HL: Chapter 31

Jackie'd suited up as soon as he'd got the call about the situation at the Docks. Some douchebag'd blown up a cargo ship and decided to take a buncha hostages. Now he was leaping across the Gotham rooftops hoping to catch the asshole in time to avoid any more deaths. Unfortunately, the Guy was apparently a helluva lot stronger than the average Gotham Black Hat. Tim and Babs'd engaged him but ain't even lasted a ninety seconds. They'd tried to deal with him to stall while Bruce pulled up any intel he could get on the Asshole and Jackie made his way over there, but Babs ain't even an Adept when it came to Chi Stuff and none of their gas, flashbacks, or anything seemed to work against this guy. He'd pretty much bodied both of 'em at the minute and five-second mark. That was a Helluva lot better than the cops'd managed, though.

Major Crimes'd shown up not too long after the initial explosion and immediately got their shit pushed in by some kinda energy beams the Asshole was able to shoot outta his hands. He'd blown up a couple squad cars and downed a buncha officers that'd moved in to try and deal with him. Detectives Montaya and Bullock'd been calling the shots for Major Crimes on the scene, and they'd ordered the Cops to pull back and let the Bats handle it. The Cops were now establishing a perimeter around the docks, with police blimps, boats, the whole nine yards. Not that any of that shit would stop this guy if he wanted to bug out. Jackie figured if he could blow up a big-ass cargo ship, there ain't no way the smaller police boats or police blimps full of flammable gas would be able to keep him from fucking off.

As he made his way over to Miller Harbor, Jackie could only growl in frustration. The place this shit was going down was halfway across the Godsdamn city from where he'd started out in Bristol County. Of all the times when this hadta go down, it hadta be while he was back at the Yuen Manor instead of in any of his safe houses in Gotham Proper. That just figured. Honestly, he was tempted to just sit this one out and let Bruce handle it, 'cept for two reasons. Reason one, the Asshole'd supposedly called Black Tiger out by name, which meant that there ain't no way that Jackie was gonna be able to let this slide without showing himself. Reason two was that he ain't even sure if Bruce had this. It seemed like the kinda shit that'd need a whole lotta planning on Bruce's part to deal with, and with Tim and Babs captured, Jackie ain't sure Bruce had the time for that. Besides, he was trying to be a White Hat nowadays. That meant helping out where he could.

"Still, did this shit have to be so far away?" Jackie questioned to himself as he leaped to the next building.

"Jackie, where are you right now?" Queried Bruce over the Radio.

"I'm making my way through the East End toward Miller Harbor now, Bruce." Answered Jackie.

"You made good time." Remarked Bruce.

"It's an emergency, Bruce." Pointed out Jackie.

"It is. Listen, I've figured out who you're up against." Intoned Bruce.

"What've you got for me, then?" Queried Jackie.

"His name is Nathaniel Tryon, though he goes by Neutron. He's an enemy of Superman's. He was mutated by an experiment in particle physics to have his body composed of atomic energy. He's literally a walking nuclear meltdown with the power to fire blasts of atomic energy from his hands and to supercharge his blows with radiation. He's also incredibly resistant to damage. He's been proven to be able to fire blasts that can explode with the power of hydrogen bombs." Informed Bruce.

"Fucking terrific. How do I beat this asshole?" Asked Jackie.

"He needs his suit to be able to stay together. Without it, the radiation that his body is made up of will decay fairly quickly and dissipate into nothing. The last time that happened, it took him months to pull himself back together, and that was with help." Explained Bruce.

"Right fuck with his suit, got it." Nodded Jackie.

"Jackie, this is the sort of thing I was worried about when we talked earlier." Reminded Bruce.

"I know, Bruce. I hate admitting when you're right and I'm wrong, you know that?" Questioned Jackie.

"This isn't a time to let your pride get in the way." Insisted Bruce.

"I got it. There's a walking nuke fucking up the Commercial Docks in Miller Harbor, Bruce. Can't get no more I told you so than that. No need to rub it in." Growled Jackie.

"So you'll agree to head to New York?" Queried Bruce.

"Yeah, gotta say though, this ain't the way I wanted shit to go down." Huffed Jackie.

"Me either. We live in the reality we live in, though." Responded Bruce.

"Ain't that the truth. All right, I'm coming up on Miller Harbor now. What are you gonna do while I deal with Neutron?" Asked Jackie.

"I'm taking the Batboat to Miller Harbor now. I'll get Barbara, Tim, and the Major Crimes Officers that Neutron's taken hostage out of the area while you fight." Informed Bruce.

"Right. I'll contact you for a debrief when this shit's done with." Agreed Jackie.

"I'll be waiting. Batman out." Confirmed Bruce.

Then he cut the feed just as Jackie leaped over the last couple rooftops and finally made it to Miller Harbor. The Three Major Islands of Gotham had a buncha harbors, but the main commercial port for legit business was Miller Harbor, between the Middle and Lower Islands, where the Finger River flowed into the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. Normally the place'd be pretty goddamn hard to figure out which dock all the ruckus was going down at 'cause there were so many of 'em out here. That ain't the case this time, though. After all, there was only one spot where there was a burning wreck of a buncha GCPD Cruisers and a sunken Container Ship. There was only one spot where a seven-foot-tall Asshole was leveling a glowing fist at the head of a Cop and threatening to blow the heads offa his hostages if Black Tiger don't show up on the count of three.

And Jackie headed over that way, ready to bust Neutron's bubble and throw down with the walking H-Bomb. . .

XXXX

Barbara Gordon was still somewhat out of it after her and Tim's brief fight with the Villain calling himself Neutron. They'd been supposed to buy time for Bruce and Jackie to mobilize and take Neutron down, but they'd only managed to put up a brief struggle before being captured. Honestly, if Neutron hadn't been holding back so he could take hostages, Barbara was pretty sure that both she and Tim would be dead right now. Neutron just hit that hard. Even with that, her Disciple-level Chi Techniques, and the armored cowl she wore as part of her suit, Barbara was pretty sure that when Neutron managed to slip that left hook in past her guard to smash into her temple, he'd given her a concussion. At least she was still awake, if woozy. Tim was still completely out of it. He'd been knocked out after he'd tried to avoid an atomic blast by grappling up onto an old water tower, only for a second blast to topple said water tower. Tim had hit the pier hard as the water tower collapsed and been knocked out.

The only benefit of the situation seemed to be that Neutron was content to wait for Jackie to show up. He'd been calling out Black Tiger loudly and repeatedly, demanding the 'Superman of Gotham' show up and fight him. It was giving Barbara time to pull herself together and try to clear her head of the fog that had swept over her brain after she'd been hit with that punch. If she could just clear her head, the scavenged metal rods that Neutron had bound her and Tim in by literally bending the rebar around them could be cut through with the Plasma Torch in her utility belt, and they might be able to escape. Neutron hadn't bound them securely enough to avoid letting her reach her utility belt, probably because he was used to fighting Superman in Metropolis, as he constantly boasted. Superman didn't use gadgets, and Neutron was unfamiliar with how to fight someone who did.

As she realized that, however, Neutron seemed to lose his patience. He dragged a Major Crimes Officer who had been bound with her own handcuffs out of the group of GCPD Officers that he'd taken hostage and leveled his fist at her head, before said fist had begun to glow with an eerie atomic light. Barbara realized that it was literally now or never for her to try and escape and began working her hands down toward her utility belt, where she kept her plasma cutter to put her plan into action. As she did so, she blinked furiously, trying to clear the remnants of fog from her mind faster, even though logically, she knew that wasn't how recovering from a concussion worked. She was out of time, though, and logic could go screw itself.

"I'm gonna count to three, and if Black Tiger doesn't show himself by the time I reach three, then Detective Tiegel here is gonna get her brains blasted out onto the docks! Then I start executing the other hostages every five minutes till Black Tiger shows himself!" Shouted Neutron.

"Please, no!" Begged the dark-skinned Major Crimes Officer, Detective Tiegel. Her begging was in vain, though, because Neutron began to count regardless.

"One!" Counted Neutron, fist beginning to hum audibly. Barbara had managed to reach her utility belt and pull her plasma cutter as he did.

"Two!" He continued as the glow surrounding his fist brightened with atomic energy. Barbara began to position her plasma cutter to cut at the rebar binding her and Tim, but she knew right then she wouldn't make it.

"Three! What happens next ain't on my head! It's on Black Tiger's for being a total pu. . ." Announced Neutron, before being interrupted by a black blur slamming into him from above.

Neutron was knocked back down the docks to slam into the wreckage of the Wayne Shipping Container Ship he had blasted into previously, crashing through metal and leaving a seven-foot-tall, person-shaped, new hole in the wrecked hulk. As Barbara paused in her cutting to look over at what had happened, she saw Jackie in his Black Tiger uniform straighten up from the crouch he'd landed in after literally drop-kicking Neutron into the wreck of the Container Ship. She couldn't help but give a slight grin at that. It was just like Jackie to leave a rescue for the last possible moment. Barbara couldn't help but chuckle at that as she continued cutting herself and Tim loose from their Makeshift Rebar Prison.

"Heard someone calling me out. Figured I'd drop in and see what sorta shit he was talking." Grinned Jackie as Barbara finally managed to cut herself and Tim loose.

"You sure took your sweet time." Huffed Barbara.

"Hey, you know me. I like to make an entrance." Shrugged Jackie.

Jackie moved over and handed Barbara a few of those Alchemical Healing Pills he kept on him before nodding at her. Barbara took one and felt the remnants of her concussion fog fade entirely as her aches and pains healed up. Then she moved to feed one to Tim, pinching his nose shut to ensure he swallowed. Tim's eyes fluttered open, and he stood up into a Wing Chun Stance, ready to fight as he looked around wildly.

"What happened? Where's the Guy?" Demanded Tim.

"Easy, Boy Wonder. I'm handling it." Chuckled Jackie. As he said that, however, there was another explosion from the wreckage of the Container Ship as Neutron literally blasted his way out of the makeshift prison of twisted steel and ship pieces that Jackie had knocked him into. Jackie turned to Barbara and Tim before gesturing to the still-bound GCPD Major Crimes Officers.

"You two oughtta grab the hostages and Bug Out. Bruce is on his way with the Batboat. Get to ground till he shows, 'cause this could get ugly." Insisted Jackie.

"Right. We'll do that." Agreed Barbara.

"Yeah, kick his ass for us." Added Tim.

"Will do." Nodded Jackie.

Then Jackie turned and rushed Neutron, dodging a blast of Atomic Energy that blew up a nearby oil tank, setting part of the dock alight before kicking Neutron out over the water of the harbor. He leapt up into the air on invisible wings of Chi after Neutron, and the fight took to the skies. Meanwhile, Barbara and Tim worked on freeing the GCPD Hostages from their own handcuffs and herding them off the dock and back toward the GCPD Cordon that Detectives Bullock and Montoya had set up further inland.

After all, with the Dock on fire, they could hardly stay there. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. Jackie finally gets into it with a Superman-class Opponent, and the fight is wrecking up Miller Harbor. That seems to be proving Bruce right about Superpowered Villains in Gotham, especially as neither Babs nor Tim, even working together, had managed to stall Neutron for more then a minute and five seconds. The GCPD's response lasted even less time, showing up and getting wrecked inside of a minute before pulling back to let the Bats handle things. Now Jackie's going to be heading to New York City after this because, much as he hates to admit it, Bruce was right about Gotham not being ready for that level of threats.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the bulk of the fight with Neutron, then we'll have a wrap-up chapter in Gotham before Jackie's move to the Big Apple.

Stay tuned. . .