The thought connected with cold clarity.
The Apokoliptian technology. The zero-point energy device. He'd stolen and studied something that belonged to forces far beyond Intergang's usual scope.
If word had traveled up the chain that an enhanced human had successfully infiltrated their facility, stolen their tech, and survived contact with their weapons twice now, that would generate interest from whoever actually supplied this technology in the first place.
Someone connected to Apokolips itself was curious about him.
The realization didn't bring fear exactly. It brought a strange, focused clarity.
James had spent seventeen months building himself into something that mattered in this universe. Apparently, it was working well enough that beings beyond Earth had noticed.
He closed the final gap on Viktor and threw a strike aimed to disarm rather than kill. Viktor blocked it with surprising skill, the weapon's stock catching James's forearm hard enough to numb it briefly.
"You fight well for an experiment," Viktor said.
"I'm not an experiment. I'm a person who worked very hard."
"Tell that to whoever wants you in a containment cell."
They exchanged a rapid series of strikes, Viktor's combat training clearly extensive, military-grade.
But James's enhanced speed and strength gave him the edge in raw output, even against superior technique.
He caught Viktor's next swing, twisted the weapon free from his grip, and drove a knee into the man's ribs hard enough to crack bone.
Crack!
Viktor staggered back, breathing hard, one arm wrapped protectively around his side.
"This isn't over," Viktor gasped.
"It is for tonight."
James didn't pursue further. Across the platform, Batman had cleared the western barricade and was moving toward the relay device itself, two batarangs already in hand.
"Sovereign, status," Batman called through the comm.
"Handled my section. Multiple guards were using restraint weapons specifically against me. Lethal force against you. Pattern wasn't random."
A pause. "I noticed the same thing. You drew different treatment than I did."
James reached the relay device alongside Batman, both of them now standing before the massive pulsing structure that had powered an entire criminal network spanning ten cities.
"Any idea why?" Batman asked, voice even, but his eyes carried genuine analytical interest rather than accusation.
James shook his head slowly. "None. I've been turning it over since the second wave hit. Doesn't track with anything I understand about Intergang's usual operations. They're profit-driven. Mercenary. This felt directed. Specific orders from somewhere above Mannheim."
"You stole their technology twice. Survived contact with their weapons. That tends to attract attention."
"Maybe." James studied the relay, his enhanced senses picking up the same rhythmic hum he'd detected at the very first warehouse, except amplified by an order of magnitude. "But attention from Intergang's leadership is one thing. This felt like something else entirely. Like whoever actually supplies them noticed something worth studying."
Batman's expression remained carefully neutral, but James caught the slight shift in his posture. Processing. Filing the information away.
"You think this goes higher than Intergang," Batman said. It wasn't quite a question.
"I think tonight wasn't really about the weapons distribution for them anymore. I think the weapons were already a lost cause once we found this facility. This felt like a side objective. A secondary mission layered on top of the main one." James turned to face him fully. "Like someone decided, since Intergang's network was already being dismantled, they might as well try to bring something useful out of the wreckage. And that something was me."
It was an honest assessment, built from the patterns he'd observed and the limited information Viktor had let slip. But it was also, James knew, dangerously close to an admission that he understood threats operating at a level most of Earth hadn't encountered yet.
He kept his tone carefully neutral. Confused, but analytical. A man puzzling through a problem rather than someone hiding the shape of the answer.
Batman studied him for a long moment. "You're remarkably calm about being someone's research target."
"Would panicking help?"
"No. But most people would at least express more concern.".
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