Sorcerer in DC

Artemis and I navigated through the darkness, hopping from rooftop to rooftop. Like everything else, she was better at it than me, but I had Inverse on my side, a growing pool of Curse Energy, and a bone-deep hunger driving me forward. The pressure was on now, and I was eager to perform.

It helped me pick up a scream that should've been outside of earshot.

"You hear that?" I asked, darting in the direction of the sound.

"No. But since you're off on your own again. What other choice do I have?" Artemis said. It was hard to miss the bite in her voice. She's been understandably frosty since I told her about the deal nearly two hours ago. 

"She's just around the corner," I said, landing on an air-conditioning unit and dismounting before we came to an open street with flickering light and a group of three cornering a blonde woman dressed in red with an expensive-looking watch on her wrist and a diamond necklace.

"What kind of idiot comes to the Narrows with this much ice? It's like she's looking for trouble."

"How do you want to play this?" Artemis asked, surprising me quite a bit. She wasn't usually so diplomatic—one guess why she suddenly changed.

"I'll take point, and you support me from behind."

"Copy," she nodded, pulling her bow off her back and settling into a crouch.

With the help of Inverse, I landed on the street with a soundless thud, pulled out a ski mask I had stuffed in the pocket of my hoodie, and slipped it on.

The woman looked tipsy and clutched her handbag as she tried and failed to distance herself from the thugs. Her heels didn't help much. She had her phone out and was about to dial 911 when they pounced.

The biggest of the bunch had slick, shiny hair and snatched her by the wrist, yanking her close.

"Let me go!"

"Right after you empty your pockets, precious?" the second man said. He was tall and lanky, with big circles under his eyes.

"It's a fake!" she screeched as Lanky yanked off her necklace.

"Nice try," Lanky said with a wicked grin that slowly twisted into a frown as he took a long look at the necklace. Lanky grabbed her watch hand and scratched it with a knife he produced.

"Fucking poser," he screeched, tossing her hand to the side. Finally, he went for her purse, rummaging through it, producing a few crumpled bills.

"You got less money than I have!"

"I'm so sorry!"

"Shut it!" Lanky snapped. "I can't believe this shit."

The third man grabbed her by the chin with a hungry look. "We can't let her go. She's seen our face, but it'll be a shame to walk away without…something."

She spat at him, and he licked his lips. "I like it when they fight."

 Okay. I've seen enough. All pretense of stealth went out the window as I burst forward, legs pumping with reinforcement.

The distance between us vanished in an instant. Creepy turned around just in time to take a punch to the jaw, shattering it and dropping him. My elbow whipped out, nailing Lanky in the stomach. He sputtered back, his hand reaching for a weapon in his pants. He didn't reach it before I jammed him in the throat with one hand and grabbed his hand with the second. From there, finishing him off with a knuckle duster to the face was easy.

He collapsed just in time for me to dodge a stab to the liver from Creepy.

"If you think I'm going to let some snot-nosed—" I put an end to his shitty monologue by catching his knife with my bare hands and socking him in the face. He went stumbling, and I followed with a front kick to the chest. His eyes rolled back as soon as he hit the ground, and my head finally snapped back to the girl and Slick Hair, who was holding her hostage.

"Who do you work for? Batman or Black Mask?" Slick hair demanded, gun pressed into the small of the girl's back. She was shaking in his hands, tears flowing.

"Please," she pleaded. "I c-can't die. I came here on a dare. Please--."

"Stop talking!" Slick hair hissed, wrapping his hands tighter around the girl. "One more step I'll shoot!"

I hesitated for a brief moment before stepping forward. "Like I fucking care," I snorted. "Do you really think Black Mask had no one watching his territory?"

"Shit!" Slick hair cursed as he flung the girl to the side and opened fire. Two shots slipped off my Inversed body before an arrow to the shoulder interrupted his attacks. My hand clamped on the barrel of his gun before he tried anything else and vanished it, replacing it with the bat in my inventory.

He looked startled, staring at the bat in his hand before I clocked him in the face, ripping the weapon away from him. A swing to the neck brought him down to his knees, and a final strike knocked him out cold.

I shouldered the bat. "That wasn't half-bad."

"Tell that to the scared girl," Artemis responded, stepping out of the shadow. I spun around, just in time to see the girl I rescued round a corner.

"Ah shit," I muttered. "She probably called 911 by now. Not that it'll do her much good in a neighborhood like this."

She'd left her heels and diamond necklace behind. I dropped down to pick the latter, only to receive judging looks from Artemis.

"What? I need it more than she does."

"This was a shit show," she said. "That girl could've died because you chose to have a dick-measuring contest with slick-hair instead of controlling the situation."

"You call him slick hair too!" I chirped up. "He used a disturbing amount of gel."

"Focus, J!" Artemis snapped. "This is hardly the time nor place."

"Agreed," I frowned, "but for the record I controlled the situation. Getting that guy's gun on me was the only way she was making it out of the situation alive."

"She wouldn't be in that situation to begin with if you didn't go charging in. I could've taken him down with a single shot and given her the best chance of making it out of there untouched."

"You said I should take the lead, and that's what I did. Would you have preferred I let Creepy cop a feel?"

"Obviously not?" Artemis said, "but it's you acting without thinking that got us into this mess to begin with."

"Ah. So, you're finally ready to talk about the deal?"

"What could've possessed you to agree to that bet! It's an unnecessary risk."

"I live in a motel, and Sasha is finally sober enough to get into rehab. I'll hardly say it was unnecessary. He would've paid be peanuts if I hadn't spoken up. And in case you've not been paying attention, what he later agreed to wasn't that much better either."

"Is that what it all comes down to for you, money? is it worth risking everything."

"I won't lose," I said. "Not if I keep up this pace, not if you help me."

"What will you do when something inevitably goes wrong, and he comes after your family?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," I said. "But tonight, we have a job to do and some scouting. I think you'll be pleased by what I came up with for the job."

Artemis shook her head. "You know how I feel about your plans."

I grinned. "You love them?"

She scoffed as she produced a rope from her bag. We tied up the unconscious men and moved on to our next group.