Arcane: A Stroke of Death [Male Reader]

IX. It is my Soul that Calls Upon Thy Name

A man with orange-and-black armor.

"Looks like you got my invitation!" Deathstroke sneered. "Just you and me. C'mon!"

Deathstroke rushed to Jinx's left from on top of the shipping crates. Firing a few shots after him, she ran to follow.

Deathstroke kick-jumped off one crate and lifted himself into a flip, landing on another crate above himself. Jinx was following close behind.

Jinx leapt up at Deathstroke, looking to tackle him mid-air as he leapt towards another crate. Deathstroke had anticipated this, however, and drew his staff, striking Jinx and sending her into the side of one of the crates. Sliding down another, she landed on her back on another crate.

Jinx didn't have a moment to rest as Deathstroke came leaping down, trying to impale her with his staff. She barely rolled out of the way, quickly standing and blocking rapid attacks from Deathstroke with her forearms.

Deathstroke successfully landed a roundhouse kick on her, sending Jinx back into the side of a crate. She watched as another crate came sliding down from above, forcing Deathstroke to roll out of the way.

This gave Jinx the chance to strike. She kicked Deathstroke over the edge of the crates into a gap, but Deathstroke was able to lodge his staff between the two crates and swing himself back up, striking her in the face and launching Jinx off the crate. Deathstroke jumped down a moment later while she was standing up.

They stood across from each other, staring menacingly, her cold blue eyes looking into his one visible (E/C) eye. Two gunmen sizing each other up.

Deathstroke stepped forward and drew his katana, rapidly swinging the sharp blade. Fortunately, Jinx had a pair of sleeves on her arms that protected her from the worst of the strikes.

As Jinx blocked an overhead strike, she parried Deathstroke's sword downwards, striking him once and grabbing the back of his neck, attempting to throw him away. But Deathstroke grabbed her arm and struck it away, bringing his sword back up and slamming the hilt into her forehead.

Jinx blocked another shot, then, as Deathstroke went for an overhead strike, she grabbed his blade in the palms of her hands and twisted hard. The katana went flying away.

Deathstroke didn't let up, however, grabbing his knife, swinging wildly as Jinx attempted to dodge. She grabbed his helmet and slammed him into the side of an adjacent crate, but he retaliated and headbutted her, forcing Jinx back and allowing him to hold her down by the throat.

But Jinx was quick enough to plant her legs onto the adjacent crate and leap out of his grasp, throwing Deathstroke a few feet away and causing him to drop his knife.

Deathstroke drew his sword, and almost immediately Jinx recognized the blade.

The same one (Y/N) always had with him.

That was when his helmet started looking familiar. Jinx couldn't take it. She saw his bloody corpse lying in the street again.

No. It couldn't be him.

A shot rang out as an unseen sniper shot Deathstroke's blade. The bullet ricocheted off the blade, but a second came a moment later, hitting Deathstroke's armored hand and causing him to drop the blade.

Deathstroke looked back at where the shot had come from, towards the bridge, giving a rude gesture to the sniper. He knew who it was.

From the bridge, the assassin, Deadshot, chuckled. "Not so fast, Deathstroke. She's my kill." He reloaded his gun.

Jinx, recovering from her shock, grabbed Deathstroke by the neck and threw him to the ground. Deathstroke tried to get up and fire his gun, but Jinx kicked him back down and caused him to drop the gun.

She tried to kick him in the abdomen, but Deathstroke grabbed her kick and struck her side. The two continued trading blows.

At the bridge, Deadshot noticed a shipping crate hanging perilously high from a crane, dangling above the two combatants. He only had to wait.

Jinx threw Deathstroke to the ground again, but he kicked her back, right underneath the crate Deadshot had seen.

Deadshot pulled the trigger.

The bullet clipped straight through the chain holding the crate up, sending the crate tumbling down on top of Jinx.

"Did you find a body?" Penguin asked, walking up to Deathstroke.

The man's back was turned. "No." Deathstroke turned around, dropping a shell from Deadshot's gun on the ground in front of Penguin. "And next time, keep your other assassins out of my way."

"You had your shot, Deathstroke. But you're not the only assassin in town. And the night... is young."

In that exact moment, Deathstroke knew Penguin had lost faith in his integrity as an assassin.

He hadn't sent him on this job to complete it.

He sent him to die.

"It couldn't have been him," Jinx told herself in her cavern-like room. "Right? It's not him. (Y/N) would recognize me. He wouldn't try to kill me." She looked at the cuts and bruises on her forearms. "He wouldn't do this to me."

She walked over to the couch, where old dolls of Mylo and Claggor were sitting, and picked up a small object.

An orange shard from (Y/N)'s helmet.

"But would he? Maybe he thinks I'm dead. He thinks..." She chuckled. "He thinks Powder fell down a well."