Risk It All: Lost Cards (ch. 29) (Patreon)

I tossed my bokken into Gluttony and pulled out my Chinese broadsword with the same action, grabbing hold of the hilt as the wooden katana vanished. Killer Croc let out a bestial roar as he began to lunge forward, and his roar was matched in kind by Superboy, who threw himself back at Killer Croc like he owed him money. They clashed in the middle of the room, while I flanked around, and in doing so, I found a man hiding in the corner. Elderly with stark white hair -- I recognized him almost instantly.

The head of the Yakuza clan.

We met eyes before he reflexively held up his hands in surrender, confusing me for a moment. I figured he would have been trying to find a way to escape by using Killer Croc as a distraction, but… no matter. Right now, we did have more pressing concerns if he was already surrendering. That much was proven when Superboy nearly slammed into me like a speeding bullet, fast enough that he would have left me a smear on the wall if I hadn't flashed stepped out of the way. Killer Croc was a lot stronger than I remembered him being.

Superboy grunted as he slammed into the wall of the basement, punching a crater in it, but he was back on his feet a moment later. I looked to Killer Croc to in time to see him darting toward me with surprising speed, a clawed hand raised up to slash at me. I flash stepped out of the way, narrowing my eyes.

'Something's up with Croc -- he's way too strong and fast,' Robin announced, mirroring my own thoughts. Kid Flash zipped around, hugging the wall to secure the boss, leaving Killer Croc to us. A few batarangs flew from Robin that exploded upon contact with Killer Croc. The reptilian man grunted, but through the smoke he still lunged for me and for a brief second, all I could see was a gaping maw filled with teeth.

I flash stepped to the side before darting forward, my broadsword flashing out to catch Croc in the ribs, but the edge of my sword didn't so much as scratch his scales as it scraped along them. Which was good to know, but left me kinda screwed in the short term. Croc lashed out with his tail, taking a swipe at me that I narrowly dodged by quickly jumping over it. It passed underneath me at high speeds, but I was still able to clearly see the razor sharp protrusions along his tail that would have flayed me if I hadn't.

'He also has a tail now,' I noted, landing on my feet. That was definitely new. Croc snarled at me, only to get hit by a massive hunk of metal that had once been a part of the counterfeiting machine. It slammed into him faster than a cry, and a second before Superboy tackled him, nearly knocking Croc on his ass, but the giant crocodile-man managed to correct his balance with his tail. Two beefy hands grabbed hold of Superboy's torso, nearly enveloping him completely, before Croc lifted Superboy up and slammed him into the ground like a child throwing a toy, hard enough that the concrete shattered.

I heard Superboy grunt, which told me that he had actually felt the blow. Which in turn told me that Croc had officially entered 'terrifying' territory when it came to physical strength.

However, it also meant that I shouldn't hold back.

I slipped into the Black Heaven and Earth Technique, feeling a bonfire nestle deep in my gut, spreading its warmth throughout my body. Strength filled me, and was reinforced as my breathing deepened, adopting a familiar rhythm as I fell into the Moon Breathing technique. My blade I reinforced -- it's edge becoming sharper, and the core of the blade more resilient.

I flashed stepped forward, heaving up and slashing my blade across Croc's back. His thick green scales which had proved surprisingly dense, resisted at first, but I still managed to slash through them, and the edge of my blade bit deep until I felt it drag across bone. Croc shouted in pain, though it sounded more pissed off than injured. At the apex of my jump, I used my ability to double jump as I twisted so I was parallel with his shoulders, stopping my momentum just as I raised my foot high so that it was above my head.

Bringing it down, I used Focus Stomp on the side of his head, a loud bang filling the air as Killer Croc, despite being at least one metric ton of rippling muscle, was knocked to the side. He landed in a heap, crushing a few barrels of what smelled like ink under his body. However, based on the low growl that escaped him, he wasn't out of the fight just yet.

"I can't bend the ink," Beifong informed, catching my attention. So, it had to be pure water for us to bend it? Or maybe some level of percentage that made a liquid eligible? That was something I should have tested beforehand, but it had never been an issue before. "And the concrete is reinforced." Meaning that the Earth beneath the basement was inaccessible. Tearing through reinforced concrete wasn't easy.

'MM, can you lift him?' I asked as Superboy leapt on Croc and started wailing on his face -- I could swear I felt the blows ripple through the air, and the vibrations traveled through my feet. Superboy got a few licks in before Croc swatted him off, sending Superboy into the ceiling. Croc made to bat at him as he fell, but I flash stepped forward and Focus Stomped on his extended arm, making him miss as Miss Martian caught Superboy.

'A little, but he's too heavy.' she responded apologetically as I dodged a swipe from a pair of giant claws.

That was an issue.

Killer Croc stood up, roaring in anger before he lunged for me. Robin covered me by throwing more batarangs, the following explosions doing a little bit of damage to him and knocking him slightly off course. My lips thinned as I slashed at him as I retreated, the night sky and spiraling crescent moons slamming into Croc. They scraped against his scales, damaging them, but it wasn't much. Despite taking both blows, Croc tanked them like he didn't even feel them and still rushed forward.

He lunged for me again, and as soon as his feet left the ground, I darted forward, entering the noose as his arms started to close around me. Clenching a fist, I delivered a Tekken punch to his jaw -- I felt the blow shake my bones and my knuckles popped. I wasn't sure how much the punch hurt him, but his head snapped to the side with savage force, letting me jump up with double jump before I focused stomped on his head.

Killer Croc grunted as I flipped away while I considered my options. We were in a confined space with Killer Croc, which was good and bad. The bad part was that we didn't have a whole lot of room to maneuver, and being trapped in a confined space with a ten foot tall lizard was all kinds of dangerous. It was good because it was better down here than in the street above.

Superboy clashed with Croc again, trading powerful blows. Croc weathered them as he had before, his clawed feet digging into the ground to keep him standing before he returned the punches blow for blow. Right up until he grabbed Superboy by the head and slammed him into the ground. A new crater formed around his body, but even as the ground began to break, Superboy was right back in the fight without missing a beat.

"Koi!" Beifong shouted as I darted to Killer Croc, hoping to take the heat off of Superboy. "The ground!" He shouted, making me frown as I spared a glance down and-

Ah.

I'm a fucking genius.

'Superboy, how do you feel about getting used as a hammer?" I asked him, leaping on Croc's back and plunging the tip of my blade into his muscular shoulder. Croc howled as he let got of Superboy, a too large hand going for my head, and I very much doubted that I could survive getting manhandled like Superboy could.

'Not great. Why are you asking?' Superboy questioned, punching Croc in the side of the heas as I threw myself back.

'We aren't going to overpower him, so let's restrain him,' I answered. 'I can't use my Earthbending because of the reinforced concrete-'

'And you want Superboy to bust through it? Won't that hurt?' Miss Martian questioned, sounding worried about the prospect as I suddenly felt myself yanked out of the way of the chunk of concrete that flew by where I was standing from the clash between Superboy and Croc by her telekinesis.

Superboy made a dismissive sound, 'I'll be fine.' In this case, I was leaning towards believing him. Superboy was stupidly tough. Busting through a foot of reinforced concrete probably wouldn't do much as scratch the paint for him.

'Koi, there has to be a better way,' Miss Martian implored, sounding worried for him. I wasn't sure how much of her concern came from a place of concern or the fact that she liked him and didn't want him to be hurt. Still, her plea made me bite my lip in thought. My sword felt heavy in my hand and my body was boiling hot -- I was strong enough that I could deal some damage to Croc.

And right now, my stats were halved.

"Beifong, head upstairs," I told myself and my copy understood what I had planned. I didn't like it, especially since I wanted to keep the power sets of my dual identities separate, but the only people that would know were already in the room. Beifong disappeared into the elevator shaft before he vanished.

I felt my stats and skills slam into me like a sack filled with bricks. I could feel it. Strength was a hard thing to quantify, but when it suddenly had a massive jump like what I felt, it seemed like I had suddenly tripled my strength. I got the other half of my stats, and the Black Heaven and Earth Technique in conjunction with Moon Breathing offered an additional third.

'Superboy, knock him towards me,' I ordered. With Seismic Sense, I saw that Beifong had already shifted the earth underneath the basement directly under me, making a sinkhole. Good. We really were on the same page without needing to speak.

Superboy grunted before he charged, punching Croc in the stomach and skidding him back. Croc returned the blow, hitting him with a a spear hand as he tried to pierce his skin with his sharp claws. That was when Miss Martian revealed herself, her invisibility fading away before she reached out with a hand. I saw Croc raise up an inch, confusing him, but Superboy seized the opportunity. He wound up a punch that he drove into Croc's diaphragm, lifting the heavy villain higher into the air.

He sailed towards me, his arms instinctively flailing to latch onto something. As he did, I rose a foot up above my head before slamming it down with a focus stomp. In response, the solid foot of reinforced concrete below me blew out with explosive force. A full foot in every direction, with my foot acting as the center, gave way, weakening the concrete enough that when Killer Croc landed on it, he fell right through it. The concrete crumbled underneath him and he landed heavily ten feet underground.

Then I stomped my feet and drew my fists together, grabbing hold of the earth below and forcing it to close around Croc as he started to get up. And I learned he was eleven feet tall, because his head poked up through the hole. The stone slammed into him, completely enveloping him and robbing him of his leverage. But, even still, Croc began to break the stone with sheer brute strength, already making headway in his escape.

Right up until Superboy kicked him in the head like he was a football. With the solid blow that knocked out more than a few of Croc's teeth, his head slumped over unconscious. I might have been worried Superboy had done more than knock him out, but I could still feel his heart beating with my Seismic Sense.

We won.

I blew out a breath of relief, letting my breathing return to normal. I looked over at Kid Flash and Robin, who were frantically speaking to the Yakuza Boss. My eyebrows drew together when I noticed they looked inordinately nervous.

"What's wrong?" I asked them, flash stepping over.

That's when I saw it, and I got my answer as to why he had surrendered so easily.

There was a bomb strapped to his chest.

It was covering a vest, sets of C4 running a ring around him that were all connected to one another. A timer was counting down, two minutes left. Robin was shifting through various wires that were all colored gray, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.

So, this is what they had been doing during the fight. Would have been nice to know about the bomb.

"It's connected to his heartbeat," Robin explained, "We can't remove it and the bomb itself is riddled with failsafes. There's a receiver as well, so it could also be remotely activated -- Kid tracked the signal, and it's also connected to charges throughout the building." Meaning that it wasn't just him but the entire building that could go up.

Shit. "Kid, get everyone out of the building," I ordered and, this time, Kid didn't so much as miss a beat before heading up to evacuate everyone. The Yakuza targeted my family, but I didn't want them dead. I just wanted them unable to endanger the people I cared about. I knelt next to Robin, ignoring the boss's muttered prayers in Japanese.

The timer hit double digits, counting down from fifty-nine. "Can you get it?" I asked Robin seriously.

His lips thinned, "If I had more time. It'd be really convenient if you could develop a bomb disarm skill right now, Koi."

So, I did. I went into the market and picked Explosives Expert: Disarming. I dumped points into it with no hesitation, bringing the skill up to T5R1 at the cost of forty thousand points in total. It was a bulk of my savings, but I needed the skill.

The bomb vest made no sense to me a second ago, and with the blink of an eye and a click of a button, I understood it. The wiring, the triggers, what was a failsafe and what was an actual plug. Robin handed me the cutters he had, letting me disarm it as the bomb hit thirty seconds. I shifted through the wires, snipping one with no hesitation. Then another. And another. And another.

The failsafes we're interconnected, and one failing would trigger the bomb, but if you worked backward, starting from the last failsafe that wasn't backed up, then you could progress forward. Seconds ticked down as I worked through the bomb, giving the task my absolute focus… then, with a one last snip, the clock on the timer froze.

Five seconds left.

"Holy shit, I just disarmed a bomb," I muttered, leaning back, and it only then sunk in that I had nearly been blown up. Not only that… but I saved the guy that had put a hit on my family.

"Thank you," he said in Japanese, the only language he spoke. He bowed his head, trembling like a leaf. "Thank you."

I clenched my jaw as I gave back the pliers, "Save your thanks," I told him, my voice cold as I spoke back to him in fluent Japanese thanks to multilingual. "Who did this to you?" I demanded, and at my question, he averted his eyes.

He said nothing, and I got it. I understood. He wasn't speaking for the same reason I hadn't spoken to the cops back in the hospital -- snitching had consequences in Gotham. Regardless of what almost happened, he feared the consequences of talking more than he feared the consequences of not talking. Because there was a chance that by not speaking he would survive.

The thing was, I had been a scrawny teenager that just woke up from a coma. He was a leader of a Yakuza family that was several hundred strong.

"He's not talking," I told Robin in English as I handed him back his pliers. "But I'm willing to bet whoever did this to him are the same people that got them a counterfeiting machine." To that, Robin nodded in agreement as he picked up one of the hundred dollar bills that had been scattered throughout the fight -- holding it up to a light source, he inspected it.

"As far as forgeries go, it's a good one. A really good one. I'm not seeing any obvious marks of a forgery. Feels right…," then he brought it to his mouth for a quick taste. "Ink tastes right too. Koi, this might as well be a real hundred dollar bill." he said as we stood up and headed to what was left of the machine. He grabbed hold of a plate before lifting it up, revealing a small silver bar of metal. Picking it up, Robin showed me the other side.

The face of a hundred-dollar bill.

And the mark of the federal government.

"Did America seriously lose one of their templates?" I asked, taking the bar from Robin as he picked up the other, showing the back of a hundred. You saw spy movies about someone stealing them to make an operation like this, but I never expected someone to manage what seemed to be a pretty stupid movie-logic premise. "Wouldn't that make national news?"

"You'd be shocked at what doesn't make headlines," Robin replied with certainty. "If they went missing then someone would cover it up to save face. The question is how they wound up here."

'Koi, Robin -- the police are here,' Miss Martian informed us. I looked to Robin, who held out a hand for the plate, which I dropped into his palm.

'Leaving this here is just asking for it to disappear in evidence,' he pointed out.

'This is an FBI matter, so we leave it to them. If they shake something loose, then we have a lead. If they don't, I'll continue my investigation.' I said, heading to the elevator shaft. Miss Martian lifted all of us up, sending us to the top floor as I thought about what we had found. Someone was using the Yakuza as a means to counterfeit money. Millions of dollars worth of cash. Then they took measures to erase any trace of the operation by planting explosives.

However, the timing was off. Why let the Yakuza balloon up like they did? Why let them spend millions of dollars if you were just going to destroy the operation not even a month later -- along with the machine, the materials, and the templates? It didn't make sense. Why waste the time and materials?

The only thing that made sense to me was that they were erasing of evidence in response to something. To us? Maybe? But that was a tight window.

Or maybe I was thinking about it wrong? Maybe the person that planted the bombs was an enemy of the Yakuza?

I had a number of leads to track down as we emerged on the rooftop of the building. Kid Flash was down below speaking to the police and giving them a warning on what was inside. The rest of us stood on the rooftop, trading glances. 'The mission is complete. The Yakuza have been dealt with, but now we're looking for a mystery backer or a potential enemy that wants them dead. Looks like the Yakuza were either being puffed up to be a proxy that outlived their usefulness, or someone decided to hit them where it hurt.'

'Then let's return to base,' Robin said. Then, in a quieter voice, as if he were projecting the thought just to me. 'You… did good work with the bomb. That guy would have died without you and your power,' Robin admitted quietly. I met his and offered him a small nod, accepting the olive branch.

'Yeah, Batman is going to have a field day with the briefing for this one.' I said, before I projected my own thoughts to Kid Flash. 'We need to have that talk first.'

I didn't receive a response, but I knew that he heard me. I wasn't sure if it was the best way to approach this, but even before I got chewed out by Batman for being a little too liberal with broken bones, I needed to settle up with Kid Flash. If there was going to be a team going forward, things needed to be patched over. No more shit-talking behind people's backs, no more dirty looks and snide remarks. We didn't have to like each other, but we needed to be able to work together.

However, as I projected the thought, Miss Martian projected one to me. 'Koi, Zatanna was hoping to talk to you? She says that she's at your apartment.' Oh?

This felt like one of those moments I had to choose who to speak to, but that wasn't the case for me. 'I'm going to stay behind for Kid Flash. I'll meet you all back at the mountain with him in tow,' I said, and Robin nodded, telling me he suspected something had been up. Superboy narrowed his eyes for a moment, but he relaxed when I calmly met his look.

"Alright. See you there then," Conner said before he leaped off of the building. Megan offered a smile and a wave before she flew up after him, Robin giving me a lingering look before he ran across the rooftop and dove off of the building. Kaldur and Artemis would be on their way straight back, leaving me alone on the rooftop.

After checking to make sure that the coast was clear, I jumped off the building and dove into an alley. Once I was on the ground, I found a decent hiding spot before I summoned a copy of myself. He was naked as the day he was born and I felt a number of my skills vanish from my mind. I tossed the Koi mask at him as Gluttony spat out some casual clothes for me.

We made a quick swap, leaving me in casual clothes and him dressed as Koi. He adjusted the mask and gave me a look that I felt from behind the mask. "This isn't fair," he remarked, but he also didn't sound surprised.

"We're the same person, so it doesn't actually matter," I pointed out, but… well, that point was somewhat undercut by the fact that I was sending my copy to deal with Kid Flash and the League, because I'd much rather speak to Zatanna in this case. Koi gave me a very mild look, telling me that he also saw the flaw in my logic, but he made no comment and decided to bite the bullet for me. After all, he had no leg to stand on because he would do the exact same thing. He just drew the short end of the straw.

"Whatever," Koi dismissed before he vanished in a blur of movement. Flash stepping was an odd thing to witness when you weren't the one moving in a burst of speed. I watched him go -- there was no need to give him instructions. He was me just as much as I was. He knew the stakes, what needed to happen, and what I wanted. I couldn't guarantee that the conversation would go well, but I knew that the conversation wouldn't go any better than if I had been there to talk to Kid Flash or Batman.

At a much slower pace, I made my way through Little Asia, knowing exactly where I was. I knew this part of Gotham like the back of my hand. A few minutes later, I saw my apartment building and jogged over. As I stepped into the elevator, I got an alert from my power -- a window popped open as I rose to my floor.

10k spent on Charisma Stat.

35k spent on Diplomacy Skill T3R5.

I blinked, a little annoyed that my Prestige was once again dangerously low with a dip into my nest egg. But, after a quick moment of thought, I didn't really mind. They were good purchases that would help swing the conversation my way. I would have done the same thing.

Dismissing the windows, I arrived at my floor and walked to my apartment. I hadn't been here since we moved out, but I paid the bills to keep it in my family's name. I had hoped to turn it into a safe house, but I wasn't sure if that was a good idea since the Yakuza had already found it and were targeting me. The Yakuza were probably done for, so it might be fine, but it still seemed like an unnecessary risk to take.

Gluttony spat out my key before I thought better of it. Grabbing hold of the door handle, I twisted it to find that it was unlocked. Mundane locks didn't hold up to magic, it seemed. Pushing open the door, I saw the apartment I only half lived in for about a month -- it was completely barren. All of our furniture and stuff had been moved to the house in Happy Harbor.

What I didn't see was Zatanna.

I closed the door behind me, narrowing my eyes as I felt like I had suddenly stepped into a horror film. Had Zatanna left already? Megan had sent me here, so it had to be Zatanna that reached out with the message. My gaze swept over the living room and kitchen to find no one or any trace that someone had been here.

Right. Not going to explore the apartment. That's how people fucking die in movies. "Zatanna?" I called out, ready to fight or flee, while I had a nagging suspicion that my extended family was somehow behind this. Mostly because they seemed to be behind everything when it came to the things happening to me. "Are you here?"

In response to that, the doorway to what had been my room opened. The tension I felt was immediately released when Zatanna stepped out of my bedroom, appearing a little sheepish. "Sorry -- Megan mentioned that the Yakuza had an eye on this place and I wanted to make sure no one was here with us." She explained, and fair enough. Her expression was serious, "Are you okay? They were going after you and your family."

I started flicking on the lights, "Yeah, I'm fine. Disarmed a bomb for the first time," I said as I approached. My biggest concern was the reaction the League would have, but mainly in terms of what consequences there could be. Even now, after my blood had cooled off, I still didn't regret what I did. If the League said that they would do any different, then they were either cold-hearted or liars.

"What happened to me being your ace in the hole?" she questioned, striding forward with a flirty smile on her face.

"Not a whole lot of time on the bomb. There was a whole dramatic countdown and everything," I returned. "Megan said you wanted to talk about something?" I asked, wondering if this was a Talk or not. Zatanna shifted where she stood, her hands clasped behind her back, appearing nervous.

"Yeah…" she trailed off and that didn't sound like a promising start. "So… I'm going to be grounded for forever," she informed, earning a blink from me. "It's kinda why I wanted to talk to you in the first place, but you had a mission and I didn't want to get in the way of that. But now that it's over…" she took a step towards me, and she was giving me mixed signals. Her words and tone sounded a lot like 'I'm breaking up with you' but her actions hinted at a different story.

"I was wondering if you wanted to do something to make it worth getting grounded forever?" Zatanna asked me, offering a sly smile. My heart lurched in my chest, my mind zeroing in on what she meant by that.

I searched for my words, logic and hormones battling it out in a fight for the ages. "Are you sure?" I asked her. Rationality was on the ropes as my blood began to move somewhere more important. "I don't want you getting into more trouble because of me."

Zatanna's smile grew, "I'm sure, Ren. Dad's going to find out that I snuck out again, so I'm already going to get in trouble. And… I've been waiting to pick up where we left off," Zatanna said, taking a small step forward as she reached up with her hands to cup my jawline. She stood up on her tiptoes to press her soft lips against mine in a chaste kiss. She seemed to shiver in delight as I kissed her back, but she quickly pulled away, a pleasant flush on her cheeks. She really was beautiful.

"I wanted to return the favor. You made me feel so good last time. I didn't even think about you and how I must have left you," Zatanna said, stepping back as she gave me a dangerous look. "Sserdnu," she spoke, using her magic, and in response, her clothes fell away from her body.

My heart felt like it had leaped right out of my chest and into my throat as I drank in the sight of her body -- her breasts, capped with hardened rosy red nipples that perkily stood out to greet me. Her flat stomach was flat with a hint of muscle showing through her soft olive skin. Her wide hips gave her body an hourglass shape, and my eyes followed them down to the small cleft between her legs, devoid of any pubic hair, while the gap between her thighs was coated in moisture. It was the first time I had ever seen a naked girl in person and my eyes seared the sight into my brain until I could see her perfectly even with my eyes closed.

The expression that Zatanna gave me told me that I gave her exactly the reaction she had wanted. She slowly dropped to her knees, looking up at me with a sultry expression, lust burning in her upturned eyes. "This time, let me take care of you, Ren." she said, her hands going to my waistline as her mouth opened invitingly.

I was a very weak man, I was coming to learn.

But it was absolutely worth it.