Chapter 10: Motives

"More and more am I sure that the killer is either Abby or Hanna." James said darkly, pocketing the poem. "And I don't like it."
"When was the last time you saw Abby?" Alcor asked.
"It was the day I went insane and tried to destroy the school." James answered. "In fact that was the last time anyone saw her. Apparently everyone who witnessed my attack that day had his or her memories wiped too. However she never resurfaced. I was transferred to another high school and I finished my education there. Odd really…she disappeared around the same time Hanna did…"
"That's no coincidence." Alcor said. "Whoever this killer is knows you very well and they've had their powers longer than you. The odds are stacked James."

"Whatever." He shook his head. "I'll find her."
Looking around, he found a large TV screen in front of him. Searching for the remote, he clicked the device on.
He looked and saw a dark figure speaking to one of the victims in the video.
"That's Eugene Fredrickson!" James exclaimed.
They listened as the mysterious figure read off Fredrickson's credentials and crimes:

"Caught rigging multiple World Cup qualification rounds in 2010 and 2006, and was allegedly responsible for rigging the World Cup 2022 voting for Kasnia. The man was also accused for stealing billions of dollars from poor countries that hosted the event including Brazil, South Africa, Mexico—"
"Please stop!" Eugene interrupted. "I did not do any of that!"
The figure stopped. "How amusing. Even though you have blatantly committed many crimes you still claim innocence. I am no fool Eugene Fredrickson, and I have proof that you are the cause."

"Unbelievable." James shook his head. "Whoever she is, she's taking justice into her own hands and murdering all the people with the most dirt she could dig on and…wait that's it!"
"Are you suggesting that we find the richest and most powerful people in the world with the worst criminal records and try to catch up to her before she kills another?" Alcor asked.
"That's correct." James nodded. "She seems to be a very twisted anti-hero. I don't like to admit it, but the world is better off without them."
"James!" Alcor scolded. "You cannot give legitimacy to this horrid creature! She has murdered these people in horrific manners and you just say that things are better now?"
"You won't like what I'm about to say Alcor." James started. "But yes I do. All of these rich and powerful people that the killer has murdered to does help out others. I obviously wouldn't recommend killing to help others, but there is proof that what she did to John Stevenson and/or Emily Correia did have a more advantageous circumstance.

He checked John Stevenson's video and nodded again.

"Yep." James continued. "He's the one that killed the Family Needs For Benefits Act; the bill that Barbara wanted to get passed. Horrible."
"James that is not a good mentality to have." Alcor warned. "By giving legitimacy to this killer, you're going to sink to their level."
"No I won't." He argued. "That's going on the assumption that all villains are wrong about everything. But that's not true. Usually bad actions and crimes such as these can start with legitimate ideas. And like it or not, the world is better off without some of these crooks."
Alcor sighed. "Perhaps."
"Also." James added. "I'm going to need to make a judgment call. I've been thinking about it, and the string of killings as well as the victims do point to a certain agenda."
"The man who was just killed, Stanley Jones, was a businessman who operated in the black market." Alcor explained. "Jones was a rich murderer in and outside of Gotham who did dealings with the mob and the League of Shadows. He was a very unstable man who believed that society was doomed to destroy itself and lead to the extinction of the human species."

"Man, I didn't think I'd find someone more pessimistic than me." James replied. "Regardless, we're finished here. We'll head back and report our findi—"

Suddenly, his eyes wandered to a manila folder on the ground. Picking it up, he dusted it off and opened it.
Gasping, he saw a picture of El Silencio dead in his room. The next picture was a picture of an unknown man dead in front of a large, shattered tube. The next picture shocked him most of all:
It was a picture of a girl whom he had never seen before. The girl had jet-black hair, skin tone was pale, the weight much lighter, and her eyes were purple.
"Oh god…" James muttered. "The killer is this girl Lana!"

"I don't like this." Bruce said to Alfred.
"I do not either sir." The butler replied. "It appears that Quincy Sharp has taken all the credit for stopping the Asylum takeover."
Bruce Wayne as Batman and Alfred were in the Batcave watching a news report coming out of city hall; Quincy Sharp, former warden of Arkham Asylum had just announced his campaign for Mayor.
"That's not what bothers me." Bruce shook his head. "He recently just announced that the Blackgate penitentiary and the Asylum are no longer suitable to house criminal convicts. Also, that blueprint I found in the hidden office is deeply suspicious. I have a hunch I know what he's planning, but I cannot be sure. I'll need to look into this more."

Suddenly, the bat-computer started shorting out. Static started to cover the screen, which prompted Bruce to run a diagnostic.
"What the…?" The billionaire quickly pressed a few buttons and suddenly an image of a hooded figure appeared on the screen.
"Sorry to interrupt." An unrecognizable voice sounded. "But it is finally nice to meet the Dark Knight himself. Hello Batman."
"What do you want?" Bruce asked irritated.
"Ooh, testy are we today?" The figure replied. "Well no worries. It's unlikely you'll ever meet me, for it is another that I seek."

"…James."

"That is correct." The figure said. "You see, he and I share an interesting history. Now I'm sure you know who I am, but unfortunately he does not. And I'm sure I know what you're going to do. You're going to keep silent and let him figure it out. This is commendable, but perhaps a risk due to the people I target. Regardless, I'll be taking a little break for the next few months. I just simply cannot work with so many other variables in play at the moment. But I will leave this for you and 'Nightshroud': One body a day for the next 6 days. I already have those little piggies done with, so therefore these will just be my…leftovers. Goodbye, Dark Knight.
With that, the screen returned to normal. Bruce sat back in his chair, still staring at the screen.
"What does he mean, 'variables' sir?" Alfred asked. "Does he mean Quincy Sharp's plans?"
"Most likely." Bruce gave him a nod. "From what I can gather, Quincy Sharp is planning to wall off a piece of Gotham City and turn it into a giant prison. Only convicts will live beyond that wall."

"How will he be allowed to pull that off?" A voice sounded from the top of the stairs.
Looking, they saw Tim Drake dressed in his Robin garb standing there.
"Hello Master Drake." Alfred said as Tim walked over to them.
"Hey Alfred." He nodded. "So it's true then? He's going to go through with it?"
"It is true." Bruce answered. "And he will get authorization because he'll likely win his mayoral campaign this year."
"But you saved the Asylum! Not him!" Tim protested, but Bruce shook his head.
"It doesn't matter Tim." He replied. "No one else was there at the Asylum when there was the breakout. Therefore, they can only go by what they hear there. Even though they know Batman was there, it's difficult to put Sharp in a negative light because there was little he could do. It was a well-planned breakout by the Joker and people are just going to run with that."
"Speaking of the Joker, what happened to him afterwards?" Tim asked.

Just then, Max ran down the stairs and looked up at Alfred.
"Oh Master Max, you're awake already? Come I'll make you something." He said taking his hand.
Smiling, Max walked upstairs with him to the kitchen.
"Joker returned to normal, but it looks like he's suffering from the Titan side effects." Bruce replied. "He took a full does of the Titan and now he's paying for it."
"Sounds like problem solved then." Tim nodded.
"Not quite. He's still very dangerous despite being weakened by the Titan." He said. "Regardless, he's not the main focus at the moment. First off, I've been analyzing Max's powers for the past two weeks. Cadmus seems to have implanted some of the powers from the Justice League into him. They must've collected some of our DNA whenever we were out fighting. It must've been easy for them.

"But according to this, none of the League's DNA is present in him." Tim looked at the supercomputer.

"True, but that's because Cadmus was able to separate the genetic codes of each leaguer with their abilities. It's a very rare science that is still in its infancy." Bruce said. "It's called Chromosomal Extrapolation."
"Chromosomal Extrapolation?" Tim scratched his head. "You mean essentially separating chromosomes from their genetic potential?"
"That's correct." Bruce answered. "All of us have genetic potential inside us that is part of our maturity. If you examined a person's chromosomes, you could pinpoint their genetic potential. Basically it means that this person could be tall despite their parents being short or vice versa, but it's not assured. In the case of the justice league DNA, Cadmus was able to separate Superman's super strength, Flash's super speed, and other powers and implant them into this child. Therefore, he'll have those powers but without their DNA."
"Isn't that dangerous!?" Tim asked, alarmed. "With that science, you could steal the abilities of many people and create someone new! Not just with superpowers, but regular growth!"

"Now you see the problem." Bruce nodded. "Max would've the first of many super-soldiers created by Cadmus. Because they couldn't control him it's unlikely they'll try to make another. However that does not mean that Max is safe. Cadmus will still be hunting him, and we need to keep him safe. Otherwise, they'll have a very powerful weapon at their disposal."
"But that still doesn't explain how Max could time travel." Tim crossed his arms, or is there a time traveling metahuman out there?"
Bruce folded his arms. "You tell me."
Tim sighed. "Alright there has to be one. And—"
Suddenly, the batcomputer went off. They looked and could see Firefly torching the Gotham Bank.
"Let's go." Bruce as Batman said.

"Lana?" Joe phoned in. "So there's a 3rd girl now?"
"Yes." James answered on his Ari1. "She looks much different from either Abby or Hanna. I'm not sure it's completely accurate, but for now I'll have to drop both of them as suspects and start finding this new girl."
James as Nightshroud flew high over North Gotham and looked down at the city streets. He could see the Gotham Police apprehending a few thugs near the alleyways in crime alley.
"Alright then. I've sent coordinates to your mask." Joe said. "You and Alcor should head there. I found an old Ace Chemicals factory that was shut down decades ago. We could set up shop here because it's outside of Gotham. The others are on their way."

"Got it."

After a few minutes of flying, he could see the old Ace Chemicals factory sign had been taken down.

"James, what about the ship?" Alcor asked. "We used that ship in an aborted timeline, which means it's still sitting down there."
"I was just thinking the same thing." James thought. "From this old factory to that hiding spot is a few miles, so I can manage."
He landed on the front entrance of the factory and walked in. Looking around, he could see Joe sitting in front of a large desk with a projector on the far wall. Projected on the screen was the periodic table. But the table looked a little…modified.
"Hey." Joe greeted as James switched back to his casual attire.
"Hey pretty sweet." He nodded looking around the place. "Pretty huge setup, and I'm guessing there are other floors?"
"Yep. Plenty of space for us." Joe replied. "But there are some areas that are cut off because of the radioactive waste that was left behind."

"I'll clear that out." James volunteered. "We need to refurbish this place anyway."
Just then the main entrance opened up and George with Georgina arrived.
"Cool." George looked around while Georgina walked over to them. Just then Leslie arrived.
"I enjoy places such as this." Georgina said. "Iz nice and roomy."
"Hey guys." Leslie soon joined them at the large desk. "Nice place."
"Yeah, all we need is money." James laughed. "We'll need some sort of technology in here."
"Well I'm all ears." Joe crossed his arms. "Find me 1 billion dollars and we're in business."

"Well…" James reached into his pocket and pulled out a Moneyball lottery ticket.

"James…what did you do?" Leslie asked suspiciously.
He shrugged. "Nothing, looking for some luck. Mind switching it over to the local news station Joe?"
Shaking his head, Joe flipped it over to Local News 12.
"Welcome to your Wild Money numbers! Brought to you by—"
"Yeah yeah whatever just get to it." James said annoyed.

And today's lottery numbers are: 4, 9, 11 25, 33, and 57!" The woman next to the machine said. "Thanks for playing!"

Joe shut the projector off and faced James.
"James…" Leslie asked annoyed. "Did you…give me that ticket!"
She snatched it out of his hands and the numbers aloud.

"Hey!" James replied angrily. "Calm down! I didn't—"

"4, 9, 11, 25, 33, and 57." Leslie read, stunned.