Chapter 35: Blood Hunting

Authors Note: Thank you all once again for your reviews and support, this chapter is going to be shining some light on some situations, next one will be all out war. So sit back and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Justice League or Batman.

Talia sat at her desk in her hideout in Gotham. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but she was finally at that point in her life when she finally decided not to care. She knew that Bruce and her grandchildren would never forgive her for this, but if Nyssa were to rule the League of Assassins then it would be the end of their way.

The League was all she knew and she was not going to let her beloved and estranged sister rule what was rightfully hers. She would have to kill her before that possibility became a reality.

She still had no word from her men about this lead to a secret warrior her son had hidden. Jayden, she knew him all too well and if he wanted this warrior to remain hidden he would stay hidden, but even he couldn't hide every single detail.

All they had was a DNA analysis from Argus dating back thirteen years ago. She had to hope that Gotham General's medical records would have something. She was interrupted by her thoughts when her second born walked into her office.

"We have a problem," Damian informed her. Talia looked up from her desk and waited for him to explain. "Jake, he's been kidnapped."

(!)

Back at Gotham Academy, Jake was lying unconscious on the ground with multiple cuts across his back and chest. The man who looked like Damian had sheathed his blade before stepping over an unconscious Wolf.

The man had every intention of killing the young warrior, but only with his bare hands. He wanted to savor killing the son of Shadow and he wanted it to be slow and painful. He knelt down next to the boy and removed his gauntlets. His hands slowly reached out for Jake's throat and right before he could wrap his hands around his neck, he was struck back by an energy bolt.

The man was sent flying back and crashed into a wall of lockers. His armor cackled with yellow bolts as he looked up to see the daughter of the legacy himself, Shadow.

"You picked the wrong brother, asshole!" She shouted as her veins glowed dark yellow.

The man watched as she instantly appeared before him from the end of the hallway. Her hands were balled into fist and they were sent flying into his face. He took a few blows to both sides of his head before lifting up his foot and kicking her in the center of her chest.

Shadow was sent flying back before drawing her own sword. The man stood up from the rubble and unsheathed his silver blade. Shadow didn't miss the faint blue glow emitting from the blade. It was not an ordinary sword.

Shadow channeled her energy through her sword as well, letting off a series of sparks amongst her blade. The two warriors swung their blades down, his magic blade and her energy blade both flew down the hall and collided down the middle.

A small explosion leveled a good portion of the hallway, but this gave Shadow enough time to collect her brother and Wolf and get out of the school. She ran out into the parking lot with both of her boys over her shoulders, but she knew she was being followed.

The man stepped out of the building and raised his sword for another attack, but his finishing blow was interrupted by a few batarangs flying through the air. He raised his blade and swatted them away, but he unknowingly opened himself up to a drop kick to the chest by the dark knight himself.

The man fell back, but this time he pulled out a few throwing stars and threw them at Batman. Batman raised his gauntlets and blocked the blades, but the man had sent a kick of his own to the knight's jaw.

Shadow watched Batman fly back into a heap of trash while she pulled her sword out once again. The man only smiled as he pointed his blade at Shadow.

"It is nice to know that you have more strength than that one." He chuckled. "You are still nowhere near being as strong as your father."

"And you are nothing compared to the real Damian, Heretic!" Shadow shouted.

"You're right, I am better." He swiped his blade down once again, but the attack was intercepted by a fire arrow.

Debris flew everywhere as Gauntlet leaped down next to Shadow, bow in hand. He looked over his shoulder towards Shadow.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes, but I got to get these two out of here." Shadow explained.

"Okay, I brought some friends along." He chuckled before slipping on his goggles.

Arctic, Solar and Skye all flew in on the Eric, who had transformed into his eagle form. He had been a productive member of the team since the day he came over from his home dimension. He had even given himself the name, Klaw. He transformed back into his human form and pulled out his tomahawk.

"We'll take care of this asshole," Arctic said. "You need to get these two back to H.Q."

"Not so fast."

Everyone turned to see Nyssa and her body guards standing behind her. She drew her sword and pointed it at Shadow and her team.

"Get the hell out of our way, Nyssa!" Shadow shouted. "If you even think about taking my brother I won't hesitate to put you and the rest of your crew in the dirt!"

"I don't doubt you for a second, Shadow." Nyssa said in a calm but forceful tone. "But if I am to win this war I need a perfect warrior and according to your father, Jake is that warrior."

"He's a thirteen year old boy and he isn't even a member of the team anymore." She shouted.

"He may be that, but if there is a chance I can use him to kill Heretic and stop Talia, then so be it!"

"Heretic, you mean that freak that looks like Damian?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, apparently your Grandfather is not the only one to clone their failure of a son." Nyssa chuckled. "Like Al-Athar, Heretic was a copy meant for greatness only to be an even bigger failure than the original."

"And yet here you are ass against the wall, all because of those failures." Shadow chuckled. She knew how to get into Nyssa's head. "I guess that is why your father never considered you for the head of the demon."

That worked as Nyssa darted out towards Shadow, bringing her sword down on her great niece. Shadow blocked her blade with her own and sent her knee into Nyssa's gut. The older woman let out a gasp before being flipped over onto the ground and restrained by her niece's sword to her throat.

Gauntlet fought Heretic with his bow as the warrior deflected all of his arrows. Gauntlet fired off his last arrow with a fiery enchantment and watched it fly though the air before being struck by Heretic's sword.

The arrow exploded upon impact and Heretic was sent flying back into the school.

Meanwhile, the four outworlder's were fighting off Nyssa's men. Eric broke one of the warriors swords in half with his tomahawk while froze two other men around their legs.

Solar and Skye both helped Jake and Mike off of the ground with the intention of running away, but this time they were jumped by Talia's men.

"Ugh, screw these assholes." Solar grunted before raising his right hand. A fire ball formed in his hand and he thrusted his arm out casting it around Talia's men, trapping them behind a fiery barrier. "Let's go!"

Just as they were about to leave, Solar was now face to face with a goddess.

Her long black hair flowed elegantly in the breeze as did the ends of her long red dress. Her feet were clad in a pair of stilettos with what looked like bladed heels. The most alluring features were her eyes. Her iris was a dark red that almost looked like they were glowing.

Solar was lost for words, he was lost from everything the second they locked eyes. The woman raised her hand towards the young warriors face and casted a magic spell on him. Solar was dizzy for a moment before falling backwards into darkness.

Shadow, watched from afar as Solar fell back on the ground and this mysterious woman levitated Jake up off the ground. Shadow blasted Nyssa with a stun bolt, before charging after the woman. She cut down another one of Nyssa's men, her bloodlust and rage building up by the second.

When she was close enough to the woman, Shadow charged up her Adonis power to her blade, and swung it through the woman. Both she and Jake had disappeared.

Shadow, had no idea what had happened. She didn't know who that lady was or where Jake had gone or what he even was anymore. All she felt was anger.

Her eyes glowed green and all she heard was the echoes of a mad man's laugh.

Shadow had turned to Nyssa's remaining men and raised her blade. She flew out towards the first warrior and she didn't waste a moment in running her blade through her chest. Another warrior tried to sneak up from behind her, but with one swing of her sword, the warrior's blade was cut clean in half.

Shadow's hand had reached out towards the warriors face, she had her grip around the warriors head and with a surge of her own energy the man's brains were splattered all over his upper body.

Shadow watched as three more tried to run away, but she charged more of her energy back into her blade and with a powerful swing the energy fired off from her sword and severed all three men clean in half.

She was rabid at this point. She wanted Heretic, but he was nowhere to be found.

"So sorry, love." Joker whimpered sarcastically. "The other test tube baby left already." He reached out to her left hand and slowly guided her over towards Nyssa. "So, I guess you'll have to settle for second best, ha, see what I did there?"

Shadow let herself be led over to, Nyssa, her bloodlust building up with every second. Joker shrugged when she didn't get his pun.

"You get it, second best, she is a second born and she, you know what forget it. If I have to explain my joke then you don't get it. Let's just kill her already." Joker grumbled before crossing his arms.

Shadow looked down at her great aunt, she knew it was low to kill her while she was unconscious, but she didn't care. It was her fault her brother was gone and it was her whole damn family's fault for getting her family involved in their petty squabble again.

This was the last time.

Shadow grabbed Nyssa by her throat and she was prepared for the killing blow, until she heard the metallic scratch of an arrow head scratching against its quiver and the stretch of a bowstring.

"Drop it." A familiar voice growled from behind her.

"You know that won't stop me." Shadow boasted. "So, put the bow down, Archer."

"I have a combustion arrow pointed at your hair." Purple Archer warned. "I don't think even your precious Adonis could fix that damage."

"She took my brother, asshole. This has been a long time coming." She grunted.

"I know, and I will help you, but I can't let you kill her."

"He's right." Arctic said as he and Eric helped Solar and Skye up off the ground. "If anyone knows where Jake is its Nyssa."

Shadow looked down at the unconscious woman and looked up when Gauntlet ran up to her.

"Heretic didn't know who that woman was either." Gauntlet explained. This was a surprise for Shadow. If that woman was working for Heretic then she must have been working for Nyssa. Letting out a heavy sigh, she sheathed her blade and Archer holstered his arrow.

"She's the only one who can help us then." Shadow said before kicking Nyssa, turning her over on her stomach before cuffing her hands behind her back with a pair of handcuffs. "Let's go."

(!)

Bruce was furious when he and Batman arrived at Shadow Warrior Headquarters. He had arranged for Talia and Damian to meet him there, so they could discuss the abduction of their grandson.

When Bruce arrived in the interrogation room, Alexandra had proceeded to bash in Talia's nose. Damian tried to step in, but he was being restrained by Shadow, thanks to her power.

"Ally, enough!" Bruce shouted.

"It'll be enough, when I get my goddamn son back!" She shouted before pounding her fist into Talia's face. She raised her fist again for another punch, but it was caught by a large, chapped hand.

"It won't matter, she doesn't know." He shouted at her. "That woman was not affiliated with her or Nyssa!"

"He's right that was, Lilith." Alexandra looked over to see Grymm approaching the group. "She used her magic to dull Solar and Skye's mind before disappearing."

"She is also the one who gave Heretic that weapon." Talia said as blood dripped from her nose. She pushed Alexandra away from her, before standing to her feet. "The three of our groups have been fighting for the title of the head of the demon, since the last head of the demon has been dead for the last thirteen years."

"And you involved my family in your screwed up lives, because…?" Shadow asked sarcastically.

"Because we didn't know that, Talia, had a secret warrior, Heretic." Everyone looked over to Nyssa, who was being held up by, Archer. "She made him after, Damian, turned against her."

"I never turned against her," He looked over at his mother with rage in his eyes. "And you had no right to create that thing."

"Enough!" Bruce shouted. "So, after, Heretic, was born, he eventually decided not to follow your orders in order to become head of the demon, am I right?"

"You are right, my love." Talia smiled. "Like, Al-Athar, he became angry at what he was, I guess he wanted to be king rather than a knight. With Nyssa working against me and Heretic's betrayal, I had to look into finding a more, efficient warrior."

"Oh, and that is another issue," Shadow a dirty look at her mother. "Why the hell didn't you ever tell me about, Jake?"

"Because, she didn't want you to know she was dying."

Everyone looked over at the doors to see the Gemini Twins and Ruvic walk through into the room. Shadow gave them a look as well.

"So nice of you guys to finally join us, I am so sorry to be an inconvenience to you." She snapped, the twins never expressed any real facial expressions, but on the inside they hurt.

"We are sorry, Shadow." They said in unison. Shadow let out a defeated sigh before waving her hands apologetically.

"No, I'm sorry."

"We have news though." Ruvic chipped in. "Amanda Waller, she worked with your father to turn, Jake, into a weapon."

"My dad and Waller?" She asked. "My dad hated her though; he even spent a better part of his career destroying her facilities and projects. Why would he ever work for her?"

"Because, we were desperate." Ally sighed. She took a seat on a nearby stool and pulled out a cigarette. She was ready to light it, but Shadow caught her before she could. Ally shook her head and pulled her cigarette from her lips.

"Adonis, it is a great gift to some," She looked up at her daughter with the saddest eyes she has ever seen. "But Jake, he was unlucky. The Adonis cells from your father, they reacted differently. I still don't know what it was. Autoimmune, he had weakened muscles, blood cells and the doctors said it would be a miracle if he lasted a month."

"Waller, she had a way to save him?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, she upgraded the Adonis into something else, something else."

"Alpha," The Twins said. "It was meant to be for the perfect warrior."

"Waller said it was the only agent to bond with Trigon's magic." Ruvic informed her. "She said it could only be activated by his magic though."

"Is that all?" Nyssa asked from her cell. "Good to know."

"Nyssa, stay out of this!" Talia snapped. "You and I both know that this would never be an option."

"Bullshit, I knew that you would go after him the minute I backed off, you have been determined to convince your grandson to join, so I took that opportunity to try and sway him my way, but thanks to your fuck up of a clone that ship as sailed."

"Mom, enough!" Archer snapped. Nyssa could only smirk.

"Speaking of fuck up children, Shadow, could you explain to me what that was back at the school?" She asked with a mischievous smirk. Shadow's fist clenched the edges of her leather jacket.

"I didn't know that woman was not working for you." She said through her gritted teeth. She could feel her better half laughing at the chance to come clean to everyone that his nutty ass was corrupting her mind. "I was just angry."

"I've seen your father when he was angry, that was not anger that was madness." Nyssa said. "But that is for another time, for now we should find Jake, but where is he?"

"I don't know, but if he needs Trigon's power to become whole, he is still as ordinary as ever." Ruvic said.

"That is good to know."

A voice whispered through the air.

Everyone looked around to find the trail of the voice. The center of the room emitted a large orange glow as four figures appeared through the portal. One of them was Ronin, who was passed out on the floor in front of them. Two of the figures were dressed in fancy suits and very different by physical appearance.

The first one was a young boy around the age of fourteen, dressed in a tuxedo and dress shoes. His hair was cut short and oily black and his nose was bent and crooked like a beak while his teeth stuck out of the corners of his mouth like fangs and instead of five digits on his hands he had three flippers like digits.

The woman on the other hand looked to be nineteen and was an angel compared to the boy. Her hair was short, but it was not shaved to her head like her friends and she wore a white portfolio shirt under a black tailcoat with tight black dress pants and stiletto shoes.

She winked at the group before unfolding her umbrella over her right shoulder.

The last one looked like death. His hooded cloak was dirty and tattered while smelling like a rotting corpse. His face looked like a mask, but at the same time it was also a decaying face. His most noticeable features were the multiple vials of orange liquid strapped to his chest which led to a large metal claw that was tied around his right hand.

Alexandra knew who he was.

"Crane!" She snarled. "You're supposed to be dead!"

"Unfortunately no, one more thing my son failed to do." He boasted. Everyone raised their weapons at the man, but Scarecrow raised his hands. "I am not here to fight. I am here to deliver your friend and some news. Your son is in the catacombs of wonder city, in old Gotham."

"Why is he there, who the hell is behind all of this!?" Shadow snapped. Scarecrow could only chuckle before raising his claw. "Ra's Al Ghul."

In an instant, his fear toxin dispersed into the entire room. Everyone coughed and gagged at the gas before shrieking and screaming at the nightmares to come.

Shadow could only listen to Joker's taunting.

"Honey, you are in way over your head at this point." He chuckled. "You should just let me take over, with my bloodlust and your abilities no warrior, perfect or otherwise, will be able to stop you."

Shadow looked into the Joker's green eyes before falling to the ground unconscious with a large grin across her face.