Tuesday 21st April 2009, 21:00.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
East End.
Groaning, Esau lifted his head up from his pillow and looked around his dark room through bleary eyes. At which point his head once again collapsed against his pillow, trying to get back to sleep but the aching sensation throughout his body made that very difficult. After a few more minutes of this fruitless endeavour, Esau eventually decided to get out of bed and get something to eat, trying to at least solve one problem, this being his hungry stomach.
With much more struggle than it should be, he dragged himself out of bed and took one look at himself in the mirror as he was about to enter the main room of his apartment. 'I think a shower would do me best right now.' He thought, taking one sniff of himself and pulling a face at the smell he exuded, heading to the bathroom and turning on the shower.
As the room slowly began to steam over, the heat of the shower increasing the temperature of the room Esau slowly stripped out of his outfit. Each movement, especially when taking his shirt off and having to physically peel it off his skin as a result of the dried blood made him wince and stifle a groan of pain.
He eventually, succeeded and ins stripping down naked and stepped into the shower, releasing a deep breath he had been holding in as the warm water rushed over his body. The dried blood still stubbornly resisted the water's attempts to wash it away, but Esau was content to just stand on the warm water for a little while, his tense muscles beginning to loosen off.
'I really need to get stronger.' He thought, as despite the rest he had taken, his body was still battered and exhausted, Esa having to pull all his effort into standing on his shaking legs, but it was a definite improvement compared to this morning.'Then again, I certainly did much better against last night than I would have done if I had faced Talon with the same level of skill I had when fighting Deadshot.'
Thank god for small mercies then because Esau had no doubt that if he and Talon had fought then, he would have been killed quite easily. Then again, Esau had little belief that he would have stood a chance anyway if it wasn't for Talon toying with him. The trained assassin had, in a moment of mental weakness, allowed himself to be ruled by emotions and that helped Esau greatly. If he had come at Esau with the same ferocity and calculative mindset that he had against Batman, then Esau was under no illusions that he would have died in a matter of seconds.
Then again, at the end of the day, a win was a win.
That was what Talon had told him.
Whether it was through the enemy already being weakened, underestimating you or simply a matter of pure luck.
A win was still a win.
Feeling the water of the shower starting to gradually become colder, Esau began to clean himself in earnest and after a few quick minutes of cleaning himself of last night's blood, sweat and grime, Esau stepped out of the shower as clean as he could be. The water itself was always a strange tint, sometimes clean and clear, others, like now, a murky colour that made it clear he wasn't going to be properly clean.
Sighing, Esau stepped into his bedroom naked as he dried his hair with a towel and made his way towards a dresser.
Pulling on a pair of boxers and some basic jogging pants, Esau stepped into his kitchen to see the briefcase once again, waiting for him. 'So that wasn't a dream?' He wondered before shaking his head in annoyance. 'I'm getting really sick and tired of this shit.'
Moving forwards, Esau picked up the briefcase and carried it over to the small, two-person kitchen table and placed it there. Then he turned around and began to fix himself a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee before sitting down, just staring at the briefcase while eating his breakfast...tea?
Eventually, despite his annoyance, Esau's curiosity won out and after finishing the last mouthful of his cereal, Esau pushed the bowl to one side and pulled the briefcase towards him. A quick look over the side for any nasty surprises, something he had learned to do after one of Black Mask's lieutenants had the idea to place traps on any container. The explosive had caught Esau by surprise and it was only because there was only a small number of explosives that saved Esau from being killed.
It certainly didn't stop him from being impaled by a particularly nasty splinter, more like a huge ass stake. If he was a vampire and the fact that he had already fought zombie ninjas, Esau wouldn't be too surprised if Vampires were real as well, he'd have certainly been fucked. Then again, if the piece of wood had just been a few inches to the left and up, he would have died anyway. Human or vampire, a stake through the heart kills a human just as easily as it would a vampire.
After checking the briefcase for no nasty hidden surprises, Esau clicked open the locks and lifted the lid to see the contents. There wasn't much, just a syringe filled with some sort of murky white liquid, two Glock 17s and two very well-forged military knives, each in far better condition than his own equipment.
Last night he had gone in a little under-equipped.
His ammunition stolen from Black Mask was all but drained, and his knives had been badly blunted in their various fights. Not to mention rusted, he hadn't taken very good care of them and he didn't even know how to either.
Still, while the guns were fully loaded and with a few spare clips would certainly be helpful and the knives would be as well, it was the syringe that both interested and worried Esau the most. It was because he had no clue would it would be, anything from position to a miracle cure or anything along those lines.
That's when he heard his phone ring.
Standing up, wincing slightly at how his muscles screamed at the quick motion, Esau made his way towards the phone. There was no caller ID, a number he didn't recognise showcased on the screen and he was reluctant to answer it.
"Hello?" He questioned unsurely.
"Hello, Esau." The unknown man on the other end answered back in turn. "I see you've finally decided to open my gift. Do you like it?"
"Wha-Who are you?" Esau demanded as he looked out the window to see if anyone was looking in, but no matter how hard he looked; he couldn't find anyone.
"Oh, I wouldn't bother looking out the window, I'm too far away for you to see me." The mysterious man on the other end of the line said, his voice coloured with amusement. "Besides, who I am and where I am currently, isn't that important. What is important, is whether you like my gift or not. Well, do you?"
Esau remained silent, ignoring the voice and instead continuing to scan the nearby buildings for any sign of anyone looking in his direction.
"I guess I should have expected you to ignore me, you never have been one to listen easily. Especially to those who you don't know or respect." The figure sighed. "Well, I guess I can answer your first question."
This got Esau's attention who stopped looking at the surrounding buildings.
"I see I have your attention now." The man chuckled. "My name right now is something you'll have to figure out yourself. But I go by a code name, much like Black Hood is yours. You can call me Deathstroke, but don't confuse me for a hero. I, am a mercenary."
"And let me guess, you want to make me a mercenary?" Esau asked dryly. "Much like how Batman wanted to make me a hero like him and Talon wanted to make me a trained assassin. Am I right?"
There was silence for a few moments. "Yes, in fact, I do. Though I think you're underestimating what a mercenary can do in this world."
"Oh, then do enlighten me." Esau snarked, not in the mood to deal with Deathstroke. He honestly didn't care who this guy was, he was tired, sore and extremely annoyed with people constantly breaking into his apartment and giving him 'gifts' out of the 'goodness' of their hearts.
"Well, it's quite simple. You get exposed to the truly corrupt side of the world. You want to change the world, yes? Then as a mercenary, you'll be hired by politicians, government officials, military personnel and other influential people all wanting their rivals eliminated." That caught Esau's attention. "I have enough information and secrets that with a few phone calls I could plunge entire countries into civil war and cause entire governments to collapse. You want to change the world? Then you'll need information like that to bring about the changes you want."
"What makes you think I want to change the world?"
The man chuckled lightly. "It's quite obvious really. You want to make the world a safer place for those you care about. Where those people you hold dear never have to be exposed to danger again. You even considered joining the Talon knowing that he could very well succeed in making Gotham safer until you realised that he was every bit as corrupt as those you were trying to stop. You want to create a world safe for Barbara and Jim Gordon and that means changing the world as it is. What else could that be?"
Esau didn't know how to respond and instead remained silent.
"If you want to change the world, then you'll make enemies. A lot of them." Deathstroke explained. "You can drastically reduce that number with the information you gather as a mercenary. Not to mention with my training and the help of the serum, you can fight on par with the likes of Batman."
"And what exactly is the serum?" Esau asked curiously as he raised the syringe into the air.
"An enhancement serum." Deathstroke stated. "It will improve your mental capacity allowing you to think up to nine times faster than the average person. Enhance your reflexes, speed, stamina, strength, agility, senses, durability and even provide you with a regenerative ability. Certainty more than capable of getting rid of all those little wounds of yours."
Esau looked at the serum in a new light and was extremely tempted to take it.
"Ah, I see," Deathstroke said as if knowing the conundrum Esau faced. "You are very stubborn, Esau. To refuse such a gift because you don't trust me, smart. But ultimately will make things that much more difficult for you in the future."
Placing the syringe back in the briefcase. "Then I'll accept that," Esau stated firmly, determined to survive and change the world even if he was just a human.
"Very well, let's see how far you can go before you eventually admit defeat." Then Deathstroke hung up leaving Esau holding the phone to his ear as his eyes stared at the serum with determination.
"I can do this," Esau said determinedly. "I don't need help."
-X-
Tuesday 21st April 2009, 21:30.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
East End.
Stood on the roof of an apartment building, one Slade Wilson known as Deathstroke lowered his sniper rifle, having used the scope to study Esau and as he did so, Slade released a sigh of disappointment.
He had of course expected Esau to refuse, he was far too stubborn to accept outright.
Besides, Slade knew that if anyone set out to change the world despite being powerless, Esau would probably be able to do it. He didn't need great powers or great fighting skills, so long as he had the determination to stand up where others would stay down, it would make changes.
Only small ones, but changes nonetheless.
However, if Esau wanted to change the world in order to make it a safer place for those he cared about, he would need power.
Power to go up against the best and the worst that the world has to offer.
More power and skill in order to not only survive those fights but to also make a statement.
As he was, Esau wouldn't be able to make those bigger changes and the young man knew that, he was just too stubborn to accept power outright.
'Unless he's presented with an obstacle that he can't overcome without help.' The Court of Owls and Talon had forced Esau to accept help from Batman and his sidekicks in order to overcome an obstacle he was, as of yet, incapable of defeating alone. But, his victory and the manipulations used by Talon made him wary of accepting help from people he didn't know, least of all his.
A quick call later to his closest ally and manservant, Wintergreen and the location of the very individual who would help him in the coming days was attained. The very same person that would prove to be an obstacle too great for Esau to overcome alone and there was no better time to do it than now.
He had seen the Green Lantern flying through Gotham and knew that the only possible reason that the Green Lantern would be in Gotham in such a crisis would be if there was a bigger crisis or if Batman was in need of help. Considering there had been no mention of another world crisis that meant it was the latter and from Slade's past experiences facing Batman, the only time he would call for help outside of his sidekicks, would be if he is too injured to face the threat alone.
That meant Batman was out of commission and that left only the two sidekicks if they weren't injured themselves.
Therefore, with Batman out of commission, it meant Gotham was under the protection of Esau and Batman's sidekicks.
A perfect time to force Esau into facing threats beyond his ability to deal with, without Batman interfering.