[center][b]Chapter 5:  Risk and Reward[/b][/center]

Batman once more puts the memory module hemlet on.  Azumi wanted to continue her training, so he agreed to it.  However, seeing her pass through the prior three of Mad Hatter, Lock-Up and Roxy Rocket, he knew that he had to up the ante, as it were.  His prior three follow-ups wouldn't do against her, so he had to switch it up.  Find three more than could test her far beyond her limits.  He knew to keep the seventh around as a final challenge.

He thinks, and immediately finds the three that would be of best challenge for her.  Two immediately come to mind for the first challenge.  Instead of the speed-based and stealth-based arenas, this challenge would require an area solely meant for combat.  He presses the microphone on the module.  "This one's a purely combative challenge.  Defeat the two enemies that will appear."

===

Azumi nodded within the simulation. She was back in that costume, by now used to it after three consecutive trials in their previous session. More than anything, she just wanted to get her mind back on training so she could hide what she was feeling. Rage and depression were the highest, but trust, trust in Bruce Wayne, as well. She was scared by that, though not as much as she was of the duo of villainesses, simply following his instructions.

Fear was not a bad thing if she didn't let it control her, and she would not, could not allow it to do so. She watches as the circular arena formed itself.

A kind of grouping of cybernetic pillars of gray, close enough to be a circle of walls reaching up into the abyss above, with four entrances, one at each of four separate directions. Her enemies could come from anywhere.

Getting into a very slight crouch that had suited her combat style, she waited for them to come, only saying one sentence.

"Hit me."

Immediately, there is a sound of impact from behind the right opening.  A clawed hand grips one the edge, and a giant figure steps out, scaled with grey and green, reptilian eyes and jagged teeth.  "Well, well, well... Looks like I got carry-out for dinner tonight."  He gives a deep chortle.  "I was wondering what this croc was gonna have.  Looks like it's gonna be Cape."

On the opposite side, there comes a splurching, squelching sound.  "Back off, Croc.  This Cape's mine to smother."  A giant mess of brown shambles out into the arena, made of a swirling mass of brown goo.  "I'm going to enjoy this."

Azumi remained deathly silent, crouching in a her combat stance. Her terror was hidden only barely as both hands curled into fists, her training overtaking her thought, thankfully. A seven foot tall walking crocodile, a nine-foot-tall muddy mess of a humanoid. She was but five-foot-eight, but had seen her fair share of Brutes. The Jiralhanae averaged at eight and a half feet, yes, but she normally had a gun handy to fight them. Now she had to fight these two with nothing but her wits, a smoke gauntlet, a knife, and her bare hands. By herself.

It was times like this that she wondered if Batman was actually out of his mind. Not that it really mattered, but it would be nice to know.

Still, she just stayed where she was, not about to make the first move if she could help it.

"Staying put, huh?"  Croc circles around her.  "Doesn't matter to me.  Meat is meat."  He immediately charges towards the 'Cape', his arms stretched out, as if going for a hug.  "However, I tend to like mine a bit tender!"

[i]Wait for it...[/i] She stayed put, her metal gauntlet flexing very slightly again and again as he came closer. He was a foot away when she moved, one fluid motion. A step to one side, a full flexing of the gauntlet, and the blade came out. She stabbed hard at his chest, hoping her strength and his allowed it to cut through his scales, and quickly drew it out, turning on the spot to kick him in the back before turning to both of the assailants.

If they wanted a fight, they would most certainly get one.

Croc snarls as he rolls and lands on his knees, feeling his chest.  This cape managed to chip through a number of his scales and even made a good sized puncture.  It didn't bring any blood, luckily.  "Okay, Cape.  You just made sure that the pain you get is gonna be a lot worse!"

"Save it, Croc."  Clayface megins to shamble towards Azumi.  "You had your shot."  His right arm shifts into a gigantic mallet shape while his left one takes the shape of a battering ram.  "Now it's my turn."  With that, his shambling movement turns into a sprint, his right arm swinging in a wide arc, his arm elongating.  His left arm also acts, pistoning straight ahead towards his target.

Reflexes were key. The hammer of a right arm was ducked under as he swung, his makeup leaving his reach to her imagination. Standing up...

The battering ram took her straight in the chest, knocking the wind from her lungs as she was pinned against the far wall, coughing. Unless she could find a way out of this, she might have been a goner.

"Look's like I got the squeeze on you, Cape."  Clayface begins to walk towards the pinned Azumi.  "Now before I crush you like a grape, I wanna take a look at what's under the mask."  His hammer hand shifts, splitting into a regular left and right hand, each one grabbing one side of the mask.

"Could you hurry it up, Claybrain?  I'm starving here!"  Croc stomps up to Clayface's side.

There were two reasons why she needed to keep her mask. First, she needed it for protection. This wasn't just for hiding, like with her teacher.  Second, it gave her nightvision and a breath filter. Without those, using her smoke as she likely would need would be extremely detrimental.

But she couldn't let him get her, couldn't just die here. There had to be a way, had to...wait.

Mud. She was being held up to the wall by mud and clay, pretty malleable. Her arms were free, so all it would take was....

A flick of her wrist, and the blade was out again, slicing up at Clayface's arm. She hoped to sever it, to escape. If she could manage to get out, she would immediately run aside to get out of Croc's range.

Clayface yelps as the ram-arm was cut, not in pain but in anger and shock.  The plasmic form that was his body eroded most of his nerves, making his ability to feel pain all but gone.  But for someone to attempt this...  "You're gonna pay, Cape!"  He turns towards the fleeing Azumi and launches parts of himself towards her, the pieces hardening into sharp spikes.

Meanwhile, Croc's patience had finally wore out.  Snarling, he chases after Azumi as well, his arms stretched out, ready to ensnare her in a chest-breaking bear hug.  "Come here, meat!"

The woman ducked, jumping to the side to avoid the spikes. she winced as one scraped her shoulder, but ignored quickly, keeping an eye on Croc. She was too late, though she jumped back in an effort to avoid him, trying to make some distance before she struck again. Still, due to her bruises, she still needed a moment to regain focus. A moment she did not have.

"Got you!"  Croc finally manages to grab a hold of Azumi, and without hesitation, places her within a rib-crushing bear hug, with her grunting in pain.  "Now I'm gonna crush you like a... A..."  He pauses from increasing the pressure on his bear hug, surprised.  That gasp didn't sound right, if it were coming from a man.  "Wait a minute.  You're a chick!?"

"What!?"  Clayface stumbles over to Croc's side, the pieces of him that flung off turning back to the plasmic form and reintegrating with his body.  "How can you tell?"

Croc didn't respond, instead looking at his captive.  "I guess I can stand some more tenderizing."  With that, he continues to apply pressure.

Seconds left, no time to lose. Azumi's lungs were being crushed, she could feel her bones bending nearer to a breaking point...but her arms were free. A punch wouldn't do much, and she assumed Wayne would frown upon her stabbing him through the eye socket, as easy as it could be. There was always Plan B.

Without a word, she acted. The nonmetallic gauntlet was shoved in Croc's face, a cloud of noxious smoke sprayed directly at his eyes and the rest of his head.

"Wha..."  Croc's words are interrupted by a massive bout of coughing and hacking.  He ends up litting go of his prey, and dropping to his knees, trying to catch his breath.  His mind going blank, he manages one last thing.  "Can't believe a girl..."  He finally passes out.

Clayface looks over at Azumi.  "Lady or not, you're not going to stand in my way."  His body shifts, growing larger and larger, additional arms emerging from it.  "Time to die, girly!"  These arms shoot out towards her, some looking like standard fists, some looking like stakes, some looking like blades.

The soldier crouched, her knife out, and began to slash. Blade hit blades, severed muddy fists. Most hits did not cause her harm, though even her dodging as she defended did not catch everything. The occasional spike stabbed into her side, though she forced herself to ignore them, trying to whittle him down.

Unlike Croc, this guy did not seem to be organic. Defeating him would take a large amount of ingenuity. She just hoped that she could do it before either the weapon broke or she was too wounded to defend herself or strike back.

"Getting tired, girly?"  Clayface smirks as he continues to stomp forward, more spikes being shot out from his center mass.  More arms shoot out, as do a few tendrils.  "This is what you get for getting in my way!"  One large portion of himself ejects from his form, heading towards the garbed ODST.

However, in the background of the arena, a small fire hydrant pops up, as does an open entrance to a sewer.  Slowly, the environment begins to shift in small, subtle ways.

Azumi dove to her side, barely dodging the mud before she rolled back to her feet in a run. She had to use her environment if she were going to survive, had to make it work, had to, [i]had to[/i] make it!

As she ran, she saw the fire hydrant. Maybe she could use her knife to break it

open? Mud and water could not be a good mix. Picking up speed, she let loose a small film of smoke behind her, hoping to at least blur the monster's vision as she went for it.

Almost there...almost there...

"And where do you think you're going, huh!?"  Clayface forms a gigantic axe with both of his arm, running through the smoke and swinging blindly.  However, he completely misses his mark, and instead strikes the fire hydrant, splitting it open and spraying him with water.  Panicking, he retreats, but not before a fair bit of his mass had been washed away.  "Stupid cape...  You're gonna pay for that."  What was left of him covers over Croc.

Azumi took a deep breath, looking to the remains of the monster as he hit the unconscious crocodile. She had no idea how to fix this, no idea how to fight if needed. Was the simulation over? Likely not, or it would have disintegrated. And so she simply watched, still alert.

Nothing happens for a few minutes.  Then a slight movement.  Croc's left arm moves out, the palm pressing against the ground.  Then the right arm.  Next were the knees.  He rises up to his feet, still unconscious.

"Didn't think this would work..."  Clayface had a small spark of ingenuity.  If he couldn't direcly attack considering how much of his mass he lost, he could use something else to attack with.  Clayface's head situates itself on top of Croc's own, almost as one would wear a hemlet.  Strings of Clayface's form attach around the hands, feet, torso, elbows and knees of Croc.  "Now, where were we?"

"...well sh**."

It was out of her mouth before she could stop it, though she clamped shut directly after. She took her battle stance, ready to fight him off. Or hoped as much. These things were hard to tell.

However, before any actions are made against Azumi, Clayface tests his control over Croc.  Satisfied after a few seconds, he charges at her, his fist stretched back.  "You're gonna get it now, you stupid Cape!  You're gonna end up a smear after I'm done with you!"

Timing was everything. As the punch came at her, the woman stepped aside, letting it barely pass her. On the same motion, she rammed her fist hard into his chest, hoping to knock the wind out of him. Holding out a leg to trip him, she shoved him over, trying to use his own momentum to send him tumbling to the ground. As he was falling, she turned on the spot one hundred eighty degrees, ramming her elbow into the back of his armored head before turning the rest of the way, looking his way once more. She needed every advantage she could get.

Each strike that hit made Clayface angry.  However, the final eblow to the back of the head had an unforseen consequence.

"Mmm..  Wha...  What the!?  What's this crap!"  Croc had woken back up and immediately notices the extra weight on him.  "Get off me, Goophead!"  He notices the tendrils around his limbs and begins to grab at them.  "I'm not you puppet!"

"Knock it off, Scale for brains!"  Clayface's tendrils are torn off, but are immediately replaced with more.  However, their small fight between the two of them is taking place near the opened sewer entrance.

So Croc was waking up. That would be a good enough distraction if they could keep fighting just a bit longer. The woman took two steps back...and sprinted.

Both arms shoved the combined creature in the back, trying to push him out, over the edge. If he died, that was his problem. But she would not lose an advantage if she had it.

She just hoped that she had the strength to actually pull this off.

Croc yelps in surprise when he feels Azumi's push.  He immediately begins to wobble to regain his balance.  "Whoa-oaoa!"  However, the excess weight of Clayface made his sense of balance go off-kilter, and he drops into the sewer entrance.  "You stupid..."

Any curse towards Azumi is cancelled out with a dual sound of a thud and splash.

Azumi took a deep breath, looking over the edge. He wasn't coming back. She finally spoke to nothing, not even turning.

"What next?"

===

Batman pauses to think about the next opponent.  One springs to mind.  "One more challenge, then a break."  His mind drifts to one person.  Vertigo.  "This one will take place in the combat arena as well.  Only one opponent, this time."

[i]Loading Target Data...  Simulating environment...  Program set.[/i]

===

A nod as she took her fighting stance, slightly crouched with her hands down. She didn't know what she would be dealing with, but hoped she could cope with whatever it would be coming. If it was only one target, she would have to assume it was someone twice as dangerous. All she could do was wait.

"Well, well, well... another costumed individual."  A man steps out, his accent obviously foreign.  "No matter.  As far as you are concerned, your crusade stops here."  He walks over to a raised portion of the arena, with small spheres encased within a small glass box.  "You will never be able to reclaim these sonic grenades.  Instead, you'll end up kissing the floor."  Upon his face is device covering his left eye, which he twists.  He gives a rather brief smirk.  "After all, no one can escape Vertigo's grasp."

With those final words, the device over his left eye begins to activate.  The spiral spins, and the distorting effects spread out over the area.

Azumi looked around, seeing the rippling distortion. She'd heard the comment about the grenades, yes. But she couldn't focus on not being able to get close, not when she had to be sure he was wrong.

With that thought, the young woman sprinted at this "Vertigo", hoping to grab him and get the grenades. She didn't make four steps before the effect kicked in, full-force, the arena seeming to become a corkscrew as she ran. The woman stumbled, trying to keep moving, but it was uncertain if she still had a straight line of sight, along with if she was able to even keep standing, let alone fight back. The fight with Clayface and Croc had not helped matters.

"Feeling a little off-tilt?  Does it seem like the world is spinning out of control?"  Vertigo steps forward, unhampered by his device's power.  "Well, it should."  However, he pauses as she continues to move.  "Hrm.  Perhaps it's not topsy-turvy enough."  He raises his left hand to the device and turns a small dial to increase the effect of the distortion.

The wobbling continued as she spat at him, the corkscrew effect increasing, actually spinning now. She thought she was going to be sick if this continued, falling to one knee as she tried to get closer, to find a way past this man. How could she do this at all?

"There we are."  Vertigo steps forward once again.  "Down on a knee, as you should be."  He tugs on one of his gloves before reaching the kneeling soldier.  Without hesitation, he aims a kick towards the head.

He should [i]not[/i] have said that.

Flickering images of Dani's glowing eyes, the taste of her boots, of Rikka and her bare feet, came to Azumi's vision. She wasn't going to take this on her knees, not now, not ever. If she was going to, so would he.

A hand caught the knee as it came for her, the vision focusing to a degree. She couldn't see much, but she did know the direction from which her assailant was hitting her. Time to make sure she could get a good hit in.

Flicking her wrist, she drew the knife with her other hand, stabbing hard into Vertigo's kneecap, between joints. Retracting, she yanked him aside, trying to pull him down so she could make a knockout blow. What was Batman trying to prove?

Vertigo screams as he stumbles over due to the combined knife wound and the soldier's yanking him down to the ground.  However, he quickly retaliates with a right cross to the mask before scooting backwards.  "Gah, you stupid, stupid hero!  I'm going to make you wish you were blind!"  With that, he turns the dial on his device to its' highest setting, before pressing an additional button.  Now, not only would the environment have the distortion, but other illusions would occur.  He couldn't know what they would entail, since the waves of distortion didn't affect him.

However, despite not knowing what these illusions would entail, they begin to crawl out from out of the woodwork.  Large ape-like creatures, the Jiralhanae, rise up, wielding Gravity Hammers.  Alongside them come the Mgalekgolo, the dreaded Hunters.  And two figures that seem to float over everything else.  Two that were familiar to the soldier.

Azumi stood, still wobbling, and threw a kick at Vertigo's head, or as close as she though, being unable to get a good visual lock on him. She saw the Brute Chieftains coming, the Hunter pairs as well, but not the other two individuals just yet. Her mind was trying to rationalize it all.

[i]This is Batman's memory, not mine. Can't be real, can't kill me, can't hurt me. Just an illusion, just an illusion... Oh God please let it just be an illusion...[/i]

"Well, well well...  If it isn't the soldier."  A voice that was familiar to the corporal.  "How promising..."

"Don't you mean the puppet?"  Another familiar voice for the corporal.  "Well, I do need my feet cleaned again."

"Feeling unbalanced yet?"  Vertigo is able to hobble back to his feet.  Tearing off part of his cape, he ties it over his knee wound.  "Overwhelmed?  Don't you want to tear your eyes out?"

She looked up at the two women. Dani, with her hair of platinum and her sunglasses, and Rikka, her gold-and-white kimono and bare feet. The photomancer had spoken... then the hypnotist... [i]No, no, no...[/i]

She had to get her focus, had to fight it, had to... it couldn't....was it real? "Get away before I kill you both!"

"Isn't that cute?  She thinks she can kill us."  Rikka takes a few steps forward.

"It's not going to work, especially with our friends here."  Dani gestures towards the Brute Chieftains and the Hunters.  She removes her sunglasses and her eyes flare.  "Kill her."

The eyes of the Brutes flash, as do the eyes of the Hunters, as they begin to proceed forward.

"Do you feel it slipping away?"  Vertigo steps forward, standing, unknowingly, between the illusions of Dani and Rikka.  He couldn't see the illusions, as his device prevented him from suffering through them.  Even then, he didn't know what would come of them.  Those were dependant on whomever was in the range of his device.  "Oh, you blind fool."

Blind.... [i]Blind![/i] That was it! She didn't have to watch, they couldn't hurt her. The young woman closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She had to remember where the sonic grenades were. Why would he protect them? Was that his weakness?

She took deep breaths, not moving, knowing nothing would hurt her, orientation in her environment coming back to her as she declined to use her sight. The mask still on her, the state of closed eyes would remain invisible to this "Vertigo". Now, to see if she could fight this way.

"Are you going to keep throwing your parlor tricks, or are you going to actually fight?"

"Parlor tricks?  PARLOR TRICKS!?"  Vertigo is infuriated.  "You costumed buffoon!"  He moves towards her, his knee still giving him pause.  His hands clench together as he brings them back, before swinging towards her, yelling loudly.

Too easy. His scream showed his fury, his proposed lack of control, just what she needed. Hopefully that would be enough coupled with her training. As his punch came her way, she defended with both hands. One forearm deflected each of them to her sides, a hard knee to the gut coming right after. Next, her hands came down on his temples, and the knee slammed into her opponent's jaw, knocking him back up to his feet for the next stage. Her left fist slugged the man in the abdomen before she made sharp turn, using his staggered footsteps as a judgment of where he was. On the turn, her right elbow bashed into the back of his head, followed shortly after by his shirt being grasped at in her left arm, an attempted throw aside if she were successful.

Vertigo is sent flying by the corporal's throw, impacting with one of the arena walls, his device beginning to spark and fizzle due to the impact and resulting damage.  Groaning, he tries to get to his feet, but ends up slumping against the wall.  "Not... done yet."  He looks towards the corporal, before forcing himself painfully back to his feet.  "I will not... let you get the devices."

The woman heard the fizzle, and opened her eyes very slightly. No bizarre effects now. It seemed she was in the clear for now, ready to get the explosives. Quickly, she ran to the box, held back her right elbow...

[i]Crash![/i] The glass shattered, falling inward and causing scrapes on her armor, a few small cuts, but nothing too bed. She reached in, grabbing the grenades, and was surprised by their similarity to her own universe. Finally, she turned, pushing the button used for a substitute pin. "Sit down." And she chucked it at him, watching the sonic grenade explode close by to let out its shrill, piercing noise.

Vertigo begins to scream in pain as the concussive waves of sound strike against him, damaging his equilibrium.  He falls over and curls up into the fetal position to escape the sound.  He does escape it, but only by unconsciousness that follows his fall.

===

[i]She finally figured it out.[/i]  Batman tabs the microphone on the module.  "Time for break."  He was wondering when she would get the hints that he made his Vertigo memory say.

The call came back in. [i]"Aye aye, Bruce."[/i] She came back a few moments later, her helmet retracting into her back. She was sweating a lot, hair matted to her forehead, her breath a slight pant. Three enemies in a row, two at once on top of that.

"You have.... seriously screwed up enemies.... you know that?"

Batman removes the module.  "You don't know the half of it.  Now rest up."  He stands up and tilts his head, allowing the cartilade in his neck to pop.  "Your next test will be the last one, and certainly the most difficult.  You'll need to be at your physical and mental peak for it."

"And that's an order."

Out of instinct, she gave a military salute, at attention with her hand to her forehead, and let it down, giving a weak, half-hearted grin. "You know me. I'm an ODST," she said, walking off toward her "quarters" in the Dataspace. "I'll go feet first into hell if I have to."

[center][b]|\-/\-/|-------------------------------------------------------------------|\-/\-/|[/b][/center]