The Question #163

"There you are..." I said, smiling as I saw Little Soot lying on the couch, curled into a ball. He raised his head to glance at me and merely meowed in greeting before going back to sleep.

"Carless as ever, I see," I muttered, chuckling as I sat down on the couch next to the little critter, who was a bit bigger. "It's really been more than a week, huh...?" I remarked as I looked around, noticing a thin layer of dust covering the floor and every surface.

Waking up from a coma, only to discover I was out for an entire week, was shocking, but realizing that I spent the said week recovering in the justice league's space fortress was even more so.

And how I came to that conclusion left me at a loss between laughter and tears. It took me a couple of hours after my conversation with Martian Manhunter to get back in top form.

Being my usual anti-social self, I decided that I didn't want to stick around to meet the rest of the heroes, and there was a nice little window strategically placed next to my bed.

I put on whatever clothes I found in my inventory and headed towards the window to make a swift exit, only to freeze when a deep gruff voice asked me where I was going.

I immediately recognized the speaker and had no intention of questioning how he sneaked up on me or how he appeared at such immaculate timing to give me a jump scare because it was pointless.

Batman will be Batman, am I right?

Anyways, I briefly responded with the word "out" and reached for the curtain to open it, only to freeze again as I received my second jump scare in the form of a green and blue planet floating in an endless abyss of stars.

I could do nothing at the time but slowly turn to face Batman, and I could swear there was a twitch in his lips, which he quickly hid, but my empathy still caught to the faint amusement radiating off his body.

Imagine getting trolled by Batman. I guess that's another thing I could write and scratch off my nonexistent bucket list.

My imaginary list of milestones aside, Batman then escorted me to a teleportation device that sent me straight into the middle of Gotham, but not before telling me he'll be keeping an eye on me. Again, classic Batman.

My first destination was Mark's place, and you already know how that went. Luckily I managed to convince Janet to move out after a bit of talking, and she'll be taking her belongings and moving there tomorrow.

Still, I'll keep an eye out on the apartment complex until then to be safe and ascertain nothing goes wrong. I've seen it firsthand many times; paranoia does pay off more than it doesn't.

And well, here I am now, sitting next to a demonic little creature who only survives because I feed him but still seems to hate my guts and resent my very existence for some reason.

He's pretty cute, though. So That's ok.

I still had a shit of things to do, like finalizing the paperwork for Janet and Leah's new home, reaching out to Deadshot and the others to see if they were still on board, hunting down the religion, and visiting Richard.

The last of which I dreaded the most. Like, how the hell am I supposed to go about that? Hello teacher, sorry about the arm. Good thing it wasn't your wanking arm, am I right?

"Ugh... just wake up and kill me, you little demon!" I exclaimed, grunting as I picked up Little Soot and shook him awake. The little critter obliged and immediately bounced on my face, clawing, slapping, and hissing like one pissed-off, predatory black ball of fluffy cotton.

...

Gotham City Park

As he stood before a tree in the park, Richard closed his eyes in concentration, reaching for the dragon amulet on his neck with his right, intact arm.

He took a deep breath as he drew focus from the amulet and channeled energy into his arm before opening his eyes. His hand curled into a fist and moved as fast as lightning, hitting the tree and generating a loud thud.

Watching the tree split in half and fall, Richard let out the breath he was holding and let go of the amulet. He raised an eyebrow as he picked up the sound of footsteps from behind.

He turned to face the newcomer and raised an eyebrow at the figure of a tall man standing at roughly 6.2 feet. The man had an athletic build, despite his heavy trench coat. He had blue eyes and strawberry-blonde hair.

"Here's a face I haven't seen in a while. Here to say hi to your old teacher, Victor?" Richard remarked, walking towards the man as he smiled to meet him halfway.

"Not quite..." Victor, also known as The Question, blankly replied as he shook his head. "I see you're back to being a cripple," he added, looking Richard up and down.

"I'd like you to see you chose your way out of this one," Victor added as he recalled Richard's words before suddenly getting up from his wheelchair several years ago.

"Your tongue's still sharp, I see. Your skill better not be lagging," Richard replied with a chuckle, seemingly unoffended, only to suddenly raise his leg, sending a high kick flying toward Vic's face.

"Always," Victor replied, having raised his hand and caught Richard's foot before it hit his face. "I hear you've taken another troublemaker of a student," he said as he let go of Richard's foot as he knew better than to push his luck.

Crippled or not, Richard Dragon was still one of the most dangerous people on the planet when he needed to be. He was one of the most laid-back people you could meet, but that didn't take away from how deadly he could be if he so chose, regardless of his limb count.

After all, the beatings he received from the wheelchair-ridden Richard in the name of training were still vivid in his mind.

"I've got a soft spot for troublemakers. I took you in, didn't I?" Richard replied with a light laugh as he walked to the decimated tree trunk, sitting on the grass and leaning into it.

"Fair enough..." Vic replied, trailing off as he approached Richard while lighting a cigarette. "I'm here on business to look into Grayson Whitelock, your new student," he added as he buffed a cloud of smoke.

"Now that he's back up, my boss wants a headline-worthy article at the very least," he concluded, going quiet as he waited for Richard's reply, which quickly came without delay.

"Would you back off if I asked you to?" Richard calmly asked, smiling as he raised an eyebrow at his former student, despite already knowing the answer.

"No. I'm here to tell you I won't pull back any punches," Victor Sage replied, shaking his head as he dropped the cigarette on the grass and promptly stomped it.

"So you are here to say hi," Richard said as he chuckled, to which The Question merely turned to leave, giving the former his back. "Do your job Victor, but don't push too hard," he added, sighing as he watched his student leave.

"It won't end well," he concluded.

"You've gone soft, Richard. You've never shown that much concern over me," Sage remarked as he briefly halted and turned to look at Richard from behind his back.

"It isn't Gray I'm worried about, not by a long shot. Tone down that ego of yours, Victor, for your sake," Richard replied, shaking his head as he saw Victor continue walking.

"That student of yours doesn't seem the type to get along," came Ben's voice as he stepped from behind a nearby tree, having waited for Victor to leave before showing himself.

"And we both know Gray isn't either," Ben said as he approached Richard. "Are you sure it's a good idea to let him go just like that?" he asked, frowning as he crossed his arms.

"Victor's ego and stubbornness have always been his flaws. The more I try to dissuade him, the more he'd want to do it," Richard carelessly replied, shrugging his shoulders in dismissal.

"Maybe Gray could beat some sense into his thick head," he added with a chuckle. "Besides, you and I had our own differences back in O-sensei's dojo. We worked them out without master's intervention..." he added, a fond slight smile on his face.

"So will they, eventually."

...

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