Deadshot

The blaze in the slums lit up half of Arkham District.

On the rooftop of Arkham Asylum, the tallest building in Arkham District, a bald man in a white coat stood holding a cup of coffee as he watched the fire in the distance.

"What a beautiful sight. It would be even better if it burned a little bigger, wouldn't it, Miss Talia?"

He turned and smiled. Against the distant flames, his smooth scalp gleamed faintly. He had a ring of thick beard around his face and wore small glasses on the bridge of his nose.

His white coat bore an ID badge: Psychiatrist Hugo Strange.

"Mr. Strange, we are not that close."

Behind him, Talia al Ghul, dressed in a tight leather suit with her hair tied in a ponytail, wore an icy expression.

Hugo Strange lifted his coffee with some resignation, took another sip, and narrowed his eyes at Gotham City in the distance.

"Please convey my respects to Master Ra's al Ghul. Gotham will be my gift to him! I also hope the Assassin League will come here."

"I'll pass that on to him. But his prized disciple is also in Gotham. If you want to inherit the Assassin League, you must deal with him first."

Talia folded her arms across her chest, clearly not taking this psychiatric expert seriously. Instead, she studied the site of the raging fire with curious eyes.

"Don't worry... I'll deal with him."

Hugo Strange smiled confidently, as though he could already see the day he took command of the Assassin League.

At Blackgate Prison, the heavy, imposing black iron gates stood wide open. Criminals in orange prison uniforms cheered and ran out of the prison as if they were attending a party.

Several guards were seized by prisoners and thrown from the towering walls, their screams ringing out as they plunged heavily into the water.

Just as a laughing crowd of escaping criminals ran across the bridge, the black Batmobile switched on its blinding high beams and charged toward them.

"No! No!!!"

Caught in the glaring headlights, the criminals screamed like vampires exposed to sunlight and hurriedly raised their hands to shield their eyes.

But as the engine roar drew closer, they were scared out of their wits. Some were so terrified that they dropped onto the ground.

Inside the car, Batman watched the fleeing criminals and tapped several function buttons at his side.

With a dull thud, a huge black net shot out from a concealed launch port in the Batmobile.

The criminals on the steel bridge ahead were covered by the net, struggling fiercely like fish caught in a fishing net.

Some prisoners tried to bite through the ropes to escape, but this was not a fishing net, much less something they could chew through.

As Batman drove the Batmobile past them, he reached out and pressed an electric shock button.

The criminals outside on the bridge cried out.

Metal wires and electric current devices hidden within the black net instantly jolted them numb and rigid.

The criminals ahead saw the Batmobile barreling toward them. With nowhere to run, they could only leap off the bridge.

They splashed down one after another like dumplings dropped into a pot.

Blackgate Prison's gate stood ahead. Batman spun the wheel, swinging the Batmobile sideways to block the entrance.

The Batmobile's canopy rose, and Batman stepped out. His damaged cape had already been replaced. He looked up at the chaotic prison and the office building where intense gunfire still rang out.

Inside the office building, Blackgate Prison's warden, staff, and guards had all been tied up and thrown into a storage room.

The new gang boss, Black Mask, was delivering a new employee orientation speech, filling their heads with motivational platitudes.

Meanwhile, Deadshot Lawton, a bodyguard paid to do a job, was passing the time with an M9 pistol by tracing human outlines.

Literally... tracing human outlines.

Gunshots rang out nonstop. The guard standing against the wall with his arms tied was so terrified that he could not keep his legs together, and his pants were soaked with urine.

Bullets whizzed past his body, leaving holes in the wall that outlined a human figure.

The moment the gunfire stopped, the guard's legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor. Then the shooting started again. Bullets skimmed past his scalp and knocked loose several strands of hair. The guard rolled his eyes back and fainted.

After Deadshot Lawton finished tracing another human outline, he blew the smoke from his muzzle and picked up an M4 assault rifle from the table, part of the guard's special equipment.

He fired another burst at the clock on the wall.

Every shot struck one of the numbers on the clock face. This extraordinary accuracy and mastery of firearms

had made him famous among assassins and mercenaries alike. The only thing he lacked was luck. Life had not been going well lately...

With a crash, the window shattered. A black grappling hook flew in, hooked onto the radiator, and pulled taut.

Deadshot noticed it at once. The red laser sight over his eye turned toward the window and locked onto the target.

He swiftly changed the magazine in his M4 assault rifle.

Just as he moved closer, the ceiling suddenly collapsed. A black figure dropped from above, slammed into him, and knocked him to the floor.

The sudden attack sent a chill down Deadshot's spine. What the hell? How did he come out of the ceiling?

Before he could react, the dark figure flung his cape back with both hands. Like wings spreading, it swept away the lime dust from the collapsed ceiling.

Only then did Deadshot realize the figure before him was a person—a pointy-eared bat in a black suit?

He quickly glanced up at the ceiling and discovered it was an old-fashioned suspended ceiling with an empty space above it.

Whether it was because he had confirmed the other man was human or because his tension had eased, Deadshot kicked at Batman and reached for his gun to fire.

Batman suddenly retreated, grabbed the cape behind him, and snapped it again. A layer of dry lime dust swept up from the floor and blasted into Deadshot's face.

Thanks to the mask on his face, Deadshot did not choke on the dust, but the situation was even worse. His laser sight was coated in dust, and he could not see anything!

He could only fire by instinct, pulling the trigger while his sensitive ears tracked every sound around him.

Bang bang bang bang bang...

The rapid-fire nine-millimeter pistol shattered nearby glass and overturned tables and chairs. The fish tank on the desk burst apart with a crash, and the little goldfish inside fell onto the floor.

It had only managed to jump and flick its tail once before a whistling bullet turned it into mush.

When the gunfire stopped, Deadshot hurriedly wiped the sight over his eye. Just as he could see his surroundings clearly again,

there was a click, and the power went out. The entire office building lost electricity. The room went pitch-black, with only faint moonlight filtering through the window.

"Floyd Lawton..."

The instant the voice sounded, a barrage of bullets flew toward it. That was Deadshot's response.

"Who's there?! Stop playing tricks! I can see you!"

Deadshot warily scanned the darkness around him as his laser sight switched to infrared thermal mode.

It was high-tech equipment he had taken from an experimental base when he left the military, but... it showed nothing!

That pointy-eared bat seemed to have turned invisible.

Though he could not see him, Deadshot's instincts told him that bat was here, in this room!

Deadshot edged toward the wall, intending to put his back against it and reduce his vulnerabilities. Just as he neared it,

the wall was punched open with a huge hole.

Batman, wearing an exoskeleton power booster on his arm, smashed straight through the wall and grabbed Deadshot by the collar.

Crash! He slammed him into the wall.

The sudden impact left Deadshot dizzy. He raised his gun and fired a burst through the hole.

But... the man was gone!

"Fuck! What is this thing?!"

Fear rose in Deadshot's heart. What the hell was that?

He was starting to wonder whether he was dreaming. Would he wake up to find himself still lying in a prison cell in Metropolis?

This was no place to stay!

Deadshot immediately turned and ran for the window. Getting out of here was the best option. Just as he stepped onto the windowsill, a black noose suddenly tightened around his ankle.

With a sharp pull, it hoisted him upside down.

Before he could shoot the rope apart, Batman appeared outside the window and punched him in the face.

The punch was heavy, but Deadshot oddly felt a little relieved. Then another punch landed squarely in his face, and he passed out.