A flurry of attacks rained and with it followed swing, dodge, duck, block, strike…
"You're getting better, Alex," Nightwing commented, blocking another blow from my wooden sword. Our sparring was in full swing… I had a sword in my hands, and Dick was fighting with his traditional weapon: two short sticks.
"Damn it, what kind of wood is this sword made of? It's too heavy," I complained, throwing the pseudo-katana in my hand.
"It's made of guaiac wood: one of the heaviest and densest wood in the world. Its weight is quite consistent with a metal katana, so it's perfect for fencing training," Bruce said, not taking his eyes off the Bat-computer.
"Thanks for enlightening me. You could have kept quiet…"
"I could have, but then you would have continued your whining about its weight, and now that you are informed, I hope you will shut up," said Bats without a trace of pity.
"Alex will shut up? Ha-ha, I would rather believe that the Joker will become a law-abiding citizen than this," Grayson put in his two cents, throwing himself at me and hitting me in the chest with his knee.
He made a short swing with his baton at my right thigh, but I managed to anticipate his intention and blocked the blow with the flat side of the sword.
As I thought, it was a distraction. Now he hits me with a spin on my supporting leg, wanting to knock me down onto the stone floor. Heh, I'm not the same as before! A jump up and I safely avoided his tricky move.
Damn, I'm still in the air, but Dick is already aiming his sticks at my chest? Ugh, that hurts! And I'm back on the stone floor... Well, just you wait, I have! One day, I'll make it up to you a hundredfold! Just fall asleep, and you'll wake up with new makeup and hair. I just have to figure out the time. I'm sure my time will come, I'm very patient, heh-heh…
"Brr, why am I getting goosebumps all of a sudden," Nightwing hugged his shoulders. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"What are you talking about, Dick?" I got to my feet and flashed an innocent smile.
"It's probably just my nerves, after all, I'm a superhero, and this job is pretty troublesome." Grayson said nothing, but his gaze hardened a little in my direction. "Let's do it again,"
He rushed at me, and I again received another dose of beatings. Is it just me, or did his last blows hurt more?
"Time out!"
That's it, to hell with it, I need a rest, at least for ten minutes.
"I don't understand you, Alex. Why did you even choose a katana as your main weapon?" Dick said, sitting down on a stone ledge. "It's hard to attack people with it, unless you want to kill them, of course."
"There are more than just people in this world: mysterious creatures, terrible monsters, hostile aliens, bloodsucking vampires, unknown somethings... We are surrounded by rather unfavorable creatures, and against them I would prefer to act with a sharp blade in my hand than with short sticks. No offense."
"It's okay, I understand. Hmm, but as far as I remember, Bruce has a very interesting cutting specimen. I remember Alfred showing me a katana that belonged to the Japanese general Izamu Kershino, who lived in the 8th century A.D. This weapon has been passed down in the Wayne family for generations," Dick said, thoughtfully stroking his chin.
"Really?" My eyes lit up brighter than the North Star. I turned my pleading gaze towards the Dark Knight, who had been in dead silence until then.
"No," his unwavering answer reached me, breaking my heart full of dreams.
"Why are you being mean?! At least let me see it, or better yet, just give it to me!" I cried out plaintively, folding my palms in a pleading gesture.
"I wouldn't even think about it. This is a family heirloom and a valuable artifact. Why would I give it to just anyone?"
"I'm just just anyone to you?! You know, Bruce, I thought better of you," I turned away, offended, crossing my arms over my chest.
"The last time I saw this sword, it was lying in the corner of the attic, gathering dust," Grayson added fuel to the fire.
"That's right," the butler's voice sounded, full of dignity. "This blade has been gathering dust upstairs for 15 years. I remember Master Bruce once even wanted to sell it at auction, considering it a trinket, completely forgetting about its hereditary value." Pennyworth came down to the cave with a tray of food and fresh tea. "Mr. Alex, I'm quite sure that even if you take this sword without asking, Master Bruce won't even notice the loss."
"Hmm, thank you for the valuable information, Alfred," I thanked the old gentleman.
"I don't even know what exactly I should say in this situation," the dark defender said in an even tone, rubbing his forehead.
Ha-ha, I beat Batman once again, well, isn't that a reason to be happy.
"By the way, Alex," the former Robin turned to me. "Barbara told me that the negotiations with Ivy failed. It looks like you're starting to give up your positions."
"Shut up, smart ass. This isn't a matter of one day, and for me, the conversation with Pamela went more than successfully. I'll succeed, I just need a little more time," I whispered quietly, falling into thought.
"What are you going to do? Why such secrecy, and why do you need Ivy's help? What kind of experiment are you going to do?" Bats bombarded me with questions.
"You'll find out about everything soon. Everything has its time…"
"The longer you delay with the answers, the more you irritate me," Bruce said, frowning.
"Stop whining, better tell me how things are with the League of Shadows," I changed the course of communication to the side of interest to me.
"Everything is as you expected. They started watching you. And quite brazenly... I caught one and interrogated him. True, I didn't manage to find out anything useful, except that at the moment their task is only surveillance. I don't know what exactly Ra's is up to, but it's clearly not good. Though you don't have to worry too much, I'll deal with them and get rid of the annoying stalkers."
"Well, since Batman himself says so, I'm calm. However, being under constant surveillance by a secret organization of killers... Ah, it all happened a little earlier than I expected."
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Thank you all for your support. It means a lot.
Webnovel is such a scam istg, there were plenty of frames for 10 k point when I was at 8 k points and today when I crossed 10k points, there are no frames under 15 k.
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