Risk It All: Stacked Odds (ch. 28) (Patreon)

I was a bit floored to see Zatanna standing on the rooftop after my… fight with Kid Flash. My mind drew a blank for a second -- I wondered how much she had heard, when did she get there, how she got there, and if I was in imminent danger of Zatara putting a boot up my ass for being in the same city as his daughter. So, I don't think it was really my fault when I stared blankly at her for a second before forcing out a, "Hey?"

After the word left my lips, my brain shifted into a higher gear, "What are you doing here? I thought your dad took you off the team?" I asked, not happy about it, but looking for clarification. In response to that, Zatanna rolled her eyes so hard there was an honest risk of them just flying out her head.

She scoffed and crossed her arms, "Dad grounded me after he found out about our date." she informed me, and I had guessed as much. Then Zatanna looked a bit sheepish, "He got a little mad at me since he thinks I'm too young to be dating. Then that made me mad, so… well…"

Ah.

"You told him about…" I trailed off, and Zatanna nodded. Right. Okay. So, Zatara knew I had made out with his daughter. That was… not good. Honestly, I was pulling a blank on things that could be less good than one of the most powerful magic users in the world having it out for me because I kissed his daughter. Because I doubted people would think to look for my body on Pluto. "Huh."

"Yeah… I just wanted him to stop treating me like a little girl, you know? It seemed like a good idea at the time," Zatanna defended herself, though it sounded like she was regretful. "So, that really set me off and then he grounded me for forever. It took me a bit to find a way around his wards, so sorry for dropping off the face of the earth. It… seems like it caused you some problems."

So she had heard that discussion with Wally. "No, you don't have anything to be sorry for. That… that was a long time coming between me and Kid," I said, and I knew that wouldn't be the end of it. I kinda regretted picking that fight. Or, rather, I regretted picking it now. During a mission. Because unless me and Wally found a way to sweep the incident under the rug where it would never be found, this was going to cause issues for the team. More issues.

"Glad to see you're standing up for yourself," Zatanna remarked as she approached, her hands clasped behind her back as she shuffled forward, almost shyly.

The issue of me and Kid could wait. "It's good to see you, Zatanna -- so, don't take this the wrong way, but should you be here? Your dad is going to be pissed," I pointed out. And that got a smirk out of Zatanna. It was a smirk that told me exactly what she thought of the idea of pissing her dad off, exciting me and making me feel bad for Zatara at the same time.

Having a daughter sounded tough. Having a daughter like Zatanna sounded like a nightmare.

But, Zatanna wasn't my daughter. She was my maybe-possibly-kinda girlfriend. So, feeling bad for Zatara wouldn't exactly stop me.

"It's not like he can ground me any more than he has," Zatanna remarked with a bitter edge. "So, I'm here for you. And the mission," she tacked on a half-second later, rather unconvincingly as she took a step further. Her smile widened a fraction when she invaded my personal space. I…

Taking in a deep breath, I grabbed my hormones in a strangled grip to get some semblance of self-control. "I don't want you to get in any more trouble, Zatanna," I told her, making that smile promptly fall. I kinda felt like a dick, especially when she risked getting in trouble to see me, but it couldn't be denied that this was a bad time. A really bad time. During a mission, after another team issue -- doing what I wanted to do…

If I did it, then I would deserve to get tossed off the team. I wouldn't be treating my role as a hero seriously.

"Oh," Zatanna said, stepping away from me and looking away. That's all she said, but that's all she needed to say to voice her displeasure.

"I… want that second date, Zatanna, but I want to do this right. Not just for you, but for the team too. At this point, the team is hanging on by a thread and I don't want to be the one that makes it break," I said, though I wondered if it was already too late for that. I wanted to punch Kid Flash in the mouth. I just didn't like him. And I knew he felt the same way about me. We were oil and water, we just didn't mix.

Zatanna seemed to relax a bit upon hearing that, "Oh- I… I thought you were about to break up with me," Zatanna admitted, looking relieved and sheepish in equal measures.

"I'm not an idiot," I pointed out, and that put a smile back on her face. "We just need to work something out so we aren't fighting the Justice League and the Team so we can date, you know?" Which meant bringing her dad around to the idea. Not exactly sure how that was going to go, but I was willing to bet all of my prestige on 'not well.'

"Okay, yeah, it's not like I like pissing my dad off," Zatanna responded and… I'm not exactly sure I believed her there, but she nodded all the same. "Do you want me on the mission? Kid Flash kinda ran off," she pointed out. Probably off to go tell his side of the story to anyone that would listen. Ugh, but fine.

I looked at the front for the Yakuza, mulling it over, before I slowly shook my head. "I think it would be best if you were on standby. If we need you, then you show up to save the day," I said, it would look better that way than if Zatanna was just seen ignoring her dad's wishes, and we ignored them too.

Zatanna did seem a bit disappointed, but she nodded all the same. "I'll be your guardian angel, Koi."

And as if on cue, a group of Yakuza started to leave the building. I looked at them, then at Zatanna, before I nodded. I didn't hear anything through the mental link, and I could only hope that was because there was nothing to say instead of Megan blocking me out so they could trash talk me.

'I have movement on my end. Robin?' I questioned, getting ready. I reached into my Inventory to pull out a wood katana -- it wasn't tough, but by upping my reinforcement, I could make it better than it was. I didn't want to cut anything off of anyone. There was a small beat of silence, enough to make me wonder if Megan had blocked me from the link -- likely for my own good rather than anything mean-spirited.

'MM and I are in position, but these guys are expecting trouble,' Robin responded, sounding like nothing was wrong. That was good.

'Alright. Let's give them some,' I said before I stepped over the edge of the building, flash stepping across the street, giving me the momentum to sail through the air directly at the group of Yakuza. They never saw me coming, not until I landed on one, using his back as a landing pad and knocking him on his face. The others barely had time to react before I was upon them.

There were times it was difficult to remember, especially when I so frequently fought against people like Wonder Woman or Jin -- but even with half of my strength and skills gone, I was more than a match for a half dozen Yakuza. I was so much stronger physically, and more experienced, that in no time at all, all the thugs dropped to the ground in various states of unconsciousness.

I was nowhere near the top, but I was far from the bottom now. I was firmly superhuman, which drove home just how weak regular humans were.

Pivoting, I flashed stepped to the front door and swung it open to be greeted with the rich smells of authentic Japanese food. This was another restaurant I had frequented when I won some money gambling. Was there a single honest restaurant in Gotham? Because so far, I was striking out every time.

I saw a Yakuza thug start to get up upon seeing me, but with a single step, I crossed the entire restaurant, smacking him with my bokken just as I kicked open the back door to see what they had stashed here.

Heroin. Lots and lots and lots of heroin.

There were a few guards, but they were dispatched with ease, leaving me with what looked like several pounds of black tar heroin. 'What do the Justice League usually do when they find a shit ton of drugs?' I asked over the mental link, because it felt dangerous to just leave it here.

'Batman leaves it as evidence most of the time, but if he feels like it's too risky, he'll destroy it," Robin answered. Good to know.

I had Gluttony eat the drugs for now -- I had no real way to destroy them outside of fire, and I didn't want to accidentally burn down the building. A front for the Yakuza or not, good food was good food. 'I'm done with my end. Everyone else doing okay?'

'Fine,' came Superboy's quick answer. 'Your clone took out a gun deal.' Beifong didn't respond because he wasn't part of the connection -- he didn't have mental defense, so he would be back in the stage of projecting every thought to everyone.

'I'm in the boss's office. Going through his files now,' Robin informed the rest of us, and I bit my tongue to swallow a remark about giving status updates across the board. I didn't know Superboy had already started his mission, and last I heard Robin and Miss Martian were waiting for an opportunity. 'Koi, Kid -- I just found evidence of a hit being planned on Ren Song.'

Huh. 'The Yakuza have some pretty fragile pride,' I remarked, my eyes narrowing. The Yakuza were planning to kill me because I smacked around some of their guys. 'Which address are they going to?'

'The one in Chinatown. No one's there right? Koi, they have orders to make a demonstration of you and your family,' Robin said, and there was genuine worry in his voice. I appreciated it, but I was struggling to stifle the growing sense of wrath I was feeling. It was more than anger and it was more than rage. It was true, old-testament wrath.

Again, my family found a target on their backs because of my actions. I wasn't worried, per say. Not when I knew Dad could stomp the Yakuza into a smear on the ground, but the fact that they were in danger at all…

'No one is there. It's just an empty apartment,' I answered. 'Are they on their way yet?' I asked, steel in my tone.

'No, not yet. What do you want to do, Koi?' Robin asked me, letting me take the lead.

Superboy spoke up, 'We crush them. Completely.' he said, his voice coming out as a low growl in my head. I appreciated the thought. I was glad that he had my back.

'We give them more to worry about than Ren Song smacking some thugs around,' I decided. 'Robin? MM? I'm heading to you.'

'Same here,' Superboy decided.

Aqualad was silent. Tellingly so. Then he spoke up, 'Artemis and I shall continue acting on the information that you gathered, Koi. If anything should remain of the gang after tonight, I don't want them to have access to resources that they could use to target your family with.' he said, and I wondered what that silence had been about.

'Thanks,' I responded curtly as I moved through the city, my destination clear. I flashed stepped quickly, and I doubt that Zatanna was able to keep up with me. Gotham was always busy, but the sidewalks seemed to be absolutely packed with people today, forcing me to use the street. I darted between cars, then started to use them as platforms.

The closer I got to the Yakuza HQ, the more the simmering anger started to boil over. They were going after my family. My Mom and Dad. Because they were embarrassed by a viral video. They were going to murder me and my parents to save face. At the very least with Black Mask, he had been worried that I would testify against him. The Yakuza… they were just targeting me and my family because of wounded pride.

I gripped my bokken with white knuckles as I spotted the building. It was an apartment block that had the first two floors converted into restaurants. Whereas Little Asia was comprised of several blocks, Japantown had been a single building for as long as I could remember. The Japanese just didn't have a strong presence in comparison to the Chinese and Koreans.

Now, the building was owned by the Yakuza and turned into a compound. In the past month, everyone that wasn't a member of the Yakuza was either forced to leave, or they were recruited. It was a nasty practice -- if you refused to join, the rent and protection money suddenly doubled, and if you were a member, you not only didn't have to pay protection money but your rent was slashed.

I landed on the sidewalk in front of it before I felt a gust of wind on my left. Kid Flash appeared in a blur, his expression grim as our eyes met through his yellow-tinted goggles. There was a small beat of silence as we looked at one another, it had been less than ten minutes since we were at each other's throats.

"We'll talk after the mission," I told him, and it was going to be a Talk. Things had been pushed to their breaking point and beyond. To the point that if something wasn't done, someone would have to leave the team for there to be any hope of salvaging it. And I might even quit just to leave the situation behind me.

Kid Flash offered a curt nod, "After the mission," he agreed. Depending on how that talk went, we'd be deciding the team's future.

For now, though -- it was time to deal out some punishment for targeting my family.

I strode forward, reaching the heavily reinforced door as I slipped into the Black Heaven and Earth Technique, increasing my already high stats. Rearing a foot back, I slammed it near the door handle, using focus stomp to nearly blast the door off the hinges. I strode into the building, immediately hearing an alarm, and a half dozen men that had been relaxing in the lobby scrambled to get ready to fight as it blared.

I barely saw Kid Flash as he suddenly laid everyone out. He was just a blur of motion and in a second, before I could even finish taking a footstep, all six men were on the ground, bound, and their belts used to seal the doors to the restaurants that flanked the lobby. Then I heard a noise in my head coming from the mental connection with Miss Martian.

'Think slower, Kid,' Miss Martian said as Kid Flash came to a stop.

'We're in the building!' Kid Flash informed, earning a feeling of amusement from Robin that he projected over the mental connection.

'We'll meet in the middle,' Robin decided as I started moving. I flashed stepped to the stairs that led upward before jumping up, double jumping at the middle section to send me up to the second floor. I saw Yakuza start funneling from their apartments -- most of them weren't dressed up, but nearly all of them had weapons in their hands.

I flash stepped towards the nearest one, and it was only then that I realized that my fighting style was uniquely suited for dealing with large numbers of enemies at once. I blurred through them, swinging my sword with devastating effect. Anger guided my swings -- I wanted to hurt them. I wanted to make sure that their stay in the hospital was a long one so they couldn't target my family even if they wanted to. I didn't even care if I got chewed out for it.

Because, as my bokken slammed into a man's leg, breaking it like glass, I knew that Thou Shall Not Kill was the only reason why I hadn't dropped a body by the time I reached the end of the hallway. I might have crippled people even without using Soul Crushing Strike.

And I didn't care.

The moment my family entered the equation, all bets were off. There would be no mercy.

Kid Flash blurred down from the third floor, and nearly tripped over his own two feet when he saw my handiwork. His skin paled and, for a second, it looked like he might be sick. I didn't care. I flash stepped to him before taking the expressway to the third floor to see that a lot of people were banging at their doors, which had been tied close. Sheets that Kid had found somewhere were tied around the door handles, connecting them to the door across from them, so neither could open the door.

It was a much cleaner solution than mine, but I just went on up to the third floor. I caught a few people on their way down, and with a quick swung on my bokken, all of them went down. Reaching the fourth floor, I laid eyes on the wall on the other end of the hallway right as it was smashed in. Superboy landed in the hallway, brushing off dust from his body.

Since it was a covert mission, the shielded S on his chest was gone and his face was covered. I'm not sure how much of a secret his existence actually was, but the League was taking steps to avoid a public debut. Superboy looked to me, just as Beifong followed in after him, and I nodded at Superboy through a sea of Yakuza.

I darted forward and there was no mercy to be found. I dropped everyone that I got close to until they were being pushed back to Superboy out of fear of me. Which seemed ludicrous considering that Superboy came in like a wrecking ball, but it was so bad that some were trying to escape through the hole that he made through the wall.

Moments later, I stood in a hallway filled with groaning bodies. They clutched their arms and legs, which I had targeted. Some had a few extra broken bones for being slow learners. I had exactly zero sympathy for them. Any one of them could have gone to my apartment and tried to do terrible things to my family.

Robin dropped down from the fifth floor, joined by Miss Martian. He seemed visibly taken back at the display of violence, but he recovered quickly. "There's no sign of any origin for the money," he said aloud for Beifong's sake. "No mentions of it, or physical copies of evidence."

Seriously? "How are they paying their bills then?" I asked, caught a bit flat-footed. They were pulling millions of dollars out of thin air. "Where's the boss?" I asked, and to that, Robin shook his head.

"I'm picking up a basement," Beifong spoke up, and… it was so weird to hear my own voice. I didn't hate it either. It sounded… charming? Which felt egotistical to think about. I glanced at him and my copy tapped his feet, "I can see through my feet. There's a pretty big basement below us. We can use the elevator to get to it."

A basement that wasn't on the blueprints. I knew because I had looked. I nodded as I looked at Superboy, who responded by stepping over people that groaned and moaned about their broken limbs. He strode towards the elevator while Beifong came up to me, sparing me a glance from behind his straw hat. Then he nodded.

The Multiform technique was more than just making a clone. Beifong was just as much me as I was. Of course, he understood.

Superboy grabbed hold of the metallic doors of the elevator and effortlessly ripped them open to reveal an elevator shaft. I looked down and saw that it was at least a five-story drop. There was definitely a basement. Superboy wasted no time jumping straight down, falling fifty feet with no difficulty at all. I jumped down after him while the others followed behind me, landing with far more grace because of either airbending or telekinesis.

By the time I landed, Superboy had already ripped open the other set of elevator doors to be greeted by gunfire. I flash stepped into the basement as soon as I could to see Superboy throwing himself at a group of them. There were a few dozen guardsmen, but my attention was stolen by the centerpiece of a rather large basement. It completely captured my attention, mostly because I had absolutely no clue what I was looking at.

It was a large machine that was half submerged in some kind of pit that had an ominous blue glow to it, the parts that stuck out were large and bulky, and looked like some kind of production line. Then, to my shock, while I was looking at it Superboy was thrown into the machine hard enough that he tore right through it, ripping through metal like wet tissue paper. More confusingly, money followed in his wake as he rolled across the ground, his back slamming into the wall. He was on his feet a moment later, ready to fight as he glared at the foe that had thrown him.

A counterfeit machine. Of course. They literally were pulling money from thin air. The question was how they made it or got their hands on it, but at the moment, I had to prioritize what exactly handed Superboy’s ass to him. Looking in the direction that Superboy came from, I saw a hulking figure approach, stepping through the ruined machine.

There was no way as a Gothamite that I failed to recognize him. A seven-foot-tall, broad-shouldered, beefy, man completely covered in scales. His face was an odd mixture of humanoid and reptilian, no nose to speak of, but he had a maw filled with sharp teeth and dark yellow eyes. Killer Croc was an unmistakable sight in Gotham. It actually wasn’t the first time I had seen him in person either.

Killer Croc had a fondness for Chinese food. And I didn’t mean chicken and dumplings.

“Huegh…” Killer Croc cleared his throat, his clawed hands clenching and unclenching a few times. He spat out some blood as he approached, almost paying me no mind until Robin left the elevator shaft. He glanced over, his eyes narrowing, “Boy Wonder? S’not like you to work with friends,” he remarked as I readied myself. He looked… maybe it was a case of seeing him for the first time while not being a little kid that couldn't look past the fact that an actual, oversized lizard man was crawling up from the sewers for a quick snack, but he seemed a lot… stronger.

Bigger. His arm’s bulkier. I also noticed a few spots where his scales seemed to have a gap in them. Almost as if he had recently had a growth spurt and his body had grown too quickly for the scales to keep up, giving his scaly skin something like stretch marks.

“Croc -- what are you doing down here?” Robin questioned, his hand going down to his utility belt. We had most of the team down here, but I really wasn’t liking the look of Killer Croc. There was a tension in the air that made every hair on my body stand on end. Simply because… I had seen some fights online between Killer Croc and Batman, and Croc hadn’t been someone that could throw around Superboy in those videos.

“Job’s a job,” Killer Croc responded, his clawed hands twitching. I tried not to think about how they could easily fit around my head. “Had a good thing going for me until you lot busted the door down.”

“I don’t suppose you’ll surrender peacefully?” I requested, reinforcing my bokken for an answer I knew was coming.

Killer Croc gave me a mockery of a smile.

“No, don’t suppose I will.”