Slade worked in near silence. A single lamp threw a cold cone of light across the workbench, where tools lay arranged like a surgeon's instruments,calipers, a micrometer, a box of industrial tungsten. He picked up the blank round between gloved fingers. It was too large for the calibers he usually tolerated. He had designed it that way.
Ten times the kinetic energy of a standard .50cal ,nothing subtle about it. Slade cut, measured, and seated each component with methodical care, hands steady as a metronome. When he finished he held the round up to the light, letting the lamp catch on the metal. A small grin tugged at one corner of his mouth.
He snapped the round into a velvet-lined case and closed it with deliberate gentleness, then set it aside. Leaning back, he began to twirl a butterfly knife between his fingers, the motion practiced and slow.
"What was mine shall return to me," he muttered.
Tomorrow, pain would fall.
---------------------
Morning,Nanda Parbat
The mountain air was thin and cold, carrying the faint scent of incense.
On a raised stone platform, Pain stood beneath the morning sun, flanked by six of the League's most dangerous figures,Onyx, Mad Hatter, Lady Shiva, Nyssa al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, and finally, Ra's al Ghul himself.
Below them, hundreds of League shadows stood at rigid attention, their faces hidden beneath hoods. The courtyard was utterly silent, the kind of silence that demanded obedience.
Pain's voice broke through it like thunder.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, his tone cold yet commanding. "Today is a momentous day. Today marks the beginning of our official operations."
A murmur of excitement rippled faintly through the ranks before dying just as quickly under his gaze.
"But before we begin," Pain continued, "some of you shall receive a gift—an opportunity to become part of an elite squad operating directly under my command."
He turned slightly toward Ra's, who stepped forward without a word. The Demon's Head moved down the line of shadows, his eyes sharp and calculating. After several tense minutes, he selected twenty individuals from the crowd—the strongest, fastest, most disciplined among them.
Pain's gaze swept over the chosen twenty. "You have been selected for a new program," he said. "A serum has been developed—one that will enhance all of your physical attributes to levels beyond imagination."
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
"However, there is a catch. The success rate is… low. Many who take it will not survive. But for those who do, the rewards will be more than worth the risk."
His eyes glowed faintly in the dim light.
"Now tell me… do you accept?"
The chosen shadows dropped to one knee in unison.
"Yes, Lord Pain!" they shouted, their voices echoing off the cold mountain walls.
Pain smiled faintly, the kind that didn't reach his eyes.
"Good," he said. "Then prepare for transport. You leave for the Gotham hideout immediately."
A sudden glint of light flickered in Pain's peripheral vision.
His instincts screamed,he raised his hand to his face just as something struck with a deafening crack.
The impact sent him tumbling backward, stone fragments scattering beneath him.
In an instant, chaos erupted.
Dozens of assassins drew their blades, scanning the ridgelines. Nyssa, Ra's al Ghul, and Talia sprang forward, forming a protective wall in front of Pain, while Onyx dropped to her knees beside him.
"Lord Pain—!"
"I'm fine," he said evenly, his voice unnervingly calm.
A small projectile had pierced his hand, pinning it to his mask. With a twitch of his wrist, he freed it and inspected the wound. The hand he'd used to shield himself was nearly torn apart,splintered, two fingers missing, the metal warped and smoking.
If it had still been flesh, it would've been a mangled ruin.
Thankfully, he had shifted it into metal using the Asura Path in time. Otherwise, the shot might have gone clean through—and ended him.
He plucked the projectile from his mask and turned it over in his fingers. It was a bullet, large and heavy—almost the size of a man's thumb.
"It seems we have a sniper," Pain said quietly, discarding it with a clink against the stone.
He rose to his feet. The others instinctively stepped aside.
Pain's gaze lifted toward a distant mountain ridge, eyes narrowing. Then he raised both arms.
Before their eyes his arms turned to metal extended, rotated, and fused until a massive cannon unfolded before him. A targeting scope slid into place over one shoulder as the barrel began to spin and glow with energy.
A world away, high on the opposite ridge, Slade felt his stomach drop. His mask sensors screamed warnings.
"...Ah, hell."
He abandoned the rifle just as the air around him ignited.
A thunderous beam of violet energy ripped through the mountainside, carving a molten trench through stone and fire. Slade was caught on the edge of it,the blast searing across his left side as it hurled him back through the rocks.
He screamed as the world went white.
Back in the courtyard, Pain's cannon split apart and folded neatly back into his arms. The glow faded, leaving only smoke and the slightly charged air.
"Find him," Pain said coldly. "And bring him to me,with his body intact."
The shadows bowed and started sprinting toward the mountains.
Pain turned to Ra's, his voice still calm despite the faint trickle of smoke rising from his body.
"Proceed as planned. I need to rest."
He turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing against the stone.
Behind him, Talia, Lady Shiva, Nyssa, and even the Mad Hatter stood frozen—silent, stunned.
None of them could quite believe what they had just witnessed
_________________
Jump City
The morning sun painted the streets in gold as Max and Nina walked side by side, the light breeze carrying the faint hum of city life. Cars drifted by lazily, and the scent of warm pastries from a nearby café mingled with the salt of the bay.
Nina walked with her hands behind her head, her long hair catching the light, while Max's coat swayed faintly as they turned down the familiar road leading from the school.
"So tell me, Nina," Max said casually, glancing at her. "What are you really working on now to improve your strength?"
She looked at him with a playful squint. "Are you seriously going to keep calling me Nina even when we're alone, Dad?"
Max chuckled. "I've just gotten used to it. Besides, it's better that way , I don't want to slip up and call you Thena when we're around the others."
She sighed but smiled faintly. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."
They walked in silence for a moment before she continued, "Well, as for getting stronger, I'm mostly polishing my existing abilities. I'm also trying to develop elemental kekkei genkai while cutting down the time it takes me to enter Sage Mode."
"Kekkei genkai, huh?" Max asked, raising a brow. "How far have you gotten?"
"I'm still at the initial stages with Scorch Release," she admitted, scratching the back of her neck.
"I see," Max said thoughtfully. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask—can you explain to me how you came across your version of Sage Mode?"
"Oh, that?" Nina smirked. "It happened not long after I learned the Rasenshuriken. You know how you can't throw it properly unless your chakra's dense enough, right?"
"Yeah," Max nodded. "That's one of the reasons I don't bother using it."
"Well," she said, her tone softening as her eyes drifted toward the trees lining the street, "I've always felt connected to the Green. Its energy's been around me since forever, but I always… pushed it away. One day, I stopped resisting. Let it in completely while training. Next thing I know—boom. Sage Mode."
"Are there any side effects or risks?"
"Oh, definitely." Nina exhaled with a half-laugh. "I have to mix it with my chakra in equal ratios. If I don't…"
"What happens?"
"I might end up green as Poison Ivy," she said flatly.
Max snorted. "That's not the worst trade-off. You'd have access to Sage Mode all the time, right?"
Nina shook her head. "It's not just the color. When I'm in Sage Mode, I can hear plants. Trees. Grass. They whisper, they hum, they mourn. It's maddening. Having that connection open all the time would drive me insane."
"…Yeah, that sounds less fun," Max admitted.
She smiled faintly. "Told you."
He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Have you tried using Shinsu Senju?"
"I have," Nina said, her voice turning a little sour. "But all I got was a cheap rip-off version.which you may know as Kanzeon Lotus King. I think my chakra reserves aren't large enough, or maybe the quality's just not there yet to summon the real deal."
"Give it time," Max said, his voice calm but carrying a faint pride. "You're already doing things even I can't pull off. You'll get there."
"Anyway… how old are you?" Max asked, scratching his chin.
Nina raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "Why are you asking?"
Max shuffled his feet, trying to appear casual. "I'm just curious. It's not like I've got anyone in mind for you as… a partner or anything."
Nina squinted at him, unimpressed. "Right."
"Well?" he prompted, leaning slightly forward.
"I'm twenty-three," Nina said with a small shrug.
. "Twenty-three huh?"Max repeated while squinting his eyes,deep in thought
"what are you planning " Nina asked
"Nothing dear daughter.Nothing".
End of chapter
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