I Reap Souls In DC

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Chapter 16 True Strength.

(General P.O.V)

The world's deadliest marksman leaned on a tree. Or rather, hid behind it. Floyd craned his neck and saw the small form of his daughter as she moved about inside her room through the window on the second floor.

He smiled. She was safe, just like the previous 2 weeks. Waller hadn't gotten to her yet. He was arranging for a way to get them both out of the country and start a new life somewhere else. Maybe in Malta. With it having access to Africa, Europe and Asia, getting a steady job offing people sounded much better than messing with the kind of freaks the U.S had.

Floyd rubbed a spot on the back of his head. Somehow the bomb had been deactivated. How? He had no idea. After the cluster fuck that was the mission had failed, he had woken up in a cheap motel in Bludhaven with a short note on the dresser.

"A favor for a favor, we shall be in contact."

The note said. That was all. There was no other information. No update on the status of the rest of the team. For a few days, he had gathered intel, understanding that they had failed. Waller had probably gotten her hands on Raven and Killer Frost. Both were probably languishing in Belle Reve, waiting for the next suicide mission.

Floyd was free. Kinda. His freedom was tainted by the fact that he owed a favor.

Floyd sighed, thinking back on the incident. There was practically nothing worse than owing a favor to a mysterious individual. Especially in his line of business. Oh well, he was a man of his word. When the time came, he would pay his dues. That was just the kind of person...

Floyd stopped. He was a few blocks away from his daughter's school. Someone had been following him and now they had lost all pretense.

"Floyd Lawton."

The voice was like a hiss. Floyd stiffened as red robed figures appeared all around the rooftops of the abandoned street. He sighed, turning around to face the new party.

Someone stepped from the shadows. A man, wearing a red robe with a fanged hood mask in the shape of a cobra, hiding his face away.

"Our Sublime master would like to have a word."

The man informed Deadshot.

"Please tell me it wasn't you fucks that helped remove the bomb in my head?"

Floyd asked in a tired tone.

As if he relishing on his frustration, the Kobra Cultist smiled.

"A favor for a favor."

From behind, stepped a girl with a wild haircut. Half of her head was shaved while the other had long orange hair that was swept to one side.

"It's time to pay up, Deadshot."

Then the world begun to spin. Floyd stumbled as sudden vertigo gripped him. The final thing he saw was the girl, Shimmer standing infront of him with a winning smirk.

(Davian's P.O.V)

I stood before Raven, sword gripped tightly in my hand while eyeing her warily. Raven's eyes gleamed with a dark power that seemed to emanate from her very being. Demonic energy. She floated to the air, her cloak billowing behind her.

It had been 2 weeks. 2 weeks where I had healed completely, having lost the bandages around my body a few days ago. The first week was spent trying to get my body used to calling unto my new power. It was a week spent almost completely alone.

After asking Kent for help, he had locked himself inside the library, explaining he was doing research onto what kind of power I had. He would usually be around the kitchen area at meal times and apart for some late night sessions where he supervised my meditation, Kent was rarely seen. Our previous conversation stuck with me however. He had called my power evil. Or rather it's essence.

I already knew my powers followed a theme. I had been a casual fan of Bleach during my past life. It being basically the only Anime I had ever watched due to one of the most badass anime characters ever created, Yoruichi. While others had been there for the power ups and cool fight scenes, I had been there for the Waifus, or rather Waifu.

I was a horny teen, sue me.

Despite outgrowing that phase entirely, mostly out of necessity than intention, the power system intrigued me. It left a mark due to its...sheer versatility. Spiritual arts could be categorized into what they called Zakensoki.

Zankesoki referred to the principle arts behind a shinigami's power. Basic Shinigami fighting techniques. Zan refers to sword fighting techniques. Ken refers to unarmed fighting techniques. So refers to moving techniques. Ki refers to Kidō."

It had taken a lot of time to remember the basics.

What were Shinigami you ask? Basically what I wished I was. They were soul reapers. Beings from the afterlife charged with sending errant souls into the afterlife. They protected the souls from creatures of darkness called Hollows, which were basically corrupted souls. Unfortunately for me, I seemed to possess the powers of one.

I was more hollow than Soul Reaper. Infact if it wasn't for my human form, which presented the possibility that I might have simply been a Fullbring, which was a human touched by the reiryoku of a hollow, I might have thought my other form to be an Adjuchas. A humanoid hollow.

It was all a complicated mess. Basically, I had spiritual energy (Reiryoku) and that Reiryoku leaned on the side of corruption more than a normal soul reaper's Reiryoku. The real question was...could I bridge the gaps between the two species despite not possessing the genetic advantages of the main character or a powerful artifact like the Hogyoku?

The second week was spent trying to find that out. For context, Soul Reapers had access to Zakensoki. They were trained in the use of a blade, Zanjutsu, the use of Reiryoku for binding and attacking, Kido, high speed movement, Soho, unarmed combat Ken and finally Kaido, the arts of healing. It was structured.

In comparison, a hollow at the lower levels possessed heightened senses, the ability to instinctually open a portal to Hueco Mundo, which was like the dimension of hollows and maybe cero, a long range energy blast of Reiryoku. That was it. I needed power and that called for versatility. Hollow abilities alone couldn't give me that.

So the second week I tried to adapt my Reiryoku to work in a similar way to Zakensoki. Results had been so far... encouraging. Sorta.

I tightened my grip on the sword, facing off against Raven. Amongst her wide range of her magical abilities, her most prominent skill was darkness manipulation. I knew I needed to be careful. One wrong move could mean my defeat.

"So you can fly. Big fucking deal." I told her with a condescending smirk. It was a little game for us. I would try to antagonize her and she would respond in kind. Or act above the pettiness to show me she was more mature than I was.

"Is that jealousy, I detect?" Raven mused. A dark smile forming on her lips.

"Not Jealousy. No. I merely wonder why you think that will help you."

I lowered my center of gravity, calling onto my Reiryoku. Push and pull.

A purple outline of energy covered my body. Immediately, I could feel the difference. See, Zakensoki didn't exactly work. It wasn't a set of moves that I could recreate from memory. What I could do however was taken inspiration. And the first inspiration I got was reinforcement.

By pulling onto my Reiryoku, I could cover my body with a layer for protection. That protection had led me into knowing how to apply the Reiryoku to strengthen my muscle strands, granting myself a measure of enhanced strength and enhanced speed to go along with the increased durability.

Apart from that, my senses were heightened tremendously. I could feel the small flakes of dust touch my skin. I could hear sound bounce off the walls of the magical room we used for our sparring. It was a subsection under the armory that we were both forbidden from going inside by the way.

The sparring room itself was according to Kent, formed by a mix match of small dimensions layered together. It fixed itself up whenever it sustained too much damage and through magic could be changed into a terrain to fit different battle scenarios.

Of course with Kent poring over ancient texts and Raven being to inept in finesse mystical practices, the sparring room was eternally a wide domed room with brick walls on the sides and a hard sandy floor. The sand got in places that were annoying. Very annoying.

Raven's fists lit up with a dark aura.

"You're the one who's been itching for a fight. Don't blame me for indulging you."

And with that the talk was over. Now the basic rule for fighting any mage was getting close range. I was eager to try some new styles I had been working on and hence took the initiative.

I charged forward, sword blazing with purple energy. This particular skill was basically an extension of reinforcement. This time on an object rather than my body. It was seamless, the weapon itself allowing a steady input.

Raven met me head-on, her darkness twisting and turning into various shapes and forms. The clash of our initial strike, which happened to be the edge of my blade against a a shadow scythe, echoed through the air. Sand rose up from our position.

"You're not bad," Raven said, parrying my sword with her darkness, flexing her arm to throw me back. I found myself pushed away, tripping over my own feet and transitioning into a clumsy roll. My face flashed when I heard Raven snicker. A little angry, I got up with the intent to show her...

My eyes widened when an axe blade passed by my head, cutting off a few strands of my silver hair.

"But you're too reliant on that sword of yours. A sword you can't even use."

She stated landing on the ground.

"What happens when you lose it?"

She added.

I tightened my grip on it. That had been close. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as I had initially thought.

"I won't lose it," I growled, pushing forward with my heels. The sand behind me jumped up from a brief flex of my power, a crude Flash Step pushing me forwards at fast speeds.

"And even if I did, I would still kick your ass!"

Raven laughed, evading my thrust by gliding away. Her darkness swirled around her like a cloak. "Is that so? Let's find out. Azarath metrion Zinthos!"

Spikes of darkness erupted between us, cutting me off from pursuit. My heart jumped to my throat as one of the spikes came dangerously close to skewering me. I snarled, slashing out at the constructs while running forward in a stumbling run. My sword felt no resistance. My Reiryoku aura protected me enough that I could leap off the side of a spike and jump towards Raven, sword held above my head.

"You're finished!"

I yelled. There was no way she could evade this.

Without warning, Raven lunged forward as well, her hands forming into claws that seemed to be made of pure darkness. My falling sword was blocked by the dark claws. I tried to react quickly, kicking out at her belly. The world spun around me and I was hurled to the ground.

My back slammed onto the hard floor and I felt breath leave me upon the impact. Reinforcement prevented me from outright dying but the pain was something else. Now I had been hurt before. I consider myself a tough guy. The thing about surviving what should kill you however, was the agony it came with.

I rose up from the ground, fingers patting around for my weapon that I had only let go after the fall. I grabbed the handle but before I could do much of anything else, a black blade was placed on my neck.

"Yield."

Raven ordered, standing above me.

We looked at each other. Our eyes showing determination. None of us wanted to give up. Especially me.

"You're cocky and arrogant."

Raven stated in that annoyingly monotone voice.

I said nothing but an irrational anger started taking over.

"You think you're powerful because you can rampage around like a monster. True strength comes from the mind. Not from how much strength you have. Remember that and control yourself."

She withdrew the sword and stepped away after her brief chastising, leaving me heaving.

I was trying to calm myself down and then...all that anger washed out of me. I sighed, sitting cross legged on the ground. A thoughtful expression appeared on my face. 'She's right', I thought as Raven flew away.

I had a long way to go before I begun acting with arrogance. The game had always been to move in silence. I guess I had forgotten about that...