I put a shield upon you, I didn't mean to hurt you--

[dragonvariation]

Who: Ra's al Ghul and you~
When: Mostly after sirens on Sunday night - but also one Saturday thread, and open for threads for the rest of the week.
Where: In the Darkness across the city
Summary: Ra's goes out to investigate the Darkness for himself--with a special interest in the people who go out to fight it.
Warnings: Violence and monster guts

Comments

[kingofrooks]

It had taken time for Bruce to be used to the smell of the Darkness; to have the smell be delegated to the back of his head and not noticed - the second night, perhaps. He had rarely let these things affect him, not when there were people who still needed his help. Not necessary people who wanted it, but if Bruce only went to places where he was wanted he would have never gotten anything at all done. He worked base on necessity; it was Clark who chased the public's approval, for Bruce had made sure that they were often wrong-footed about his very existence.

Though, that was difficult here, on such a small island on such a smaller population. With the Joker and Black Mask. They knew he existed- and as a result he used to be a wanted man. Used to be only on the virtue that he was reported dead at one point. There was more than enough proof of Batman's existence- yet his methods and intentions were still a mystery

[dragonvariation]

Perhaps another man would have smiled as he found himself face to face with the bat, tempting fate itseld. Instead Ra's exhaled so that the breath couldn't be knocked out of him when he was thrown aside. He rolled, finding his feet again on the floor.

Ra's didn't have any gadgetry to protect him from the gas, but he didn't believe that Bruce would knock him out--why would he? There was nothing to gain. No, he was confident that an attack would come through the smoke, and he dropped his hand, the wave-bladed Arab knife slipping into his palm, turned up so that he wouldn't stab himself or Bruce accidentally. As if.Bruce came straight for his throat, shoving him hard against the wall two steps further back. He grunted - the shock of the impact went through him - aware that he'd been slammed just a little too hard against the wall. His head spun, but he had time to recover. The knife was where he meant it to be, slid so that the flat of the blade was against Bruce's thigh, his other hand up, wrapped boldly around the wrist of the hand

[kingofrooks]

It wasn't something entirely unexpected, that knife against his thigh- yet Bruce could not help the tiny intake of breath, as loud as a gasp between two men like them. But it was something involuntary, an automatic male reaction to having a damn knife pressed against his groin.

But his hands were already moving. Ra's had a knife on one side of the groin guard, so Bruce used the other leg to slam against his chest, steadying himself easily enough. His hands shifted as well, one reaching down to grab against the wrist of the hand holding the knife, the other twisting against the hand at his throat. He knew that the latter was a mere distraction - he barely felt the grip through the armour of the cowl - but he wasn't going to let Ra's have such an overt advantage over him.

One was enough.

"You'll have to use newer tricks for that to work," he said, and his voice was sharp enough to cleave through the air. Focusing around him rather than just on Ra's for a moment, he could hear it again- the softest flap of wings. An Icarus Winged was