Chapter 50: Mistakes Were Made.
Authors Note: Okay people, I am back of course with a new chapter. I like how you all enjoyed Leo's character Surge and no he is a Shadow Warrior not Selinas partner at least on a daily basis. Okay more to come. Also Red Crosshairs story is getting better and better give it a read it will explain a lot when I get to him next month. Also, Yay 50 chapters and it's all thanks to you.
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.
Mark and Selina have been holding each other tightly for what seemed like centuries. Neither one wanted to let go out of fear of this being a dream. Taking a deep breath, Mark pulled away and looked into his older sisters teary eyes.
"Selina, you look great." He complemented. She let out a giggle and ran her hand down his chest.
"You look handsome." She said softly.
"Weird outfit though." He said looking at her leather cat suit.
"Yeah, this is just a costume." She blushed. "It's what I do now."
"Selina, what happened after I left?" He asked.
"Well let's see after you left that bitch nun spanked me for acting up." She started. "After that I left the orphanage after stealing her money and some pudding for the road. I wandered around for years until I was an adult working for Falcone and then things got interesting…"
She then explained about Holly and how she lived with her then how she quit whoring for Falcone and took up the identity as Catwoman a master thief. She then told him how she found Ally and adopted her. She trained her to fight and even took her along for a few heists. That was when she met Shadow and fell in love with him and wanted to join him. After that she just told him about how she and Batman had a few rounds and other misadventures.
"Wow Selina, that's one hell of a life." He said almost feeling jealous. "I've been held on the training floor for half my life. Then I got into the army and fight a few times here and there nothing major. Eventually I got involved with a secret project and got this."
Mark then holds up his hand as the veins flicker blue letting off a few electric cackles. Selina gasped while her eyes widened.
"Adonis?" She asked.
"What, no this is called Surge." He explained. "It allows me to conduct and control electricity." He then turned it off, his hand going back to normal. "What's Adonis."
"Shadow, the man Ally fell in love with. He has a power called Adonis which allows him to shoot electricity as well as fire and ice he can also be strong enough to fight Superman."
"How the hell is that possible?" He asked.
"I don't know everyone always says he just as prepared as Batman." She said while playing with her nails. "Poor thing always loses to him though."
"Sucks for him." Mark said before it hit him. "Wait you mean Alexandra Kinsley right?"
"Yeah."
"But she's in love with Jayden Warney so…Jayden is Shaodw?" He deduced.
"Yup." She said.
"Holy crap she made out like a bandit." He exclaimed, but then became puzzled. "Wait, why didn't you ever blackmail him for billions?"
"Oh, that thought crossed my mind many times. But if I did then Ally might never forgive me and I don't want to lose her." She muttered.
"You love her don't you?" He asked.
"As much as I love Holly and as much as I love you." She said staring into his eyes.
"I'm so glad you're here." He said hugging her again.
"Me too," She said hugging back. "By the way, why are you here?" Mark backed away an leaned on the railing near the tiger pit.
"Eh, after my discharge I decided I might as well give the hero thing a try." He explained casually. "So, with no real goal I just came back to Gotham. It's not hard to find criminals here. But I heard how rare animals have been disappearing from the Zoo's lately and I decided to come and check this place since it hasn't been hit yet. What about you?"
"Same reason." She said, strutting up to the rail and leaning over it, she looked down at the tiger and let out a hum. "He is a beautiful animal. The thought of some bastard capturing it for their own personal gain is just disgusting. Even for me that's low."
"You always did love cats." He chuckled while nudging her with his elbow.
"So did you." She giggled returning the gesture.
"Aw, ain't this sweet?" A Brooklyn style voice says. "I love a happy reunion."
Catwoman and Mark looked over to see a slender timid man in a suit holding a wooden dummy wearing a 50's style mafia suit. It's facial expression was angry with a jagged scar down his right cheek.
"Who the hell is this whack job?" Mark asked.
"That's Ventriloquist and his wooden friend there is his boss Al Capone." Catwoman shrugged.
"Capone, as in Scarface?" He asked.
"Yeah, and I'll excuse that whack job comment since I'm in such a good mood." He said. "Now, if you'll excuse me I'll be taking the tiger and the woman."
"Um, sir I thought we only came for the tiger." The man said in a shaky voice. That earned him a slap across his face from the dolls little wooden hand.
"You speak when you're spoken to go it!" He snapped.
"Y-Yes sir, I apologies." He whimpered.
"Anyways buddy boy, move out of the way," He then raised a Tommy Gun. "And I won't fill you full of led."
"I'm seriously being held at gun point by a fucking doll." Mark said uncharacteristically. "This day just got weird."
"Why are you stealing the rare animals from the Zoo's you creep?" Catwoman snapped.
"Simple, rugs, fur coats stuffed displays people pay huge money for them." Capone said casually. That pissed Mark off.
'You creep, you've been killing peaceful animals just for money?" He snapped.
"No, at least not yet." Capone chuckled.
"You-"
Mark was ready to kill him when he felt something hard strike the back of his head. He fell to the ground watching Selina fight off some thugs before they got the better of her and dragged her to Capone's car. He reached a hand out to her before slumping to the ground unconscious.
His head was pounding and his vision was blurry. He winced every time he tried to lift himself up but eventually got to his feet. He jumped when he felt something vibrate in his pocket. He reached in his pocket and pulled out an expensive looking cell phone. He never bought a cell phone so Selina must have slipped it to him. He flipped it open and his eyes widened to see that the person who was calling was Alexandra Kinsley. He pressed the button and held it to his ear.
"Selina, did you find out who's been stealing the animals?" Ally asked.
"Alexandra Kinsley?" Mark asked. He could sense the tension when he couldn't even hear her breathe.
"Who the hell are you?" She said in a low voice.
"My name is Mark Kyle I'm Selina's brother."
(!)
Breeze along with Shadow and Whisper had just finished listening to Mark. They could hardly believe that Selina had a little brother. Ally heard some things but she never pressured Selina into telling her.
"So, The Ventriloquist is responsible for all the animals' disappearances?" Breeze asked.
"Yes, and he plans on selling them as coats and rugs." Mark finished.
"Well, I had Thanatos examine all the traffic cams he should give us something soon." Shadow said.
"Seriously, I'm still amazed Selina has a brother." Whisper chipped in. "How come she never really mentioned it to you Ally?"
"She said it was always hard for her to talk about." Breeze said. "I'm not gonna lie it isn't easy telling a story on how your brother was sold like cattle…or how you gave your baby sister away to work as a whore."
"Hey, don't talk about yourself like that." Shadow said as he walked up to her and held her. "That part of your life is over, it was bad, but it's over. You have a good life now and no one can take that away."
Breeze smiled and hugged him back.
"Thanks to you." She whispered.
"Hey, it was Selina that helped you, you were the one that kept following me." He chuckled.
Mark smiled at the two and almost envied what they had. Deep down he wished he had a girl to hold onto. But then he remembered what Shadow just said about forgetting your past and looking towards the future. He would move on himself, but after Selina was safe.
"Hey love birds." Whisper quipped. The two broke apart and looked over at her. "Thanatos just spotted Capone's car heading towards Gotham Harbor."
"Probably gonna ship off the animals to his buyer no doubt." Mark said.
"Alright people, we should get moving a.s.a.p." He then pointed to Mark. "Are you coming?"
"Hell yes, she's my sister." Mark snapped.
"Then put this on."
Mark was wearing his camouflage pants and black boots along with his wife beater, but after Shadow geared him up. He was wearing a Warney-Tec Mark 4 tactical vest. It was black of course and it was strong enough to suppress handguns and blades and flexible with enough room to breathe. He also gave him a pair of black glove and a black leather jacket. His final piece was a black balaclava mask and specialized sunglasses similar to Shadow's glasses.
"Not bad," Shadow said overlooking his new wardrobe. "Now you just need a name."
"Surge." Mark said as he accompanied Breeze and Whisper to the jeep they were driving in.
(!)
Reaper, Hitgirl, Red Crosshairs and Zoom were all waiting in front of the warehouse ready to take out Capone. Shadow pulled up near them and his crew stepped out. Reaper pulled his mask back on and walked up to them.
"Heard you ladies needed help wasting a dummy." Reaper chuckled.
"Not really, you guys are just here to make me look good when I save your asses." Shadow joked. "Where's everyone else?"
"They promised their girls dates tonight and they didn't want to disappoint." Hitgirl said. "As long as me and Reaper here are kicking ass together I call it a good time."
Shadow looked over at Zoom who was actually Zack and admired his costume. It was a grey jumpsuit with a matching jacket and pants. With boots and gloves and a domino mask that had built in lenses to keep debris and air from hurting his eyes.
"You're looking god rookie, you ready?" Shadow asked looking Zoom in his eyes.
"Yeah, just on edge." Zoom sighed.
"You'll do fine." Whisper grunted. "Just have faith in your team and more in yourself and you'll do fine."
"Okay, did you scout the place out?" Surge asked.
"Yeah, I did." Hitgirl said. "They have all the animals caged up. Selina is tied upside down over a shark tank and they have twelve men in there. So we'll be home and in time for dinner."
"Bitching, let's go." Shadow said.
"Seriously, we're going after a wooden doll. This is just ridiculous." Surge snorted.
"Hey, I once took him down by myself, along with Ivy, Clayface and Joker. This will be cake." Reaper said as he pulled out his scythe.
"Alright, so what's the plan we sneak in and pick them off one by one?" Surge asked.
"Nope, Hitgirl if you would." Shadow asked as he and the rest of the crew pulled out their signature guns. Hitgirl had an M8A1 assault rifle, again from Warney-Tec, with a grenade launcher attached to it.
She aimed it at the warehouse door and fired a round blowing a hole in the side of it. The team walked into the warehouse to see multiple confused thugs dressed like fifties gangsters.
"The twenty first century says hello." Shadow joked.
"You, you are those killers right?" Capone asked.
"Yes, though I believe you and my friend here already met." Shadow gestured to Reaper who nodded his head to the dummy.
"Oh no, kill them you apes!" Capone ordered.
They all pulled out their Thompsons and were ready to fire, but Red readied his eagles and his powers and targeted all of their guns. In a matter of seconds their guns were nothing but scap metal.
"Now, let's see how you do in a fair fight." Shadow said as he and his team holstered their weapons and engaged the thugs.
Shadow walked up to one thug and immediately caught an oncoming punch. With a quick maneuver he broke his arm and sent him to the floor.
Hitgirl, Breeze and Whisper used their acrobatic maneuvers and dispatched three thugs. Zoom was under fire by a guy who had a couple of handguns using the flash step technique Shadow taught him with his Adonis power, he was able to avoid getting shot. He then approached the thug and using the techniques Shadow taught him. The thug went down and Zoom's heart was racing.
"Pretty easy right?" Red asked as he smashed his fist into another man's face.
Surge quickly went after Selina but was blocked off when a barrage of bullets scattered at his feet. He looked over to see Ventriloquist and Capone holding a Tommy.
"Not so fast pretty boy." Capone snickered. "This cat has nine lives and I'm gonna take every last one of them."
"Over my dead body." Surge snarled, his hands cackling with blue electricity. Ventriloquist saw this and tried to warn his boss.
"Sir, his hands." He warned, but Capone wouldn't listen.
"I told you to shut up!" Capone shouted.
Just before he could slap him, Shadow fired his grappling hook at Capone and yanked him out of Ventriloquist's hands. He panicked when Shadow held his magnum to his wooden skull.
"Okay, game change." Shadow announced. "Let the cat go and I'll let the dummy go."
"No, please don't hurt him!" He panicked.
"You idiot, just drop the girl in the shark tank." Capone shouted.
"But sir,"
"Do it now!"
Ventriloquist went over to
Pull the lever and drop Catwoman in the tank, but Surge quickly shot a bolt into the water and killed the shark. He then quickly undid Catwoman's restraints and let her down. The warriors stood there in awe as the new guy just saved them time and trouble.
"Well that's that." Shadow said as he pulled the trigger and blew the wooden dolls head off. He threw the wooden doll away while Ventriloquist ran over to it weeping like a girl.
"A bit harsh don't you think?" Zoom asked, Shadow and Reaper shrugged it off.
"He goes through those quicker than shoes." Reaper said. "He'll have another one by next year."
They were about to leave when they noticed Breeze and Surge were hugging Catwoman.
"I see I was right giving you my phone." Catwoman said to Surge.
"I thought it was you." Surge said. "Yoou were working with Breeze to find the animals."
"Yeah, I was scared when I heard his voice, but never assumed he was really your brother until I saw him."
"Yes, we do share some resemblance." She said while turning to him. "So what will you do now?"
"I don't know, I was hoping to join you guys." Surge suggested.
"Sure why not, more members means better odds and you've had military training so you all set." Shadow said.
"I won't let you down." He said.
"Good, now let's get the hell out of here before the cops show up and blame us for the shark you just killed. You know the one we were supposed to return to the aquarium." Shadow stated.
"Oh…Shit." Surge snorted.
"I'll see you around Mark." Selina said as she made her escape. "You too Ally."
"Less talking more, not wanting to be charged with animal cruelty and destruction of property." Shadow snapped while dragging Surge away. "Seriously, a great white shark is very expensive."
"I got the records of all the people Capone bribed at the Zoo's." Hitgirl said while holding a ledger. "This must be how he slipped in and out unannounced."
"Cool, leave it for Gordon to pick up." Whisper grunted.
Before he left he took one last look at Selina and smiled.
"We'll see each other again soon." With that Surge left with the Warriors happy that things were finally going his way for once in his life.
(!)
Meanwhile in a secret military base, an officer with a manila envelope was walking down the hall towards the observation deck. He walked in using his secret code and found Col. Johnson overlooking the Acolytes latest training session.
"Sir." The officer announced.
"What is it officer?" Johnson said not taking his eyes off the floor.
"We found him." He said handing him the file.
Johnson took the envelope and saw the pictures off of traffic cams and the paparazzi. Johnson also let out a snarl when he recognized that Mark was now affiliated with the leader of the Shadow Warriors. But that anger soon turned to dark temptation as he walked over to the speaker.
"Acolytes, stand down and report to the debriefing room." Johnson ordered as he made his way to the debriefing room.
When he arrived he did a quick survey of his men.
Pyro, he was twenty nine and with red spiked hair and could manipulate fire and create it for his own. He took some time and money but he is now the most powerful fire conjurer in the world.
Aqua, she was twenty seven and could manipulate water. Her hair was long and tied in a ponytail. She couldn't create it but she was given a special water pump to bring so she was covered.
Brawler, he was forty years old and twenty year vet. He was bald and was given a concentrated dose of the same venom Bane uses only without it taking too much toll on his heart.
Darkness, he was viscous. He enjoys killing to the point where he believes he is setting them free. His hair was long and raven black and he could control dark matter.
Each member was capable of destroying two members of the Justice League, but thanks to Surge screwing up his plans they had to call off the attack. Then Johnson got word that there was a league of assassins that were wanted by police and even on wanted lists of the C.I.A, F.B.I and even the military.
They would be perfect for a little warm up.
"Men, I have gathered you here because of our former team mate, Surge." Johnson announced getting a few disgruntled looks from his men. "I know, I know, but we have word that he is in Gotham and he's teamed up with the Shadow Warriors. This is our perfect chance to show the world what we're made of, by killing the Shadow Warriors."
He was expecting to see grins and hear cheers, but everyone, minus Darkness, were either fidgeting or looked afraid.
"Sir, with all respect," Pyro said. "I don't think going after the Shadow Warriors is the best idea in our current state."
"Oh and why is that?" Johnson asked rhetorically. This time Brawler stepped up.
"Sir, gunning after the league is one thing" He explained. "But the Shadow Warriors are not pushovers. They are ruthless calculated and above all else the last people we want to go after."
"Are you saying you're afraid?" Johnson chuckled. "They aren't even worthy of the Justice League. They can't even defeat Batman."
"True, but the leader knows Batman, and I heard they were able to work out a shaky truce." Aqua stated. "Plus, when it comes to the J.L.A they might give us a pounding, but we'll walk away alive. Going after the Shadow Warriors in our current state well…"
"Are you telling me that you only wanted to go after the Justice League because you knew you wouldn't die?" Johnson snarled.
"Well there is that, there's also the fact that whenever someone goes after the Warriors they never live long enough to brag about it." Darkness snickered.
"Explain." Johnson ordered.
"I remember last year there was a man like me who could control Dark matter who went by the name Jonathan Simmons former military man from the UK. His criminal alias is King Leonae. He recruited Bane and a few others to go after them at their home. He won at first by surprise, but the next night Shadow and his team rain down and tore them all to pieces and his buddy Gauntlet blew Leonae's arms off. Fast forward a few months later Hush and a killer mech along with another government project Ace went after the team kicked their asses and even used Ace and Mad hatter to manipulate half their team into fighting against them. They would have killed them if it wasn't for some girl who once worked for Question. And guess what, the next day they damn near killed everyone. The mech, some whack job with a sickle and even Hush. So tell me, Sir. How the hell are we going to stop them?"
Johnson was furious.
He grabbed Darkness by the collar of his shirt and stared him in the eyes.
"We are going in soldier and that's final!" He shouted.
Johnson left the room leaving his soldiers to think.
"Hey we're ready for this, we've been training for this." Brawler reassured.
"We have a small army and half of the Shadow Warriors are just trained assassins." Aqua said sheepishly. "They aren't all Meta Humans like us. We take them down the ones with powers will have weakened integrity."
"Yeah, we can do this. They aren't gods; I mean how different are they from us?" Pyro said getting excited. "We'll crush the Shadow Warriors and then people we'll see how badass we are and we'll have more recruits by years end." Everyone let out a cheer except for Darkness. "Ay, you've been quiet, something on your mind?"
Darkness said nothing as he got up and walked over to the door. His expression was blank when he turned to face his team. He knew this was a mistake he wasn't dying for honor or for a noble cause. It was just for a selfish old man's desire stuck in his old ways.
"We're all going to die."
