HL: Chapter 30

Jackie'd been curious as to why Bruce'd called him up to go over to Wayne Manor at nine in the goddamn morning. It ain't like there was a shitload of problems going on in Gotham right now, after all. Most of the guys that usually fucked with the city were out of play at the moment, so shit was pretty quiet. About the only thing Jackie could think of that Bruce'd wanna talk about was the shit that'd just gone down with Bixi. That was probably it, actually. After all, it ain't every day that you ran up against a real-life Mythological Being for most folks. Bruce don't even do magic to begin with, so that probably don't help none either. He probably wanted to know what other kindsa shit that he could be expected to haveta deal with on that front, and how exactly to deal with 'em when they inevitably showed up looking to throw down. At least, that was what Jackie figured Bruce wanted.

As he drove over to stately Wayne Manor, Jackie looked over at the notebooks he'd filled with whatever info he could scrape up on the various Supernatural shit he knew of. There were a couple of 'em he'd managed to fill with intel just sitting in the passenger seat of his ride. After all, just cause he knew Bruce ain't no reason not to come prepped to this meet. 'Course, Jackie ain't an expert on the subject and a lotta his info was specific to stuff from the Celestial Bureaucracy, but it was better than going into fights with this sorta shit blind. Bruce'd appreciate the effort, at least. Probably, anyway. As he pulled up onto the driveway of stately Wayne Manor, Jackie realized that actually he ain't got no clue how Bruce'd actually take the intel. The Bat was a hard man to read by design, after all.

Still, as he parked his Camaro, Jackie gathered up all his notebooks from the front passenger seat and headed off for the door. He only hadta knock one time before the door swung open and the skinny, old, frame of Alfred Pennyworth was standing in the doorway, a wry smile on his face. Jackie liked Alfred, even if it'd taken the guy a bit to warm up to him. The Old Butler was pretty funny, in that dry, British, kinda way. Plus he'd fought in the War, and that'd automatically meant he was due respect. Jackie nodded at the Butler as he opened the door, grinning at the former Commando.

"Hey, Al. How's it going?" He questioned.

"It is going, Mister Yuen. It would be going a lot more smoothly if you had warned us about the existence of Dragon Turtles, however." Answered Alfred.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. In my defense, I ain't had a clue that was a thing till like, an hour or so before the fight." Sighed Jackie.

"Even so, it was quite a nasty surprise, I don't mind saying." Huffed Alfred.

"Yeah, well, that's why I brought these." Nodded Jackie, holding up the quartet of notebooks.

"And what, praytell are those?" Queried Alfred.

"Intel on different mystic threats, what they are, the kindsa stuff they can do, and how to beat 'em." Grinned Jackie.

"Well, I'm sure Master Bruce will appreciate that. He's waiting for you." Informed Alfred.

"Sure thing, Al. Where is he?" Asked Jackie.

"Where he usually is. The Cave. Come along." Intoned Alfred.

Jackie nodded as Alfred turned on his heel to lead him through the Mansion. As they made there way through, Jackie spotted a Porcelain Ming Vase that pinged off his mystic radar something fierce. Frowning, he paused to look at it, doing a buncha mystic scans. When he switched over to scanning the thing with Zhao Family Necromancy, though the vase lit up like a goddamn Christmas tree. Frowning, Jackie realized exactly why that was. There was a ghost bound in the vase with some kinda mystic binding spell. It ain't Zhao Family Necromancy, though. If Jackie hadta guess, it was some sorta regional tradition from out in the sticks, what his Grandad'd call peasant magic. The Binding looked maybe five centuries old, that was a long time for that kinda magic to hold and it was coming apart at the seems from age.

"Something the Matter?" Questioned Alfred.

"That's new." Commented Jackie.

"Yes, Master Bruce received it as a gift from the Chinese Theater out in Chinatown. He recently sponsored a benefit performance for aid for the Dharbari Refugee Crisis currently ongoing. The Chinese Authorities in Xinjiang are having issues containing the flood of refugees crossing the border and it's starting to make the local Uighur Population restless. Master Bruce felt offering aid would be a good idea before the Government in Beijing decided to solve the problem in their usual, heavy handed, manner." Informed Alfred.

"You mean deciding to round up all the refugees and Uighurs into camps or something." Scoffed Jackie.

"Quite." Nodded Alfred.

"Well, I wouldn't go displaying this thing just yet, Al. There's a ghost bound up in it and the bindings are fraying. I dunno if the Chinese Theater knew about this, or if it's some kinda scheme, but the magic on the binding's fraying. This sorta rural magic just ain't supposed to hold for five hundred years." Explained Jackie.

"Good heavens. That seems a problem." Blinked Alfred.

"Damn straight. Most ghosts that've been stuck like this for five centuries ain't exactly gonna be open to diplomacy when they bust outta their bindings." Nodded Jackie.

"I see. Is there anything you can do?" Queried Alfred.

"I can top up the binding, but Exorcising the Ghost looks like it'd be a more involved sorta thing. I can already tell it's got the kinda power that even I'd struggle with that without the right kinda prep. Ultimately, I just ain't that good a Necromancer to not need the prep time." Jackie admitted.

"So what would you suggest?" Came Bruce's baritone voice from behind Jackie.

Jackie turned to see the Bat'd still been wearing his suit, though he'd shocked the cape and cowl for the time being. Jackie ain't sure if he could blame Bruce for that. It ain't like he went around Yuen Manor dressed as Black Tiger, after all. A man had a right to be himself in his own goddamn home. He nodded at Bruce and then turned back to the Vase. A quick incantation in Classical Chinese and a mystic gesture later, and he was casting a spell that aimed to verify the Identity of the Ghost bound up in the Vase, the Identifying Gaze of Zhao Wenzhi, it was called. What he learned was that this Ghost was no joke. Wu Ping, a descendant of the Ancient Changsha Kings and a Gu-based Black Sorcerer was bound in here. That ain't good, Jackie was pretty sure he'd been a Hierophant in life, at least he thought so. He might've dozed off in some of his Uncle's history lectures.

"Right, so here's the thing. The guy stuck in there? It's Wu Ping. I don't suppose you know what Gu is?" Asked Jackie.

"Poision Sorcery, a type of black magic associated with Southern Chinese Legends." Answered Bruce.

"It ain't no Legend, Bruce. Wu Ping was a Black Sorcerer who specialized in Gu Sorcery back during the fourteen hundreds. He lived for three centuries, using Gu Sorcery to drain the life from other folks and transfer it to him. A village would get sick and like, half of the villagers would die, their lives transfered over to Wu Ping, then he'd move on." Explained Jackie.

"So he's a Necromancer?" Questioned Bruce.

"Not exactly. Traditionally, Gu deals more in mystical diseases, curses, and poisons than in straight-up manipulation of life and death. Point is, you don't wanna have this guy unleashed on Gotham. If he got loose, I dunno if even I could deal with him." Pointed out Jackie.

"So we're back to my initial question. What do you suggest we do?" Queried Bruce.

"I can top up the binding, but to exorcise this guy, we might wanna call in Doc Fate." Responded Jackie.

"Do it. In the meantime, we need to talk." Intoned Bruce.

"Yeah, I figured. You probably ain't too pleased 'bout Bixi's visit. I brought you something so we ain't blindsided by shit like that again." Nodded Jackie, holding up the notebooks.

"What are those?" Asked Bruce.

"Intel. This is every mystic creature I know about, what they can do, and how to beat 'em. Next time something shows up looking to go all Godzilla on Gotham, we should be prepped." Smirked Jackie.

"While I appreciate it, that isn't why I called you over here." Insisted Bruce.

"It ain't?" Questioned Jackie.

"No. Do you read the papers, Jackie?" Queried Bruce.

"I ain't got time for that. Too busy." Refuted Jackie.

"You should. Then maybe you would have known why I called you over." Pointed out Brucd before shoving a newspaper into Jackie's hands.

"Huh. A New Superman? I gotta say, I'm flattered, but I ain't Big Blue's equal yet." Mused Jackie, reading the headline.

"That's not the point. The point is people see this. They read what Vicki Vale says about you, and some, the same sort of people who would try to fight Superman just to prove themselves and their strength, will now come to Gotham to fight you for the same reasons." Frowned Bruce.

"So? I can take 'em. It's not like I ain't got tricks Big Blue don't." Pointed out Jackie.

"For now maybe. Maybe those tricks might even win you the fight. But every time you pull out a new spell or potion, you show your hand to the next Superpowered Challenger. How long until you run out of tricks? I won't have Gotham become a Metahuman Warzone." Pressed Bruce.

"So what? You want me to leave? I got a life here Bruce. How can I just leave like that?" Asked Jackie.

"I don't like it either, Jackie. Your help has been invaluable, but sometimes we need to do things we don't want to so we can keep others safe." Sighed Bruce.

For a moment, Jackie and Bruce were stuck in a Mexican stand-off sorta thing. Jackie ain't willing to just up stakes and leave, but Bruce ain't really giving him an option. Neither of 'em was willing to back down on the issue. For a moment, Jackie was of the mindset that if Bruce ain't gonna give him a choice, then he might as well just say fuck it and let the binding keeping Wu Ping's Ghost stuck in the Vase come apart, just so Bruce could see just how much he'd miss Jackie's backup when he was gone. Of course, he dismissed that kinda thought right away. Jackie figured he was past that sorta thinking now he was a White Hat, and that kinda impulse ain't exactly becoming of his new lease on life, after all. So the pair stared each other down in the entry hall of Stately Wayne Manor, neither budging an inch. It would take an act of Supervillainy of the sort that Bruce'd been warning Jackie about happening to break that impasse.

when it did, Jackie hadta admit that Bruce had a point, and would prepare to up stakes for New York City. . .

XXXX

Nathaniel Tryon had been sent to Gotham to wipe out his debts to Lex Luthor. Honestly, he would've done this for free anyway if given the choice, especially after seeing that headline, but it was always nice to be paid for doing shit you loved. Lex had fixed his suit up nice, so that not only was it able to feed off the excess energy his Atomic Body put out, but it used some kinda super-circuit to translate that energy into extra power. Before this, he hadta infuse his blows with K-radiation via his Neutronic Powers to actually hurt Superman, but now? Now he might even be able to do that sorta thing naturally. Of course, thanks to his weird body type, he was still as durable as ever, that hadn't changed, but the suit boosted his strength and speed further. Say what you would about Lex being a megalomaniac, the man did good work. Especially when it came to dealing with Superman.

Of course, that had brought up annoying memories. When Nate had heard that the Boyscout had bit the dust, he'd been ecstatic. He'd gone on a week long bender in celebration, buying up as much beer with the proceeds of his latest bank robbery as he could. After all, he'd long since rigged up an induction port in his suit so he could eat and drink, even if he still couldn't get laid or anything, he could at least enjoy a cold brewski or three dozen. Unfortunately, after a week of celebration, a whole shitload of Superman Copycats had shown up in Metropolis and it'd been just his rotten luck that Nate had run into all four of them while on his bender. The fights had damaged his suit, forcing him to go to Lex to get it fixed up. Now a fifth Copycat had shown up in Gotham, and Nate wasn't having that, not one bit.

As he stepped off the boat onto the Gotham Docks, the Man known as Neutron looked out over the City. He wondered briefly how to get this latest Copycat's attention, but then shook his head and chuckled to himself. How did you get Superman's attention? By causing trouble. He couldn't imagine this latest Copycat was at all different in that respect. Heading down the docks, Neutron hined in on a nearby cargo ship with the Wayne Shipping logo painted on the Hull in big white letters. A container ship carrying a bunch of electronics as cargo. Pricey and public, just the sorta target to bring out the White Hats. Grinning to himself behind the mask of his suit, Neutron raised one hand, pointing it at the Container Ship, before letting a blast of Neutronic energy fly with an effort of willpower. The beam flew true, striking the vessel and causing a massive explosion to rock the docks.

If that didn't bring the White Hats running, nothing would. And when they came running to see what had just happened, Neutron would be waiting for them.

With a fistful of deadly energy with Black Tiger's name on it. . .

XXXX

AN: And here we have the next chapter. Sorry it took so long to get out. Here we see not just Bruce and Jackie's conversation about Jackie leaving Gotham, but the introduction of Neutron to Gotham, as well as a potential future problem in Wu Ping's Ghost. We also get hints that Mullah Arghulian's coup in Dharbar has caused the start of a Humanitarian Crisis on the Chinese Border. Dharbar has been an ongoing thread in the background of the fic, expect it to come up more in the future.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the fight against Neutron. I'll also have an informational post from the perspective of one of Jackie's Mystical Creature Dossiers out before then as well.

Stay tuned. . .