NA: Young Justice Season 3 is amazing. It actually made me rewatch the entire series again and I just can't get enough of it. Also… the Division 2 and other things that can make it interesting. This will be quite the tricky story for me to write but I believe I can do it.

And so I believe I have finally found the right one after so much trial and error. A lot of love went into this so I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you to all who have supported me.

~oOo~

No matter how far humanity has advanced… some things never change.

Even with all the innovations and technological advancements, conflict is still a constant. There are those who do not abide by the status quo, those who wish to carve out their own destinies, away from the control of the governments and their politicians whose lust for power is unending and unquenchable. They view the world as nothing more than a chessboard, where the pieces they move are the lives they willingly sacrifice for their own personal gain. Whatever obstacles they see, they destroy them with little to no remorse.

"LEFT FLANK!" a voice barked as explosions rocked the area. "WE GOT INCOMING ON OUR LEFT FLANK! WHERE THE HELL IS DECKER'S UNIT!?"

"THEY'RE GONE!" replied a soldier as numerous crackling sounds passed by with others dropping dead with their heads now having holes. "THEY GOT OVERRUN!"

Reloading his assault rifle, a boy in his early to mid teens took a peak and saw the heavy tanks coming straight for their position.

"We can't hold this place much longer!" the boy exclaimed as he clutched his weapon tightly.

"Our orders are to hold this position!" their leader growled. "And that is exactly what we're going to do!"

"With what!?" another soldier yelled. "We're out of anti-armor munitions!"

"I DON'T CARE HOW! WE HOLD THIS POSITION AND TAKE OUT AS MANY OF THOSE BASTARDS!"

It was already clear that the unit commander was insane. They could all see it in his eyes. He was going to get them all killed.

"PREPARE TO CHARGE!" the unit leader. "FOR THE GLORY OF OUR QUEEN B-"

BANG

They then saw their commander drop dead with a bullet hole to the back of his skull and a massive exit wound on the top. They saw the boy with his weapon raised and smoke coming out of the end of the barrel. It was clear who killed their commander.

"I don't know about you all..." the boy spoke as he lowered his weapon. "But I don't plan on letting that idiot get us all killed. I'm not sorry for what I did. As second-in-command, I'm now commander."

They all nodded as they lowered their weapons.

"Make for the pass." he ordered them all. "Head for the river. There are boats there. Whatever you do, do not stop running. Those tanks are slow so we should be all able to make it. GO!"

As they abandoned their posts and left the dead body of their former commander, it was revealed that the unit was comprised of nothing but child soldiers, children forced to fight for the faction that 'owns' them. They were expendable troops, taken from their homes or from orphanages as conscripts to fight for the 'Glorious Queen'.

Most of them never wanted to fight but it was either that or be executed for 'treason'.

Hours had passed as the battalion of child soldiers made it through. They knew the terrain at least. They've been fighting in this place for years so that gave them an edge. But a unit of commandos was just suicide. Not unless they could fight them on their terms.

"They're sending out commandos!" one of the children reported as they made it out of the pass. "They'll be right on top of us once we're through the pass!"

The boy cursed to himself, completely forgetting about the enemy's elite unit. "Have all the youngest ones and wounded keep pressing forward! The few of us including me will remain here at the pass's exit and hold them off."

"Is that really a good idea?" one questioned.

"You have any better ones?" he retorted. "Either way, those commandos will slaughter every single one of us. We need to buy time for the young ones and wounded to escape to the port. This world was lost from the beginning. I just wish I could do more for you all."

The other shook his head. "You did more than enough. You bought us time."

"Go with them." he told his friend. "They need someone to lead them and take them to the Red Cross refugee camp past the border. You still have a family and home to go back to. I don't."

"But-"

"Go."

Four remained to buy the rest time. Four brave young souls who had nothing else to go back to, deciding to do one good deed before they die.

They felt no fear as they took their positions.

Just four against an unknown number of the enemy's best of the best.

They felt no fear… just excitement.

"We can finally see how good they are." one muttered, grinning and gripping the machine gun.

"Don't get the distracted." the boy, their commander, told them all. "All we need to do is buy enough time for the others to escape. How far out are they?"

"They should be able to make it in ten minutes. I'm already hearing commando light vehicles in the distance. If they get past us, they'll catch up and slaughter everyone."

"Then we slaughter them first. Are the mines ready?"

"Grenades too! We're good!"

The commandos never expected such a surprise attack. One thing that was easily exploited was their arrogance and overconfidence. They were made to believe that they were the best and that nothing could stop them and yet four children barely into their teens were able to do so out just sheer willpower. A unit of fifteen commandos were stopped dead in their tracks and got themselves boxed within the pass.

The boy aimed straight and true as his rifle loosed a volley of high velocity armor-piercing incendiary munitions. But even then, the commandos training and weapons still had them at a disadvantage. He yelped in pain as his left leg was hit, a magnetically accelerated round going straight through, prompting him to take out a medical syringe and inject it to where the wound was.

He roared and unloaded the rest of his magazine and reloaded, not once did he stop firing.

He was caught off guard when a commando tackled him with a knife in hand from his flank. Both fell quite a distance but he recovered and drew his sidearm, unloading the entire contents of the weapon into the enemy soldier's head, blood splattering all over his face.

Panting heavily, he grabbed the commando's rifle as he lost his and ducked down to cover, grunting in pain as he noticed that his abdomen had been shot.

"Shit." he muttered. "Kallo, you there!?"

"Kallo's dead! Gut shot!"

"I'm not going to last much longer, either." another reported. "But we already knew we weren't gonna make it out of this alive."

The boy chuckled. "But it was fun, wasn't it?"

"Hell yeah it was, boss."

"Let's send them out with a bang, huh?"

And that was when they set off the explosives.

He didn't know how long the battle went on. The torrent of explosions threw the enemy off guard, allowing him to make one final attack. He was out of ammo and his guns were broken beyond repair. All he had was his knife left. So with a roar and his knife in his hand, he charged forward, not even noticing that his entire body was wrapped in some dark energy.

By the time the battle ended, the commandos were defeated. But so were the four. The last one, the boy, made it out of the pass with blood all over his body and more wounds than he could count, both arms missing as they were torn off from the explosions. He wheezed out a pained breath as he found a rack and sat down, leaning on it.

He could no longer find the strength to move further as his eyes turned the boats full of children, disappearing into the fog as rain started pouring. At least the others made it.

He then went limp, a smile on his face.

Shadow Hunter

Chapter 1

U?own ?atio? ?

?

"Did you send the biological samples to Site Omega?"

"Of course! I hope that they can crack it. Could you imagine it? Its unique properties and untapped energy, once properly harnessed and replicated, would be a bridge for an entire new frontier we've never seen before. This endeavor is only the beginning."

"And the subject?"

"His healing properties have been improved."

"How is this possible to begin with?"

"The best thing we could do was use the nanite serum to augment his entire body. Now he will be as strong as any military cyborg as his entire bone structure is harder than even the strongest tank armor."

"Full cyberization was not possible?"

"No. The subject's accelerated healing made that impossible. Besides, he is an anomaly compared to most subjects we have acquired. Turning him into a full cyborg would be a waste of that potential. The best thing we could do was give him our newest and experimental cybernetic augmentations. A normal brain cyberization is out of the question. Using the new augment would be a better idea so I went ahead with the procedure."

"One of our new augmentations? I wasn't informed of this."

"The new cerebral implant grants basically a tiny cyberbrain that is implanted into the subject's cerebral cortex. With this, the user's brain will turn into a more 'natural' cyberbrain, allowing all the functions today's cyberbrains have without having to go through the cyberbrain conversion process. It is a revolutionary design. And we can't possibly convert his brain into a cyberbrain, it would be waste of such a fine specimen."

"What else?"

"That was the easy part. In order for the project to work we also had to replace his entire spinal column. THAT was the hard part. As for both of his arms, they were damaged beyond repair when we found him so I took the liberty of installing our latest military grade bioprosthetic arms since he lost his original ones from that fight with those commandos. They are made from the densest synthetic materials and yet they look like flesh and blood. Quite the magnificent prototype we have created."

"This is a lot of our expensive and experimental hardware you're using, doctor. Especially our most advanced ones. And on a mere child no less. You've been working on this project for quite a while and I'm only hearing this now!?"

"This project is going to be the future for Cadmus! His accelerated healing has made the project a success!"

"What of his name?"

"We just call him Project Dark Matter."

"Do you think he is a good investment?"

"Oh absolutely! Wherever he and the others came from… I would like to think there are more of him."

When he opened his eyes he saw several strands of information being gathered. He could understand it for some reason.

"Ah!" The doctor smiled at him. "Welcome back to the land of living, my boy."

"W-What?" The boy asked. "Didn't I die?"

"Your questions can wait." The doctor told him. "All you need to worry is that we are moving to the next phase. We have brought you here and… improved you."

"Improved?"

The man beamed as he showed the boy what he meant. In front of them was a computer screen on a tablet and what appeared to be an image of his body. "We have improved your bone structure and muscle strength using a serum mixed with nanomachines. You will now be able to move as fast as any high grade military cyborg. Perhaps even faster thanks to your 'uniqueness'. I implanted a special cerebral implant into the rear part of your brain, allowing it to function like any other cyberbrain, allowing to see all kinds of incredible things through your eyes. The chip will also let you learn at an extreme pace without stressing your brain. In other words… we made you even greater than ever, and at no cost to your natural capabilities. You will be able to-"

But before the man could finish, he was interrupted by the sound of an alarm.

[ALERT! SUBJECTS ARE LOOSE! ALERT! SUBJECTS ARE LOOSE!]

"What is the meaning of this!?" the doctor demanded.

"I don't know!" the guard frantically replied as he checked the systems. "Someone's hacked into every system in the facility! We don't have control!"

The man barked as he began to relay orders to the guards outside. "If we lose the subjects we lose our chance at everything! Stop them! I don't care how! We didn't work on them for nothing!"

The roars of the 'subjects' became loud as the entire facility erupted with gunfire.

"You." The second man turned to the doctor before heading out. "Get him out of here. Head to the hangar with your men. We need to retreat and salvage this. This facility is compromised."

The sounds were like those in the simulations they put him in. He used weapons that were given to him, killing targets that he was told to do. There were others just like him, fighting alongside him in battlefields. It was both incredible and terrifying.

When the locks of the stretcher he was strapped onto was loosed, instinct then drove him to grab the holstered weapon on the guard's thigh.

"Wait, what are you-"

He pulled the trigger and sent a bullet straight through the guard's head. He sat up and fired a few more rounds, killing more guards that were flanking him. He couldn't explain how he was doing this so easily. It ultimately didn't matter. He killed them without feeling a semblance of remorse. He looked down and saw an assault rifle, picking up and checking it if it was loaded.

"Don't let that subject escape!" The man ordered the other armed guards. "He's our most successful prototype!"

A firefight ensued and he dropped to cover, making sure he didn't get hit. He took a peak and fired, ducked back, repeat. Just like the simulations taught him.

"NO!" the doctor screamed as more guards were taken down with frightening precision. "It wasn't supposed to be like this! Someone stop him and secure him!"

"Too late." he told the doctor as he emerged from the smoke victorious. "Just you and me."

"N-No..." the doctor stammered, trying to crawl away. "Think of what you're doing. I created you! I made you strong! I made you better!"

"You did." he nodded at the older man's words. "But what makes you think I would have obeyed you? What makes you think you could control me? You should have just kept me dead."

"It wasn't finished!" the doctor cried. "We were going to install the control chips on you until all of this happened. Now be a good subject and- AAAAAAH!"

He didn't even let him finish as he crushed the doctor's leg beneath his foot.

"What the hell did I tell you about not being able to control me?"

The doctor just kept on crying. The bone of his left foot being reduced to powder from the crushing force of the augmented boy was just too much for him to bear.

"P-Please..." the doctor pleaded. "I… I'll do anything. Just… no more."

He felt no pity for the crumbling man before him. He just stared at him for a moment before his free hand reached forward with blue veins appeared all over his skin. The doctor gaped at what he was seeing before gasping in pain as his entire chest began to become crushed by whatever power it was. Before the doctor could realize what had happened, his internal organs had been crushed from within.

Grabbing the gear from the dead bodies, he restocked in whatever ammunition he could recover and continued on. He joined up with his fellow test subjects, his brethren, and fought through what was left of the facility's armed guards. For them, it was a walk in the park. They were better trained.

It was over before anyone knew it. Everyone in the facility aside from the escapees had been massacred, right down from the guards to the unarmed and helpless scientists and staff. Every corridor and hallway was covered in blood.

The super soldiers on the other hand were soaked in it.

He felt no satisfaction or any pleasure from this. He was the only one of his four friends that were revived. A part of him now wishes he remained dead. It would have been simpler.

And he wasn't surprised that UN Peacekeepers as well as a few PMC operators came in and started evacuating the children. It was already clear who hacked the facility's security systems.

He just sat there and watched as the children boarded the transports. From the looks of things, a lot of the children are probably North American and European. The Middle Eastern children, may of them Kurdish, were being helped by the Kurdish troops.

Close to two hundred children were here, being experimented on by an unknown organization.

"You know, those transports will be leaving soon." came the voice of an Eastern European man.

Gripping his assault rifle close, he turned to see a short bald man. He didn't say anything.

"You're not going?"

"I got nowhere else to go." he told the man.

The man smiled and took a seat beside him. "I read the records. You and three others took on a whole unit elite soldiers."

"We died though."

"Yes, you did."

"Would have been better if I just stayed dead."

"Don't you have a family to go back to?" the man asked. "I know where you're from."

"Why should I?" he retorted. "I was exiled. I was seen as nothing but a monster. I was made scapegoat because of some damn scroll. Something about me with dark power. I had nowhere else to go so… I don't even know how I ended up like this."

"How long have you been fighting?"

"Two years now... I think. I don't even know how long I've been in this place."

"From what I can tell..." the man mused. "About a few months. They subject all the children into some sort of sleep and use dreams filled with combat. In short, those dreams were combat simulations."

"Huh."

"So what do you plan on doing after this?"

He shrugged. "I think I'll just take my chances."

"Then how about I give you an offer?" the man suggested. "There is a team forming under someone I extremely trust. I need men and women with skills as well as unique abilities that rivals a certain superhero organization. I'm sure she will be more than happy to have you on the team."

He raised an eyebrow, skeptical as to what he was wearing. "You want to take on the Justice League?"

"No. I just want strength that simply rivals them. Do operations that they are unable to. Do things that are necessary. The current unit working under me is simply inadequate when it comes to combat the growing threats. I need someone who is not afraid to do the devil's work."

"How do I know you're not just going to use me as a guinea pig?"

"I certainly don't blame you for being wary. I would be as well if I were in your shoes. But I'll tell you right now, the benefits are good. Pay is good. And you also get free education. Someone your age still needs to go to school."

He chuckled bitterly. "Education huh? Can't say I have good memories about that. I was always behind."

"Don't worry." the man reassured. "You'll get private tutoring. I'll get you the best private tutors money can buy. You have nothing to worry about. Instead of trying to surpass whoever you want to surpass, be something else… become something greater and something that they can't reach. That is what I am offering you. So what do you say?"

"Who are you?"

"Blackjack." the man answered. "Arms dealer and… philanthropist. The interest of the world's well-being is what matters to me."

He snorted at the irony and contradiction of those words. But even, he thought about it. He thought hard. It certainly beats going out alone in the war-torn wastelands. He raised his hand and offered it to the man. "Then you got yourself a deal."

"And you are?"

"Adrian."

Blackjack beamed and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Welcome to the unit, Shadow Hunter."

~oOo~

Undisclosed Location

Blackjack took a liking to the boy as the boy took a liking to him, looking up to him as a mentor and possibly even as a parent. The boy had a fiery temper but he was patient, teaching him to reign in that anger and project it in a more efficient way.

"And I'm one of these... metahumans. My manipulation of dark energy. So Cadmus didn't inject it into me."

"Oh they injected something." Blackjack said in confirmation. "They just boosted your meta-gene in order for you to manifest the abilities much sooner. Perhaps even augmented it."

"So why have me as a contractor?" he asked him. "Why not like that Task Force X out there?"

"I need a unit that is absolutely off the books and anonymous, not like Amanda Waller's pets." Blackjack replied. "A unit that not even the UN or Batman can easily track. Simply having you on a payroll like a PMC would give you a lot of freedom. I give you intel and support, you give me results. Simple and no one even needs to know until it is truly time."

"Blacker than black."

Blackjack nodded. "Precisely. You will have unlimited access to weapons and advanced technology, to which we have created Shade Tech. Our sponsors providing funding is on a need-to-know of course."

Adrian shrugged. "I got no beef on that last part. So long as we get funding, I don't care."

"Good. In the meantime, get some rest."

~oOo~

Five Years Later

In 1966, the 86GV1 Prometheus asteroid was discovered by scientists in an observatory in France on the orbit of Jupiter, and was designated as a Jupiter Trojan by its Lagrangian positioning relative to the planet. Between its discovery and 1973, a rogue asteroid later denominated Baldr entered Jupiter's orbit and struck Prometheus, shattering it into thousands of fragments that formed an asteroid cluster with a long elliptic orbit with the Sun that was set on a collision course with Earth that was discovered by scientists in 1984.

The discovery of the "Prometheus asteroids" caused a global uproar following the end of the Cold War. As diverting the individual trajectories of every asteroid was impossible, the world's nations developed the Agnus Dei nuclear interceptor systems after the revelation of the cluster under a desperate megaproject conceived to minimize the human losses caused by the impending impact. A prototype was erected in North China, paving the way for the creation of five other systems across Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas.

In July of 1990, the Prometheus cluster crossed the Roche limit and initiated a mass impact event with Earth, killing millions of people and causing massive damage to infrastructure in a short timespan, barely contained by the efforts of the Agnus Dei network. The devastation caused a brutal collapse of international stability as the global economy descended into a universal depression triggered by loss of finances and land, reshaping the entire world economy in the process.

Later feared as the "Prometheus Disaster", the catastrophe led several countries to divert the entirety of their military budgets to reconstruction efforts, leading "revival budgets" to constitute a total of 60% of the global economy in the early 21st century and pushing military expenditure to a meager 3%, out of a total of $1.845 trillion US dollars in circulation. The threat of economic breakdown forced countries in South Europe and Asia to form regional federations. One such example being the Alliance of South East Asian Nations Federation, or the ASEAN Federation.

And by the 21st century, few could imagine the consequences sparked by the myriad of violent events spanning every corner of the world. Europe was overwhelmed by refugees, tens of millions fleeing from conflicts fueled by anger, greed and years of financial crisis and stagnation which started in the least stable regions, spreading rapidly like a virus.

Germany's complete economic collapse triggered a chain reaction that flung the rest of the continent into chaos. Much of Eastern Europe took the worst of it as major financial institutions collapsed alongside Germany. The entire Balkan region and all the way up to Eastern Europe was swept into a maelstrom of havoc as well, ruining countless lives and destroying any semblance of a status quo, but providing opportunities for those unscrupulous enough to exploit the situation. The remnants of the European Union were paralyzed by the growing gap between the governments and their people, and violent anti-government protests became commonplace, giving birth to numerous anarchist movements. Weapons caches from the crumbling governments of the third-world became the armories of the insurgencies.

In the Middle East, the crisis spilled into the entire region, shattering the region with militias attempting to carve their own territories out of the chaos, frequently clashing with various government forces in a conflict that rapidly became a full-blown war for dominance.

Europe found itself at a crossroads. Its economy never truly recovered from the massive financial crisis, the impact of which was made considerably worse by European Union governments being completely detached from their voter base and the reality of daily life in most European cities. While the United States adapted to the situation and leaned more towards isolationism, Europe chose to keep its borders open, leading to the arrival of millions of refugees from the war-torn Middle East, despite warnings from all major militaries and police forces.

Unwilling to accept the reality of new security risks, the passivity and indecisiveness of European governments led to the worst series of terrorist attacks in history, culminating in the detonation of two "dirty" nuclear devices on the outskirts of Paris and Berlin. While the casualty rate was relatively light, the sight of massive atomic-like explosions and the subsequent news reports of victims dead or dying from radiation sparked a revolution of the kind Europe had never seen in its modern history.

In the wake of the attacks, the European Union became completely paralyzed as all traditional political parties virtually collapsed overnight, burned away by the rage of the populace. Populist leaders rose to power with promises to end corruption, solve the constant state of crisis and make Europe safe again.

Backed by unprecedented popular support, a massive hunt for the culprits began. By the time it ended two years later, thousands of formerly "untouchable" political figures, bankers and/or businessmen had been found guilty of contributing to the state of the world and executed or sentenced to life in prison. But for all their momentary support, the revolution leaders could only ride the popularity wave so far and the economic situation just kept on deteriorating. Many economic structures had been damaged beyond recovery, factories had been looted and closed down, the infrastructure suffering from years of neglect. While most European countries avoided complete collapse, practically every advanced country in the world saw its situation worsen with the biggest burden of funding cuts crushing the weakest members of society – the sick and the elderly.

As Europe falls into a crisis like never before, the newly elected American president decided to turn towards isolationism by bringing home most of the troops serving abroad, fearing "another Iraq" would happen if American soldiers were further involved in the Middle East. This was supported by new technologies that allowed the USA to be energy independent. The new American strategy of providing military support to U.S.-friendly countries relied heavily on the use of American-backed PMCs, as demonstrated by the 2018 Autumn War between Israel and its neighbors. This strategy had major repercussions, leading to the loss of direct influence in many parts of the world, especially South America. This in turn led to the rise of numerous South American cartel factions that immediately took control of the more vulnerable countries in the region. The cartels funded guerrillas all across South America, starting multiple civil wars and profiting immensely from the turmoil. South American governments were powerless to stop this well-funded criminal organization without assistance, and lawlessness south of the American border gave rise to many American nationalist militias that gradually gained influence across the South.

Asia's largest superpower, China, entered the late 2010s with a series of economic spasms caused by currency fluctuations, oil shortages and increased separatist tendencies in several of its provinces. The Chinese government enacted policies in place that bordered on martial law, with extensive crackdowns and brutal methods of control. They managed to keep the situation in hand, but just barely.

In Europe, NATO, now in decline, was put to test for the first time in years as nationalist guerrillas appeared in Estonia. The entire Baltic region plummeted into conflict and the chronically underfunded NATO was petitioned to respond. Due to the lack of resources, lack of American backing, and fear of starting another global war, armed response was vetoed and NATO for all intents and purpose ceased to exist as an effective structure by 2017. The global tensions also spurred violence between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Amidst the chaos of Prometheus and an alien invasion following the disaster, a global organization comprised of costumed superheroes was formed with the backing of the United Nations. The Justice League, led by a council of superheroes like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Captain Atom, and more. Through them, they aid in maintaining peace and order across the world. People look to them as the world's hope, others look at them in disdain, and the rest simply look on with indifference. Either way, they are humanity's most powerful asset.

But even then, they have enemies for behind the scenes, someone is pulling the strings to cause all these events happening all over the world.

And that is precisely what Six wants to find out. Though she may not hold the Justice League in high regard, she knows that they are still an asset not to mention that Aquaman and Wonder Woman are members of the United Nations as they are representatives of their respective nations.

While Waller's Task Force X will handle threats on an official scale, the Hunters will handle those within the shadows and bring those lurking in those shadows out into the open.

~oOo~

They came out of nowhere and immediately showed that they are the sharpest of scalpels. They are far deadlier than even America's venerated and highly overrated Navy Seals. But of course, nobody knows that except those who found out about them.

They are also a headache to many like Batman, the greatest detective in the world. These unknown operatives knew very well how to cover their tracks and made sure to never leave their dead behind.

Their methods were also repulsive to many, resorting to torture and executions to get their way. But what confused them was that they never deliberately targeted civilians at random, only going after those who were of high priority and/or value. It made those in the Justice League think that they are some counterpart to the League of Shadows with its objectives openly opposing supervillains, terrorist organizations, and violent extremists around the world.

The only problem was that they were not afraid of being seen as no better than the villains.

"Just who the heck are these guys?" Flash asked.

Batman narrowed his eyes as the entire Justice League council looked at more footage of Black Tusk operatives doing their work, wiping out terrorist cells with extreme prejudice. There were even recovered footage of them torturing a few terrorists for information.

"They're good at covering their tracks." Green Arrow commented. "Hell, look at their sharpshooters."

"My concern is that they are possibly working for someone." Wonder Woman voiced out. "Look at their equipment. They're advanced, even more than we expected."

"Not to mention that they have operatives with unique abilities." Batman said as he froze the video of one, pinpointing one in particular. "This one can manipulate dark energy."

"He also seems to be a leader." Aquaman added. "Look at how he's giving orders to the others. Can't exactly identify them since they're all wearing ballistic masks."

"One of them has a mask with a cool design at least." Captain Marvel chirped, earning odd looks from his fellow heroes. He then looked sheepish. "I'm just saying. Look at him His mask has like these white claw marks on it. That's cool!"

"Admiring their masks aside." Batman continued. "We need to subdue one of them or at least identify them."

"How?" Green Lantern, at least one of the, asked. "These are not your run off the mill mercenaries. They're professionals. They take their dead with them and that only happened once from what we saw. They know how to cover their tracks. They have access to alien technology, using them in their gadgets. Hell, we don't even know where their base is!"

"Perhaps a mobile base?" Aquaman suggested. "Black Manta utilizes a mobile base of operations. How do you think I can't find him?"

"We do know that they are small in number." Batman declared. "Relying more on quality over quantity. If they do have a mobile base then we'll have to find it. In the meantime, we continue to function as always. That is all."

With nothing further needed to be said, they all dispersed with Batman going ahead and contacting The Team for a new mission. He was going to contact them but then he noticed that Wonder Woman stayed behind, her mind on something else.

"Diana?"

"Still no sign of him?" she asked.

"No. I'm sorry."

~oOo~

Few Months Later

Somewhere in Africa

Safe House

It is one of many safe houses the 'unit' use, and one of the most secure as no one can even find them thanks to technology and the choice of putting them in dangerous hotspots and isolated regions.

Blackjack may not show it at times but he did care, in his own own way. Instead of showering a child with children's toys as gifts, it is weapons and tech he showers him with. He was far from being the best of fathers, but he wouldn't exactly know since his home exiled him for something he did not do. His own family turned his back on him.

The safe house, though located in one of the world's most dangerous places, is some of the most secure places an operative can be in. Security measures as well as special technology as well as dabbling in the arts of the magical world. Their operatives were orphans from all walks of life. The fact that they don't discriminate when it comes to recruits gives them an edge. Of course, not just anyone can get a membership card. After all, they are a black ops unit comprised of super-powered metahumans with a few of them being genetically and possibly cybernetically augmented.

As Adrian worked on his equipment, his phone started ringing and prompted him to put it on speaker mode.

"Shadow Hunter here."

"Hey, mister dead man! How is my favorite customer?"

He smiled at the voice. "Drebin, good to hear your voice. How are things in Eastern Europe?"

"The League of Shadows are stepping up their game, as usual. But our forces here can handle it. They still don't know it's us."

"But it's also a matter of time until the Justice League finds out who we are." he added. "The Old Man said so. Batman is THE greatest detective after all."

"All true. Did you hear? Batman and a few others resigned from the Justice League in protest of the sanctions put to them by the UN. Another proof that the UN is pretty much nothing but an old world relic. So what does the Old Man think of this. It's only a matter of time until we're revealed."

"The Old Man says he will handle the politics and backlash. We'll just keep doing our job."

"Plans for today?"

"Heading back to the safe house in Happy Harbor. Job here is done. I'll see you then, Dreb."

"You as well, my man. I'll see you soon."

Once he ended the call, he let out a sinister smirk. "Now then. Let's see if this 'Light' can get a little nervous."

With that, he grabbed a small device from his work desk and pressed the button.

"Let the games begin. This one is for you, Drebin."

~oOo~

Happy Harbor

"Just a few minutes ago, Bialya's entire power grid as well as crucial facilities like the oil plants for the country exploded into balls of inferno."

"Was this a random attack, Lucy?"

"I don't think so. Not only is the palace no longer existent, but the entire country's power grid was also hit. This was a deliberate attempt on the country's stability. Because of this, the country could be plunged into a civil war with the people finally fed up with their monarch. There's already unrest at the Bialya-Qurac border. Riots are turning up everywhere, all blaming their queen. Hold on. Jack, I just got word that Queen Bee is indeed dead. Her body has been found in her palace. It seems she has been assassinated."

"This is insane." Conner muttered.

M'gann had a hand on her mouth. "I know Queen Bee is an enemy but… to plunge an entire country into civil war… just to go after her?"

Richard 'Dick' Grayson looked at the newly engaged couple. "From another point, it makes sense."

The couple looked at Dick with raised eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Destabilize an entire country to go after her. Make it look like rebels did it. Think about it. Queen Bee is a tyrant and I have no doubt in my mind that some people in Bialya who have been plotting a revolution."

Conner frowned. "When you say it like that..."

"I know it's hard to believe but that's what the world is like now. Things just move a lot faster when they happen in the shadows."

"You think the League of Shadows is behind this?" M'gann asked. "Did they turn on the Light?"

Dick shook his head. "A few months ago, before Batman resigned, the Justice League recovered footage and evidence of a new faction at play. Various terrorist cells were destroyed, criminals executed, even abducting crime lords and corrupt political figures. They even went ahead and started their own operations in rescuing abducted metahumans. It's also happening offworld. They do it all without any of the public knowing."

The couple widened their eyes.

"Like a darker version of the Team." M'gann muttered.

Dick nodded. "A black ops unit made up of metahumans. We don't even know their allegiance so they could be mercenaries."

Conner gripped his arms. "Mercenaries with advanced training, weapons, tech, magic…"

"And our zeta-tube technology." Dick added, earning shock from the couple. "It's been confirmed. I don't know how but they somehow got access to it. The only good news is that they don't seem to be against the Justice League. They are, in some way, doing good out there and opposing the Light."

"Hello Megan!" M'gann tapped her head. "Enough depressing talk! New members of the Team are coming this weekend!"

Dick raised his eyebrows. "You mean the ones from Agartha?"

Conner was also surprised. "Isn't that the dimension from within Earth's core?"

M'gann nodded enthusiastically. "Hard to believe they've kept themselves hidden until recently. We got two new members. Mage Knight and Sorceress. They're nobility from what I was told."

"I hope they're not the stuck up kind." Conner grumbled, getting a slap to the back of his head by his fiance. "Hey, I'm just saying! But why the Team? Why not the Justice League?"

"They're still not completely ready to reveal themselves." M'gann replied. "So all they had were two volunteers who were eager to see what the 'Outworld' as they like to call it, is like. Besides, I think having people close to their age would be better. The Justice League could just overwhelm them."

The former protege of Batman shrugged. "No arguments there. Speaking of new members… I think Brion, Tara, Violet, and Forager are ready for the Team as well. They've more than proven themselves."

"What about Victor?" Conner asked.

"Still not sure."

~oOo~

Happy Harbor Safe House

Placing his gear down after teleporting into the safe house, Adrian let out a groan and went straight for the fridge.

"Home at last." he sighed, immediately going for the shower as he undressed. He let out an even heavier sigh, feeling the water cascade onto his scarred body. His body was like that of a super athlete, but riddled with scars from from bullet holes to lacerations and flesh wounds. He got those during his rookie days as a member of Bialya's Youth Correction Unit.

Killing Queen bee, while it was indeed a job, was also payback. He didn't even bother taking the rebels' money since this was personal.

Stepping out of the shower putting on a fresh pair of clothes, minus a shirt, he sat on his couch with microwaved food and turned on the television.

"With the resigning of Batman and several other heroes like Green Arrow. Wonder Woman has issued a statement that their actions are no longer a part of the Justice League."

At the mention of Wonder Woman, he immediately switched channels. His heart tugged. He still remembered. And whenever he remembered, his heart ached. He wanted to see her again. He wanted to be welcomed by her arms and held.

But he can't.

After all… how can he do so when all his mother will see is a monster?

NA: And boom! The big reveal at the end of this chapter!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!