Chapter 18

She rushed about the halls. "GENE!" she shouted all the while.

Looking about through all the rooms, she eventually found Gene in the lab with Genus and Bofoi. "Miss Brawler" Bofoi said aloud.

She paused and smiled to him. "Good to see you again old friend, sorry I have been really busy to even say hello to you."

He waved it off as he suddenly appeared rather proud before her. "I am capable of assisting you a lot more now than before Miss Brawler. I will be the prefect lab partner for you now"

She nodded to him. "Thank you for that Bofoi, but I need to speak with Gene and this so called Neo Hero hunter…"

He paused and looked rather pale suddenly. "Oh… HIM," he said in a rather stunned tone. "Uh… I was suppose to explain this earlier…"

"Who is he?" she demanded of him. "Why is he hunting Neo Heroes?"

Gene suddenly appeared a little nervous. "Oh well… you see… that guy… is Bad," he explained.

"What?" demanded Genus.

"Well, father, what happened during the cloning process for Bad, is that when the body formed, it developed a consciousness."

No one in the room moved. "Wait, what?!" Alley demanded. "It developed a consciousness?"

He nodded. "One of the side effect I have yet to really address in the cloning process. BUT, we made it right, I didn't just erase him or anything, Prodigy actually took an interest to him. It's why he wanted the old body of Metal Bat when you were done with the mind transfer. He took it and modified it…"

Once more, no one in the room moved. Alley was trying to process it all until she figured it out. "So… Prodigy took the shell of Metal Bat, modified it into a cyborg like my uncles and grandfather… and put that consciousness that formed in the clone into that?" she asked.

He nodded. "It's only fair…"

"Why the hell is he hunting Neo Heroes?!" she demanded. "I still have friend in there that wouldn't have allowed Bad to become what he became! Also, this isn't going to look good on our end either, they are going to think we are hunting the Neo Heroes!" she protested.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't come after you…"

Alley froze as she slowed turned and saw the masked vigilante behind her. He wondered into the room rather casually, he took his mask off and revealed his face. He was indeed the spitting image of Bad, but with short red hair and cyborg red eyes! She stumbled back in shock. "How did you…"

"Your grandfather, and your father…" he said and smirked. He did a mocking bow before her. "The name is Bane, at your service," he said. "Also, the Neo Hero hunting, that's just my thing. After all, I am in the original body of Metal Bat… and I despise them for what they did to him!"

"Uh… huh…" Alley said offhandedly. "Bane… I need you to stop going after the Neo Heroes," she said gently.

"And I politely decline your request," he replied.

"Alley, you can't make him change his mind, he's too much like Bad when he has his mind set on something," Gene explained.

"I don't see the big deal, after all they are going to come after me and leave you guys alone. I much rather work this way anyways…"

"Bane…" Alley began to say.

"But that's just what I want to do, this is MY life, correct?" he asked and aimed his comment to Gene oddly enough.

He sighed aloud. "Alley, I need to explain something…"

He took his time as he told the room that Bane was the consciousness formed in the clone, as compensation for being removed from his body, Prodigy made him his own. Yet when deciding what to do with himself, Bane felt going after the Neo Heroes would be his purpose. "They hurt Bad, and he feels responsible for ensuring they never harm the family again… again, this is Metal Bat we are talking about here…"

"But at the same time, no one knows where his allegiance lies." Alley stated. "If they believe he is part of the Association, we are going to lose all credibility. If they think he is a threat, then they are going to demand we take action against him. We're going to be forced between a rock and a hard place here!"

Bane shrugged his shoulders. "Then come at me," he said.

"What?" the room demanded.

"I don't mind taking a hit or two if it will ensure your organization is safe, just make sure it's a known hero and they can take some damage from me," he explained. "We can put on an act, that way people will know I am not part of this organization. Is that doable?"

She froze.

Since when does Metal Bat ever have a plan?

Then again, she keeps forgetting, this isn't Bad. This is Bane!

"Perhaps we will have to do something like that then…" she said offhandedly.

But then she saw that mischievous look on Bane. "Beat you to it, it should be on the news soon enough…"