A few days ago:
Gotham, 11:35 PM
As always, it was a rainy night in Gotham. Commissioner James Gordon, draped in a light-brown raincoat, walked to the roof of the police department and then towards the skylight that he'd personally installed there several years ago.
He pulled off the drape from the front of the big light and pulled the lever on the side, down, turning the light on, which then sent the bat signal directly into the clouds.
Not even a few minutes later, a dark shadow with a wide wingspan and two glowing eyes appeared in the sky, lit by that light.
Soon enough, the shadow landed nearby Gordon, right atop the same roof. The dark silhouette had long pointed ears, and as it walked towards him, the sudden crackling lightning showed who he really was.
"You called?" Batman, like always, spoke in a dark, raspy voice.
"Yes. My informants in the League of Shadows have relayed a troubling information," Gordon replied, taking the pipe out of his mouth.
"You still have men in the Shadows? That's just asking for trouble," Batman spoke, a bit concerned.
Gordon replied, "As I'd said before, you guys can't be everywhere at all times. So, let the people do their part. You are heroes, not gods."
A kid's voice echoed from a bit behind. "We do have a few literal gods in the Justice League, though." It was Robin, sitting on top of the roof's cabin, listening to their conversation, in his green and red suit, the black and yellow cape with hood covering him from the rain. His face was hidden behind that black eye mask. (A/N: It's Dick Grayson; 13 years old.)
"Shouldn't you be worried about tomorrow's classes, Mr. Grayson—sorry, Robin?" Gordon asked.
"It's barely an inconvenience… You guys can continue."
"I thought I told you to wait," Batman said, his tone a bit grumpy this time.
"My hands slipped, and I ended up swinging along," Robin shrugged.
Batman ignored him for now and looked back at Gordon, who continued, "The Ukrainian President, Kateryna Kushnir, is coming to Washington, D.C. in a few days." (A/N: I searched for a Ukrainian name, and this one sounded good.)
"That contract they're about to sign with the USA. Is this about that?" Robin asked from behind.
"Yes, and we have enough proof to believe that someone has tipped the League of Shadows for her assassination. But the most troubling part is who they have assigned for this job."
"Let me guess, Talia al Ghul," Robin added from behind, but one stern look from Batman made him look the other way. He was probably going to get a lot of shit for that joke.
"No, it's Deathstroke," Gordon replied. Both vigilante father and son were a bit serious now- well, mostly Robin, because Batman was always serious.
Robin then said, "Hmm, the tension between Russia and Ukraine has been rising for the past few years. So, it's not hard to guess who might have tipped for her assassination."
"And her death could entice a bigger conflict," Batman finished.
Gordon nodded and said, "This isn't just my own request. Mr. President personally requested me to talk to you."
Batman didn't say anything else but turned back to Robin. "Get ready for a trip." He then shot his grapple into the taller building nearby and disappeared into the rainy night.
Robin was still staring in the direction Batman went, the surprise visible even under the eye mask he was wearing.
He wasn't expecting Batman to take him along, because it was always either 'You're not ready' or 'No, we can't take risks on this one.'
"That's unexpected," he mumbled, jumping off the roof, his cape fluttering with the wind.
'Sigh... It's always so awkward between these two.' Gordon thought to himself.
At present:
Downtown Washington, 03:45 PM
Leon was walking back from his school. He was in his regular outfit; a dark-blue pair of jeans with sports shoes and a thin hoodie over a white shirt.
His dark circular shades were over his eyes, and his backpack was safely stored in his shadow storage. It was originally just a small space for storing weapons and essentials.
But Leon's subspace was, as far as he knew, endless, and he could store anything except for a living, breathing thing. Small living things, like insects or even birds, were possible to keep there.
But some force physically stopped the phenomenon whenever he tried to keep a bigger living thing in there.
Physical time stopped for the objects that were put in the space, so it was best for storing a lot of essentials that would otherwise go bad.
From food and water to weapons, guns, blades, etc. If he had to be exact, almost everything a human would need to survive, and possibly a bit more, was in that space.
As he strolled along the walkway, some people- people whom he had helped around, recognized him and waved at him, some giving him a heads-up. "Hey, kid! Catch." A fruit seller threw an orange at him.
Leon gently caught it with three fingers and replied, "Thanks! New batch?" he asked.
"Just came in yesterday," the seller replied and started talking to his customer who was waiting. Some others knew that he was a sorcerer, mainly the ones whose lives he'd saved.
But most of them were somewhere in the range of believing that as just a running joke, 'Yeah, the kid's magic.' Something like that.
Whatever the case, he'd made a name for himself, and a good reputation was always welcome in his books. People weren't always as bad as the internet made them out to be.
"Leon! Leon, wait up!" A girl's voice that he recognized called him from behind. He stopped and sighed a long breath, turning around with a smile on his face.
"Where were you yesterday? I even told your aunt that I was looking for you," Rose spoke, her greyish-white hair falling forward as she stopped in front of him.
"Yeah, she did tell me. But I just forgot. How're you doing?" he asked with a smile.
"You always forget about me but can easily remember hundreds of languages?" she asked with a pout on her face, looking up at his shades, since he was at least five inches taller than her.
"Well, I do have my priorities. What are you up to now, Rose?" he asked. He knew she was spying on him, but her requests sometimes were strange.
One time, she wanted to know if he ever wanted revenge on the ones who caused the death of his parents. It wouldn't have been too strange if it wasn't so out of the blue.
Just to play along, he acted as if he'd forgotten about it, and she had suddenly made him remember the horrific event; acting angry and pissed was the easiest thing to do, by the way.
It took a few days for her to finally make him talk to her again, but there was something about her expression at that time that told him she'd got her answer.
He then clearly realized that whoever had assigned her was really playing a long game. And he was all for it. 'I'll play with you harder than my Tiger plays with her food,' He thought with a grin.
His ninth shadow, Tiger Funeral, was a giant version of a Siberian Tiger. She loved to hunt in the Alaskan mountains and had a tendency to play with her food too much.
But she was so cuddly and bubbly in her mini form that he couldn't help but name her Miss Bubbles.
Rose was a bit startled, seeing that grin again. There was something about that smile that unsettled her sometimes.
Leon kept disappearing somewhere every other day, and no one would know where he went. And then there was his terrifying intelligence.
She still wondered why someone with his brain capacity was still wasting his time in high school. And then there was also his sorcery part.
She'd rarely seen him in action, except for his wolf summons a few times and that giant owl with a skeleton as its face.
At first, she was pissed that she was sent here for this long-ass spying job. But the more she kept learning about him, the more mysterious Leon became.
'Leon Blade? Who- What are you, really?' she thought.
"Ah, excuse me? Did you just call me to stare at my handsome face? I mean, I know I'm irresistible, but isn't that a bit too much?" Leon spoke, snapping his fingers, bringing her out of her stupor.
'Rose Wilson Worth, you're the worst spy I've ever seen. Even worse than those corny spy movies,' He thought.
"No, I needed your help yesterday. But it's already solved now. Why don't we go to that café we-" She was about to ask when her phone rang. When she pulled it out and saw who was calling, her face lost all expression.
She immediately looked up at him, giving that smile again, and said, "Sorry, something urgent came up. Let's catch up some other time." She turned around, hurrying back to her apartment.
With just a bit of focus, he could hear the conversation she was having on her phone. 'Oh? Daddy's home, huh?' He gave a smirk.
A shadow escaped from Leon's feet and quickly attached itself to hers without her even having the faintest idea about it.
"It's showtime, then." He turned around, stretching his arms, peeling that orange he was holding and happily munching on the juicy fruit.
The same day:
Washington International Airport, 07:55 PM
The Ukrainian President, Kateryna Kushnir, landed at the airport. She was then welcomed by the U.S. President, Donald Regan, and was safely escorted to a five-star hotel.
The contract would be signed tomorrow, and until then, keeping her safe was the USA's responsibility.
Lunaire Grand Plaza, the hotel where Kateryna was staying: Around 09:30 PM.
Kateryna was sitting by the table, reading some clauses of their contract that had been pre-handed to her.
She was a woman in her mid to late forties. Her dark hair with some white streaks, was tied to a ponytail, reading glasses over her eyes.
The light in her room suddenly went out, alerting her immediately. She closed the file, stuffing it inside the desk, then pulled out her gun, holding it tightly with two hands as she got up and looked around, the entire room now only lit by the table lamp.
She frowned, trying to see if something was amiss or if this was just a technical issue. Keeping a calm demeanor, she walked towards the door and silently opened it.
She widened her eyes, seeing the scene outside; the bodyguards stationed outside were all dead, their throats, bellies, or chests slit open.
Her gut wrenched, bile rising up her mouth, but she had to stuff it down. This wasn't a time for her to lose her composure.
When she got back in her room, she felt something cold touching the back of her neck. Deathstroke now stood behind her, the orange parts of his suit reflecting the light from the table lamp.
His sword in his hand as he pointed it at Kateryna's neck. "Good night," his voice echoed beneath his mask, which only had one eye. Kateryna closed her eyes, gritting her teeth.
But before Deathstroke could do anything, a shadow burst in from the front door, and someone else broke in from the hotel window, from outside.
Robin, coming in from the door, pulled the woman away from Deathstroke, who pulled out a gun and started shooting, but Batman was already there, covering them with his cape, deflecting all the bullets.
"Take her away," Batman ordered, and Robin immediately jumped down the broken window, carrying the president along with him.
Batman threw two batarangs at Deathstroke, which he deflected, swinging his sword fast, then dashed towards Robin, but was pulled back by Batman, and they both started going at each other.
Hanging by the wire that he'd immediately launched above, Robin took the president to the roof of the building. Landing cleanly along with her, he let her down.
"Thank you- You, you're a, child?" she asked, a bit surprised.
"Not the strangest thing you'll see, ma'am. Let's go, they won't stop until they get you. But don't worry, I'll keep you safe." Before they could move, though, a chuckling voice echoed on the roof.
"Well, you're right about the not letting her go part. But I'm not so sure how you're planning to keep her safe, from me." It was a female voice.
Out of the dark corner of the ventilators, someone else with a suit color similar to Deathstroke's walked in front of them.
The color scheme was the same but in a female version, with both eyes in her mask, which let out her greyish-white hair from its back.
"Ravager," Robin spoke. (A/N: Right now, Rose is about 17-years-old.)
"You better stand aside, Robin. I don't want to be arrested for child slaughter. But going in for the murder of an international president would be cool," she spoke with a chuckle.
Robin didn't reply but pulled out his batons from his back, ready for a fight. Ravager was a trained assassin, trained by Deathstroke himself. 'This could be a tough one.' He thought. (A/N: I know Robin slams, but he's not that cocky, compared to the others,)
Ravager pulled out her swords from her back, and they were both about to clash when Deathstroke jumped up from behind, as he came up to the roof.
"Stop wasting your time. I didn't bring you here for a chit-chat," he said, holding his gun and his sword in each of his hands.
'Wait, if he's here, then-' Robin was about to be worried when Batman pulled up behind him, now standing beside the president.
He sighed, 'No way he'd be defeated that easily,' He thought, calming down a bit. Now, it was two on two on the rooftop.
They sized up their opponents first and were about to make a move when they heard the voice of another person; it was the voice of a young boy.
"Yes, tell Mr. President that she's safe. The vigilante duo did their job well." It was Leon, who was casually seated on top of the ventilator, holding his phone to his ear.
He was wearing a high-necked dark-purple jacket and pants of the same color with his dark, shiny leather shoes and his eyes hidden behind his absurdly dark shades.
"Leon Blade… What are you doing here?" Batman asked, not at all impressed.
"You know who he is?" Robin asked, a bit confused.
"Who doesn't..." Batman just mumbled, but Leon heard it.
"I'm flattered. But unfortunately, I'm here to see someone else today. Let's catch up some other time, Batman, and you too, Robin. You're cool, just wanted you to know." He said that casually.
Robin was stumped. It was the first time someone said that to him. He just unconsciously blurted out, "Thanks… I guess." But immediately shut his mouth, seeing his dad staring into his soul.
Leon spoke again, jumping down from the ventilator. "Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show his face. Mr. Deathstroke."
He added after a pause, "Or, should I say, my dear Father-In-Law."
"Huh?"
That was the same reaction by all four of them, except for the president, who was just standing in the back, all confused but kind of excited to be a part of whatever insane shit or drama, that was about to unfold.
...… To be continued!
A/N: Alright, that's it for the 10th one. Be ready for Deathstroke Vs Leon, next chapter... See you next chapter... Bye!