The clinking of glasses didn't drown out the string music or the rehearsed chatter of the wealthy. The hall exuded expensive perfume, velvet, and freshly poured red wine. Bruce stood tall by the fireplace, his still-full glass in hand, when she appeared beside him.
"Liked the escorts? Picked one of each color to balance the aesthetic?"
His eyes didn't shift from the fogged windowpane.
"They invited themselves."
Selina Kyle ran her hand over the marble mantel, her wine-painted nails glinting, her eyes sparkling as if they held too many secrets.
"You're still terrible with subtlety. And even better with excuses."
"You're still impossible."
"More charming than impossible. But if you want to fight, let's dance first. Less blood on the walls."
Bruce glanced at her sideways. A faint smile. Old memories stirred faintly beneath his skin.
"You've changed."
"You haven't."
Her heel clicked sharply on the marble. She slipped away, weaving between a drunken couple and a distracted waiter. Bruce stood still for a moment longer, catching the lingering scent of her perfume. A childhood memory with freshly sharpened claws.
Lex saw her first from behind.
Dark hair pinned up elegantly, a tight black dress with precise stitching, a high slit, a dangerous balance between vulgarity and class. He approached with a glass in hand, his gaze sharp.
"You're not from here."
Selina turned her face slowly. Eyebrow arched. A challenging smile.
"Are you?"
"Depends on the night."
She laughed softly, the sound more a warning than a response.
Lex leaned forward, his voice lower.
"I'm Lex Luthor. But you can call me Lex if you're too lazy to remember."
"Selina Kyle. But I don't usually memorize the names of men I'm about to forget."
"Then make me memorable."
Her eyes gleamed. One second. Two.
"You're bold."
"You're trouble."
"You have no idea."
She took the glass from his hand, sipped, and handed it back. She glanced over her shoulder, where Bruce watched from a distance.
"Let's take a walk. The host is bored."
Lex smirked, triumphant. They vanished along the side of the hall, between curtains and marble columns.
The music stopped.
Not naturally. Not with applause.
It just ceased.
One of the violinists slumped forward with a muffled thud. The instrument cracked against the floor.
Screams erupted before the first shots.
Machine guns spat fire from the upper balconies. Hooded men in tactical gear, faces hidden. The lights flickered. The floor turned red in seconds.
Bruce moved on instinct. He grabbed the brunette beside him and shoved her behind a table.
"Stay down."
Screams. People running. Blood trickled down the staircase steps. A waiter fell, still clutching a tray. Silver rolled, stained.
Lex turned his head toward the center of the hall. Two armed men stormed through the corridor, firing at those trying to escape.
"Alarm, now!"
Selina yanked Lex by the sleeve. Her heel snapped. She shoved him against a column.
"If you don't want to be a statistic, follow me."
Lex hesitated. A bullet whizzed too close. The wall exploded beside his head.
"Shit!"
They ran.
Bruce tried to move forward but was pushed back by another fleeing body. The blonde fell to the floor, screaming. He dragged her under an overturned table.
A security guard attempted to retaliate with a small handgun. He was shot before raising his arm.
The intruders spread out with military precision. Calculated rotations. They weren't searching randomly. They knew where to aim.
The money.
The jewels.
Bruce recognized one of them. Face covered by a red mask. Broad shoulders. A visible scar on his neck.
'They were waiting for this night.'
Lex and Selina tried to cross the side corridor. One of the men spotted them.
"SOMEONE'S AT THE EAST EXIT!"
Shots.
Selina dropped with Lex behind a shattered statue.
"You okay?"
Lex was bleeding from the side of his leg. His breathing was fast, his gaze torn between rage and calculation.
"Grazed me. Damn it…"
Selina pulled the belt from her waist and tied it tightly around his thigh. Her fingers were swift, relentless.
"If you pass out, I'll drag you by your hair."
Lex laughed, pain exploding alongside adrenaline.
"You're an elegant demon."
"Don't tempt me. I'm still deciding whether to save you or leave you."
In the hall, the gunfire stopped.
The back doors were blasted open from the inside out. Trucks waited. The masked men left with heavy black bags. Nothing was left behind.
No alarm sounded. No reinforcements arrived.
Bruce rose slowly, his gaze sweeping the trail of destruction.
At least twenty dead. Blood on the steps. On the marble. On the edge of the piano still emitting dissonant notes.
A man screamed, clutching the body of a fallen woman.
"She's not breathing! SOMEONE HELP!"
Bruce closed his eyes for a second.
'Didn't make it in time.'
A crackle from the dead guard's radio. Muffled voices.
"Operation complete. Withdrawal in progress."
The party was over.
Selina reappeared, dragging Lex with his arm around her shoulder. Both were covered in dust, their breathing ragged.
Bruce looked straight at her.
"You still know how to disappear fast?"
She smiled. Her hair was disheveled, a scratch on her cheek.
"Better than ever."
His gaze fell to Lex.
"You bled on the city's most expensive Renaissance art."
Lex was panting but smirked.
"Then it finally served a useful purpose."
Sirens in the distance. Too late.
Selina adjusted Lex on her shoulder and glanced back at Bruce.
"Next time you invite me to a party… bring fewer idiot blondes."
Bruce nodded with a half-smile. The blood on his tie dripped onto his clenched fingers.
"Next time, bring fewer Luthors."
Selina winked.
"He was more fun than the two on your arms."
She vanished among the survivors, pulling Lex through a route only she seemed to see.
The hall reeked of gunpowder, blood, and fear.
---
The side corridor was coated in soot and debris. The marble walls now bore bullet marks, and the mirrors had shattered into tiny fragments that crunched under Selina's broken heels.
Lex limped, his shirt soaked with blood at the thigh. His breathing came short and uneven, but his eyes still tried to trace her outline as they moved.
Selina shoved him into an improvised chair in the emergency lobby, where paramedics were finally taking control of the situation.
"This one's going to need stitches. And maybe an ego bath afterward."
Lex tried to laugh, coughed.
"You always treat the wounded with such affection?"
She adjusted the collar of his jacket and wiped the blood from his chin with a handkerchief stolen from a dead waiter.
"When the wounded is you? Yeah."
Two paramedics approached with an improvised stretcher. Selina stepped back, arms crossed, watching as they took Lex into medical care. His eyes didn't leave her.
"Give me your number."
She tilted her head, her lips curling into an ironic smile.
"Why? Gonna call to thank me?"
"Maybe. Or to return the favor someday."
"You already paid me. It was fun."
Lex extended his hand. An open gesture. A final invitation.
She looked at his fingers, then his face. Silent.
"Selina?"
She took a step back.
"See you never, Lex."
She turned with an elegant motion, her dress still impeccable despite the chaos.
He watched until she disappeared into the crowd.
The paramedic began cutting the torn fabric of his pants. Lex leaned his head against the wall, letting out an exhausted sigh.
"That woman's an enigma."
---
The watch gleamed under the streetlight, heavy, luxurious, far too expensive even for Lex Luthor himself. Selina twirled her wrist lightly, watching the Swiss dial shine like a silent trophy.
"You should take better care of your things, Lex."
Her fingers slipped into the inner pocket of her coat.
Another glinting piece of metal.
Bruce's car key.
She dangled it slowly, listening to the metallic click. A crooked smile curved her lips.
"You too, Bruce."
She glanced both ways down the street. Sirens still echoed in the distance, but no one seemed to notice her. Just another survivor amid the chaos—too well-dressed to be suspicious, too calm to seem guilty.
The car was exactly where Bruce had left it, parked under a gnarled tree casting shadows over the hood.
Selina approached, turning the key with a discreet click.
The lights flashed. The door unlocked.
She slid inside as if it had always been hers. Her skin still warm with adrenaline, her muscles taut and ready.
The seat was comfortable. The scent unmistakable—leather, coffee, and a faint hint of expensive masculine cologne.
"You still drive like a spoiled millionaire, Bruce."
The key turned in the ignition.
The engine purred low. Strong. Solid.
Selina leaned back in the seat, Lex's watch on her wrist, her hands steady on Bruce's steering wheel.
"What's a night without a little well-calculated chaos?"
And then, she drove off.
Silent as a ghost.
Unstoppable as a forgotten promise.
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DXD: The Awakening of Phenex
Reincarnation, power, and a burning legacy — don't miss it!