Injustice: The Path To Hell (DC Comics)

"Oh fu-"

As soon as they noticed it, the grenade exploded and the guards screamed out in pain as their bodies were ripped apart. Blood and body parts flew across the warehouse, leaving a bloody mess as those guards above looked down in shock, some have dropped to their knees.

This cost them dearly as Esau, who had been prepared for such an explosion, raised his gun and fired up at the rafters who in the span of a few seconds, found their numbers dropping to four. But the spray of bullets, quickly resulted in Esau having to duck behind a car, slowly reloading as bullets collided with the cars body.

Clicking his magazine into place, he quietly and stealthily manoeuvred to a different position, ready to fire up at the guards once more from a different angle. This time though, when popping up, out from behind cover, he didn't even get a chance to fire as a bullet struck his shoulder and sent him collapsing to the ground, the loud and powerful gunshot echoing throughout the warehouse.

"Fuck!" Esau cursed, trying to reach for the bullet in his shoulder, only to discover that it had pierced through his bulletproof armour and was embedded in his shoulder, blood seeping out around his fingers.

"Take Black Mask and leave." Esau heard a man speak as the firing stopped. "I'll deal with the kid."

Esau didn't need to hear the confirmation as he saw through the car window as the guards rushed to another part of the warehouse. His eyes then landed on the figure who had spoke and saw a man wearing a red and black combat suit with a white mask covering his face. Attached to either arm was what looked to be guns with a heavily modified rifle held in both hands.

The most catching feature though, was the circular, red lens covering his right eye.

That was all Esau got to see before the window he was looking through exploded outwards in a shower of broken glass that he ducked away from, feeling some bits cutting into the skin on his face. The echoing gunshot filled the warehouse once more, Esau cursing under his breath as he moved to the right side of the car, where he fired up at the man on the rafters.

"Ha! Nice one, kid!" The man exclaimed while easily moving out of the way of the bullets and firing back at Esau.

'Fucking hell, this guys aim is insane!' Esau thought in wonderment and a little bit of fear as he just barely avoided the bullets.

Just as his opponents hail of bullets stopped, Esau turned around and began fire up into the platform only for it to be empty.

It was only due to his senses screaming at him to move, that Esau managed to dive and roll to a stop behind another car as it exploded in a shower of flames.

Even then, it was not fast enough to avoid a bullet that skimmed his arm.

Realising that it was nothing more than a superficial wound, Esau looked over the side of the car to try and find his opponent only to hear the sound of boots standing on a car. Turning to his right, he saw the man pointing his wrist-mounted guns at him and released a spray of bullets that Esau narrowly avoided, while at the same time emptying the last of his clip over his shoulder at the man.

"You got some skills, kid!" The man congratulated as there was a small lull of peace in the short gunfight. "I can see why Black Mask has been struggling with you."

"Am I meant to take that as a compliment?" He called back, seeing this as an opportunity to stall for time, which he used to reload his M4 and listen out for any sign of where his opponent was. Right now, he had a vague idea of whereabouts he was, but it wasn't concrete which made Esau uneasy. What was clear though was that whoever this guy was, he was skilled, extremely so. He was quite possibly better than Robin and was most definitely better than him.

Which meant he would have to pull out all the stops to just survive, let alone win.

"Yep." The man quipped. "Names Deadshot, kid. Not sure if you've heard of me, but I'm one of the best in the business of killing."

Esau chuckled while, quietly reloading his gun. "Deadshot? That your code name or some shit."

"No more than Black Hood is yours." Deadshot, aka Floyd Lawton replied. "Got the name because I never miss, every bullet I fire is a kill shot. Hence, Deadshot."

"Yeah, well you might want to change your name." Esau peaked underneath the car only to not be able to to see anything due to the body of the dead thugs getting in the way. "You've fired quite a few bullets and I'm still alive."

"Ha!" Deadshot laughed, shaking his head at finally meeting someone who wasn't all serious. "I knew there was a reason I liked you kid. Got some serious potential, ain't afraid to kill and not afraid to talk shit with your enemies. Shame I gotta kill you."

"Who's says I'm gonna die here? I don't." Esau shot back. "Say, how much is Black Mask paying you and how much would I have to pay you to make you switch sides?"

"Black Mask? Seven million." Esau eyes widened in shock at the number before he laughed.

Who knew Black Mask was that desperate to kill him?

"Now doesn't that just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." The blonde dryly replied.

Deadshot grinned behind his mask as he finished reloading his wrist mounted guns, he could hear the kid moving into a different position. Black Hood was definitely skilled in the stealth department, by no means was he an amateur, but when compared to the Batman and other heroes, he may as well have been stomping his feet.

Not only that, but every time he spoke his voice would move with it.

Still, he would give the kid props for not just sitting there and talking shit like some cocky newcomers do. In a firefight, it might seem like good sense to stick a good defensive position, but it was difficult to find a good position in an environment like this and so, being constantly on the move, just like Floyd had.

"You still want to know how much you'd have to pay to make me switch sides? After all, it'd be a shame to kill you." Floyd received an affirmative from Black Hood. "Usually I'd charge double, but for you I'll only charge ten point five million. You got that much?"

Esau groaned at that, it looked like he would have to fight his way out. "Do you think I'd still be hiding if I had that much?!" He shouted before looking around for anything he could use.

"Well, it's gonna be a shame to kill you, but that's life." Deadshot replied and Esau nodded, though the mercenary couldn't see it.

"Yeah." He drawled. "It's been nice knowing you, but at least I'll be able to say I killed Deadshot!"

Deadshot laughed once more. "Good luck with that." Then he became serious as the atmosphere in the warehouse became tense, both Esau and Deadshot preparing to continue the fight, but waiting for that singular moment. It was then that Esau noticed Deadshot's foot behind a car, it had actually only being pure luck that allowed him to notice it and Esau spun round, firing at the glass window.

Feeling broken glass peppering his back, Deadshot rolled and fired in the direction of where the bullets were coming from.

But Esau had already moved and threw a grenade at the car and Deadshot took a running jump. He was still caught in the blast and slammed into another truck with a grunt of pain, but his suit absorbed most of the damage.

Getting to his knees, Deadshot noticed Black Hood rushing up the stairs and fired right at the vigilante making him curse and drop to the ground and avoid the bullets that peppered the wall above him. With his task of stalling the vigilante complete, Deadshot got to his feet and began really aiming for the body of his target.

Esau had to only feel three bullets slam into his side before he realised that laying down wasn't doing him any good, Deadshot's aim was ridiculously accurate to the point it was absurd. He could feel numerous bullets just barely missing thanks to Esau crawling up the stairs, but a few more clipped him in the side. What made it worse was that Esau couldn't fire back without presenting himself as even more of a target for Deadshot to aim at. Considering how much of his body was just barely escaping being hit, it was safe to say that Deadshot would make quick work of him if he tried to fire back.

Still he was mere inches away from the body of a guard, grabbing hold of it, he pulled it down and used it as a shield. Bullets peppered into the body, yet Esau finally managed to get to his feet and began looking around for a way to change his situation.

Right now, he was at a disadvantage.

Their current long range to mid range battle favoured Deadshot far too heavily.

Esau had hoped to get to higher ground as to give him some form of advantage, yet that had backfired spectacularly. Even the grenade he had thrown had stalled Deadshot for only a few seconds, instead of the minute or two like he had hoped for.

He didn't know how durable his suit was, but it was definitely strong enough to withstand being caught in an explosion. However, there must be some weak point to it that Esau could exploit and he was betting all his money on either the neck, armpits, inner thighs or other areas of that sort that required the mercenary to be able to move freely.

This though, required him to close the distance between the two of them.

That would be much easier said than done with Deadshot switching between his modified assault rifle and his wrist-mounted machines guns to keep Esau at bay.

It was safe to say that closing the gap was going to be very difficult if not downright impossible.

But then again, Esau was never one to care for the odds.

Getting hurt was a definite which would make close quarters combat much more difficult, yet, Esau was used to pain and fighting while encumbered by injury. It was nothing new to him and not for the first time since taking up the mantle of Black Hood, he was actually thankful for the hardships he endured during the Underground Fighting Rings.

'This is just fan-fucking-tastic.' Esau snarked mentally as the second arm of the guy dropped to the ground, torn off by the numerous bullets coming his way. 'I had thought that maybe I would be more prepared for anything Black Mask might throw my way, but I didn't expect a guy like this to turn up. I really need to get more information on guys like him. Especially, if I could come up against them again at some point.'

His eyes then landed on the light that was coming from one of the boarded windows.

'Oh thank god.' He could almost cry out with relief when he saw a way out. 'I can use this.' His eyes landed on the door a few metres to the left and on the bottom floor. 'Oh yes, I can definitely use this to my advantage.'

Esau didn't know if lady luck was on his side, but some other worldly being must love him because the door beneath him so happened to be wired with explosives.

The plan he came up with was simple.

The wood was not of the best quality and seemed to be rotting in some places, the bullet holes only worsened the condition of the wood. He would jump through the wood and grasp hold of the ledge, wait for Deadshot to run out and trigger his explosive. At the same time he would fire down at the body of Deadshot just to make sure that he was dead before pulling himself back into the warehouse and then go onto deal with Black Mask.

That was the plan.

As soon as a pause came from Deadshot, Esau began firing at the mercenary while rushing to the window.

Just as he had jumped through the air, a bullet slammed into his back and instead of being stopped by his bulletproof armour, it ripped right through it, his body and out the other end. Shocked by this, Esau slammed into the wall and collapsed into the ground and his fall was broken by landing on numerous crates, each one breaking underneath his weight and gravity working to pull him down.

Groaning in pain, Esau moved to hold his wound.

There wasn't a load of blood, nor was there any sign of it piercing an internal organ.

That was good, it meant that he wouldn't die.

"Give up, kid." Deadshot moved forward, his modified assault rifle aimed at Esau's head. "You're done." Instead, Esau shakily rose to his feet and presented one hand to show that dangling from one hand was a pin.