Ivan couldn't help but feel a flicker of genuine shock ripple through him.
"What is that dark thing? Is it really that strong?" he thought, watching the swirling, almost sentient black material surrounding Commander Ross.
This wasn't just any form of defense—it was an impenetrable wall, a barrier that seemed to predict and block every conceivable angle of attack. It was as if the material possessed its own awareness, reacting faster than any human reflex.
[TL note - Like Gaara's sand?]
It wasn't just the hardness of the material, which surpassed steel—it was fully autonomous. No matter where Ivan aimed, no matter the type of attack, this black matter effortlessly intercepted it. Ross was untouchable.
"So, he wasn't exaggerating after all," Ivan thought. "This dark matter—this 'Tis Shield'," was beyond his understanding of science or warfare. He was in uncharted territory now.
In the next moment, the black material morphed before Ivan's eyes. What had been hard and unyielding now transformed in the blink of an eye. The black mass shifted from a form harder than steel into something fluid, a long whip that snapped toward Ivan with the speed of lightning.
"Too fast!" Ivan's mind screamed, as his body instinctively tried to react. There was no time to fully dodge. He barely managed to raise his arms, which had already been integrated into a makeshift RPG launcher. In an instant, his arms transformed again, hardening into a shield.
The black whip struck with such force that it tore through his shield like paper, knocking Ivan back with a sickening crack. His body flew through the air and slammed into the office wall with a deafening crash. The impact was brutal, the wall shuddering from the force, the surface cracking and crumbling. Beneath the layers of shattered concrete, the metallic skeleton of the ship's reinforced alloy wall gleamed.
Ivan gasped, struggling to steady himself. Pain shot through his back, but he forced himself upright. His vision blurred momentarily before focusing on Ross, who stood as calm as ever, an air of superiority radiating from him.
"Okay, I could let you experience the power of the 'Tis Shield' a bit longer," Ross said, his voice smooth and mocking. "But unfortunately, now isn't the time."
Ross spoke as if he was in total control, not even bothering to turn around to face Ivan directly. The confidence in his voice was unsettling. Ivan gritted his teeth in frustration. He hated that tone—the tone of someone who knew he had already won.
Without warning, the black matter that surrounded Ross changed shape again. This time, it formed into a long, piercing spear and shot toward Batman, who had maneuvered around the side of the room, seeking an opening.
Batman, ever the strategist, was already in motion, dodging with a fluid roll. The black spear sliced through the air, missing him by mere inches, and struck the steel wall behind him. The impact was like an explosion, the force so powerful that the steel wall buckled, blowing open a massive gap in the ship's hull. The sound was deafening—like the roar of a bomb going off. Papers and debris from the office swirled in the chaotic air, sucked into the vacuum beyond the breach.
Ross didn't even flinch as the violent windstorm ripped through the room. His black hair fluttered, but his composure was unshaken. He knew this ship was no longer a battleground worth fighting for.
"I can end this here if I want to," Ross thought, his eyes narrowing. He was confident, far more so than Ivan or Batman. He was different from people like Link—he had 'true' power.
But the time wasn't right. Not yet. Even if he won, there was no point in continuing the fight in this environment.
Another surge of black matter oozed from Ross's body. This time, the quantity was greater, like an entire ocean of pitch-black liquid spilling forth. The dark substance swirled around him, forming into a tornado of shadow. It consumed his entire body, engulfing him completely.
Then, like a rocket, Ross launched himself toward the hole in the hull, his shadowy form streaking across the void outside the ship. He flew at breakneck speed, becoming nothing more than a black blur as he headed toward the horizon.
"Damn it," Ivan growled, pushing himself off the cracked wall. He winced, his body aching from the impact, but his frustration was more palpable than the pain. He watched the shadow of Ross fly away in the distance, frustration mounting. "What the hell was that?"
Blocking attacks, flying... the sheer absurdity of what Ross could do gnawed at Ivan's thoughts. "So unscientific. What kind of power is this?"
Meanwhile, Batman was already back on his feet. He had avoided the black spear just in time and was now sprinting toward the gaping hole in the hull. Without hesitation, Batman leaped through it, disappearing into the night.
As he soared through the air, his cape billowed out behind him, transforming mid-flight. With a sharp metallic click, the black fabric hardened into sleek, steel-like wings. But this wasn't just a glider. A small propulsion system activated at the top of the cloak, firing up a blue plasma engine. The light-blue flames roared to life, propelling Batman forward like a missile.
Batman shot across the night sky, a dark predator cutting through the wind with a burning trajectory. His speed was astonishing as he pursued Ross, never letting the man out of his sight.
Ivan watched from inside the ship, raising an eyebrow as Batman too became a blur against the horizon.
"What new toy is this?" Ivan muttered. His eyes followed the propulsion system that Batman was using. It was compact, lightweight, and far more advanced than anything Ivan had seen before. The raw speed and precision of Batman's flight made Ivan envious.
"I need one of those," he thought. "When I get back, I'll ask Dr. Richard in the Equipment Department. If anyone can design me one of these things, it's him."
…
The new equipment Batman unlocked after his upgrade was a game-changer. Unlike his older suits, which only allowed him to glide from high places, this suit featured a fully integrated flight system. It still looked like a regular cape when deactivated, but once powered up, the suit's central core—located near the back of his neck—would unfold into a high-efficiency jet propulsion system.
The plasma engines attached to his cloak propelled him like a falcon hunting its prey. He no longer needed to rely on gravity to soar—he had the power of true flight now.
Far ahead, Commander Ross was flying through the sky on a mass of black matter, as if he were stepping on solid clouds. His movements were graceful, almost regal, like a figure from myth soaring through the heavens.
Ross glanced back for a moment and saw Batman closing the distance. He arched an eyebrow, impressed.
"I have to say, Batman, you constantly surprise me," Ross remarked, his voice carrying over the howling wind. His smile widened. "I'm getting more and more curious. Just how many little toys do you have hidden away?"
"You can hear me, can't you? Of course, you can. Your suit's hearing enhancements, or maybe some sort of sound-capturing tech?" Ross continued, his voice taunting. "You have your tricks, and I have mine."
Ross was right. Despite the roaring wind and the speed at which they were traveling, Ross's voice reached Batman clearly. The sound wasn't lost in the night—it was carried by Batman's enhanced hearing systems. His suit had adapted to filter and capture sound with pinpoint accuracy.
At that moment, two more dark projectiles shot out from Ross's body. These were sharper, faster—arrows of pure darkness, their black forms blending seamlessly with the night sky. They moved so swiftly that even the enhanced sensors in Batman's suit had trouble tracking them.
But Batman was faster. He spun through the air with perfect agility, his body twisting in an acrobatic 360-degree turn. The first black arrow missed him by a hair's breadth. Batman continued the motion, performing another roll to avoid the second projectile, never losing speed. His wings spread wide, propelling him closer to Ross.
The chase brought them directly over the bright lights of Riverton City. Ross swooped lower, flying just above the rooftops, sending out black tendrils to strike at Batman. But Batman's reflexes were superhuman—his maneuvers were like aerial stunts, dodging each tendril effortlessly.
The gap between them shrank.
Seeing the opportunity, Charlie tapped a button on his keyboard. The prompt on his screen read "engage."
Without hesitation, Batman raised his arm and fired his grappling gun. The claw shot out with a mechanical snap, flying through the air with pinpoint precision. It aimed directly for Ross.
Just before the claw could reach its target, the Tis Shield activated once again. A black shield materialized in an instant, deflecting the grappling hook. But this time, something was different.
The shield twisted, like a sentient being. It grabbed the grappling hook and used it against Batman. The moment the claws latched on, the shield pulled, yanking Batman violently to the side. He spun out of control, slamming into the glass walls of an office building with a resounding crash. Shards of glass exploded in every direction, and Batman tumbled into the building.
People inside screamed and ducked for cover as Batman rolled across the white marble floor, shattering tiles beneath him.
Even in the chaos, Batman's instincts kicked in. His cape retracted, returning to its soft fabric form just before the impact. The armor absorbed most of the damage, allowing him to recover quickly. He rolled to his feet and, without wasting a second, aimed his grappling gun at the opposite wall. The claw shot out again, biting into the wall, and the load-bearing fibers retracted rapidly. Batman was launched out of the office building like a bullet.
As he flew through the air, Batman lobbed a bat-shaped explosive toward the wall ahead.
Boom!
The wall erupted into a cloud of smoke and debris just before Batman reached it. He sailed through the explosion, his suit's propulsion system flaring to life once more, rocketing him back into the pursuit of Ross.
But Ross had other plans. The Tis Shield's black tendrils lashed out again. This time, the attack came too quickly. Batman dodged one tendril with a mid-air roll, but another tendril coiled around his right arm, locking on tightly.
For a moment, Batman lost his balance, the tendril trying to tear him from the sky. But Charlie remained calm, watching the scene from his monitor. Without hesitation, he tapped the screen.
"Allen System engaged."
At that moment, Batman's body blurred, oscillating at the atomic level. The black tendril, unable to grasp the oscillating atoms, slipped through Batman's form like water through a sieve.
Ross's eyes widened in surprise as the tendrils retracted, retreating back into his body.
"What?" Ross muttered, sensing something was wrong.
As the black substance flowed back into his body, he noticed a small, flashing red light on his chest.
A bomb.
An impossibly small, bat-shaped bomb, painted with a mocking bat insignia.
"No way..." Ross's mind raced. The Tis Shield should have blocked it, should have stopped everything. But then, it hit him. The moment the Allen System was activated—when Batman's atoms had oscillated—the bomb had slipped through the cracks in the shield, like a Trojan horse.
The shield hadn't rejected the bomb. It had unknowingly absorbed it into Ross's own body.
"Bang," Charlie whispered with a smirk.
The bomb detonated.
A blinding flash of light erupted in the sky, followed by a massive explosion. Ross, engulfed in flames, was sent hurtling toward the ground, his body trailing smoke and fire.