"Don't start a fight you can't win."

Deathstroke the Terminator slowly walked in an arc, always facing his opponent. Batman stood several yards away, moving as Deathstroke did. Both men were counted among the deadliest fighters in the world and both knew what the other was capable of. Deathstroke knew that despite his skills, Batman was still a human, and a rich one at that. All the money in the world didn't make you a better fighter…and Deathstroke knew he was the best there was.

"I don't intend to," said Batman, his cloak billowing out in the wind of the Gotham night.

Deathstroke extended his quarterstaff and spun it in his hands as if daring Batman to make a move. Likewise, Batman produced two batarangs seemingly out of thin air, their sharp edges reflecting the light pollution of the city.

They had met under perhaps one of the most bizarre sets of circumstances Batman had ever encountered: legally, Deathstroke was in the right…at least in this instance. The mercenary had been deputized by the Department of Extranormal Operations to take down and capture the Catwoman for the murder of a STAR Labs security guard earlier the previous night. Batman had reviewed the security footage himself and found the basis for this accusation to be circumstantial at best…but enough that it had brought him here, to the last known residence of Selina Kyle. The fact that Deathstroke was also here, across the street from Catwoman's apartment, told him that Deathstroke's resources were as far-reaching as Batman's own intelligence.

The authorities had every reason to bring in Catwoman…for questioning at the very least. Deathstroke was legally deputized. However, Slade Wilson's presence also told Batman something else: there was more to this than met the eye. Along with the DEO's Agent Dillinger arriving at STAR Gotham as fast as he had, this all added up to something wrong. The problem now wasn't so much dealing with Deathstroke, but finding out what his employers were up to.

Deathstroke moved almost faster than the eye could see. Without a word, the quarterstaff flew up and across towards Batman's abdomen. Batman lunged away, batting the staff with his batarang as he spun around to kick at Deathstroke's head. The blow glanced off Deathstroke but he spun his staff around again as he backed away from Batman. Deathstroke had superhuman reflexes that gave him faster than human speed and stamina. The fact Batman had landed a blow, even a small one, with his first hit, gave Deathstroke pause. Batman was the ultimate opponent. Deathstroke knew better than to underestimate him, especially given his experience with Batman's former partner, Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing.

Batman gave no sign of confidence or small victory with the landed blow. He was ready for the next sign of attack.

Deathstroke decided not to disappoint him

Tim Drake, aka Robin, drove along in the early evening Gotham traffic in the Redbird, working out his plan of attack and reviewing the events that had brought him to this point. Catwoman, or whoever had broken into STAR Gotham, had tried to steal something from the lab of Dr. Will Magnus, creator of the Metal Men. Magnus himself had been forced to transfer his consciousness into his own Metal Man form, a body composed of an alien metal called Veridium. Acting as the leader of the Metal Men, he took his codename from the very metal he was composed of. He still, however, continued his first passion, that of research and development of robotics. He had been using lab space at STAR Gotham when he was attacked and rendered inert by an unknown attacker…an attacker that was seemingly responsible for the murder of a STAR Labs security guard. The DEO had been (a little too quickly) on the scene to take custody of Magnus and the crime scene, with the mysterious Agent Dillinger taking the point in the jurisdictional pissing match with the Gotham City Police Department. Dillinger had been overheard by Batman that he was taking Magnus out of Gotham City Airport to an undisclosed location at midnight. It was now just after sundown. That left several hours until Magnus was scheduled to be shipped out. Plenty of time to recon the airport hangar and lay in wait. Batman had been particular about Robin taking custody of Magnus but not to let the DEO agents know he was there.

Gee, thanks Bruce, why not ask me to walk on water? He thought to himself. He immediately chided himself for thinking that. The fact Bruce had asked him single-handedly to take on such a responsibility was a testament to Bruce's trust in Tim.

The Redbird, in its civilian mode, drove through the Gotham expressway and took the exit to the Airport.

Jim Gordon sat at his desk, leafing through various reports but reading none of them…except one. The DEO had a special metahuman deputy in town. The identity of the deputy made Gordon even more suspicious of this whole mess. Catwoman, the DEO…and Batman. The DEO's presence bugged the hell out of him, but Batman's involvement with Catwoman bugged him just as much. He had always wondered why the Dark Knight had let her operate as freely as she had over the years when he put all his efforts into stopping other criminals who had done far less than she. Sure, she had only stolen things before, but Gordon had seen enough crime in his career to know that most career criminals tended to escalate their crimes over time. The fact that Catwoman was implicated in a murder now didn't seem as tragic as it was inevitable. But why was Slade Wilson, an international mercenary, involved? What did he gain, or rather, what did the DEO gain from his involvement?

Renee Montoya burst into Gordon's office. "Sir, we just received reports of an altercation over in the East End. All indications are that Batman is involved with an unknown."

Batman had maintained Catwoman's innocence. It was a rare thing when Batman was wrong…but that still didn't mean he was right.

"Jurisdiction be damned." Gordon grabbed his coat and walked out into the squad room. "Montoya, Bullock, Bock and Hinckley, you're with me. We're heading to the East End."

The other detectives grabbed their coats and weapons and followed. Montoya took out ten dollars and gave it to Bullock. "The Bat's involved. You win, Harvey."

Bullock smiled. "Hey, can I call it or what?"

Sparks flew as batarang clashed with quarterstaff. Anyone watching would have been in awe at the speed at which the fight was taking place. But now, even a casual observer would have noticed…Batman was slowing down.

His new armoured suit was offering him more protection from the blows Deathstroke landed, but they still hurt like hell. Blood ran from Batman's lip from the last hit he had taken. Ribs were cracked. Despite his cowl, he knew he had a swollen right eye. Deathstroke's chainmail was ripped in several places, but he had taken far less hits than Batman. In the long run, Deathstroke would win. Sensing a smug grin from beneath his opponent's mask, the Terminator knew it too. Batman had to level the playing field.

Batman had been told by an old teacher years ago that there was no such thing as a fair fight. Another had told him that the only fair fight was one that you won. This wasn't about a macho standoff between two men, however much Batman would like to shove Deathstroke's staff down his throat. This was about a murdered man and a possibly framed…friend. He might as well admit it. Despite all that they had been through, he did consider Selina Kyle a friend, even if it was a warped definition of the word.

Batman slashed at Deathstroke and reached for his utility belt. Smoke and flashes of light erupted around them as Batman leaped off the rooftop and fired his grapnel line at Selina Kyle's building. By the time Deathstroke realized what had happened, Batman would know if she was there or not. If she was there, he would take her to safety to be questioned. If not…then there was no reason to waste time with Deathstroke. He could head to the airport and assist Tim.

At least, that was the plan. No sooner had Batman's boots left the rooftop than he heard a bemused chuckle from behind him.

"You need some new moves, Bats." The Terminator laughed as he fired a trio of micro-grenades from his gauntlet into a wide arc in the general direction of his target. Two seconds later each exploded in mid-air.

Riding the shockwave, Batman crashed through the window of Selina's apartment. His new cowl and armour helped minimize the effect, but it still took longer than the Dark Knight would have liked to get his bearings. Knowing he had only seconds, Batman launched an explosive Bat-a-rang of his own through the shattered window. Though he did manage to catch Deathstroke in the resulting blast, the mercenary had apparently anticipated that response and was already diving for cover.

He'd bought himself just enough time to scan the apartment. Batman realized almost immediately that she hadn't been home when the fight began. He switched to infrared and saw no heat images…except for several cats hiding elsewhere in the apartment. She wouldn't leave cats here unless she intended to return. So either she had fled much earlier…or she knew it wasn't safe to come back yet…or she had no idea what was happening and could return at any moment.

Deathstroke extended his staff into a vaulting pole and quickly soared into his target's quarters. The living shadow of the Bat tried to turn and face his opponent, but his left knee buckled ever so slightly. It was all the opening the Terminator needed. With deft swiftness Deathstroke swept Batman's injured legs from under him and landed a spin kick to the Dark Knight's ribs before the Caped Crusader could hit the floor.

"Scare tactics: check. Flash and smoke exit: check. Trick Bat-a-rangs: check." Deathstroke mocked as he circled around his fallen foe, making his own quick survey of the damaged apartment. "I'd say it's a shame you're not living up to your rep, but so far this is exactly as advertised. Since Miss Kitty isn't here to play, why don't you just stay down like a good bat, and maybe I won't have to take you in for aiding and abetting a fugitive."

Ignoring the pain in his knee, Batman quickly reached out and caught the end of the mercenary's weapon between his feet and wrenched it from the Terminator's hand while rolling to a standing position. Then with Deathstroke's own staff, the Batman whirled a powerful backhanded blow across the killer's jaw, and then flowed with another strike to the gut. But again the Detective's knee tried to fail him, and in that halting second Deathstroke brought his own knee full force into Batman's midsection, driving the air from the hero's body. The Terminator followed by grabbing the Caped Crusader's neck and hoisting him into the air, slamming his head against the wall with all his superhuman strength, then flinging the black-clad form down as hard as he could.

"I warned you," growled Deathstroke, drawing his sword. "You should have listened. This wasn't personal, but I can't have you interfering again."

The blade went down.

Robin watched the dark airplane hangar from high above in the framework of the semicircular building. His mask's magnification was on and he could see what was happening below as if he was standing there. With his miniature laser mic, he could hear as well. Two men in black business suits stood below. One had just hung up his cell phone.

"<skksssksksk> Word just came in. The cargo is on its way. Should be here in about thirty minutes. Is the plane on time?"

"Yeah, its been fuelled and will be taxied up here by the time the others get here. Dillinger had better be on time. I hate waiting…especially in the Batfreak's town. Watch it, he'll be here, I just know it."

"Shut your trap, Snart. Wilson is going to keep him occupied long enough for us to do our jobs."

"Piss off, Lawton. You may be stupid enough to not be afraid of Batman, but I'm not. That sense of self preservation is what has kept me alive all these years."

"Hmph, doesn't seem to have kept you out of trouble though, or else you wouldn't be involved here. The DEO doesn't recruit guys like us for our brains, you know. We're expendable."

"Something I imagine you're quite used to."

The one called Lawton said nothing. The two men leaned against a black sedan and said nothing more. The one called Snart lit a cigarette.

These two look familiar, thought Robin. Question now is, who are they?

Barbara Gordon watched her holographic display tune into a wave analysis of the GCPD police band. Reports had come in of a possible Batman sighting in the East End and another had said the Commissioner himself was heading out. Bruce hadn't communicated with her at all in the last twenty four hours, which wasn't unusual in and of itself, but she had a feeling that whatever her dad was involved with beared her checking in, if only out of a sense of concern for her father.

She keyed into security cameras in the area reported and saw that an alarm had gone off in a suite within a highrise of luxury condominiums in the immediate area, approximately 25 floors up. Tasking a LexCorp satellite, she zoomed onto the building in question and found the exact suite that had reported the alarm. It was registered to a Velina Miles. Oracle hacked into the building's computer system and began looking for views into the apartment. Finding none, she looked for other views into the area. She found a webcam on an active internet connection with one hell of a firewall in the apartment. The encryption involved was military grade, but a little effort and she was able to break through it. Why Velina Miles needed this kind of security (or how she got her hands on it) was another question entirely. The webcam came live and Oracle was able to pan it around for a better look at the apartment. What she saw shocked her.

Deathstroke the Terminator had his sword raised high over Batman and was about to deliver a killing stroke. She had to act fast.

Oracle keyed back into the apartment security and activated the intercom that alerted residents to any guests they had.

"Deathstroke, stop!"

Deathstroke halted his strike and looked around, momentarily confused. In that second, Batman grabbed his grapnel and fired it at Deathstroke's head. It would have killed anyone else, but Deathstroke was resilient as well as possessed those vaunted reflexes and healing factor. He'd have one hell of a headache, though.

Deathstroke dropped to the floor, dazed and in pain, a red stain soaking into his one-eyed mask. Batman retracted the grapnel and got to his feet. His whole body ached, the ribs on his left side were cracked at best, his left knee was at least severely strained, and he was fighting back the bright spots that threatened his vision. With unsteady footing, Batman made his way to the shattered window.

Commissioner Gordon and his officers came in through the main door, weapons drawn. They aimed to shoot, but when they saw Batman they drew their weapons back. Deathstroke coughed and moaned, having removed his mask. His scalp was torn and his face had a nasty gash that covered his face in a crimson mask. Blinded from the blood, and head still spinning from the impact, Deathstroke had barely registered the cops entering the room. With sword still in hand, Deathstroke tried to stand up when Hinckley moved to stop him.

"Stay down, now!" he said. He aimed his weapon.

"No!" said Batman and Gordon at the same time. But it was too late.

Even as out of it as he was, Slade Wilson's instincts still registered a weapon being drawn on him. Before anyone else could move, the sword flashed and Hinckley's gun went flying across the room, along with his right hand. The cop dropped to the floor, squirting blood, clearly too deep in shock even to scream even as he slumped to the floor. Batman lunged out and kicked Deathstroke in the head, knocking him down.

Bullock, Bock and Montoya aimed to fire at Deathstroke. Gordon, in perhaps the hardest thing he had ever had to do, stopped them from firing. "Hold your fire! I said hold it, dammit!" They all did so, Bullock the hardest of all.

"What the hell, Commish?" demanded Bullock.

"Check Hinckley for vitals and call a medic! MARSHAL Wilson is down for now," yelled Gordon. Surprised at Gordon's comment, Montoya and Bock went to their comrade, who had lost consciousness.

"You'd better get out of here," said Gordon to Batman. "As much as it pains me, you're the one in the wrong here. You just prevented a federal agent from executing a search warrant and provoked a friendly fire incident." Gordon looked away.

"Jim, I-" said Batman.

"Just go, dammit!" said Gordon. He looked back at Batman…but he was already gone.

Batman alighted near the Batmobile and landed without his usual grace. He knew enough to realize that he was seriously concussed on top of everything else. His vision swam and shimmered as if in a heat haze. Dammit, he thought, The last thing I need.

He deactivated the car's security suite and sat in the driver's seat, stumbling as he did so. Once the door closed, he turned to the main display screen on the dashboard.

"Activate Batmobile autopilot. Return to Batcave, standard evasive route." The car started immediately; crash webbing sliding into place over Batman. The infrared headlights came on and the car disappeared from view, its new cloaking technology engaged. Batman leaned back in his seat and surrendered to the creeping darkness.

Robin moved closer to the hangar floor, keeping his movements to a minimum. He needed to get a better visual on the two men so he could run a match on the Batcave archives. If these men were on any government or criminal database, he would know about it. Remaining in the shadows, he used the telephoto function of his mask to zoom in and take digital images of the men.

The images were fed to his new handheld device that Batman had left waiting for him in the Batcave this morning. A twin of Batman's own device, it had a constant satellite link to the Batcave's central computers. From there, it could access every law enforcement database on Earth…and a few that weren't. It was something to do while he waited for Dr. Magnus to arrive for his transport away from the city.

Several minutes passed. Robin's heads-up display showed the search's progress as it ran through the files. Finally, a prompt came up. SEARCH RESULTS COMPLETED. 2 MATCHES FOUND. RESULTS FOLLOW.

Robin took a glance back to see what the two men were up to. One of them was missing.

He looked around without moving, searching for the missing black suit. The remaining one was standing still, leaning against the sedan. His hand slowly moved into his inner jacket.

Robin heard a noise from his left. Instinctively, he moved away…a move that saved his life. Where his head used to be, a single shot cut through. Robin leaped away as another shot whizzed past him. He fired his grapnel and retracted himself back towards the rooftop…until his decel line solidified and shattered in a shimmering blue-white light. Robin fell, reaching for his spare grapnel when he was caught in that light and found himself encased in solid ice up to his neck. His uniform's insulation protected him from the worst of it.

"Well, I'll be damned, Lawton…you were right. We did have a canary watching us. Well, a Robin, anyway." The man named Snart smiled as he held a blue high-tech pistol. Frosty vapors wafted from the gun barrel.

"This little punk is as slippery as his boss," said Lawton. "Too bad for him he's all alone."

"You'll do nothing," said a voice from outside the hangar door. "He comes with us. If Robin is here, his mentor cannot be far off. His wrath we don't need, not at this juncture. Dillinger will revoke our deal if you wantonly involve the Bat. " A figure walked in from the darkness outside. Robin turned his head as best he could to get a view of the newcomer. What he saw shocked him.

It was Catwoman.

His armor was in place. His ebony cloak billowed out from the breeze coming through the passage. As he locked his silver helmet into place, his body posture changed. He became more confident, his bearing more regal. He was ready to stalk the Gotham night.

Hinckley was the last straw. He had been willing to give the GCPD and Batman a chance to take down the murderer of that security guard, but they had lost their opportunity. Now that Deathstroke was involved (and deputized no less!) it was apparent his own involvement was needed now more than ever. Gotham City had outgrown Batman. It needed someone else to act as its protector.

Gotham City demanded the protection of a new scourge of justice…a new Reaper.

Next Issue: Hunting the Cat continues as the DEO's true plans begin to reveal themselves, the GCPD join the manhunt full force and Nightwing joins the fray…and his first task is to take down Deathstroke!

 

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