Injustice Book 1: A Journeys Beginning (Naruto + Batman Comics crossover)

Chapter XXII - Ouctlassed

"Normal Speech."

'Normal Thought.'

"Demon Speech."

'Demon Thought.'

"Other Speech variants."

Location/Time.

-X- Line Break -X-

"You can call me, Talon." He replied before he turned to Batgirl. "Moving yourself to my right won't help you much I'm afraid." Despite his face being hidden, his amusement was clearly heard through the tone of his voice and both young crime fighters tensed.

"What do you want?" Barbara questioned, her hand moving to palm a few Batarangs should the situation require them. By the looks of things, it would be necessary very soon.

The Talon said nothing, only looking between Naruto and Barbara in amusement before finally answering her question. "I'm here under the orders of my masters to test you, Naruto Uzumaki." He extenuated this point by looking directly at the blonde which instantly made the two far more alert and wary of the individual in front of them.

"What do you want with him?" Batgirl questioned, her voice harsh and almost panicked which made Naruto look at her in temporary confusion.

"Now that, Barbara Gordon." This reveal made Naruto's eyes widen in shock unable to comprehend the bombshell that had been revealed to him. "Is a question for another time." With that, Talon leapt into action in a flurry of quick steps that left the two temporarily stunned.

Naruto, who was still in a state of shock at Batgirls true identity, was unable to react at all as the Talon slammed a perfectly executed sidekick into Naruto's chest with enough force to send him flying backwards and over the ledge of the building.

"Naruto!" Barbara exclaimed in shock, going to help her childhood friend only for the Talon to appear in front of her. Stumbling backwards to put some distance between herself and the foe before her, Barbara narrowed her eyes in anger before sliding into a fighting stance.

Even with the mask covering his face, she could tell the Talon was smirking. "Now, now Miss Gordon." The Talon taunted. "Have some faith in your young friend and focus more on yourself." And then he was upon with equally fast and ferocious strikes that left her completely on the defensive.

It took every ounce of skill she had to just parry the first blow and even then, she struggled to do that in time. Not to mention that as soon as she parried one strike, another would be within inches of striking her.

Barbara had come across and fought many skilled fighters, but none had ever matched the level of her teacher, Batman. Bruce was fast, powerful and extremely skilled with a terrifying intellect that allowed him to contend with the strongest of individuals in this world. However, the Talon was a foe that in her eyes was his equal in nearly every way, except for one.

The Talon did not hold back.

Batman when teaching her and Dick to fight held back in their spars as to not injure them. Even when fighting villains, Batman held back as to not kill them.

The Talon however, had no such restrictions. Each blow that she blocked or parried sent vibrations throughout her entire body and they almost moved faster than she could react.

In this sense, the Talon was far more dangerous than Bruce and that thought terrified her.

It was only a matter of time before she was hit and when one of his strikes slipped through her guard, the uppercut digging into her stomach driving all the air out of her lungs was just as painful as she had imagined it would be. Temporarily, her vision darkened as she was lifted off the ground, her body folding over his fist as spittle fell from her mouth.