"Join us."
The cold voice cut through the river wind.
"Or after we've finished enjoying your wife and daughter," the man continued calmly, "we'll throw you straight into the Hudson."
Hell's Kitchen bordered the river, and at one of the old piers, waves slapped against rotten wood in the darkness. A gun was pressed tightly against Zegen's temple, the cold metal making his skin twitch.
Zegen knelt on the ground, hands bound behind his back. The man holding the gun was Anthony, one of Kingpin's lieutenants.
"All members of your Zegen Gang already joined Kingpin," Anthony sneered. "Why are you still resisting?"
Zegen forced a crooked smile.
"Every night," he said hoarsely, "small gangs in New York disappear. And one gang keeps growing stronger."
He glanced sideways.
"You're Kingpin's men, aren't you?"
Anthony grinned.
"That's right."
He licked his lips.
"Hurry up and refuse. I can't wait to spend some quality time with your wife."
Around them, seven or eight armed Kingpin enforcers laughed loudly. Mixed among them were former Zegen Gang members, recently absorbed, laughing even harder to prove their loyalty.
"Go ahead," Zegen spat. "Last night I drank too much and killed them myself."
His eyes were hollow.
"I'm sober now. But I don't plan on living."
Anthony sighed in disappointment.
"The boss told us not to kill people unless necessary. He wants to absorb gangs, not erase them."
He raised the gun.
"But you're an exception."
Bang!
The gunshot echoed across the pier.
Zegen squeezed his eyes shut.
This is it, he thought.
But pain never came.
His heart was still beating—violently.
I'm alive?
That impossible realization barely registered before the sound of violent impacts exploded around him.
Crack!
Thud!
Snap!
Fists slammed into flesh. Bones shattered. Screams burst out, cut short almost immediately.
Zegen opened his eyes.
A black shadow with pointed ears moved through the darkness, appearing and vanishing like a ghost. Every time it appeared, another Kingpin enforcer dropped—clutching a shattered arm, a broken leg, or a crushed ribcage.
Gunfire erupted—
Da-da! Da-da!
Only a few shots.
Then silence.
Bodies lay scattered across the pier, limbs twisted at impossible angles. No screams. No movement.
Zegen stared in disbelief.
"What… just happened…?"
He didn't know anyone who could do this.
Then—
A gun pressed against his head again.
"Come out!" Anthony screamed, voice shaking. "If you don't come out, I'll shoot him!"
Zegen froze.
Anthony had survived.
The man had been knocked unconscious, but pain had dragged him back to awareness. His first instinct had been survival.
"You didn't expect me to have a second gun, did you?" Anthony shouted hysterically.
"Save me! Please!" Zegen cried instantly. "I don't want to die!"
Fear crushed his earlier resolve. The will to die vanished the moment life returned.
Hiss.
A nearly inaudible sound sliced through the night.
Something wrapped around Zegen's leg.
Then—
He was yanked forward with terrifying force.
Zegen flew through the air and slammed into a fist.
Pain exploded through his body.
Everything went black.
Anthony stared.
One second he had a hostage.
The next—nothing.
His brain failed to process what he'd seen.
Then the shadow was gone.
And then—
It was in front of him.
Anthony didn't even have time to pull the trigger.
A crushing impact slammed into his chest, launching him backward like a rag doll. While airborne, something caught him and violently dragged him back.
"AAAH—!"
His scream was cut off as a hand closed around his throat.
A voice followed.
Low. Cold. Inhuman.
"Tell me where Kingpin is."
Anthony's mind shattered.
Pain and terror drowned every thought. He prayed desperately, but the only answer was a brutal punch to his face.
Crack!
His jaw dislocated instantly.
Agony flooded his senses.
Then—
Crack.
The jaw snapped back into place.
Anthony screamed again.
Batman held him effortlessly.
"Tell me," Batman repeated calmly, "where is Kingpin?"
Kingpin had invested in Osborn Group. Batman wasn't relying solely on Black Cat—he needed his own answers.
"I—I don't know!" Anthony sobbed reflexively.
Click.
This time, a finger broke.
Batman didn't blink.
"Speak."
"I swear! I don't know!" Anthony cried like a child. "Orders come from different people every day! I've never even seen him!"
"Who delivers the orders?" Batman asked.
Anthony saw the fist rise again.
"Wait—wait!" he screamed. "They all have one thing in common!"
Batman paused.
"What?"
"They all wear suits!"
The answer earned Anthony a clean chop to the back of the head.
He collapsed instantly.
Batman searched his pockets, found a phone, and called the police.
By the time sirens echoed in the distance—
Batman was already gone.
---
More than ten minutes later, patrol cars flooded the pier.
"Looks like a gang fight," Assistant Ogg said, surveying the bodies.
Chief George Stacy didn't answer.
He methodically searched the scene with a flashlight.
Then he found it.
Black spider silk.
On Anthony's chest.
On Zegen's leg.
George's expression darkened.
"Same as before," he said quietly. "That unknown individual."
He straightened.
"We can't let him keep disappearing. Pull surveillance footage from every camera nearby."
"I want to know who did this."
---
Elsewhere, Batman slipped into an office building unnoticed.
"I need to erase every camera along my route," he thought.
"After sunrise, I'll assemble a new computer."
"Then I'll visit Dr. Otto."
For the first time in hours, concern flickered through his mind.
"…I hope Dr. Otto is still holding himself together."
--------------------------------------
Visit our Patreon for more:
Get membership in patreon to read more chapters
Extra chapters available in patreon
patreon.com/Dragonscribe31
----------------------------------------------------- .