Julius's POV
I sat, leaning back in a chair in a nondescript apartment building, thirty minutes away from the GCPD, with three men seated across from me. One stood shrouded in shadows—just a silhouette. The other two, middle-aged and stern, stared at me while I flipped through the final pages of the deal they'd worked out.
They were asking for a lot—financial trails, organizational intel, shipment routes, sabotage plans, and the names of dirty law enforcement officers on Black Mask and Penguin's payrolls.
And that wasn't even the worst of it. Gordon and the other suit wanted me to admit to the rooftop murders, the stash house raids, and putting down multiple bodies.
"That's a lot to ask for something I already got," I said, lowering the paper stack and fixing the lawyer with a look. "I thought this sit-down was supposed to be with Gordon."
"Sam is here to make sure everything is above board," Gordon said, his tone clipped, his stare pointed. I got the sense he wasn't as understanding about my past as Batman was. "Otherwise, their prosecution will poke holes in our case. You don't want Black Mask walking away again. This is how we stop that."
"By signing a slave contract that'll bury me for life if a single detail falls through?" I scoffed. "I'm fifteen, not an imbecile. You've got circumstantial evidence at best—and even that vanished from police lock-up. The best I can offer you is cooperation. Nothing more. If I don't find the intel, I don't find it—I'm not risking life and limb."
The lawyer frowned. "I thought you said he understood how this works. You're lucky to be getting this deal at all."
I folded my arms and leaned back. "Then charge me. Drag me into Gotham PD. Then put the deal in front of me."
"That would compromise your cover," the lawyer snapped. "No one would trust you. You'd be in even more danger."
"I've got bounty hunters out for my blood," I said dryly. "I'm already in danger."
A long silence followed before Gordon broke the stalemate. He gave Sam a look that was worth a thousand words.
"As long as you cooperate to the full extent of your abilities," Gordon said carefully, "we'll guarantee your family's safety. We'll also make arrangements for you—regardless of the outcome."
I grinned. "Get all that in writing, and I'll happily sign. After I read through it, of course."
This whole conversation was probably a waste of time, but you never knew.
"You should get going," Bruce said, breaking his silence and startling the lawyer. The Dark Knight had been so still, it was easy to forget he was even there. "They'll be expecting you."
I checked my watch. He was right, of course. Me and the twins had last-minute ops training before tonight's job, and we were expecting trouble.
"I'll see you around, then," I said, rising. "Can't say it's been a pleasure."
Two weeks had passed since that initial meeting, and I'd been a man on a mission—pushing, grinding, screaming through training sessions like my life depended on it.
I'd even added electrocution and mild poisoning to the mix—anything to force growth. And I hadn't been disappointed.
Class: Sorcerer – Level 9 (3rd Grade)
Titles: Touched by the Sparks of Black
Techniques: Inverse Lv 3
Health: 530/530
Cursed Energy: 580/580
Stamina: 510/510
Stats:
STR: 43 AGI: 48
PER: 54 VIT: 53
END: 51 CP: 58
Skills:
Cursed Inventory Lv 4
Hand-to-Hand Combat Lv 4
Cursed Energy Reinforcement Lv 4
Cursed Energy Manipulation Lv 4
Stealth Lv 5
Curtain Lv 3
Gun Mastery Lv 5
Acrobatics Lv 4
Swordsmanship Lv 3
Meta Ability: Enhanced Regeneration
Free Points: 8
My growth spurt was finally kicking in. I'd grown nearly two inches in two weeks, and every stat point after 50 felt like a seismic shift.
My stamina was freakish. My wounds healed faster than ever. My technique felt more stable, more robust—even though the skill itself hadn't leveled. And my perception? It was the most unnatural thing about me.
I picked up everything faster—swordplay, firearms, hand-to-hand. I could tell when someone was lying from just a twitch in their posture. I could smell what they'd eaten, know if they'd had sex recently, even feel what mood they were in from the subtlest cues.
Which is how I spotted my assassin before she struck.
I was at a local store, stocking up on groceries, when I felt the air shift behind me. The woman had repositioned subtly, her hand reaching into her clutch just as her partner distracted me.
We were in the vegetable aisle. I was hesitant to cause a scene—but when your life's on the line, hesitation gets you killed.
I grabbed the woman's wrist inches before the needle touched my skin—some kind of poison. Her friend reached into her jacket, but I beat her to the draw, firing a tranquilizer dart into her chest as I shoved the first woman away and shot her square in the stomach.
They both went down.
The screaming started moments later as I tucked the tranq gun back into my coat. This one wasn't from Bruce. It was one of Penguin's—thoroughly scrubbed for trackers. I could handle Oswald watching me. Bruce? Not so much.
Security guards arrived with weapons drawn.
I raised my hands, trying to cut through the hysteria.
"They're not dead. Just unconscious," I said calmly, nodding at the woman I'd disarmed. "That one tried to stick me with a needle. The other had a gun."
"So did you," one of the guards shot back, stepping forward.
"If I wanted to kill them, I'd have used a knife or taken her real gun," I said, irritated. "Just search them. You'll see I'm telling the truth."
The lead guard looked back at a younger man who'd hung near the entrance and gave him a nod. By the time he turned around again, I was gone—vanishing behind Curtain.
Disappearing was becoming an art form.
Five more attempts followed that week. Two from bounty hunters. One from a dirty cop who tried to arrest me in broad daylight. Another from a pair of blonde twins with super strength. A single punch from one of them shattered Inverse and launched me clean off a rooftop.
I had to use Curtain again just to escape.
But I finally had enough when Firefly attacked.