with a hint of nassicime before descending into the human sized hole into the ground, kind of like a shortcut according to him.
…
[Meanwhile back at Gotham]
Black Mask who had a personal vendetta against Ghost who didn't even care for a beef with a small fry such as himself, had picked a war with Ghost that evening.
He sent a handful of his underlings to attack two of Ghost's territories which were under his and the Outlaws' protection. He reached for his phone in his pocket as it began to ring.
"We just attacked a few warehouses and underground businesses believed to be under his protection." The words that came from across the line as one of his subordinates gave him a report.
"Perfect, now he has no choice but to come out of the shadows. Hope you made it clear that the attacks would keep coming, and without giving any hint that I am behind it all?"
"Yes sir."
"Good, he brought this upon himself. I will drag him from the shadows, bring him to his knees and shamefully dethrone him from his place amidst the top bosses in the criminal underworld." Black Mask said as he ended the conversation with an evil laughter.
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