The Inquisitor

Chapter 25

Magnum Opus part 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or Warhammer 40k they are owned by DC comics and Games Workshop respectively.

A/N: A reviewer asked me why I put in the Poison Ivy moment during the last chapter given how out of place it seemed. I already answered them via PM but I decided it would be best to share the answer with their fellow readers. The reason I put it in is because it takes place around the same time as what is going on in Bialya. Basically I put it in for continuity reasons as well as the fact that it will help set up events that will take place eventually, as for why I'm putting in something to do with Poison Ivy in particular well, *censored due to spoilers T_T*

Another reviewer also mentioned that it seemed as though the sidekicks broke too easily and I'm going to have to refute him on this. The sidekicks were put into positions where their decisions ended up causing the deaths of other people something that none of them ever had to deal with before. Because of this they were more traumatized than would be normal.

.

-Arkham Asylum, Patient Interview Room-

.

Doctor Birch barely managed to stifle a yawn as he waited in the patient interview room. It had been seven in the morning, a good two hours to three hours prior to the start of his shift at the Asylum when he received a call from one of the asylum's receptionists. Apparently Poison Ivy was adamant about seeing him as quickly as possible and they needed to let Birch know before he went in for his shift.

This had not something that Birch had been expecting, at least not so soon. The psychiatrist had expected Isley to not want to see him if at all possible for the first few days, and if she was to participate in therapy then she would most likely try to refute everything that he had dropped on her. Instead the exact opposite had occurred. Isley now seemed to want to speak with him as soon as possible.

Warden Sharp had ordered that Birch come in early in order to take several rounds of medical tests to make sure that he was not infected with any of her spores. Apparently those in charge of Arkham Asylum were all under the impression that this was some sort of bizarre scheme at an escape attempt. Birch, while somewhat suspicious that Miss Isley would already be that eager for a session with him, was also very curious about the reason why she wanted to speak with him as soon as she possibly could.

Eventually the test results came back negative for the spores or pheromones Isley used on her victims. The dumbfounded expressions on not only Quincy Sharp's face but also the medical team would end up being one of one of Birch's most treasured memories. So at least something amusing came from going to his job several hours earlier then when it officially started. Birch knew that he would have to be extremely careful with Isley during this and quite possibly future therapy sessions. When he first came to this particular facility he and all the other new doctors were briefed on the inmates and just how manipulative they could be.

The most obvious example of this was Harleen Quinzel who now went by Harley Quinn and how she was easily manipulated by her own patient the Joker. It got to the point where she actually developed some bizarre attachment to the joker that very much resembled an abusive relationship. Despite treating her like garbage on several occasions, Harley still remained completely and utterly devoted to the Clown Prince of Crime,

The Joker also had a charming little habit of pretending to cooperate with therapy and when he finally escaped he would kill whoever his psychiatrist was. However there were other examples as well; Jonathan Crane aka Scarecrow was able to manipulate several of his therapists into committing suicide within just a handful of sessions. Then there was Jane Doe who managed to kill and replace Doctor Carver at Arkham for over a week without anyone being the wiser. In fact it was only when a decaying the corpse of the doctor had been fished out of the bay that they found out that Carver wasn't who she claimed to be.

Birch was broken out of his thoughts when he heard the door leading into the interview room open and a very strange sight came to his attention. Isley was with the gas masked guards of course, but she had a look about her that was so alien that Birch actually wondered if this was the same Poison Ivy he had been talking to for the last few weeks. Her face was a mix of nervousness, anxiety and a little bit of fear, something that he had never seen on her before whether it was in person, on photos by the police or reporters.

The doctor waved away the guards who left the doctor alone with his patient. Poison Ivy took a seat across from Birch as was per usual and Birch opened up with "You have been unusually anxious to see me again Miss Isley, I take it you had something important to speak to me about."

There was a pause for several seconds before Poison Ivy spoke again "I've been thinking on how my babies-, er my plants have been calling to me and I finally realized something, and I very much doubt that you're going to believe it." Ivy let out a bitter chuckle before continuing "They sound just like I did when I was a child."

For several seconds Birch was completely and utterly silent as he contemplated what Isley just said. There was no way she could have known about his own investigation into Isley's past and it was likely that she was realizing this on her own. Still though he would need to tread carefully, it was still possible that she was attempting to manipulate him.

"Miss Isley how is it that you've never realized this before? It has been several years since your transformation, surely you must have recognized your own voice at some point."

There was a strangely vulnerable expression on Isley's face when she responded "I never really thought about it before now to be honest. I always just, I always just assumed that everything I knew was right." She then had an expression of pure shock as she realized that she had just inadvertently admitted that there were something wrong with her beliefs.

"Are you alright Miss Isley?" asked Birch. For a moment Ivy looked as though she hadn't heard him but eventually she looked directly at him "I-I don't know, I just don't know!" she all but cried out. It was obvious now that the look of confusion and emotional/psychological pain were quite genuine. This wasn't some kind of attempt at deception, no, whenever she manipulated someone she never tried to appear this vulnerable. When she manipulated someone she always projected an air of confidence whether it was obvious or subtly. She never showed any vulnerability (aside form when it was so obvious that it was actually ridiculous) like she was now. Everything he had researched about her showed that she never showed any real vulnerability whatsoever towards humans.

Birch knew that this kind of display would either turn into a breakthrough for the woman or she would sink further into madness. He would have to make sure that the former would occur if he could rather than the latter. "Why do you think they sound like you did as a child?" Birch asked with a tone of curiosity, "Could it be some sort of childhood memory perhaps. Maybe something happened with your mother?"

There was a brief pause before Poison Ivy responded "My, my mother ran off with someone when I was a kid, she was there one night and then she was gone the next morning. My father told me that she had run off with someone." Isley didn't seem convinced by that answer and neither did Birch. There was something else here, something that reminded Birch of some of individuals he had seen with severe childhood traumas. He knew that there were some people –especially those that were very young- who simply locked away whatever memory traumatized them in their subconscious because they couldn't deal with them.

"Isley I don't think that either of us believe that explanation. Can you tell me what really happened the day your mother disappeared?" he asked as gently as he could.

Ivy shook her head and grasped at the side of her head with her hands and her whole body began to shake. "I. Can't. Remember," she said desperately "The only thing I remember about that time is my father telling me that she had run off with someone she was having an affair with but, I just know that she wouldn't do that! She, she wouldn't. Would she?"

That was all that Birch needed to hear, it was obvious that the voices that Isley was hearing weren't the plants she controlled. No, they were trapped memories of trauma that were desperately trying to claw their way out. When Isley was used as part of Woodrue's experiment, it was just as traumatic as whatever happened with her mother and caused her memories to gnaw at the back of her mind. This combined with her new condition caused her subconscious mind to project parts of her memory –in this case Isley calling out for her mother- into the plants she controlled as a bizarre coping mechanism.

If they could recover the rest of her memories then maybe it could lead to a breakthrough in her condition. Birch would need to make a few calls to individuals that specialized in memory recovery as well as Warden Sharp who he would have to clear bringing in said specialists. With some luck they could have someone within a week or two and then they'd get to the bottom of this.

.

-Bialya/Qurac Border Region, Old Mine several days later-

.

Almost a week had passed since the Inquisitor's made his promise that they would hunt down Shifter from whatever hole he was hiding in. Of course this was easier said than done in the middle of a warzone. They first needed to find somewhere they could properly hole up in for a decent period of time and in the middle of a destroyed village with dozens of burnt corpses was not likely one of the most suitable places to do so, especially if the Bialyan army decided to use the area as a staging area as it was in a relatively defensible location and could easily be turned into a forward base of sorts.

Eventually the group found themselves an old abandoned mine that was more than large enough for the entire group to use as a hideout while they attempted to get more information on where Shifter might be hiding. So far literally every area they thought might contain the abomination was empty. Add to that, the conflict was getting more and more intense. While the Qurac government was putting up a relatively decent fight, it was clear that the tides of war were beginning to shift, and the Bialyans would soon try to make another push into their territory. Given the amount of Bialyan troops and the ferocity in which they were fighting it was likely that the Quraci military would likely lose more territory in the coming days.

Given the situation it was nearly impossible to get Garfield (or Gar as he liked to be called) back to the Wildlife Sanctuary that his mother ran. Fortunately for the boy, his mother's sanctuary was a good distance away from the frontlines but anyone with an iota of sense would know that it would only be a matter of time before the Logan home became part of the war, whether they liked it or not.

Currently, the Inquisitor, Troia and Kid Flash were out scouting a possible location that Shifter might be hiding out in, as well as searching for whatever supplies they could get their hands on. Artemis was out on her shift on watch for any potential Bialyan patrols underneath a camouflaged tarp. Aqualad was trying to get breakfast ready for the group out of some canned goods that came from the truck that the Inquisitor had acquired before they had all reunited in that destroyed village.

Superboy was pacing back and forth given that he had literally nothing else to do. Robin meanwhile was studying the maps that they had on hand, looking at the areas that the group had already searched for Shifter as well as the areas that they knew contained positions of Bialyan troops. The reasoning behind this was that after they eliminated Shifter, the Team would still have a difficult time contacting the Justice League due to the fact that their only means of communications were short wave radios they had pilfered from the Bialyan truck and they would only work within a handful of miles at most.

They would need to get out of the conflict area and find a phone or something to contact the League. Of course they would have to deal with Shifter first but it would be best if they at least had some way to get out of the warzone. So far they had scouted quite a few Bialyan military positions and patrols, and had a general idea on where to go if they were to leave the area but they still needed more information if they were to plan an escape route out of this place.

Miss Martian meanwhile was entertaining the youngest member of the group, Garfield Logan who had become quite taken with most of the team and had spent a lot of his time asking questions about either them or the members of the Justice League. It was almost like watching an older sister doting on a younger brother.

She was currently telling the boy about how Wally had shown up wearing his swim trunks after enduring summer school. "-and because he forgot about the time zones he thought that everyone was still at the beach having fun. He stumbled into the Cave in his swim trunks and a bunch of items he thought would be fun to use. Of course because he was carrying so much he ended up falling on his face in front of everyone including several members of the Justice League."

Garfield couldn't stop laughing at the poor speedster's expense. Then she mentioned some of the other little misadventures that the group had during their off-time. Eventually though the boy soon caught on that the Inquisitor wasn't in any of the stories that were being brought up. After the next couple of stories, Gar finally decided to ask "Hey, just out of curiosity, why don't any of these stories ever really have the Inquisitor in them?" the boy asked.

There was an uncomfortable silence that came over the rest of the group. Even Aqualad who was now passing out some of the food cans for consumption became uncomfortable. After several seconds the kid noticed how everyone looked and his curious expression turned into one of mild shame "S-sorry I asked I, I didn't mean to bother you." He said as he rubbed the makeshift cast that covered the hand that was injured when he was rescued.

Miss Martian snapped out of it first and immediately decided that it would be best to try and remedy the situation "No-no it's fine, there's nothing wrong your question," she said frantically while her face sported an almost comical expression. When he saw the expression the Martian had, Gar covered his mouth with his hands and looked like he was trying to keep himself from snickering.

Taking pity on his teammate, Aqualad decided to try and intervene "What Miss Martian means is that the Inquisitor is…a complicated individual to say the least."

At that M'gann shot a thankful look at Aqualad while Gar looked over at Aqualad with the same quizzical expression he had given the Martian "What do you mean?" he asked.

Aqualad looked over at Gar, seemingly conflicted as to whether or not he should tell the boy "He's not a big fan of ours. In fact he shows us nothing but contempt because he thinks we're not very good at our jobs but that's not the only reason. For whatever reason he hates us, even if we do the right thing, and he's never shared anything about himself, not his name and if it wasn't for an...incident we never would have seen his face. Whatever my feelings on the matter is though I have to give him one thing. He managed to pull us together over the last couple of days even though that should have been my job. It's tough to admit but we probably wouldn't have managed to keep going if it wasn't for him."

There was a silence for a while before Artemis' voice came over the radio nearby "Hey guys, they're back!" she declared.

.

.

Kid Flash and Troia walked into the cave along with the Inquisitor. All three were carrying backpacks that were filled to the brim with items. Interestingly Kid Flash and Troia were both wearing bullet proof vests that they had taken from the supply truck. In fact the Inquisitor had insisted that each and every single one of them wore one at all times while they were in this warzone.

When they asked why he wouldn't be wearing one under his armor, he informed them that his armor was more than capable of deflecting almost all small arms fire that the Bialyans could dish out. While everyone seemed skeptical, they at least didn't push the issue. "Any luck?" The Abhuman asked.

Kid Flash shook his head with a frustrated look on his face. "Nothing, just a bunch of Bialyan soldiers running around committing more war crimes." The look of anger said that he wanted to do something, anything to help those that were being slaughtered out there.

It was true, each time they went out they saw more and more appalling acts by the Bialyan invaders. Mass graves, death squads and other horrors that would one's stomach turn and considering everything they had seen, it was a miracle that they hadn't started throwing up yet. The only one who seemed completely calm and composed about the whole thing was the Inquisitor and no one could truly know why that was. It almost seemed as if he had seen this sort of thing so many times that he had simply become jaded to it.

If that was the case though, what on Earth had he seen that made him so, apathetic to these horrors?

Case in point was when the Inquisitor lowered his backpack to the cave floor and began to remove some of the items within even as he turned his head to Robin and said "Clear sectors seven and eight off the search grid, there's nothing there but sand, rocks and a handful of small Bialyan outposts that just had some of their supplies…appropriated."

He never uttered so much as a word to the other sidekicks about any of the horrors they had seen be inflicted on the Quraci people. "Now, tomorrow we'll check sector-" he wasn't even able to utter so much as a word before Troia looked at the Inquisitor with a look of pure fury.

"How in the name of Olympus can you be so calm about this whole thing?" she asked "How can you be so callous towards everyone who has died here?" The Inquisitor turned towards her and tilted his head "Would you prefer I bawl my eyes out on the floor like a child over every single death we've witnessed?" he asked "Or would you rather I remain calm and focused on our goal of finding Shifter?"

Troia looked at the ground for a moment or two before she finally acquiesced with a small sigh. Right now wasn't the time for division or arguments whether they liked it or not. "You're right," she admitted but she clearly did so begrudgingly and decided to at the very least keep her complaints to herself for the time being.

"It would be nice if you could at the very least tell us why you're so…jaded, to these things," said Aqualad. The Inquisitor turned his head to look directly at the Atlantean, and was completely silent for several seconds, making him wonder if he should have said anything at all. Eventually though the Inquisitor spoke again, and what he said all but floored the group "If we make it out of this alive, maybe I'll tell you."

There was an understandably shocked silence for several long seconds. Ever since the Team's formation, most of the group had shared something with one another. Granted no deep dark secrets had ever been revealed but at least they had some knowledge of each other. When it came to the Inquisitor, they had absolutely no information on the guy other than during his first appearance he had ruthlessly massacred a group of terrorists that were holding a school hostage and how ruthless he was to the criminals of Seattle.

Whenever they tried to broach the subject with him though, he rather harshly brushed them off, each and every time. Now though he was volunteering information about himself if they managed to survive this ordeal. Questions as to why he was doing this went through their minds but they weren't able to ask said questions as the Inquisitor always brushed them off whenever he even bothered to show up at their get-togethers in-between missions.

"Now," said the Inquisitor who was turning to the attention to the map that Robin had been looking over "I have a theory on the location of our enemy," said the Inquisitor, but before he could go any further Aqualad asked "Shouldn't we bring Artemis in from watch?"

The Inquisitor shook his head "No, her shift is not over yet and we need someone on watch in the event that the enemy sends a patrol to our location. We will brief her when her shift has concluded." With the way the Inquisitor spoke one might assume that he was the one in charge of the group rather than Aqualad and to an extent that was the case.

"As I was saying, my theory is that the location of our foe is here." The Inquisitor said putting his finger in the center of the shaded portion of the map that outlined the jamming zone. In the center were several rocky hills and plateaus. That are in particular was also being relatively ignored by both the Quraci and Bialyan militaries as it wasn't in a strategically important location. It was also the most likely spot where the jamming was coming from.

"It is an obvious spot but don't you think that it's a little bit too obvious?" asked Kid Flash. The Inquisitor shook his head "From what I've seen of Shifter, he wants us to find him as quickly as possible so that he can try to make us suffer even more than we already have. While suffering is a natural occurrence on the battlefield it's clear to me that Shifter wants to be found, so that he can have a more hands-on approach to our torment."

That made sense but still if that was the case then why were they only doing this now rather than a few days ago. It was something that Robin was very quick to bring up to the Inquisitor. "Wait so then why were we running around all over the place looking for it if you thought it was there?" he asked.

The Inquisitor turned his head to address the sidekick "There were several other areas that we have searched over the last few days that were just as likely as this one. I wanted to reconnoiter those first. I've found that it's rarely the obvious choice that is the correct one, however all the other areas we've searched are the only ones that Shifter could use without hiding out in the middle of a Quraci or Bialyan army camp something that would be difficult even for him to accomplish in the long term."

It was true the only way that Shifter could really pull it off would be to kill and then replace one of the soldiers. That however, would be very hard to do for more than a few days at a time as eventually even he would slip up by acting in a manner that was too different from the person that he was imitating. Therefore he had to be hiding out somewhere that the Bialyan or Quraci militaries weren't occupying.

"If he's there then all we have to do is bust in and-" started Kid Flash but he was unable finish his sentence when the Inquisitor looked over at him "We'd likely be walking straight into a possible ambush. I will scout the area along with one other first before we move in to eliminate the threat."

When the Inquisitor spoke it was with a voice of complete finality and he would broker no argument. It was an attitude he always had but it became especially more apparent over the last few days when Aqualad had unofficially relinquished command of the Team to the Inquisitor. After they had all reunited at the abandoned village several days ago, the Inquisitor quickly took charge of the team and Aqualad just went along with it. No one had really asked Aqualad why he had seemingly decided to hand over command to the Inquisitor, although with everything that had been happening no one really thought much of it.

The Inquisitor then continued on with his plan "Once we have confirmed that this area is indeed the one that Shifter is probably hiding in we will head in in force."

Of course they would have to be armed, but given how they had repeatedly refused his offers to teach them how to use the firearms in spite of the situation that they had found themselves in, he would have to give them blades and batons instead. It wasn't perfect but at least they weren't whining about him using firearms, even if it was clear that they weren't pleased with it. They could whine and complain all they wished but the Inquisitor still would have used his weapons despite their protests.

"However Troia and Garfield will remain here while the rest of us move in to eliminate Shifter."

And just like that protests from the two who were to remain rang out. It was so predictable that it was almost like clockwork at this point. "You can't just expect me to stay here and hide while you fight that monster!" yelled Troia while Gar shouted "Why do I have to wait while you fight? I can help too!"

The Inquisitor turned to look over at the two who both had looks of utter outrage plastered all over their faces. However he didn't raise his voice at all when he gave his response "I am not going to bring a child into a combat zone, especially when it's unnecessary. As for why you're staying Troia, someone needs to watch over the boy. If we're not back within the next forty-eight hours, we will likely be dead and you are to take him back to his family. You can use the map I laid out, it should give you a relatively safe route through the Bialyan and Quraci lines."

Troia seemed less angry and more conflicted about the task she was given. She looked over at the boy, and then back at the Inquisitor "Alright I'll take him home if you don't return, but I suggest for your sake you do. Or I will march into Hades itself to drag each and every last one of you back to the land of the living!" she declared. However the boy seemed a bit more reluctant to go along with the plan.

Deciding to nip the problem before it could become something more serious, the Inquisitor looked over at the boy "I know you want to come with us boy, I know you want to help us take the fight to the enemy. I understand exactly how you feel at this moment, but right now you can't help us. I know it is difficult but if you try to follow us you will only get hurt, or die. Your time on the field of battle will come one day, but not today."

The boy looked reluctant but eventually he looked directly up at the Inquisitor's skull helmet and said "Fine, I'll stay," in a heavily dejected voice. The Inquisitor could relate to Garfield's feelings on the matter.

When he first was taken in by Inquisitor Monroe, he wanted desperately to take the fight to the Forces of Chaos but the Inquisitor steadfastly refused, informing him that he was not yet ready for such a task and that he needed more training. It took time but eventually the Inquisitor allowed him to accompany him on one of his investigations. Granted the tasks that he gave Dante weren't the most glorious but they were necessary and he carried each of them out as best he was able.

"Good," said the Inquisitor before he looked directly at Troia and an unspoken message passed between them. 'Keep an eye on him,' to which Troia simply nodded. At least he knew that she would do her best to perform this simple task.

For now though they had work to do and another reconnaissance mission to plan out.

.

-Bialya/Qurac Border Region, Jamming Source, several hours later-

.

The scouting party that had been sent out had spent quite some time scouting the area where the jamming was located. They had to dodge Bialyan patrols on the way there but fortunately they seemed to be very poorly disciplined, so much so that they didn't even seem to be paying much attention to anything. Such poor training would prove fatal to a soldier, but it was to be expected in soldiers that were guarding the rear of the frontlines.

When they arrived in the area that was supposed to be the center of the jamming zone Dante saw a rather large plateau in which, (according to the maps) was the likeliest spot for whatever machine was keeping them from calling for assistance. The area was mostly deserted although there were some small patrols of Bialyans that went by every now and then but otherwise it was a strategically unimportant location. There were no major or minor roads that went in the area which ruled out any sort of use for resupply convoys and the area was far too rocky for any real permanent bases to be set up save for a maybe a handful of spots for small outposts.

As for the plateau, the reconnaissance mission that the inquisitor and Robin underwent, discovered a single cave that entered into the plateau. A quick look through the cave showed that it was obvious that this cave was entirely manmade. For the Inquisitor that was more than enough evidence that someone was using this place for something and it would warrant further investigation. Only this time it would be in force rather than just a simple reconnoiter of the area.

Just a few hours after the recon mission had finished, the entire team (minus Gar and Troia) returned to plateau. Each member of the Team was armed with smoke or stun grenades. For close combat they carried either a shock baton, a combat knife or both, and aside from Artemis none of them were willing to use the firearms that the Inquisitor had found in the truck. The only weapon that Artemis carried was a GM-94 grenade launcher, but she had insisted on only using non-lethal rounds such as the aforementioned stun or smoke grenades. At least they weren't complaining about the arsenal that the Inquisitor had brought with him so that was something he supposed.

For a primary weapon he carried an RPK with a seventy-five round drum magazine, along with several forty round magazines for additional ammo. Then there was the flamethrower he had not even let go of once, in fact he had brought it with the express intention of killing Shifter. He also carried a pair of Makarov PM pistols, grenades and several combat knives, which also included the Kryptonite blade.

Ever since Dante had awoken with the blade right before Shifter's first little game he had wondered why the xeno filth had left him with the weapon when he had taken literally every other weapon the Inquisitor had on hand. There was no way that Shifter had missed the Kryptonite dagger, even if it was the best hidden weapon he kept on his person, someone still would have found it eventually.

The only explanation that Dante could come up with was that Shifter knew about the blade but still wanted the Inquisitor to have it for something. Given the fact that Shifter was clearly a sadist that was almost on par with a Dark Eldar. Granted this abomination didn't use the same level of physical torture that those degenerate xenos did but he certainly came close on the psychological level. That kind of deviousness meant that their little group would need to be very, very cautious.

As they made their way into the cave, the Inquisitor took the lead, his RPK drawn and aimed downrange. As they made their way inside, Dante found himself noticing that the sidekicks were doing their absolute best to not make any sounds. It was somewhat surprising, but of course they had spent the last few days hiding from the Bialyan military without any of their powers or equipment, so it would make sense that they would be forced to take a stealthier approach to just about everything.

After several minutes of walking through the cave, they found that the tunnels started to become wider and larger. This continued for a while before everyone finally found themselves in front of a massive steel door, similar to the one that each of them had found themselves waking up in front of when Shifter first started his sick little 'game' nearly a week ago. The only difference between this particular door and the others from earlier was that this one wasn't rusted. In fact it seemed to have been put only recently given how new it looked. On the door was a console that had several buttons with numbers printed on them and just above was a small screen.

"Well if we had any doubts that this was the place, it's pretty obvious now," Wally muttered under his breath. The Inquisitor wanted to admonish the sidekick for his lack of discipline and the fact that he quite possibly just gave away their position to the enemy. However it was more than likely that Shifter already knew that they were here and had prepared for them accordingly.

There was that same sound of feedback noise as dark laughter echoed throughout the cavern. In less than a second the Inquisitor brought his RPK to bear, meticulously scanning the area for anything that would seem out of the ordinary. As the Inquisitor scanned the surroundings the laughter stopped and a slow, almost mocking clapping came over whatever speakers were nearby.

Soon though the clapping stopped and Shifter's rasping voice came over the speakers again "Well done, well done! I knew that you would manage to make it here, but I don't see Troia or the boy with you." There was another pause before Shifter spoke again.

"Well I suppose it doesn't matter at the moment. The majority of you are here to begin the final part of my magnum opus," he declared before continuing on with his speech, "The last coat of paint for my greatest work is finally here, and the masterpiece is-"

Shifter wasn't able to finish his sentence as Robin decided to say the exact same thought that everyone had on their minds, "Yeah, yeah, yeah we get it can we skip the psychopathic villain speech already?!" he snarled, having heard enough of the xeno's taunts already.

While most villains at that point would be angry that their gloating was interrupted, Shifter instead seemed to ignore it "Ah I see. Where are my manners? Come in, come in!" he declared in a mocking voice as a loud mechanical groan as the door began to slowly open.

Within moments the door was open and inside was a room that instantly reminded the Inquisitor of some of the rooms back at that heretical Cadmus facility. It was a completely sterile white and had almost no features other than that it seemed to be circular in shape, almost like an arena. Cautiously the group advanced into the room. It was probably a foolish decision to go into a room where a trap was obviously waiting for them but they needed to eliminate Shifter and whatever he was using to jam their communications.

Naturally the instant that they were inside the door closed behind them, only this time it was far faster than when it was opening. Of course this was something that everyone had expected so it wasn't much of a surprise for them. "Now then let us begin!" He declared.

"Great anyone want to guess what he has in store for us now?" asked Wally in a thoroughly sarcastic manner. Artemis meanwhile said "At this point I really don't want to know."

Dante was about to tell them both to stay focused when the doors on the other side of the room opened. There was a shadowed silhouette of an individual on the other side of the door but it was difficult to tell exactly what it was. The individual was tall, at least seven or eight feet in height and was very oddly proportioned. Then it stepped out into the light and everyone saw the abomination for what it was.

It was another clone of Superman but unlike the abominable Superboy, this one barely even came close to resembling the genuine article. The thing was dressed in a ragged and badly torn long sleeved version of the white outfit that Superboy was in when he was discovered. There were several tumorous growths running on the left side of its face making the flesh appear swollen and bulbous to the point where the left eye was almost swollen shut, but it could still be relatively visible.

The right arm was twice as muscled as the left. In fact it was so muscled that it had completely torn through the right sleeve. This caused an imbalance in the monstrosity that caused it to favor its right side more than the left. The thing even had what looked like a hunch developing but it was just as likely that it was another oversized tumor . The eyes that were supposed to have white sclera were instead completely black, making the abomination look even less human than it already was.

"Meet Project: Match. This was the first attempt to create a clone of Superman but as you can see it was a complete and utter failure. Given its size, anger and near nonexistent intellect it wasn't all that useful for a combat situation but it is more than adequate for my present needs." For some reason, Shifter's voice wasn't as theatric as it had been just a few moments earlier.

"This isn't going to be easy," said Aqualad, demonstrating his talent for stating what was obvious.

It was at this moment that Dante realized just why he still had the dagger on him when he woke up. Shifter had probably planned this part out too. The only way that they could survive this trial was if the Inquisitor brandished the dagger and killed the damn monstrosity, but then he'd have to reveal to the Justice League that he had a weapon that could kill Superman if necessary.

Granted he had more than one blade in his possession but showing the weapon off like this would ensure that the League would inevitably find out unless he silenced any and all witnesses. That was not a suitable compromise as the Justice League would likely suspect him and eventually Batman would find a way to prove it. Perhaps he could coerce the sidekicks into staying quiet. It was likely to be a fools attempt but he would have to at least try.

The Inquisitor was brought out of his thoughts when "Match" let out a loud feral roar and charged at the group. Acting purely on reflex Dante instantly raised his RPK and without even thinking pulled the trigger. Dozens of rounds of 7.62mm rounds flew at the abomination but as expected, the bullets simply ricocheted off the monster's body.

Managing to stop himself from acting on instinct, Dante stopped firing at the enemy and barely managed to dive out of the way of the charging abomination as it continued headlong into the rest of the group. Strangely enough, instead of just killing the sidekicks, it instead flung them out of the way or outright ignored them. Instead it seemed completely focused on attacking Superman's other clone.

The monster was unable to get to Superboy though as Artemis, in spite of being knocked to the floor she was still gripping her grenade launcher and fired off a stun grenade at the monster. The grenade impacted and then exploded in a blinding flash of light and a loud bang. Almost immediately the abomination squeezed its eyes shut and gripped the sides of its head and let out a scream of agony.

Of course! Because Match was a clone of superman with that xeno filth's powers it must have been overly sensitive to large bursts of light and sound. Considering that the xeno in which Match was cloned from had enhanced hearing and sight, to the point where it could hear and see things at extremely long distances. Therefore it made sense that the thing was more sensitive to loud noises and bright flashes than normal humans were.

Unfortunately Match's agony was short lived as it quickly recomposed itself and instead of going after the other clone, it instead shifted its focus right at Artemis and began to stomp its way towards her. Dante pulled out a stun grenade and was about to pull the pin and throw it when Kid Flash who had gotten back up after being knocked to the floor, jumped onto the back of the abomination.

He wrapped his hands around the thing's neck and yelled "Who wants snacks?!" as he whipped out a stun grenade and stuck it into the abomination's still roaring mouth before pulling the pin. "You do!" he yelled as he jumped off before Match could reach back and throw Kid Flash off of his back.

Less than a second later the stun grenade detonated and Match started screaming in pain again. However this time it managed to recover much faster than it had before and managed to grab Kid Flash by the throat with its normal looking left arm while it's larger, bulker right, reared back to strike Kid Flash in the face. Before it could however, Aqualad, Miss Martian, Robin and Superboy all tackled Match. Of course given that the xeno clone had the same strength as Superman, this only served to annoy the monstrosity.

One by one he flung each of the sidekicks off of him, including Kid Flash who landed on his shoulder and one could hear a small *crunch*. It was a sound that Dante had heard many times before, it was the sound of bones dislocating or breaking. Sure enough Kid Flash let out a pained yell and tried to clutch at his shoulder which one could easily see wasn't in its proper place.

Soon enough the others were also thrown off of the xeno and as they were, Dante pulled out the Kryptonite dagger from its sheathed. The instant that it was in his hands he started to sprint at the monster from its seemingly more vulnerable left flank, blade ready to deliver a swift death. He came close but the damned xeno clone smacked him aside with a backhanded strike, sending Dante falling backwards onto the floor with such a force that the wind was knocked completely out of him.

The blade fell from his hands and began to clatter across the floor. Eventually it came to a stop near Miss Martian who was still getting up from the floor. She saw the blade on the ground in the corner of her eye and turned to see what it was. The instant she saw it her eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second before they widened and she looked accusingly at the Inquisitor for a moment. It seemed she knew exactly what the blade was made out of as well as what it would be used for. There would doubtlessly be some explaining to do later.

Match let out another roar and this time began to approach the Inquisitor who drew a stun grenade, pulled the pin and then tossed it at the monstrosity. The grenade exploded and for a second or two Match was screaming in pain again as it attempted to regain control over its enhanced senses. However it didn't stay disoriented for very long and when it finally did come back to its senses, it gave Dante an enraged look that would not look out of place on a Khornate Berzerker.

It took several steps forwards and Dante knew that he was completely out of stun grenades at this point and his RPK had been thrown clear when Match had backhanded him to the floor. Instead all he had on him were a pair of Makarov pistols and his flamethrower, neither of which would do much damage to that monstrosity. It was also unlikely that anyone was going to come to his aid anytime soon as the rest of the Team was still getting up off of the floor.

Well, the Inquisitor wouldn't die lying down, he would die standing up. He stood up as best he could and drew both Makarov pistols from their holsters and aimed them directly at the approaching xeno clone. Before the Inquisitor could fire however, he heard the sounds of feet running towards the monster from behind.

Dante caught a glimpse of the xeno holding the Kryptonite blade in her hand as she jumped onto Match's back. While this tactic had already been used it would seem that Miss Martian was using something slightly different. She forced the blade into the right shoulder of the abomination, pushing it down all the way to the hilt. The blade dug down far enough until it managed to puncture a lung. This caused blood to start seeping into the mouth as the abomination began to struggle breathing.

"Get down!" ordered the Inquisitor as Miss Martian immediately got off the monster and hit the ground. The beast didn't even have the chance to try to pull out the dagger as Dante immediately opened fire with his dual Makarov pistols. Each shot impacted the chest of the monster and with each successful shot, Match let out a literal scream of complete and utter pain. Given the fact that the Kryptonian xenos were all but invulnerable this was likely the first time in the abomination's life that it actually came face to face with its own mortality.

After being hit almost ten times with the twin Makarovs, Match fell backwards onto the ground with several bullets embedded in his body. Because now one of the lungs had all but been completely shredded by a hail of bullets, the creature was more wheezing weakly than anything else. It was a truly pathetic sight to be honest and while Dante sorely wished that it was the so called "Man of Steel" himself that was on the ground dying, he could at least take comfort in the fact that at least its clone was about to face oblivion.

Dante walked up to the dying abomination and raised his pistol directly at Match's chest. It was desperately trying to stem the flow of blood with its hands but even it seemed to realize that any attempt at medical aid was futile at best. Of course this moment of victory against the xeno clone was short lived as one of the sidekicks decided to get sanctimonious.

"What the hell are you doing?!" demanded Robin "You don't have to-" he started but was unable to finish as Dante simply pulled the trigger on the Makarov twice, sending a bullet right to where the heart would be and one directly into the brain. He had gotten into enough of these childish debates and he wasn't about to let those idiots distract him from his duty and his obligations.

Match almost instantly stopped breathing and fell still the moment both bullets entered the body. The Inquisitor silently walked up to the now dead clone and retrieved the Kryptonite blade that was still sticking out of its shoulder with an audible *schlick*. He wiped off the blood and put the weapon back in its sheathe.

Dante then looked over at Miss Martian who looked disturbed at the whole sight and what she had done to the clone. It was a perfectly natural for someone without any real military training to react that way when they made their first kill. The fact that she had helped him kill the beast without any real hesitation however was quite…odd, considering the League's complete and utter aversion to using such lethal force.

"It seems as though you have a spine after all," he remarked.

Miss Martian looked up at the Inquisitor with a puzzled expression on her face at the strange tone in which he addressed her. It was strange, it sounded as though there was a hint of respect in his voice. Still, she couldn't quite explain why she did that. One second she was sitting on the ground with that blade nearby and the next she was on Match's back driving in the knife without any hesitation. Then there was a strange feeling that coursed through her body when she watched the Inquisitor kill that clone of Superman. She felt relief, not compassion for the dead creature who probably never even had a chance at a normal life.

She looked over at Superboy who was also staring at the clone with a troubled expression and she couldn't blame him. He could just as easily have become just like Match. Even as he got up from the ground he had been thrown to, he couldn't take his eyes off of the body of what could technically be considered his brother.

Miss Martian's attention turned from Superboy back over to the Inquisitor when she heard Aqualad speak up "You mind telling us why you did that and where you got a Kryptonite blade?" he demanded. The Inquisitor tilted his head quizzically at the Atlantean and asked "Do you really think now is the time to be asking such things?"

Aqualad let out a bated breath. As much as the abhuman hated to admit it, the Inquisitor had a point, this wasn't the time or place for such discussions "Don't you dare think we're done on this one," he said in a commanding tone.

The sound of pained groaning filled the room as everyone turned to look at the source of the noise. Dante saw Kid Flash sitting on the ground, holding his dislocated shoulder while the arm underneath it dangled uselessly. Artemis was close by the mutant and she seemed somewhat concerned for his wellbeing. Why this was, Dante couldn't say for sure, given the mutant's stupidity and ego he would have thought that most would be happy to be rid of the idiot.

Kid Flash soon noticed that Artemis' hands were going directly for her shoulder and said "Hey what do you think you're do-" he started but was unable to finish as Artemis said "Hold still, this may hurt a bit." With that Kid Flash's eyes became almost comically large as Artemis quickly grabbed his dislocated shoulder and put it back into place with a small cracking noise.

The mutant let out a yell of pain as he jumped away from the archer and looked indignant before he started to move his arm around somewhat with a surprised look. For several seconds he moved his arm around before looking over at Artemis who cocked a brow behind her mask and asked "You okay?"

Wally gave her a dumb grin and said "Actually my shoulder's feeling a little bit better now, thanks." In response a light blush started to appear on Artemis' cheeks but she didn't say anything else.

Before anyone could utter so much as another word however, Shifter's voice filled the room once again "And it appears as though the clone has finally expired. I honestly thought that you wouldn't have what it took to survive that last one. That was quite the performance, well done, well done all of you. Of course you're not out of the woods quite yet. My magnum opus needs only a single coat of paint before it is finally finished!"

The more that the xeno filth spoke the more that the Inquisitor wanted to do nothing more than to cleanse the abomination in holy fire and if the Emperor willed it, he wouldn't have to wait all that long. It also appeared as though that even Superboy was getting fed up with hearing that abomination speak "Does he ever shut up?" it asked angrily.

Before anyone could make any other clever comments, the doors leading to the next room began to open. Within mere moments the doors revealed something on the other side that none of them would soon forget. On the other side was what was clearly some kind of laboratory but whatever it was supposed to be examining, none of them had any idea. However that was not what everyone was focusing on. Instead it was a very strange individual who was hanging suspended several meters above the floor by a pair of chained hooks that had been jammed into his shoulders and arms.

Dante immediately recognized that it Psimon, a mutant psyker that was currently under the employ of Queen Bee. However the only reason that he was able to recognize the mutant was because of the fact that the upper portions of his head was all but a clear dome that offered everyone a clear view of his brain.

If it wasn't for that very distinguishing mark the Inquisitor probably would have had difficulty him at all due to the horrific mutilations that he had suffered. He was completely naked from the waist up but there wasn't much to see as most of the torso's flesh had been flayed off of the body and the stomach area had been cut open, causing the entrails to partially spill out. The arms were bent in several odd angles, suggesting that several bones had been broken on the same limb. There wasn't much left of the hands as most of the fingers had been removed via a sharp blade. However the face was where the most damage had been inflicted. The skin had been all but torn from his skull leaving little more than bone and sinew in its place. Dante could even see what appeared to be utter agony in the mutant's only remaining eye, as the other one having been torn out at some point.

Somehow though despite all of this horrendous torture, Psimon was still alive. The mutant's eye looked down at them and opened its mouth, showing that his tongue had also been removed and let out a horrendous moan that conveyed nothing but pain and suffering. The mutant that was hoisted above them was little more than a broken shell. Dante had seen this sort of thing before, several times before, when he fought the forces of the Ruinous Powers alongside the Inquisition. This was exactly the sort of activity that the followers of the Dark Gods would engage in.

The Inquisitor turned to look at the sidekicks and saw that they were all horrified and disgusted by the sight in they were witnessing.

As if on cue the voice of Shifter came in over the speakers "The poor soul you see above you is Psimon. A few weeks ago I convinced him to help me with my masterpiece but a few days ago Queen Bee caught wind of this and demanded that Psimon put me down."

Shifter let out a sinister chuckle "He wasn't nearly as powerful as he thought he was, I took him down before he even knew I was there and as you can see I made sure he suffered for interfering in my masterpiece. Now you have a choice, I know that your friend the Inquisitor carries live ammunition, so you can either put this poor sod out of his misery or you can just let him hang there. He's going to die in the next few minutes therefore it is impossible to get him to a hospital for treatment. So what will you do? Will you adhere to the League's rule of not killing and allow him to die an agonizingly slow death, or will you put him out of his misery?"

The sidekicks looked utterly horrified by this new ultimatum their tormentor had foisted upon them. Robin in particular looked utterly horrified.

When Robin spoke he tried to utter the same line that the League had spouted time after time but he lacked any of the conviction behind it "We-we can't do that, we can't just murder someone in-" the Boy Wonder was unable to finish his sentence as he saw the Inquisitor aim his Makarov directly at Psimon's head.

Then without any qualm, or hesitation of any kind he pulled the trigger. A loud bang filled the room and suddenly there was a relatively small hole in Psimon's clear dome of a head. If one looked closely they could see the bullet partially lodged in the brain as blood began to leak into Psimon's transparent skull.

"Inquisitor what did you-" started Aqualad but Dante wouldn't let the abhuman finish "What?" he asked "Your mentors are always telling me to show more mercy towards the foe." He then gestured towards the now dead Psimon "I just showed him mercy."

Much to the Inquisitor's surprise the other sidekicks seemed more conflicted than anything else. It was strange, this was the closest he had ever seen any of them come to agreeing with his methods. Of course they weren't about to debate the issue at the moment, not when they needed to deal with Shifter.

"My boy," a voice that Dante hadn't heard an almost ten years called out. Immediately the Inquisitor turned to look at the source of the sound and saw someone who had died at his hands almost ten years ago.

Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound and everyone saw the same thing that the Inquisitor did. There was a woman with mid-length brown hair and blue eyes. She wore clothing that would be considered by many to be considered very casual but the way she wore them only enhanced her attractiveness.

She looked at the Inquisitor with a look of utter love and compassion, "Oh, my son it's been so long," she said as she started to make her way to him, her arms stretched out in a way that showed she planned to offer her 'son' a comforting embrace. Dante however didn't seem to feel the same way hands clenched into fists and started to shake for several seconds as an icy cold anger and hatred began to course though his body. He instantly knew that this was just a sick game to their captor and now it was time show Shifter how he dealt with those who used such disgusting methods on him.

The woman seemed to notice the Inquisitor's lack of enthusiasm in regards to being reunited with his 'mother' after so long and began to quicken her pace towards him and did her best to enhance her loving and caring expression. Of course it was an obvious façade, one that Dante had seen through time and time again over the years with the Ordo Malleus.

He had seen daemonettes pretending to be something or someone you cared for and then lost horribly and offer you a chance to have it back. The Inquisitor had gone through this song and dance so many times it was getting ridiculous. Now a xeno thought that it could get away with that very same tactic?! The whole damn display was pathetic and almost laughable

The Inquisitor acting entirely on reflex, unholstered his flamethrower and aimed it squarely at the approaching imposter and tightened his hands on the trigger. In the split second before the flames spewed forth from the weapon and towards its intended target the imitation's face turned from one of compassion and love to frustration, anger and then, finally, horror.

The flames instantly engulfed Shifter who began to writhe on the ground as the steady stream of flames continued to engulf him. In less than a second the xeno began to scream in complete and utter agony "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Shifter shrieked "You didn't even hesitate to incinerate your own mother?!"

The sidekicks didn't expect the Inquisitor to give a response but he did and his tone was completely calm but there was no mistaking the anger, hate and rage that was boiling behind it "My mother, has been dead for almost ten years. That is an undeniable fact. That you dare invoke her image, you must long for a painful, agonizing death."

The Inquisitor set forth another stream of flames at the xeno increasing his agony and his screams "You must have seen some of my memories when I was unconscious that's how you knew how to imitate her. It was a clever attempt I'll give you that but I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am."

It was as though Shifter didn't even hear him and instead continued to scream as he burned. One individual in their little group however knew that Shifter hadn't gotten into the head of the Inquisitor for his attempt at a disguise. Instead it was far more likely that the Martian serial killer had seen the memories that M'gann had seen from her head, not the Inquisitor's.

As the monster continued to scream and burn each of the sidekicks felt something that they never expected to feel. Something that their mentors had always told them that someone should never feel when someone else even an enemy died. They felt relief but they also felt more than just a small touch of happiness and it scared them.

.

To be continued

A/N: I know that a lot of you are probably disappointed that there wasn't a big battle between Shifter and the group but please allow me to explain. Shifter is a serial killer and like all serial killers he tends to try kill his victims when they are off-guard as we have seen from him in several previous chapters, and what better way to make someone hesitate than with the face and body of a loved one.

I am also sure that there are a lot of you who are disappointed or outright pissed that Psimon was killed off so easily but I thought that it would be more disturbing for Shifter to try and play another mind game with the sidekicks using what was left of the guy.

As always please share your thoughts on the chapter in a review.