Chapter 37: Love Is The Greatest Mystery

Authors Note: Okay, since I got this chapter out I only have three words. F#%K YOU MAYANS! Okay now that that is done and over with I can go back to worrying about getting my license, saving my money, going to school next year and hopping to become and animator. I wish all of you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Or Happy Holidays to everyone else. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.

Christmas came and went along with New Years as well. Everything was going good after the whole Hush incident. Basket Ball was starting up and Thanks to Sarah, Zack could play on the team with Sam, Blaze and Jason. Thomas and Christina were starting to come out of their shell as if their birth from test tubes never happened. Marcas and Max had become started to become good friends ever since he started to come out of his own shell and is starting to warm up to the rest of the team. Life was going good for the Warriors.

Ally had just picked up Sarah, Jenny and Theresa from school that day. The boys stayed behind for practice and crime has been steady since rumors started to spread that Batman and Shadow supposedly teamed up. So the girls were just happy to have this quiet time together away from the guys.

"So, how are things going for everyone?" Ally asked. "You've all been busy during the day, Jenny how are you and Jason?"

"We are great." She said sitting next to her in the passenger seat. "We went to the movies last night and just hung out at my place afterwards."

"Awesome…you didn't do anything when you were at home did you?" Ally asked with a small hint of aggression.

"Nothing happened." Jenny huffed.

"Jenny…" Ally persisted.

"It's alright I was home last night and I can vouch for her." Theresa said. "I have super hearing so they didn't do anything. Plus Jenny snores like an elephant and if she ever did have sex I figured she would be twice as loud."

"THERESA!" Jenny squealed. "Well at least when I do have sex with my boyfriend I won't rip him to pieces with my super strength."

"Why you!" Theresa snarled.

"Now, now you should only give yourself up if you truly feel ready for it." Sarah chipped in. She suddenly had the look of inspiration and pulled out a note pad and pen. She started scribbling things down when Theresa got a look at what she was writing.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she started to freak out. "Are you getting dirt on us?"

"Wha-No…but all this talk about saving yourself, for that special someone is kind of good for a song." She said as she put her note pad away in her bag.

"Are you hoping to turn it into a song and sell it to someone for millions?" Jenny asked.

"No, I plan to turn it into a song and I'm hoping to sing it for millions." Sarah said matter-o-factly.

"You want to be a singer?" Ally asked.

"Yeah, it's been my dream since I was a little girl." She said. Normally she would never really tell anyone how she felt, but with Ally she had a very good feeling about her. "I don't want to sing about bitches and hos, or how to nail a guy I want to sing about inspirational things hopeful things."

"That's nice, if you ever need help with anything just let me know." Ally said. "I can have you sign up for singing lessons and if you do well I can get you started for some studios."

Sarah smiled warmly at Ally when she said those things. She really loved her new life. She also knew that if Question saw her now he'd know she had done alright.

"Thanks Ally, oh by the way could we stop at Java Land." Sarah asked. "Zack forgot his jacket there and I promised I would get it for him and give it to him at school tomorrow."

"Sure, I could use a cup of coffee anyways." Ally said as she pulled into the parking lot. The girls got out of the car and they all walked into the homey coffee shop. Sarah went to the break room and Ally went to the counter and ordered few ice coffees and a cappuccino for herself. After Ally paid for the drinks she and the girls went to go find somewhere to sit when they spotted a familiar someone.

"Hilary?" Ally asked.

The black haired girl was broken from her thoughts as she looked over at the group of girls. Her face broke out a small smile and she waved over at them. The group walked over to her and sat down at the booth she was in and started talking.

"What are you doing here?" Ally asked.

"Thinking." She stated bluntly. The girls waited patiently only for her to remain silent.

"About…?" Jenny pressed on.

"Flynn…" She muttered. The girls gave each other a sly grin when they heard their friend mention her boyfriend's name.

"Hot date tonight?" Sarah asked.

"No." She said just as cold.

"Oh…" Sarah said getting the idea from her tone. Everyone then jumped when they heard something slam on the table. Everyone looked over and saw Ally with her fist on the table.

"What the hell?" She snapped. "I thought you and him were going out?"

"He said he had something important to do." Hilary shrugged. "He's been working on something big for a while."

"God damn him." Ally snarled. "I'm gonna have Jayden beat some sense into him."

"I don't care Ally." Hilary said.

"What do you mean?" Ally asked.

"I've been thinking lately." She started as they girls leaned in. "You see when I first met Flynn I was trying to kill Killer Croc. He stopped me because he saw him as his father. After some convincing I told him I would spare him. We then started talking and I told him all about how my mother was murdered and I was founded by a black ops group. I told them how they trained me and how I eventually escaped them. He then told me about how he was raised in a gang and how he met Shadow and afterwards I just kind of you know…had a crush on him."

Ally raised an eyebrow and then grinned mischievously.

"You didn't like the fact you fell in love with him." She said coyly.

"Eh, what do you want from me?" She shrugged. "I know I may not act it, but I am a girl."

"I know you're a tough girl who fell in love with tough guy but now the magic is wearing off." Ally said.

"Yeah, I mean we hardly do anything." She explained. "I'm to the point of saying is he worth it anymore."

"If you truly feel that way you should just do it now and fast. It'll save you the heart ache." Jenny said.

"Yeah, whatever I'm gonna go." Hilary asked.

"We'll walk out with you." Ally said as they all got up from their seats.

"Thanks." Hilary muttered as the group of girls left the café. "Sorry to bother you guys with my petty problems."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Sarah said. "It's like you said we're all girls. It's natural for us to bitch about men. For starters even though I like Zack I still have to go to all of his games and we might have to postpone a few dates for him to study and practice so I might not get an actual date for at least two months."

"Same goes for Jenny and me." Theresa said. "What with practice and our duty as Shadow Warriors we probably won't get some down time for a while."

"What about you Ally?" Jenny asked. "Any problems with your love life with Jayden?"

"No, our love life is good, but it's the date life that's gonna suck for the rest of the month." She grunted. "It's after New Years and that means charity balls and other fund raisers for our troops which means Jayden is gonna be going head to head with Bruce in donations and stuff so I won't be getting dinner or dancing from him for a while."

"Sucks." Hilary blurted out.

"Yeah well at least I have friends like you guys to complain too." Ally smiled as her group got in the car.

Hilary chuckled softly at her and her friend's silly behavior. That's when she realized she just referred to them as friends. She never trusted anyone to be her friends not that she ever gave anyone the chance. But this felt different, like maybe she could go for change at the moment.

"Hmm, friends…ah what the hell." She said as she got into her car and followed her friends all the way home.

(!)

Later that night down in the dark abandoned parts of the sewage systems, Killer Croc had found a homeless person and had begun snacking on him. Croc had long ago abandoned his humanity and was nothing more than a monster that ate people upon first sight. He snarled and chewed through the flesh and bones of the body before hearing something behind him. His face broke out in a scowl as he threw down the corpse and flexed his claws out. The dark figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal itself to be Reaper.

"What are you doing Waylon?" Reaper asked in a dull tone. "You used to be our leader and now…ugh, I can't even look at you the same anymore." Croc's glare softened as he lowered his claws.

"Flynn," He growled. "Why are you here?"

Reaper said nothing and walked over to an old crate. He pulled a file out of his black robes and threw it on top of the crate. He spread out the photos held in the file which were pictures young men around the same age as Reaper and some even younger. Croc looked down at the pictures and raised an eyebrow at the familiar faces.

"Do you remember any of them?" Reaper asked.

"Randy, David, Sora and Tyler." Croc said in his usual gruff voice. "They were a part of our old gang."

"Yes, they were murdered recently." Reaper said in a low voice.

"You think it was me?" Croc asked.

"No, I already know who it is." Reaper said. He walked over to the file and pulled out another picture. "Logan Crow or Phantom as we used to call him, he's been gunning down our crew."

"Why?"

"He's trying to get my attention." Reaper said. "He wants me to know that he's gunning for you next. There are a few of us left and I need to know where they are."

"Why can't you find them?" Croc asked.

"I tried, Seth, Richie and Gary they are the only ones who are left. Aside from me and Logan." Reaper said. "They must have changed their names because I went over their files and they haven't been heard from in years."

"Maybe they are already dead." Croc suggested.

"No, there were no records of their death, besides we were forgotten by society there wouldn't be any records of us." Reaper said. Croc started to get annoyed at the way Reaper was talking to him as if he were a normal person or even if he should care about the deaths of his former gang.

"Kid, why are you really here?" Croc snarled. "You seem to forget I am a monster. Why would I care about some has been kids?" Reaper whipped his head around and gave him a death glare under his mask.

"You were our leader shouldn't you know that your former crew members are dying?" Reaper asked.

"I gave that up long ago." Croc growled. "I am a monster Flynn and that is that. Now get out of here before I eat you like I did this bum!"

"I don't believe you." Reaper snapped, slowly walking up to Croc. "If you truly wanted me dead then you would have done it already!"

"That's because I already filled up on the bum." Croc chuckled. "You know I could use some fresh meat and you smell delicious."

Croc then charged at Reaper who had drawn his scythe, but before Croc could come near him something collided with his head knocking him down into the dirty water. Reaper saw the projectile land next to him and recognized it as a batarang. Reaper's face broke out into a scowl and looked over to see Batman cloaked in his cape. He felt his eyes glare at him through his cowl as he stomped over to him.

"What are you doing here Reaper?" Batman asked.

"I'm talking to my friend." Reaper said, positioning his scythe so it was held up straight. "Why are you here?"

"I saw Killer Croc drag a homeless man off the street and into the sewers." Batman said while looking down at the mutilated corpse. "I see I was too late to stop him."

"Yeah…same here." Reaper mumbled as he looked over at his once proud leader. He let out a heavy sigh of disappointment before readying his scythe. "But I can't let you hurt him Batman. He is my friend not an animal."

Reaper then leaped towards Batman and brought his scythe down towards his neck. Batman easily brought his hand up and grabbed the shaft before lifting his leg up and sending a kick into his jaw. Reaper lost the grip of his scythe and was sent falling back and into the dirty water. Reaper quickly got to his feet and shook off the dirty water that now stained his cloak. He looked over at Batman and growled as he readied his fist.

Reaper rushed towards Batman and brought his fist towards Batman's face. Batman dodged that hit but missed the leg sweep as he fell to the ground. Reaper quickly pounced on Batman and brought his fist down on his face multiple times. Batman let out grunt after grunt with each strike. In less than a second Batman grabbed Reaper's fist and proceeded to put pressure on it.

"Damn it!" Reaper grunted.

"Shadow trained you to fight, right?" Batman snarled.

"Yeah." Reaper grunted.

"I trained Shadow." Batman smirked as he twisted Reaper's wrist and sent his knee in his stomach. Reaper fell back on the ground groaning in pain clenching his stomach hoping to ease the pain. Batman got to his feet ready to finish off Reaper when he suddenly felt the ground and walls shake. He looked behind him to see that Croc was gone leaving a gaping hole in the wall.

"Damn it Reaper!" Batman snapped turning back towards Reaper.

Reaper had his scythe remodeled into his energy gun and fired a round into his chest. Thanks to Batman's armor he was protected but he was still thrown back by the impact. Reaper didn't want risk it and decided to retreat. He quickly ran towards a sewage pipe and jumped in. He twirled and splashed around in the mercy darkness of the pipe and started to run out of air. Eventually he went flying through a drainage pipe and into a filthy pool of water. Reaper let out a few gasps of air before taking his mask off along with his hood. He sloshed around in the dirty water for a minute before crawling in front of another person dressed in black. He looked up at the masked figure revealing it to be Shadow.

"Didn't you have a date tonight?" Shadow asked rhetorically while Reaper let out a frustrated groan.

(!)

"Seriously dude you smell like shit." Jayden sneered as the two rode up on the elevator.

"What do you want from me?" Flynn groaned. "I have to find Phantom. He's gunning down my friends."

"Your friends are a bunch of criminals." Jayden deadpanned. "But I see your point. As you said Phantom does whatever he can to get under your skin. He's probably doing this to get your attention."

"Yeah, that's his style." Flynn said. "I need to find him before Croc gets hurt." Jayden chuckled at his goal causing Flynn to give him a disgruntled look.

"You know you really need to get your priorities straight." Jayden chuckled. "You have a strong and beautiful girl who's head over heels about you and you'd give her up for a fucking cannibalistic crocodile man."

"That man was like my father." Flynn defended.

"He was a man once, but he's not anymore and he knows that." Jayden said as the elevator arrived at their floor. "You got to let go of the past and live for the now."

"Like you and Batman." Flynn shot back. Jayden turned and gave him a stern look.

"There's a difference between Batman and Croc." Jayden sneered backing Flynn into the wall of the elevator. "When I left Batman he was still Batman. And when I met Ally I moved on. What about you Flynn?"

Flynn didn't say anything and pushed past Jayden.

"And next time keep your promise to your girl." Jayden snapped. "You promised her a date and you went back on her. You better man up and apologize and you better damn well mean it."

"Alright I'll apologize to her tomorrow can I shower first?" Flynn snapped.

"Go ahead." Jayden said as the elevator doors closed.

Flynn then took the elevator down to the lower levels of the building to his lab. He used his secret codes to gain access and walked in. He wanted to spend a few good hours working on his secret project. He walked over to a stasis pod marked AD-1 and pressed a few buttons unlocking his project. His face broke out in a mischievous grin but then remembered why he was here.

"Soon dad, soon." Flynn said softly to himself.

(!)

Meanwhile in a secret location the Riddler walked into a lab with an unknown man. He was a man in his mid-forties dressed in a long black coat with no shirt underneath with a pair of black cargo pants and boots walked alongside him the whole way. The man's most unusual feature was his long black raggedy hair and his long black beard.

"Richard Teach, always a pleasure." Riddler greeted as the two shook hands. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Edward, you worry too much. I have it all under control." Richard reassured. "He is only a man after all. And I don't want the man I want the Bat." The two then walked through a set of doors and Riddler's eyes widened at what he saw. Richards's men holding Dr. Kirk Langstorm at gun point. "See, just a man." Richard then pulled out a specialized collar and clasped it around Langstorm's neck. Some mechanized gears twisted shut, tightening around the doctors neck. He let out a painful grunt and slowly stirred awake.

"Dr. Langstorm." Richard greeted Langstorm tried to talk but Richard grabbed him by the back of his head and yanked back on it painfully. "Don't talk but listen. My name is Richard Teach, but I go by the name Blackbeard. That collar around your neck is a remote control device that will inject you with the bat serum. At my will you will turn into your better half and do my bidding and in exchange I won't detonate the explosives on the collar." He paused for a minute watching Langstorm take in everything he says. "Do we understand each other?"

Langstorm said nothing as he stared at the man before him. He wanted to protest or fight back, but every time he swallowed he felt the tightness of the collar squeeze him with every swallow. Giving in he nodded causing the mad man in front of him to chuckle darkly. Blackbeard let the doctor go and turned back to Riddler.

"Edward, have you heard anything about Phantom?" Blackbeard asked bitterly, Edward shook his head and walked over to his friend.

"Sorry, the only thing we keep finding are the bodies of those freaks he leaves behind." Riddler said.

"Damn it, well keep an eye out." Blackbeard warned. "I don't want him getting the jump on us. He's too dangerous to leave out in the open."

"You insult me." Riddler said sarcastically. "Have you forgotten that you are in the presence of a genius? Once we have dealt with this Phantom we will take out Batman and Shadow. You have nothing to worry about." Blackbeard grinned wickedly, placing a hand on Riddlers shoulder.

"Good things are coming our way Mr. Nigma." Blackbeard said. "And everything will be ours for the taking." He then pulled out a remote and pressed a button on it. A few lights blinked on the collar around Langstorm's neck and a few needles stuck into his neck. Langstorm let out a scream as his body slowly started to transform into a bat like creature. Blackbeard looked at the transformation with greed in his eyes at the things that were to come. "Everything will be mine."