A/N: First off, I realized pretty late that I posted chapter 36 instead of chapter 37...super sorry about that! Here's the right chapter, I did say if I got a review that I'd post a chapter on Thursday. It's late in the day, but here it is!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Enjoy!
Chapter: 37
Tori flew across the rooftops of Gotham. Her thermo-aerodynamic cape billowing out behind her gracefully. The hood was raised though she did not wear the Talon head covering, she felt that the piece was too close to her mindless killer self. This time around, she had a clear head and she knew that this target was a horrible mad man who needed to be stopped. He'd done horrible things to herself and others, he deserved to die…besides, it was what she was trained to do.
The night sky grew stormy as she finally landed on one of the many abandoned buildings in Gotham's East End. It was fairly large with boarded up windows on every floor. Tori kicked through one window and landed in a crouch. Glancing around she found herself in a hallway, it was pitch black but she could see clearly as if it was day. Standing up straight she closed her eyes and listened. Faintly she could hear the sound of talking and machines beeping. Taking a deep breath she started forward, walking silently on the fragile wooden floor and down the steps, lower and lower until she reached the basement.
The rest of the building looked abandoned, empty, but the basement's door was locked. Pulling out a lock pick she started working on the door. In under a minute, she was in. Turning the knob slowly it slid open without a creak. Ducking inside she darted behind a pile of crates stacked by the wall. The basement was the size of the whole floor plan of the building, with a tunnel like doorway that led into the abandoned building next to the one Tori was in. There were computers, CyberDesks and devices all over the place. The eerie tubes that Tori was held captive in were placed in the center of the room and inside were three kids. All tired, and haggard with bags under their eyes. Judging by their faces and almost blank stares, they'd just had their memories wiped again. At one of the CyberDesks, with his back to the crates, was Mac. He was on the phone, talking to someone. Tori glared in his direction and slowly pulled her short sword out of its leather sheath. She then started to silently move across the room to where Mac was fiddling with a remote-like device,
"—yes, they'll be ready for more specialized training by tomorrow," Mac was saying as he tapped away at his device, "They'll be obedient. I promise. I have a Triton App. It controls all the chips. They'll fight for you and I and they'll change the world," Mac was smiling, the sicko was smiling. Tori made her way to where he stood quicker, sword raised, but Mac caught her reflection on one of the screens in front of him and whirled out of the way just as Tori swiped down with her sword,
"No! I thought I had more time!" he moaned, seeing her glaring at him her sword raised,
"Too bad Mac, you let those kids go right now! Or I will kill you," Tori growled, pointing the tip of the blade an inch from his chest,
"It won't matter if I let them go or not, I can still take control of them," Mac said, eyeing the tip of the short sword, which made him go cross-eyed,
"Do it, or I'll run you through," Mac laughed,
"It's too late for them,"
"How many are there?"
"Too many, and I'll control them all,"
"Not if I can help it, set them free. NOW!" Tori yelled,
"Once a Talon, always a Talon. There's no fighting it and you are perfect proof of that," Mac snipped, Tori growled before swiping at Mac again. He barely dodged and with a curse ran out of the lab. Tori glanced briefly at all of the buttons before pressing the one that clearly released the prisoners in the tubes,
"Where am I?" One kid asked, and Tori's heart went out for him,
"You're in a bad, bad place and there are others who are here. They need to get out okay. They need your help. I'm trusting you to find everyone and get them out do you understand?" Tori said, looking at each kid in turn before looking pointedly at the older of the three, "Keep each other safe and if Mac tries to find you get out okay?"
"Are you like Batman?" the youngest asked, Tori winced slightly before shaking her head stiffly,
"I'm no Batman," she said before turning and sprinting after Mac. He wouldn't get far, the only way out is the roof.
Tori caught up to Mac just as he was about to leap to the next building over. Tori instinctively threw a dagger at him, it struck his leg and he fell to the ground a foot away from the edge. Tori slowly walked over to him as he tried to pull the dagger out. When she reached him, Mac pulled out a gun with a fearful expression on his face. He pulled the trigger repeatedly and three bullets struck Tori in the shoulder, chest and stomach. She didn't even flinch. Not even as the bullets pushed their way out of her body and the wounds closed over,
"They really did turn you didn't they. You're a monster!" Mac gasped. Tori glared at him, her eyes watering despite herself as she lifted him up by the neck,
"I'm not the monster Mac, you are. You abducted teens and children for experimentation, you erased their memories and used them like pawns for your army. Or is it not really your army. You're working with someone…someone else funded your 'project' when the Court refused to give anymore money since you betrayed them and never paid them back,"
"So clever. I wish you were still a member in my army," Mac stated, a smile on his face. Tori punched him in the face and his nose started bleeding, completely broken,
"Rescue all you can. As long as they need that chip to live, I will be able to find them, I will be able to control them," Mac said, holding up the now complete device he was working on, "The Triton App is programmed in their chips and this is now complete…they will fight for me…they will dismember you for harming me. My first success destroyed by her very own kind," Mac laughed and moved to push the button, but Tori grabbed his finger and snapped it like a twig. Mac gave a cry of pain,
"You can't run from this. It will happen no matter where you put me," Mac said, moving to push the button again. Tori grabbed his wrist and broke it. She then grabbed the hand that held the device and broke that as well. She then snatched the device from him and let him drop to the rooftop in a heap,
"As you said Mac, once a Talon always a Talon. I'm not going to put you anywhere," she said simply, crushing the device in her gloved hand,
"I'm going to kill you,"
Mac looked up at her in horror as she pulled out her short sword. Tori kicked at Mac's non-stabbed leg, breaking it and she only stared as he moaned in pain on the floor,
"You abused me and everyone in those labs downstairs. You're abusing the people in general with you secret affiliation with BioTech in London…and yes, that was me who killed Cassidy King and all the scientists and engineers that worked there. Everything you've done up to this point has only brought fear and anger to those abducted by you and those who try to abide the law and bring you to justice. Betraying the Court was probably the most damning thing you have ever done, kidnapping these innocent kids is probably the most condemnatory and using me as a method to improve your work was probably the most heinous thing ever. Nothing you say will save you," Tori raised her sword and Mac could only watch in complete terror, he could not move due to his broken arms, fingers, leg and stabbed leg. Tori moved to bring the blade home only to feel her elbow break as something smacked into it. the short sword sailed through the air and clattered to a stop by the edge of the roof. Whirling around, elbow popping back into place, she saw Batman standing on the other side.
For a second they just stared at each other. Neither moving or speaking, it wasn't until Mac started laughing and Tori pulled out her dagger in anger to carve his rotten heart out that they both moved. Bruce tossed another batarang knocking the dagger out of her hand causing Tori to curse and whirl around to face Bruce,
"Stop it!" she yelled, "Stop it! I have to do this! I need to do this! This man is insane! This man kidnapped me for a whole year! He experimented on me and abused me! He did this to others! HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO LIVE!" Mac started to laugh again from his crumpled position on the floor,
"He won't let you kill me. No matter how much he cares for you," he said, "It's not in his nature…though it is in yours isn't it? Kill or be killed?" he laughed again, "You would have done well in my army!" Tori saw red as she lunged at the asshole. She punched and smacked, scratched and eventually wrapped her hands around his neck, squeezing mercilessly. Tori didn't even realize the tears had started to flow until the salty droplets ran down into her mouth. Mac was scrabbling at her hands, still locked tightly around his throat. He was turning purple when hands roped themselves around her waist and pulled her off of the man. Tori yelled kicked and thrashed, desperate to launch herself on him and kill him for all that he's done. She could hear Bruce talking to her, trying to calm her down with his lies. Tori was done listening, she wanted Mac dead…but one thing jarred her, when what Bruce said finally registered through her blood-red anger,
"Look at him. Look at what you've become. Look at what you did to him!" Tori stopped fighting Bruce and looked at the prone figure of Mac. The swollen, puffy face, purple hand-print bruises ringed his neck, his bloody leg and broken appendages. Batman finally let her go and she fell to her knees, looking at the mess of a man she created…,
"I—I…I—," Tori didn't know what to say, "You lied!" she finally burst out,
"I withheld information. I wanted to see what you would do when the self-destroying information you desired was right in front of you,"
"So this was just some test? Withholding information is the same thing." Tori snapped, "I know I'm a Talon…but I am still Tori. You could have told me, you could have actually trusted me!"
"If I had told you that I knew where Mac was the whole time, we would still be exactly where we are now. You were not ready to face him,"
"What, would I just face him in court? Will I see him sentenced to jail only to break out again. He would just do exactly this over and over again because he thinks he is right. He doesn't see or understand the pain and suffering he is laying on people. All he sees is his dream and what he thinks is the right way to achieve it. Men like that never change. Men like that shouldn't live," Tori said, tears as well as rain splashed on her face. Mac wasn't conscious anymore, and that was okay for Tori,
"You are better than this Tori. You—,"
"—You don't know that!" Tori screamed, leaning on her knees and throwing her arms out to the sides, "I have suffered a thousand hells. I've gotten my mother killed! An innocent woman and my step-father both killed! My siblings couldn't even see me because of that man. I couldn't see them! I had to stay here and learn to control powers that I would only ever use for evil because you never wanted me out in this city!
"I have learned the darkest of ways and killed without any emotion because that is all I knew! That is what ended my suffering and I will always be that killer! There is nothing left in me that can be changed. I'm a lost cause Bruce…I'm lost and can never be found. I feel it right here," she said, jabbing a finger at her heart, "I'm just a rotten husk…I'm spoiled because of the blood on my hands that I cannot get rid of and hide! I'll forever be a murderer," Tori put her head in her hands and sobbed. She never wanted this. Never wanted any of this. Tori was a monster…she'd told Bruce she never wanted to kill another person and went right out to do just that. She's a monster and there was nothing anyone can do to change that. Bruce stood in front of her before kneeling down beside her and placing a hand on her quaking shoulder,
"I know this may not be the time for philosophical quotes, but this is a truth I have seen over and over again with myself and the boys. 'Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.' You have been sculpted by others and by yourself. Yes, you have suffered a thousand hells. You have carried iron weights on your shoulders since the day they first found you in New York. You have carried burdens and separated yourself from those you held most dear. You have carried a crucible on your back even as you faced your own death…and yes, you have lost your way and yes you have changed—but not all changes are bad, you can turn that change into something powerful. A stand against others who share your title of 'Talon'. Yes you have killed and that is all you know, but you can change again.
"It will be hard, it will be so hard to turn from that killer instinct. But I know you can do it because you have turned from so many designed fates for you before. Don't you dare give up on yourself because I haven't given up on you yet." Tori blinked up at Bruce, trying to clear her bleary eyes—the mask was long gone—before thinking back to what Danbury told her on her first day of training. Take some of this knowledge you learn here back with you and put it to use. Maybe Danbury and Batman were right…maybe she can remake herself again and use her skills to save, not kill. She couldn't give up…not when she had been just on the verge of finding herself again. Tori looked over at Mac,
"Do we call the cops?" she asked finally, her voice sounded thick from crying,
"Atta girl," Bruce said, helping her to her feet. Suddenly Tori remembered something,
"Wait! The kids!" Tori cried, racing down the stairs to the labs. As she sprinted through the door her heart plummeted…they were all gone. Even as she sprinted through the labs, searching for them she knew they had vanished without a trace,
"Did you come down here at all?" Tori asked Bruce,
"I checked in here briefly…I checked some of the machines and devices. I didn't see anyone," Batman said,
"They were freeing the others. I told them to run if anyone came in search of them…I bet they took my advice and left—Oh I'm so stupid—they have no memories! And powers…and now they're out in this city…ugh or world…with no where to go with powers they have no control over," Tori moaned,
"Mac can help us find them," Bruce said,
"I don't think he will help anyone," Tori said, moving to a wall pinned full of papers, "But I will. I will find every child on this list and bring them to STAR Labs so they can figure out how to remove the chip or at least the powers and then eventually bring them home to their families. That will be my mission…my crusade and my penance for what I have done," Tori said, "I won't be that killer again—I hope—I'll make up for what I did by saving these people,"
"I won't stop you, but I will help you…we all will," Bruce said, "Now let's get the cops and let them deal with Mac. Tori Crowne can testify in court against him and he will be sentenced to life for what he did to you and the others. But more importantly at the present moment. We need to get to work remaking you into a hero." Bruce said,
"Hero vigilante," Tori corrected, a smile forming before she hugged a startled Bruce.
A/N: Next chapter on Friday. SOOO Close to the end guys. Only like three more chapters and then we're onto the next part of Tori's story - hehe, that rhymed. REVIEW! Give me your inner most thoughts on my skillful writing so that I can reply...cuz I would reply if you did that. REVIEW!