Chapter 24: Old Wounds

Authors Note: Thanks to all of you for your reviews as always. Whew long chapter sorry I didn't know when to stop. Not gonna lie there is gonna be a lot of twist and turns in this chapter not all of them will be revealed but they will next chapter. Now that Gauntlet is done for now let's move on to our next team player Phoenix. Okay, let's get started.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.

Life went on after the whole Leonae incident.

Sam and Kris were finally able to pick up the pieces of their relationship. Thomas had installed all of the defenses for the headquarters. Hilary and Flynn continued their cleanup of the city both day and night while Marcas continued his job of protecting Jayden's company while Jason went to school along with Blaze as for Ally she and Jayden continued to make public appearances to avoid suspicion as for Ronin well he came in and out from time to time. The Warriors were still trying to get a feeling on him.

Blaze was currently waiting for Ally to pick him up from school not a bad day. Ever since he met Ally and Jayden he vowed to take his life a little more seriously that also meant for his school work. He did fine but a day never went by when he didn't think of his parents.

He leaned against the school wall as he thought of his boyhood days when his father would play with him and his mother would smother him with kisses. He let out a heavy sigh as the pain of his loss crept up on him. His ears then picked up something as he saw two teenage girls talking.

"Did you hear about those kids that were found down in the river?" One girl asked.

"Yeah, they were missing for weeks but then showed up a few days ago." The other girl said. "Poor things, I heard that they were all deformed and shit, like someone experimented on them."

"God what the hell is wrong with people?"

"That's Gotham city for you."

Blaze stared at them with curiosity as he stared at the ground. 'Experiments, who the hell would do something like to kids,' Blaze thought.

Then it hit him like a kick to the head. There was only one person who could be cruel enough to experiment on children.

"Damian Cole." Blaze snarled.

He would never forget that devil of a man for all the tortures he did to him, but not just him his mother his father and a lot of other innocent children. He had sworn when he was rescued by the police he would use the curse he was given to kill Damian.

He felt his hand light up but he quickly suppressed it when Ally pulled in with her Lamborghini. She honked her horn and he sprinted towards her and slid in the passenger seat.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked with a little concern.

"Have you heard that some kids from my school have been missing?" Blaze said in an emotionless voice his face hard with anger.

"Yeah, Ronin and Reaper have been searching for over two weeks and we've come up with nothing." Ally said in a sad tone of voice.

"Hey, can you do me a favor," He asked as Ally looked at him curiously. "I need you to look up a man by the name of Damian Coale."

"Okay." She said as she started up her car and took off to the penthouse.

(!)

In a high tech lab surrounded by medical tables with the bodies of teens covered in cuts and stitches. A man walked past all of them dressed in a black suit with slick black hair as he approached another man.

He was a man in his late forties with black hair with gray streaks which was un-kept. He was currently standing over an African American teen holding a syringe at the side of his neck. The well-dressed man stood next to the un-kept man and freaked out when he saw the neat man.

"Goddammit, what the hell do you want Kinsley," The man snapped. "I am very busy."

"We just wanted to see if this new splicing ability actually worked, Mr. Cole." Adam Kinsley mused.

"We, who the hell is we?" Cole asked.

"Me and him Damian." A calm voice said.

Damian's eyes widened to see Lex Luthor standing right behind him with his hands behind his back.

"Mr. Luthor, I'm surprised to see you here." Damian said. "Well if you're interested I was about to inject him with the ox splicing genes. It will be coded over his D.N.A and slowly turn his body into a minor form of an ox, observe."

He slowly injected the pin into his neck and squeezed the lever on his syringe. The boy on the table let out a growl as he started to struggle against his restraints. Just then his face started to change and horns started to extend out of his head. Fur also started to break through his arms giving him a shiny brown coat and his arms started to get bigger. When it was finally over the boy had broken his restraints and was now standing eight feet tall and was now ripped with two horns on his head.

"How are you?" Cole asked.

"I am fine sir." He said in a gravelly voice.

"So, you can understand me and speak just fine?" He asked.

"Yes." He responded.

"Very well, you will be known as…Brute." Cole said.

"Awesome." Brute grinned.

"Very well done Damian." Lex said. "You have made a perfect splicer.

"How many more can you make?" Kinsley asked. "And what kinds of animals can you make them?"

"I can make as many subjects as you bring me. As for what kind of animals all kinds and I can advance their animal capabilities tenfold. Like our new friend here he has the strength to lift a car over his head. I also have a chameleon splicer that allows her to completely blend into the environment not just changing her color."

"Her, who is she?" Kinsley asked.

"Me." A voice hissed.

Kinsley jumped back as he turned to see nothing but few lab tables but his eyes widened when he saw that the wall and table in the back disintegrated and showed a skinny reptilian girl.

"Was she standing there the whole time?" He asked.

"Yes," Cole chuckled. "The perfect image, I call her Mirage."

"Perfect, I won't waste any more of your time then," Lex said as he motioned to Kinsley. "Mr. Kinsley, if you would show him your bargaining chip."

"Ah, of course." Kinsley said as he snapped his fingers. A young woman with long blonde hair wearing black combat boots, cargo pants and a tank top with a 'No Superman' logo on it, walked in carrying a long stasis pod. She set it down and Cole's eyes widened with glee. "As you requested I was able to clone a perfect copy of Blaze Zephyr."

"Thank you, this is everything I wanted." Cole thanked. "Is this how you created your children?" Kinsley's expression dropped as he stomped towards him.

"No, just the one and my daughters are none of your business." Kinsley snapped.

"Oh yes, I just hope you made this one to obey me. You're daughter made a lot of trouble for you just for not obeying you." Cole snapped. "She told you off, kidnapped your back up daughter and is currently dating hot headed billionaire Jayden Warney."

"Well, at least she didn't burn down my labs and completely destroy my life's work. I can always start over."

"Hey, don't forget I gave Alexandra her power which she used to trash you're research!" Cole shouted. The two looked as if they were about to attack each other when Luthor stood between them.

"Gentlemen, please…you both failed in your work." Lex insulted as the two glared at them. "But that is in the past this is our new business relationship and with my technology, Cole's knowledge of D.N.A splicing and Kinsley's cloning technology no one can stop us."

The two looked at each other and nodded. They all shook hands and went their separate ways.

"Luthor, don't forget about my deal with you." Kinsley said as Luthor nodded.

"Theodosia," The blonde girl stood before Luthor awaiting orders. "I need you to find Jayden Warney and Alexandra Kinsley and bring them back here."

"Yes sir." She said in an emotionless voice. She then lifted up from the ground and into the air and flew out of the lab and into the night.

"I must thank you again for perfecting my Superman clone Mr. Kinsley." Lex complimented.

"Don't worry about it it'll be worth it once I finally get my hands on those two." He snarled. "I want that ungrateful bitch to pay for humiliating me."

"Do whatever you please." Lex said as he walked out if the lab.

(!)

The group was gathered in the living room of the penthouse as Ally went through the files on Damian Cole. Everyone there except Blaze were learning everything they could about Damian. Blaze wasn't interested in any of this crap. He just wanted to know where Damian was.

"Damian Cole, age forty eight." Ally started. "He was the head in a top secret government project that involved in enhancing human capabilities. The work was thought to be impossible until he brought in two top scientists." Ally then pulled up two holographic images causing Blaze's eyes to go wide. "These two are Martha and Daniel Zephyr, Blaze's parents. They were specialist in the project. They succeeded in making the formula but as for candidates there was no luck. Once they were injected they would seize up and die or spontaneously combust depending on the formula. They needed to copy the formula with the human candidate's strand of D.N.A. When he found out about that new piece of information he wanted to test it out as soon as possible."

"So he killed my parents, kidnapped me and turned me into a weapon." Blaze interrupted coldly as everyone looked at him. "But where is he?"

Ally and Jayden looked at each other and let out a heavy sigh.

"We don't know." Jayden said as he rubbed his temples.

"What!?" Blaze snapped as he shot up from his seat.

"Calm down." Sam said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find him and stop him, but what I want to know is if these government buttholes have anything to do with what happened to my friends all those years ago?" Again Ally let out a sigh.

"We don't know." She groaned. "There is no leads, no witnesses nothing to go on. We have nothing."

"What about Batman?" Flynn asked.

"Even he doesn't know." Jayden chuckled.

"Wait, what ever happened to Cole?" Thomas asked.

"When I was ten he hired a man to manipulate me into being Cole's bitch, but the cops showed up before he could succeed a navy seals showed up and shut the project down., Cole and that man disappeared before they even got to me. I've been hunting them down since I was ten." Marcus scoffed in disgust as he stood up.

"These pigs are like men from Russia who tortured me and experimented on me, and if they have any relation to Leonae, Slade and Cole they must be that black op government who experimented on us." He suggested. That's when a light bulb went off in Jayden's head.

"Blaze did you get a look at the man who manipulated you?" Jayden asked.

"No, I thought it was Jarvis at first but when I found him he said he never seen me before." Blaze said. "Why?"

"I don't know I need to look up some old files." He said as he left the room. "I'll tell you everything I know tomorrow I promise." Blaze fell back on the couch he was laying on his back.

"Soon, mom and dad soon." He mumbled.

(!)

The next night Jayden was dragging Ally out of his building holding a file filled with the info he had promised Blaze.

"Jayden, what the hell is the hurry?" Ally snarled as she ripped her wrist from his hand.

"The guy Blaze mentioned I think I know him." Jayden exclaimed. "He was-"

Before he could finish his sentence he was sent flying down the parking lot and crashed into his buildings walls. Ally looked at the assailant to see she was a blonde hair teen with a murderous expression on her face.

"Who the hell are you?" She said as he got into a defensive position.

"Theodosia," She said in a monotone voice. "My objective is to abduct you and Jayden Warney."

"Who sent you?" She asked.

"Adam Kinsley." She responded.

"M-My father?" She gasped.

Before she could make a move a gunshot went off as something struck Theodosia's head. Ally looked over to see Jayden holding a Walther PPK but the girl still remained standing. She then turned her attention to Jayden and started walking towards him. Jayden opened fired on her again but the bullets just bounced off her head. Jayden eventually ran out of bullets as Theodosia approached him. She held her fist back and slammed it against his chest sending him flying again. He slammed into another building as Ally went to help him. She pulled out her brass knuckles and slipped them on right before landing a punch into her face. Ally's eyes widened when she saw her knuckles crumble into chunks on the ground. Theodosia's hand then wrapped around her throat and closed off her breathing causing her to pass out.

Jayden let out a growl as his face lit up and his veins glowed red. Using his enhanced speed he charged at Theodosia and tackled her to the ground. With his power he was almost a match for her but his strength was still not compared to hers.

When his physical attacks didn't work he tried energy. His hands cackled with electricity and fired two massive bolts at her. She let out a scream off pain before her eyes glowed red and fired her heat vision at him. She winged his arm which was enough to take him down. Theodosia chuckled as she slowly walked over to him. Jayden was clenching his shoulder as he looked up to see her reach down and slam his head against the ground knocking him out cold.

(!)

Ally heard the faint sound of voices as she slowly came too. She slowly stirred awake as her vision was to blurry from the attack. She saw a dark figure walk towards her and before she could say anything she was struck across the face. Her right cheek stung as she turned to mouth off at the figure when her eyes darkened.

"Adam." She snarled.

"Is that any way to address your father?" He sneered.

"Screw you!" She snapped.

That earned her another slap across the face. Her cheek stung twice as bad as she started to hear thrashing.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" Her eyes widened as she turned to see Jayden strapped to a table with his hand and legs bound. "You touch her again I will fuck kill you!"

"You shut you disgusting mouth you little shit you'll get yours!" He snapped.

"What the hell do you want?" Ally snapped causing her father to look at her with a confused face.

"You think I would forget what you did to me?" He asked rhetorically. "How you stole my legacy and nearly destroyed my life. You cost me time, money and a perfectly good copy of you."

Ally grimaced at what he said as Jayden tried to get an understanding of what they were talking about.

"What the hell is this lunatic talking about?" He asked.

"Oh she hasn't told you?" He said in an amused tone.

"When I got older I started to defy my father." She started. "He wanted the perfect daughter and when I say perfect I mean absolutely flawless. When I was a girl I was studying everything under the sun hell including the sun. I was reading college level book at the age of eight. When I was ten I could speak ten different languages and by the time I was thirteen I had already mastered three different fighting styles."

"And look at how well you turned out because of it." Her father defended. "You are now practically running this morons company and rumor has it you have another job…Breeze."

Ally's eyes widened when she heard that. How did he know about her she and her crew were always careful. Jayden was just as surprised as she was.

"Screw you ya bastard, but what about that Superman clone where the hell did you get her?" He said eyeing the clone.

"Theodosia, I had her created after that failure of mine turned on me."

Jayden and Ally looked over at where the voice came from to see Lex Luthor and Damian Cole step out from the shadows.

"So, that explains where Cole got the funding for his splicing." Jayden snapped.

"Yes, you see I had a bit of bad luck when fighting the Justice League and needed some help." Lex explained. "So I hired Mr. Cole for his meta-human project and Mr. Kinsley for his cloning abilities. It's because of him I was able to create Theodosia."

"And Frost." Cole said as a young boy stood next to him.

"Blaze?" The two gasped.

The boy wore black jeans, boots and a vest and his hair was white as he approached the two.

"Surprised, I had him created because my failure had turned against me." Cole said.

"The same way I had Theodosia made to replace Superboy and how Kinsley created that clone of Ally. That's what all of us have in common, to make up for our mistakes."

"Wait, clone Ally what the hell are you talking about?" He snarled as Cole approached him with a syringe.

"You should rest." Cole chuckled as he stuck him full of the gene splicing. "You two are going to be a part of our little family." He said as a group of splicers approached them. Ally looked over at Jayden in horror as he started to let out screams of pain.

"Don't worry, you can save him," Kinsley said to her in a dark tone. He placed a hand on her cheek and forced her to look at him. "If you tell me where your sister is."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as he started to mutate.

"You took what didn't belong to you and I want what's rightfully mine. She isn't even your real sister she's your clone." He sneered.

"She was still a little girl…and as a big sister I'd rather die than help you!" Ally snapped.

"Well, I see you've made your decision." He said in a monotone voice. "Mr. Cole."

Just then he walked over to her and stuck a needle in her neck. She let out a hiss as the drug entered her blood stream. She started to twitch as her head started to hurt.

"Frost, tomorrow I want you to lead the team to Commissioner Gordon's office and kill him and his crew. He's starting to get closer and once he finds us he'll tell the bat and I don't want him involved." Cole ordered.

"Yes, father." He said as Ally finally succumbed to the darkness.