Under the yellow streetlights, bats preyed on mosquitoes.
Through the car window, Jason stared at the gap melted through the Jewelry Store's security bars and tightened his grip on his crowbar. He had made no sound at all, yet he still felt that a pair of eyes in the darkness had quietly fixed on him.
Suddenly, a dark figure burst through the gap. By the time Jason reacted, the figure had already leaped onto the car roof and stamped down toward his head.
In desperation, Jason grabbed both ends of his crowbar and raised it to block.
His opponent seemed to have no intention of holding back, opening with a lethal strike that bent the solid steel bar, four or five centimeters thick, beneath his foot. The tremendous force transmitted through Jason's arms was almost more than even a muscular man like him could withstand.
A tough opponent!
Just as Jason was considering how to escape his predicament, his opponent suddenly eased off, rolled off the car roof, and landed on the ground. With a pivot of his ankle, he darted into the alley across the street.
Jason drew his pistol and gave chase, firing three shots at the figure about to disappear into the darkness.
"Stop, Red Hood! I'm not your enemy."
The figure stopped. Jason stopped as well, raising his gun in a standoff.
He refrained from firing because he agreed with what the man had said. A little more force earlier would clearly have been enough to crush his defense, yet his opponent had chosen to stop.
But the man was far too suspicious. Not only was he dressed in some strange, unfamiliar outfit of solid black, with a hood over his head, but his voice was even more troubling. It sounded like a rough millstone being