There was a knock on the window and the door was pulled open.
"You a performer?" The man asked, watching as she stepped out of the gracefully.
She stood up straight and tilted her head towards the man, she didn't say anything or even give a small indication with her head.
"Hey you speak English woman?" He asked rather bluntly.
Her brows twitched.
"I need the form of consent for you to be here-" She shoved the card towards his chest rather harshly causing him to stumble back.
She didn't wait for him to say anything and snatched the card back, making her way to the door where others were going.
She was stopped once more by the guards and another man with a clipboard in hand, he gestured for her card and she handed it over.
She blinked in surprise when she saw they pulled out a machine to scan it.
Looking back towards the man, he stared back at her for a moment. Handing her back the card, he nodded his head inside.
Stepping inside, she flinched when she saw many workers rushing around, other performers getting their makeup done and their costumes ready.
She went on her tippy toes and stretched her neck up to see further down the large room as best as she could.
She couldn't really figure out anything, but one thing she knew was this room she was in was only to get ready.
She bumped into somebody and was so close to letting an apology slip out.
"You're a dancer, right?" The smaller woman asked, a clipboard in her hand.
Juri nodded in response.
"M'kay, please hold on for a moment..." She mumbled out, flicking through the papers as she skimmed through the profiles and the timetable.
"Alright, so you're on in..." Looking down at her watch, she flicked her eyes back towards the timetable.
"15 minutes."
Juri was about to start choking.
"So you just have to make your way up the left and take a right, the stage is right there."She directed, ushering Juri out of the room and into the hallway.
The door shut closed and Juri stood there for a moment.
She began to speed walk, following the directions given to her.
Feeling up her sleeve, she took out the fan.
'Damn, damn!' She thought, taking a turn, she might've looked calm but her mind was wrecked.
"Why so soon!?" She whispered to herself, getting closer and closer towards the backstage.
Making it inside she heard talking from the front of the stage, and a chorused clap coming from the crowd.
She glanced around the room, seeing people busying themselves, she even saw some cages and artefacts being rolled in on trolleys.
Staring down the other end of the room, her eyes narrowed at the things being brought out and she assumed they were to be auctioned off.
She looked forward towards the stage and she noticed the shadow of two people, the ones that were talking at the moment.
'Must be an introduction or something.' She thought, her mind drifting off once more.
The sound of cheering and encores came from beyond the stage, she heard this, and wasn't aware of the fact that her 15 minutes of waiting was up.
"Hey you!" The sound of an old man yelled towards her.
She turned around and saw a balding man had slowed to a stop in front of her, she kept her same posture, folding her arms in her sleeves.
She took a step back away from him, not liking the close distance between them, fidgeting with the ends of the fan, she frowned at the man.
"You're on now! Get on that stage!" He yelled out, pointing the rolled up script in his hand, towards stage, the curtains shut closed.
She blinked in surprise, a glare slowly settling on her face, removing her arms from their folded position.
She had a very clear intention of breaking his nose.
"Who the fuck are you tal-?" She was cut off, other woman workers beginning to push her towards the stage.
She was so close to lashing out, so close.
"Juri, calm down." She heard Akemi say through the communicator.
"Wait- what, you can see?" Juri whispered back, standing in the middle of the stage, staring at the large burgundy curtains that have yet to be lifted.
"Yes. I put a camera on your kimono." Akemi informed.
"Who's that lady you were with the first time?" Tobi asked, Juri rolled her eyes as she could her the smirk in his tone.
She readied herself, putting the fan horizontly infront of her as she got herself into a kneeling bow.
Her head just hovering from the ground with her hands diagonally facing each other, in front of her.
"Get ready." Akemi said.
"Where are you guys?" She whispered.
"Up somewhere." Ray said, the sound of crunching coming from his end.
"Hey where'd you get the food?" Tobi questioned.
"I brought it with me."
"Give me some." Tobi said.
"No, you're gonna finish it all!" Ray said.
"Can you guys shut up, I feel like throwing up right now!" Juri cut in.
She heard snickering coming from Tobi and she grumbled out words in annoyance.
She shook, startled when she heard the curtains being drawn open, the light from the ceilings washing over onto her.
The sounds of a large applause coming from the crowd.
And judging off of that, she could tell that there were a lot of them.
The clapping had settled and it was silent for a couple of seconds, Juri's heart thudding against her ribcage.
She was becoming nervous.
She stared right at the ground, her hands starting to get warmer.
The strumming of the shamisen began, and Juri knew that that was her que to lift her head up.
She lifted her head, reluctantly. She was so hesitant to see the crowd of people that were going to be there.
Taking in a breath, she faced forward fully and her eyes widened in complete shock.
'What...what the hell is this!?' She thought.
Her moment was short lived as she took the fan and began to stand up.
The woman started to sing and Juri couldn't afford to waste another second, oggling at the people that bore their eyes into her.
Her body moved instinctively, bending her knees and moving around smoothly, the jewellery in her hair hitting against each other.
"Woah, okay I was not expecting that." Tobi said.
"That sneaky shit, he knew we'd be looking for him in here." Akemi said, narrowing her eyes at the screen.
"How the hell am I supposed to find Kuma when they... they all have the same mask as him!?" She whisper yelled, starting to become frustrated at this unfortold situation they found themselves in.
Every single guest that was in the stands and in the seats, all wore black cloaks shrouding their entire figure and to top it off they wore the exact same bear mask as Kuma.
She continued to move gracefully, bringing the fan out and performing the dance as she normally would.
She was slowly becoming nauseous as she stared at the bear masks that covered everyone's face.
"It looks like a cult." Ray said with furrowed brows.
'This is too much.' She thought, she felt something was trying to rise up her throat.
Her hands were beginning to shake once more, something twisting uncomfortably in her stomach.
She shut her eyes, not having the courage to face the crowd, but she continued to dance, doing the movements that represented the words of the song.
She turned away from everybody, and spun back around, swaying the fan with much fluidity, it was practically unreal.
She felt she was beginning to feel much more calmer and relaxed in a way that she could open her eyes once more.
"Kuma is a punk ass bitch." She mumbled, Tobi and Ray couldn't help but let out laughter at this unannounced statement laced with nothing but irritation.
"I'm getting off the stage." She informed quietly causing their laughter to come to an abrupt stop.
"Wait- what?" Ray asked.
There was a walk way split down the middle, splitting the guests from left to right.
She walked forward, still keeping her dance going, although she kept it to a minimum so that she could walk freely.
"Which side will you go to?" Akemi questioned, a smirk settling on her face at Juri's sudden idea, and her quick change of plan.
Juri thought for a moment, this was a huge risk she was taking if she were to choose one side over the other.
The chances of Kuma even sitting in one of the rows she will walk through will be a 2% chance to nothing.
This was all up to her to decide, time was limited, and she knew she wouldnt have enough it to skim through everybody on one side then go to the next.
She decided to go with her gut feeling.
She went to the left side of the building.
The spotlight was still shining on her, dancing with nothing but pure grace and perfection.
Up on the roof of the auction room, a pair of masked blue eyes watched her every move.
The red she wore contrasted greatly with the black cloaks of the guest.
They stared at her as if she were a jewel. Greed swimming in their gazes towards her.
It was like watching a finely refined ruby, showering the dark with its radiance, grabbing everyone's attention.
She went towards the fourth row, on the left side, all eyes were on her, their faces covered by the bear mask didn't seem to bother her like she thought it would.
'They aren't him.' She thought, her eyes subtly going over the guests that she passed.
"She's on row 64B, passing by seat 23." Akemi spoke, Juri heard this but she knew she was talking to somebody else.
"64B, 26."
"64B, 32."
"64B, 38."
Akemi called out every seat that Juri passed by, she was talking to Jire who was underground. There is an abandoned subway network that passes under the building.
The owners of the land are aware of this, but have made no attempt to make use of it.
Jire could hear the music faintly from down below in the eery silence of the tunnel, she was walking along the tracks, Dami right by her side.
Dami was the second key to grabbing Kuma out of there.
It was quite dark below, the only light source being the cheap lamps that flickered from time to time, lining the walls.
Jire listened carefully to what Akemi was saying, her eyes focused up the whole time, she shifted each time Akemi mentioned a new seat number or row.
The both of them standing directly underneath the seats is a crucial thing, so that Dami can grab Kuma out of there quickly and swiftly.
"She's moved up two more rows, 66B, seat 27." Akemi informed, Jire took two large steps back, and counted carefully towards the right, Dami trudged towards her, becoming bored of the same repetitive action.
Juri swiftly twirled, making her way past the guests that admired her.
'That's a woman, a man, a woman, a woman, a man, woman, a man.' She thought, passing by each of them.
Even though their cloaks might have shrouded them, it didn't do much on either hiding their petite frame, or their larger one.
Juri was in deep focus, passing by each person that she could identify as a man or woman.
Even if they were a man, she still had a feeling that none of them were Kuma.
"66B, seat 3-" Akemi halted, causing Jire to stop moving, she blinked in confusion.
"Akemi?" Jire asked.
Juri was abruptly stopped when a hand had grabbed onto her sleeve, she whipped her head around towards the person.
'That's a man...' She thought, staring down at him.
Akemi leaned forward, the air was tense around her, Tobi and Ray were ready to immediately leave, once it is confirmed that the man is indeed Kuma.
It was quiet for a moment, Juri hadn't made a move, none of them did.
She gently took the man's hand and removed it from her sleeve, tapping her folded fan against his head lightly, almost in a teasing manner.
Tobi flopped back down, watching the screen as she continued to walk away.
"Damn, I thought that was him!" He said.
Juri snorted at this.
"Akemi, is everything all right?" Jire asked worriedly.
"Uh yes, anyway, still the same row, seat 36 now." Akemi said, relaxing once again.
Juri passed a couple more seats and as she did so, Jire followed along underground.
Dami began to growl and snarl, his eyes narrowing greatly.
"Dami, what's wrong?" Jire asked, beckoning him to come towards her, he did so, snarling up at the seat that they were currently under, she pet him, attempting to ease his mind.
"Akemi, Dami is angry and I don't know why." Jire informed, touching the communicator.
"Juri has stopped, so she must be feeling a certain way right now." She said, her face scrunching.
"Both of you head down." She directed Tobi and Ray.
"Yes ma'am." Ray saluted lazily, leaping off of the rooftop, Tobi followed along with a hyper giggle.
Juri had paused in front of a man, she felt that everything about him matched Kuma, and the red flags were raising in her mind.
'But he's supposed to be missing an arm, this couldn't be him.' She thought, beginning to feel doubtful.
She clearly remembered that Dami had bitten off his arm.
Suddenly he shot up out of his seat, his hand going straight towards her masked face.
She grew fearful right at that moment, but she swallowed it down, a scowl crossing her face.
"It's him." She whispered right as his hand made contact with the mask.
Without warning, the ground beneath the both of them gave way and a loud roar boomed in their ears. Dami's mouth came to view right under them, his intimidating canines alarmed those that saw.
He grabbed Kuma into his large mouth, pulling him down. Kuma had grabbed Juri's sleeve, pulling her down along with him.
Those that sat around them, yelled out in shock, standing up and moving away from the hole in fear.
Some of the Bears got up and quickly made their way down the hole created, discarding their cloaks and masks that they used as disguise.
They drew out their guns, beginning to shoot in the dark tunnel.
The other Bears, quickly went to secure the building to make sure nobody leaves.
Juri landed with a loud thud, she groaned out in pain as she rolled over, the sound of gun's going off.
The flickering light of the gunshots were the only thing that lit up the dark tunnel even more.
She heard Dami's growls while he clawed at the soldiers attempting to shoot him down, his teeth crushing them in an instant.
Juri scrambled to her feet, but was immediately knocked back down by, cold, gloved hands wrapped tightly around her neck.
"That mask, where the hell did you- argh!" He let out a choked noise, Jire had wrapped a whip around his neck, she yanked it towards her causing him to fall back and let go of Juri.
Juri stood up, coughing lightly and breathing heavily, attempting to ease the pain around her throat.
"Juri, are you okay!?" Jire asked frantically, stepping harshly on Kuma's face as she ran towards her.
"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks." Juri nodded, taking the mask off and taking a big, deep, breath.
"Juri you have to get out of there now, Bruce just told me the human ones have been let out." Akemi said.
'Her instincts for people is truly phenomenal.' She thought.
"Right."
Juri looked back towards her mother, she still had a troubled look on her face.
"I'm fine, mom, I'll be alright." Juri said reassuringly.
"What, you think taking me down is going to be this easy!?" Kuma yelled in a crazed tone, letting out loud laughter.
He clapped his hands once, causing an echo to resound through the silent tunnel.
The ground under them began to crack, the whole area trembling greatly, something was trying to break through, they could feel it.
"Get out of here Juri!" Jire yelled out, something was making its way towards them and it sounded monstrous.
Juri turned, kicking off the shoes she wore she began to dash out of there. She was a bit slowed down by the materials she was wearing, but she ran.
She pulled out the jewellry and pins in her hair, discarding them and stripping herself of the obi sash.
"Juri! Up!" She heard Tobi yell, she looked forward and up, to see him hanging upside down from a hatch, his arm held out for her.
She grinned at this, clutching onto the mask, she crouched and leaped up, using her other hand to latch onto his arm.
He pulled her up and swung her onto the platform he was on, just in time.
If she was even a second late to jump, she would've been completely wiped out by the large tail of the snake that appeared from underground.
"You know where to go right?" Ray asked, helping her take off the remains of the kimono and the jewellry in her hair.
"Yeah." She said with a nod, taking her straightened hair out of the fancy bun it was in.
Her hair had become wavy because of this, so it was in big curls falling down her back.
She laced up her boots, and patted her thigh to feel that her daggers were still there, just in case she would need it.
"Here." Tobi said, handing her chains.
She took it with a smile and wrapped the cold metal around her waist.
Taking the bow and arrow from a duffle, she strapped it to her harness securely.
"You've done the first half, now don't focus on anything else and just head straight down." Akemi said.
"I'm going now." She said, fist bumping both boys.
"Run bitch, run!" Tobi smirked.
She couldn't help but let out light laugh, hopping up and down as a warm up, she stretched lightly then she jogged forward.
When she got towards the main building once more, she saw that there were many guards frantically scurrying about.
She looked down at the mask and slipped it back on, she then went ahead and hung on the bars that were on the ceiling.
Swinging down onto another platform, she began to sprint forward, running past many guards that were stunned for a split second, their eyes catching a glimpse of red.
"Intruder!" Somebody yelled, Juri jumped onto the railings and stepped onto the man's face, using him as a boost to get up towards the large window.
She took out her dagger and slammed it into the glass, shattering it completely, she tumbled forward on the rooftop to minimise the impact of damage she might receive.
Now that she was in her more comfortable clothes, she was able to dash down with nothing restricting her movements.
The load cry of an animal came to her right, shock painted on her face when she saw how close the creature was towards her.
Familiarity washed over her and she tensed, realising instantly that the creature was the bull from before.
Suddenly her father came spinning down and swiftly cut off the animal's head, he landed infront of Juri, brushing his bangs back with his bloodied hands.
"Go on, Juri." He grinned.
"Thanks!" She yelled out as she continued her run.
Akemi watched the camera's set up on every part of the building. She saw that the guests were in a state of panic, attempting to leave the place as best as they can.
"Batman, how's it looking?" She asked.
"Steady, still a challenge to apprehend the humans that have already been turned but everything is going according to plan." He respond through the communicator.
"Lovely..." Akemi mumbled, her eyes glued to the screen.
"Nightwing, Red Hood and Tobi have just met up with each other and they are currently with Jire." He informed.
"So they should be with Kuma then..." She said.
"Kojirou, go to Jire, Tobi, swap out and go with Ray towards the storage, I'm seeing hoards of these animals, it seems Kuma is trying to summon them out." She ordered, her fingers moving quickly across the keyboard.
"Gotcha." Tobi said.
"Kuma's there right?" Kojirou questioned, she could hear the dark intent in his tone.
"Yes, lure him out of that area, if you continue to fight him where you are, the whole building will collapse. I'm assuming that is his intention so he can escape." She said.
"Hm, that's why he brought out that ginormous snake." She hummed.
"Holy shit that's a lot of them." Ray spoke up, they were up in a vent, staring down at the animals that broke their way through the iron bars they were confined in.
"There should be 35 in there right now." Akemi said.
"...there's 34? Well including the snake thingy you were talking about." Tobi said.
"No, that one is Kuma's personal one. The 35 are the remains and his now scrap army that he's supposed to use here, but one is missing..." Akemi said, her brows furrowing.
"Has anybody else encountered a pure hybrid?" She asked, flicking through the multiple cameras.
"I had." Kojirou said.
"Not that one, originally there was 37, on our way here we encountered the bird. Then, you killed off the bull, which was supposed to leave 35 inside the storage."
Kojirou frowned at what Akemi was saying, he dodged the snakes speedy attempt at biting him.
"Juri. He sent one to Juri." He heard her say.
Akemi stood up and leaped off of the rooftop she was on.
"I'll handle it." She said, cutting off the communication.
Tobi and Ray looked over at each other, their eyes snapped towards the other side of the dark storage room and they saw Damian and Tim in their hero costumes too.
"Hey! You guys are here too!?" Tobi yelled across towards them with a wide grin.
"Tobi shut up!" Ray whispered out harshly.
"This is exciting isn't it!" He yelled out once more, ignoring Ray's attempts at trying to keep him quiet.
Damian groaned out in annoyance, seeing as the creatures reacted to Tobi's shouting, they began to crawl their way up towards him.
"Ew, damn they look like ass." Tobi snickered.
Standing up from his crouched position, his grin dropped and he stared down at the creatures crawling up towards them at a fast pace.
"Why are you like this." Ray dead panned at him, letting out an irritated sigh.
"It's funny, besides, now that we have their attention, those guys can come down and finish off the ones at the bottom while we take those at the top." He explained, taking out two long and heavy guns.
Ray stared at him.
"Huh, that's actually the smartest thing I've heard from you." He mumbled.
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
Juri was running with everything she had, dodging and ducking the thugs that tried to capture her.
She's been fighting them off which kind of slowed her down, she tried to keep it to a minimum but they wouldn't stop trying to come at her with the pure intent to kill her.
She punched a guy in the face making him stumble back into two other men. She hopped onto many containers and pipes trying to slip out of their grips.
She swung down a couple of pipes, almost losing her footing when multiple men tried to tackle her.
She barely dodged a knife sent her way, sliding on her knees down the slight slope, she done a forward tumble and got right back onto her feet.
She raised her leg in a round house kick, knocking out three men to the side that blocked her way.
But there was something that she noticed while she was on the run.
Even though her putting up a fight was slowing her down, the numbers of the Bears were reducing rapidly around her.
She knew full well that she wasn't the cause of this, which left her to think that there was somebody else fighting them off in her shadows.
Not that she was complaining, it in fact made it much easier for her to get around towards the exit at a faster pace.
She hopped over a crate, and narrowly evaded a punch. She grabbed the man's arm and flipped him over her shoulder, slamming him into the ground.
Leaving his body, she ran towards the exit she was told to take, her instincts kicked in and she turned around only to see a thug groan in pain as he fell over.
He was binded by a rope, keeping him from moving.
Juri stared at him for a split moment and she blinked in utter puzzlement when she saw the cause of the bind.
'A batarang?' She thought.
Pushing her thinking aside, she barged out of the exit and began to make her way towards the building that was still undergoing construction.
She skidded to a stop quickly diving behind a large metal container to hide herself.
There was a group of the Bears, but there was something different about them. She could see stitches along their arms and legs, some looked quite out of proportion.
Others looked normal, but had a certain air around them that kept Juri alert.
They looked bigger, stronger and even more intimidating. She confirmed that they were the ones under Kuma's control when she saw their vibrant red eyes.
They held dangerous weapons, as they gazed their eyes along their surroundings.
Juri looked around, trying to find an opening for her to run past.
'I don't want to fight these guys...' She thought, her face scrunching in frustration.
"I'm gonna be a bit held back with the controlled ones." She spoke quietly, holding on the communicator.
"Don't worry about it, just stay clear of any danger. With the way things are looking here. We won't be ready too." Kojirou said.
"Alright." She mumbled, she touched the bow and arrow, making sure that it is securely strapped on her back.
A sudden idea rose up in her mind.
There had to be somebody that was following her, somebody that was keeping low the entire time while also taking down the Bears, around her.
Unwrapping the chains around her waist, she tied it around her hand and stood up straight.
Coming to a conclusion, she was hoping to take advantage of the extra, invisible aid and slip through the crowds of them.
She ran towards the left, speeding past the crowed of anger-controlled villains, they immediately caught on and began to respond to her arrival.
'Man, this is such a hassle.' She thought, swinging her chains and wrapping it around a few villains, she swung around and threw them towards the cargo beside them.
Running forward, she had engaged in hand to hand combat, mostly using the unconscious bodies she managed to defeat, as a sheild against the many others.
She heard other grunts and yells of pain, darting her eyes around she saw the ones ganging up on her, were falling.
'Who is it?' She wondered.
A large explosion was heard on the other side of the large venue, causing Juri to halt momentarily and look towards the source, she quickly snapped her eyes forward, dodging a bat being swung at her.
Her chains latched around the bat and she yanked the thug towards her, she shot her leg straight and kicked his chin up, rocking his brain and knocking him out instantly.
Before he could fall back, she grabbed his collar and used him as a sheiled from the knife directed towards her.
"What is going on?" She muttered to herself.
A lot was going on.
"Kuma!" Kojirou yelled out darkly, popping a vein on his head as nothing but hatred filled his eyes.
"Hm?" Kuma hummed out as he turned around, looking over towards Kojirou who was stalking closer towards him.
"Ooh, scary." He said, pressing both his hands on the side of his mask in a shocked manner.
"You bastard. I'm gonna burn you alive for what you've done to my daughter." Kojirou gritted out, seething with rage.
"Get over it." Kuma waved off, he snapped his finger towards his direction and some of his controlled underlings rushed to attack Kojirou.
"Besides, that was only the beginning. You can make all your threats after I've made her my puppet." He chuckled.
"Then, I'll go after her mother and keep her by my si-" Kojirou appeared right in front of him and slammed his fist into Kuma's masked face, sending him flying.
He was sure he had dislocated his jaw, a metallic taste began to fill his mouth.
He rolled along the ground and came to a stop, flipping onto his back he stared up at the clouded sky, he heard his mask crack ever so slightly.
Lifting it up slightly, he forced his jaw back into its original position.
"Kill him." He mumbled, more of his underlings instantly ran towards a furious Kojirou.
"No wonder I hate you Kojirou." He said, pushing himself up, he dusted off his cloak and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"You're too strong, too powerful, too influential." He spoke, watching Kojirou fight them off as best as he could.
"Why couldn't I have any of that, we're brothers aren't we? We grew up in the same home, didn't we?" He said.
Kojirou was growing pissed by the second, he completely discarded the fact that he wasn't supposed to kill the controlled ones and he pierced his fist into one's chest, ripping out their heart.
"You are not my brother, Kenji." Kojirou spat in pure spite, slamming the hilt of his katana into the other ones head, knocking him out.
"I'm hurt." He responded in a pouty tone.
"But hey, I dont really care. I'm going to kill you off anyway." He said with a carefree shrug of his shoulders.
"And its going to be the in the most brutalist and inhumane way possible." He grinned.
A hard round house kick met his head by Batman, Kuma slammed through a crate, crushing it under him.
"I am 100% going to stab you in the neck for that." Kuma groaned, attempting to get up.
He waved his hand towards Batman who was coming at him with three batarangs in his hand, a large, muscular thug came leaping for Batman, but he just dodged as he binded him with a wire, kicking him down and knocking him out in an instant.
Kuma whistled out at this in amusement.
"You guys are much better than I thought you would be against my creations. I guess this is more of a reason as to why I should kill you."
"Yeah, yeah dream on." The muffled and rough voice cut Kuma out of his thoughts.
He looked over towards Red Hood, who stood a bit away from him.
"Who are you?" Kuma pointed.
"That shouldn't matter to a sick bitch like you." He answered.
"You have a foul mouth, I don't like it." Kuma said, drawing out two daggers and holding it up in front of him.
"Your opinion is irrelevant. Just like your purpose in this life." He said.
"Geez, whats up your ass?" Kuma snorted.
"What's up yours, piece of shit!" Red Hood yelled, becoming agitated.
"You just answered your own question, silly." Kuma said with a shake of his head.
Red Hood stared at him in puzzlement, his face then morphed into a sickened look under his helmet as he voiced how disturbed he was.
"Ew, man! You're disgusting. You definantly didn't have any friends growing up." He said, immediately lunging towards Kuma.
"What can I say?" Kuma chuckled as they clashed daggers.
"Nothing! You're just weird." Red Hood answered in revulsion, springing his leg up towards his stomach.
Kuma managed to dodge to the side, swinging his dagger down towards his thigh, Red Hood deflected his arm away just in time.
Shoving him back, Red Hood swept his foot under his legs, knocking him down. He stomped his foot onto his masked face, a pistol pointed down at him.
"It won't kill you, don't worry." He said coolly.
"I'm not, but you should be." Kuma mischievously snickered.
Red Hood's eyes squinted at him, he let out a noise of shock as a large thug came body slamming him off of Kuma.
Still holding onto Red Hood, the man continued to run towards the main crates, smashing his back through the hard materials.
"You fucker!" Red Hood yelled out in the distance.
Kuma giggled out but it was cut short as he turned to his right and saw Jire trudging towards him, her metal staff dragging behind her, rolling over the debris and little pebbles on the ground.
He stared at her, completely mesmerised with how her red hair stood out from the dull colours around him.
Her hair was out in an afro, a red headband that pushed it back as two braids fell down the front, framing her face. Brown and cream coloured beads and golden cuffs decorating both of them.
"Staring at you never gets old." He said, snapping his fingers again towards both Kojirou and Batman, without taking his eyes off Jire.
Now swarms of them went off and attacked both men.
A flash of worry crossed her eyes when she saw the hoard of them trying to rip Kojirou and Bruce apart.
"Don't worry, we're fine!" Kojirou reassured through the fighting.
"Why didn't I just cut off your head all those years ago and keep you with me?" He wondered to himself.
Her grip tightened around the staff, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"It's because if you did, I wouldn't have had the chance to beat the shit out of you."
His eyes widened and he quickly moved to the left to evade her staff, but he was slow and Jire appeared behind him, smashing the staff into the side of his stomach.
He doubled over greatly at the strenght of her hit.
Jire didn't stop there, twisting around to be in front of him, she twirled her staff around her fingers and swung it down onto his face.
A loud thunk, resounded on impact. His mask cracked and it crumbled, sliding off of his face and crashing to the ground.
Jire held eye contact with him, his face was blank, no emotions being relayed. Blood slowly trickled down his forehead because of the hit.
She grit her teeth and swung her staff back and towards his knee making him buckle over. Quickly maneuvering the staff towards his arm, she slammed it down, breaking his bone.
She frowned when he didn't make any indication of pain, because of that, she began to feel uneasy.
"How dare you put your hands on my daughter and place my family in harms way!" She shouted at him, her anger being put into her hits.
"I have my reasons." Kuma uttered, spitting out blood and narrowly dodging attacks.
'She's fast.' He thought dully, his eyes unable to follow her movements as blow after blow was the only thing he could feel.
His body didn't have any time to hit the ground, Jire wasn't going to let that happen.
She kept him standing on his feet while she continued to batter him with her metal staff.
The feeling of unease was gnawing at her nerves. Her continuous attacks on him was beginning to feel like nothing.
Especially with the lack of a reaction from him. The way he stared at her blankly as if what she was doing wasn't anything but a pinch on his arm.
Either way this infuriated her a hundred times more.
Batman was stunned as he watched Jire mercilessly attack Kuma.
"Damn, she's pretty vexed." Red Hood groaned out in pain, trudging back towards them as he held his arm. He was fighting off the thug that tackled him away, and he won.
Batman simply gave a nod in agreement, noticing how her usually soft and kind eyes were showing nothing but fury.
"She's so hot when she's mad."
Batman and Jason simultaneously looked over towards Kojirou slowly from the corner of their eyes, Batman's face scrunching up while Red Hood's mouth hung open with a strange look written on his face.
"She is about to kill Kuma, and you find that attractive?" Batman said in disbelief.
"Anything she does is so attractive! It makes me want to get on my hands and knees for her anytime, no hesitation." Kojirou said, holding onto his shoulders tightly as if to control himself from acting out.
The two men continued to stare at Kojirou in bewilderment.
"You know, sometimes I'm actually glad to have you." Red Hood spoke looking over at Batman.
Batman stared at him in surprise.
"Jason." Batman said, a hint of warmth in his tone, feeling moved by his words.
"Don't take it to heart though, I still think you're a fucking asshole-"
"Okay." Batman said flatly in defeat as he faced forward.
Kuma was sure beginning to grow bored.
"You're becoming a nuisance." He said, whipping out his dagger, she deflected it with her staff, but she wasn't aware of the other one in his other hand.
It slashed at her arm, ripping the material of her slong sleeve, she let out a gasp in shock, then her eyes snapped forward.
She saw him pulling out a syringe, Jire quickly backed away from him, keeping her staff in front of her defensively, taking in quick breaths in and out.
The cut wasn't deep and there was no sign of there being anything suspicious laced on the weapon, so she payed no mind to the injury.
He noticed how conflicted and deep in thought she looked, causing a wide grin to make its way onto her face.
"You're confused right?" He grinned.
"Let's just say your attacks are useless against me. So you basically wasted your breath for nothing." He said simply.
"W-what do you mean!?" She yelled, taken aback, sweat falling from her face.
"Every hit. My body absorbs it. No matter how fatal it is, my body will always continue to absorb the pain, resulting in my skin and muscle hardening greatly." He explained.
"I expiremented a little on the arm the mutt bit off, and it worked fantastically, now I could use it on me fully!" He laughed out, excitement lacing his words as he gestured to his now intact arm.
"If it reaches a point that his body is unbreakable, the arrow won't be able to penetrate him." Batman said with furrowed brows.
"Tch, I hate how complicated this is." Kojirou gritted out.
Kuma looked down at the syringe in his hand and towards Jire who was breathless at this point.
He snapped his fingers and instantly two of his goons came running towards Jire, she was startled by this and took a step back, glancing either side of her and watching the anger filled look in their eyes.
Her grip tightened around her weapon, readying herself.
Kojirou tensed up, without thinking, his body had instinctively lunged towards their direction.
The sudden urge to protect Jire blared in his mind, a wave of anger coming off of him at Kuma's audacity.
He quickly pulled Jire to his chest, whipping out his katana and expertly slashing the both of them with mighty speed and precision that it knocked them off their feet.
Kuma's annoyance was clear causing both of them to quickly pull themselves up and attack Kojirou once more.
Kojirou merely stared at them, his hold never faltering around Jire.
Batman's throwing knives came whizzing towards the controlled ones, catching them off guard, he expertly, slammed his fist in one's face and swept his foot under the other one, knocking him down.
After, he rendered them unconscious promptly.
"My love, are you alright?" He asked frantically, nothing but distress swimming through his eyes, worry prominent in his voice as he carefully sat her down on the ground, his arm still around her protectively.
"I'm okay, thank you Kojirou. I'm just a little tired." She reassured with an exhausted smile.
"Retiring sure had its affects I'm afraid." She chuckled dryly, shifting her arm slightly, she hissed lightly at the stinging pain from the cut.
Kojirou stared at it, his pupils shrinking in and close to becoming nothing.
His eyes widened and he immediately let go of Jire, backing away from her, he spun around and kicked the side Kuma's face, who was trying to sneak up on them.
"Dead people dont talk, Kojirou." Kuma said with a dark look.
"If you know, why are you talking?" Kojirou shot back.
"Just to warn you." He said, swinging the syringe into the side of Kojirous neck, but Kojirou had caught his wrist, preventing him from attacking.
'He's much stronger than I anticipated.' He thought, his brows furrowing as he saw how much pressure Kuma was putting to try and overpower him.
Kojirou slammed his head into Kuma's face, causing him to stumble back slightly, he quickly twisted Kuma's arm to his back and pushed him down on the ground, disarming him of the syringe.
"Wrong one." Kuma grunted out with a smirk, Kojirou frowned and quickly looked over towards Jire, he saw a deformed human sprinting towards her with a syringe in his hand.
Batman and Red Hood were about to run towards her when they were abruptly stopped by the tremors from the ground, suddenly a snakes tail came splitting the ground, causing them to move further away.
Kojirou immediately got up to run to Jire but he stopped in his tracks when he felt something being stabbed into his shoulder.
A dark blue coloured liquid was injected into his body.
He slowly turned towards Kuma.
"You've become gullible, taking you out is becoming much easier than I expected." Kuma said with a snicker.
-7063 words