Chapter 27: Burning Vengeance: Part 2
Authors Note: Thank you all for your reviews and yes I did use that reference from Assassins Creed 3 and you know why? Because it was an awesome line! Seriously what kid says that? I'll tell ya who one bad ass bastard child! I am also glad that a lot of my fans are assassin's creed fans who understood the reference. At first I was gonna say 'Keep an eye out for a reference' or something but I wanted to see if you guys could find it yourselves and you did. Respect! Okay this is gonna be a long chapter filled with a lot of action so enjoy!
Okay now onto the chapter, also if I'm slow this month it's only because I am playing Black Ops 2 and Halo 4.
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.
The Shadow Warriors gathered near the Kinsley's building planning out their attack. They all gathered around Thanatos who had a holographic layout of the building. The team was currently looking for Jenny so Luthor or Kinsley wouldn't have leverage on Breeze.
"Okay, the labs are in the basement." Thanatos said. "And from what I can tell Kinsley is down there as well along with Luthor, Theodosia and Frost."
"And Cole?" Phoenix asked. "Is he there?"
"Yes, the doors leading to the labs are locked by security counsels that require eye scans, passwords and hand prints. The doors are reinforced and are guarded by security turrets that will shoot unauthorized personal."
"Can you hack into it and shut it down?" Shadow asked.
"No, but I can shut down power to the whole block. It'll then give us time to open the doors manually, but a backup generator will start up the turrets again." Thanatos said.
"How long?" Shadow asked.
"Ten minutes." Thanatos stated.
"Okay people, here's the plan." Shadow said as he pointed at the hologram display. "Phoenix and I will go to the labs. I know for sure they're gonna send those splicers and Frost after us for sure, but the real challenge will be Theodosia, which is why I need you guys to take her down."
"And you want to tell us how the hell to do that?" Hitgirl asked.
"She's a clone of Superman, she is vulnerable to kryptonite and I had Red bring in the kryptonite rounds. We won't rely solely on them though I ran over our files and the ones who are a match for Superman is Thanatos due to his armor matching the same designs as Luthor's suit. Gauntlets magic and surpass any kind of immunity and I have my Adonis strength maybe Red can give it a try but I would just stick with the special rounds."
"Okay, we have a way of taking her down, what's the plan?" Ronin asked.
"I need Thanatos and Gauntlet to fly up and just start trashing the building, their scanners will pick you up but I want them to sweat." Shadow said.
"They'll sweat alright, I make sure of it." Gauntlet grinned as he clenched his fist which emitted an orange hue.
"Alright, here's the rest of the plan…"
(!)
"What kind of bullshit is this Slade!?" Cole snarled as he stared into a computer screen featuring Slade.
"This 'bullshit' is the end of my bargain Mr. Cole." Slade said in his monotone voice. "I gave you the resources and the money to complete your research in human D.N.A splicing and in exchange you send me the formula on how to do it. Our mutual partnership is over."
"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Cole demanded. "My sources say that those punks are heading here!"
"I left a present for you that should give you an edge." Slade said. "Goodbye Mr. Cole."
The screen turned black as Cole let out an angry shout and flipped over a table. The contents crashed on the floor as he started letting out heavy snarls. As he paced the room his eye caught something shiny on the ground. He kneeled down on the ground and lifted it up off the ground to see that it was a case. He opened it and saw a syringe filled with a similar liquid that he had been using. He grinned wickedly as he stuck it into his neck. His eyes turned yellow and his iris turned black as the lights went out.
(!)
"The powers out, go now!" Thanatos yelled.
"Okay, everyone attack!" Shadow revved the Batmobile and slammed down on the gas and through the garage. The turrets were disabled as he and his team charged through the garage and towards the wall. "Hold on tight kid!" Shadow said to Phoenix as the braced for impact.
Shadow activated the battering rams on the front end of the batmobile. Within seconds he crashed through the wall and activated the guns on the car. They encountered multiple splicers and bodyguards who were still stunned by the crash and were unprepared for the oncoming gunfire. Shadow held his finger down on the trigger and scattered bullets all across the lab sending all their enemies fell to the ground.
Once all their enemies were down, Shadow pulled out of the lab and into the garage, he and Phoenix got out and went to go get their crew when they noticed that all their crew was just standing still.
"Come on what are you guys waiting for, the emergency power will be on soon." Shadow demanded.
"Wait, shouldn't the power already be on?" Phoenix asked.
"Yes, which is why I just activated an E.M.P it disabled the emergency backup power to the defense system." A voice growled from the shadows.
"Oh shit." Shadow grunted as he looked over to the voice.
Batman, Batgirl, Robin and Nightwing appeared from the shadows as Shadow grimaced under his mask.
"This ends now Shadow, we'll handle it from here." Batman growled.
"You would deny this boy his revenge?" Shadow snapped.
"He's just a kid, for god sakes we go to the same school!" Batgirl shouted.
"He deserves to have his revenge," Hitgirl barked. "That pig slaughtered his mother and father for money!"
"Killing Cole won't bring her back and he'll be just as bad." Robin snapped.
"Cole's research is an abomination against nature he deserves to be put down." Reaper said in a monotone voice.
"Killing people is not true justice, if he kills him we'll have no choice but to take you down!" Nightwing shouted.
"SHUT UP!"
Everyone went silent as they all turned to look at Phoenix who was breathing heavily.
"I am not being manipulated by Shadow, or doing this for justice or for the warriors." Phoenix growled. "I'm doing this for me and if any of you I don't care who, gets in my way I will kill you." His eyes started to glow red as he turned to the lab. "I am going to kill Cole and that's all there is too it. You want to stop me then try it!"
Phoenix ran into the lab leaving the Shadow Warriors to deal with the dark knights.
"Okay, change of plans people." Shadow said. "Reaper, Ronin and Hitgirl you three are with me. Breeze, Red and Dusk you stick with Phoenix."
"Are you guys going to be alright?" Breeze asked.
"Yeah, just go." Shadow ordered.
Breeze nodded as she led her team into the building and Shadow had his team blocked the entrance.
"Did you really need to kill all those men?" Ronin asked. "I thought our goal was only to take necessary lives?"
"Those guns were loaded with rubber rounds, training bullets." Shadow stated. "The guns may look threatening but just like Batman they don't have the strength to kill."
"I will stop you Shadow." Batman growled as he and his team readied themselves. Shadow chuckled as he and his team readied themselves.
"No, you'll fail like you always do old man."
(!)
Gauntlet was currently flying through multiple office cubicles as he landed into the last one at the end of the office. He let out a grunt of pain as Theodosia floated above him, trying to intimidate him.
"You will break little boy." Theodosia chuckled.
"Boy, what are you talking about?" Gauntlet chuckled. "I am all man!"
"Not for long." She said in a low voice as her eyes glowed red.
Just as she was about to fire her heat vision she was suddenly tackled to the ground by Thanatos. The mech had her pinned to the ground as was about to run his sword through her when he was shot by a plasma bolt. He was sent flying back and crashed through another wall as he destroyed everything in his path. He leaned on his elbows to look up and see Lex Luthor in his armor ready for a fight.
"Hmm…I thought that project was canceled?" Lex pondered.
"What are you talking about?" The young cyber warrior asked.
"Some project that had to involve Batman, I heard something about it involving a Dr. Gee Nexro." Lex stated causing Thanatos's eyes to widen under his helmet.
"He was my father." Thanatos growled.
"No, he was your benefactor," Lex grinned. "You're nothing but a skin flake off of his arm, which he spent five years turning it into you. You're a clone a failed experiment and nothing more."
Lex then held out the palm of his hand and charged up another bolt, but before he could fire he was struck in the arm by an orange bolt and was sent flying back. Thanatos quickly got to his feet to see Gauntlet turning the barrel on his magnum.
"Guess we're even now huh?" Gauntlet chuckled.
"Even Steven." Thanatos said as the two stood back to back ready to fight Theodosia and Luthor. "Gauntlet, when we were fighting Theodosia I did a quick scan of her body,"
"Now is really not the time to be picking up chicks lug nut." Gauntlet joked.
"No not that hot head," Thanatos shot back. "Anyways, her body is built to be strong like Superman's but her psyche level is off the charts." Thanatos said as Gauntlet waited for him to continue.
"So?" He snapped.
"So, I remember looking up some old hidden files about cloning full adults." He explained. "It said that just because they are made into adults they still have the minds of an infant, meaning that she is still underdeveloped."
"So, she still kicks a lot of ass for an infant." Gauntlet snapped.
"Yes, but when I scanned her I picked up a mind control chip stuck on the junction point of her neck and head that is connected to the cerebellum. If you destroy that she may lose her nerve." Thanatos explained.
"Couldn't you have just started off with 'Hey Gauntlet, destroy the chip on her neck' instead of that whole human anatomy lesson?" Gauntlet said.
"Sorry, I tend to brag." Thanatos said sheepishly under his helmet.
"I think your still under developed there buddy." Gauntlet chuckled.
"I am."
Just then the two enemies finally regained their composure and attacked the two warriors. Theodosia flew straight towards Gauntlet with her fist out and slammed right into his abdomen. She wrapped her arms around his waist crashing him through another wall. Gauntlet was starting to break under the pain as he reached his iron hand over Theodosia's short red hair and saw the chip Thanatos was talking about. He made a grab for it and tried to pull it off which must have hurt Theodosia, causing her to flip out and lose control of her flying.
The two rolled into the hallway as Gauntlet tried to reach for the chip again. Theodosia's eyes flared red as she fired her heat vision at him. Gauntlet quickly blocked with his hands and was sent flying down the other end of the hall where he landed hard on the ground.
He quickly got to his feet and ran after the clone, she took a deep breath and blew a strong gust of wind at him, sending him back again. Gauntlet let out a frustrated growl and charged his hands up for an attack.
"Time to fry that chip." Gauntlet growled.
He held his hands out and fired two streams of fired that filled up the hallway. Before she could even move her escape entrances were cut off by the flame. She tried to fly through it using her immunity against the flame, but as she came close to the flame she burned her hands and was sent back to the ground.
"Magic fire." Gauntlet gloated. "It nothing like what you and Superman went through." He then charged up the flame and made it hotter causing her to fall to the floor in a futile attempt to avoid the heat. Gauntlet then took his chance to destroy the chip on the back of her neck. He reached his hand through the flame and placed the tip of his finger on the back of her neck frying the chip.
He quickly canceled the flame which left a crater around Theodosia, who was now sobbing uncontrollably. She then looked up from her fetal position and Gauntlet felt his heart drop as he saw pure innocence in her eyes.
"W-Where am I?" She said in between sobs. "Who am I?"
Meanwhile back with Thanatos and Luthor the two were currently brawling as their metal fist connected with each other's heads. The two then grabbed each other's hands and were now locked in a battle for strength. The two grunted as they tried to over throw one another.
It was then Thanatos decided to cheat and activated his shoulder pod missile launchers and fired all eight of them at Lex. The explosion knocked them both back as they fell on the ground. Thanatos quckly got to his feet and pulled out his energy rifle, but before he could get a shot out Luther had alray plasted it out of his hands with his plasma hand.
"Such low tech, unlike my armor which has been modified to destroy even Superman." Lex gloated.
Enraged Thanatos then charged at Lex but this time drew his sword and brought it down across his chest. Sparks flew out of Lex's chest as he screamed in pain. Thanatos quickly discarded his sword and lunged both of his hands forward into the gap in Lex's armor. With all his strength he ripped through his armor exposing Lex's human form underneath. Thanatos then grabbed Lex by his shoulders and proceeded to rip him out of his suit of armor. Lex let out an ear shattering scream as he was now being manually taken out of his armor.
Thanatos took one last tug and ripped Lex out of his armor and onto the floor. Lex was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts as he looked up at the killer mech. He started to panic as he started backing away when he bumped into someone's leg. He looked up and started to panic even more as he saw Gauntlet grinning ear to ear.
"You're fired Lex." He chuckled.
(!)
Phoenix was storming through the holding area of the labs, passing many kidnapped children and teenagers along the way. He grimaced at the fact that Cole was stealing kids off the streets as they were nothing no one would miss. As he walked he stopped when he saw a small child no more than five years old. The two made eye contact as Phoenix saw his past and his pain in his eyes.
Enraged, Phoenix let out a painful scream causing his hands to ignite. He raised his fiery hand and grabbed the lock causing it to melt before tearing it off. He opened the gate and the boy ran out as his friends caught up with him. They paused at the horrors that lay before them and decided to follow Phoenix's lead.
Breeze, Red and Dusk tore off each and every lock as the children scattered out of the holding area. As they left, each one of the Warriors felt a small sense of satisfaction knowing they helped saved a lot of young lives. They continued up the stairs of the building as Breeze suddenly stopped at the floor Kinsley was on.
"Guys, I have to stop here," Breeze said as the rest of the team stopped.
"What, why Cole is on the top floor," Phoenix snapped. "He could be boarding on a chopper right now!"
"Jenny is with my father I have to save her!" Breeze snapped.
"And I have to stop Cole he can't be allowed to leave!" Phoenix snapped back.
"Okay, we'll split up," Dusk said as he wanted to defuse the situation before another fight broke out. "I'll go with Breeze and save Jenny, Red you stay with, Phoenix?"
Red looked behind him to see that Phoenix was gone. Breeze let out a scream of insults as she stormed into the office cubicles. Like most common office buildings Kinsley's office was in the back, but as more insult to the common employee there was an elevator that led to his office.
"God, I hate this man!" She snarled as she ran towards the elevator.
Just before she could reach the elevator, it opened letting out a large amount of water flooding the room. The three were taken by surprise as the room continued to flood. The water pressure closed the door sealing them in. Red pulled out his dessert eagle and fired a few rounds into the window, causing it to shatter and drain the room.
The three didn't even have time to catch their breath as Frost stormed out of the elevator and started throwing ice spikes at Breeze. She quickly got to her feet and pulled out her staff blocking his oncoming attack.
The ice spikes shattered as Frost jump kicked her in the chest knocking her back. Dusk staggered to his feet and pulled out his tonfa and attacked Frost. Frost came froze his fist and swung at Dusk's head, who dodged and landed a hit across his kneecap. Frost let out a growl as he defrosted his hands and fired a stream of water at him.
Dusk was sent flying back into the wall, choking on water as Frost was laughing manically. As he tried to drown Dusk, Red tackled Frost to the ground and sent his fist into Frost's face multiple times.
"Breeze, go get your sister, I got this!" Red said as Breeze made her way to the elevator. Dusk ran after her and barely made it in as he squeezed through the closing doors.
They made their way into the office to see Kinsley holding a gun to a sobbing Jenny's head. Breeze let out a growl as she and Dusk stood before him.
"You cost me a lot of trouble you little brat!" Kinsley snapped. "If I have to go I swear I will take her with me!"
"It's not gonna come to that!" Breeze snapped.
Dusk fired a grappling hook out of his wrist and attached it to Jenny's belt, with one strong pull she was yanked out of Kinsley's arms and into Dusk's. Kinsley yelled to the top of his lungs as Breeze ran towards him. He opened fired on him, but his bullets weren't hitting as she swung her staff firing a strong gust of air at him knocking him out of the window. Kinsley screamed to the top of his lungs as he fell out of the building and down to the ground below.
Breeze was breathing heavily as she started sobbing uncontrollably as she fell to her knees crying. Jenny left Dusk and ran over to her sister and knelt down next to her. She pulled Jenny's hood down and took off her glasses to see Ally's red tear stained eyes. The two embraced each other as Dusk left the two alone, as he left he had hoped Phoenix was alright.
(!)
Back down at the parking garage, Batman had been blocking Shadow's sword with his gauntlets while the rest of their respected teams were fighting each other. Batman had just locked Shadow's sword with his gauntlets, Nightwing was attacking Ronin with his clubs while Ronin deflected with his scalers, Robin and Reaper were locked in weapons as they both fought with their staff and scythe and Batgirl and Hitgirl were using all sorts of mixed martial arts against each other.
Batman eventually broke the hold and had gripped Shadow by the collar of his coat and had slammed him against the wall. Shadow let out a grunt as he tried to swing with his sword, but Batman had grabbed his wrist and had made Shadow press his own blade against his throat. Batman gave hi his trade mark glare when Shadow had started laughing.
"Something funny?" He asked.
"Yeah, that you think I don't know you won't actually kill me." He chuckled.
"Don't try me." Batman grounded out.
"Oh, so scary." Shadow whimpered sarcastically.
While that was going on, Ronin had just dodged Nightwing's club by back flipping, but before he landed on his feet he delivered a spin kick to Nightwing's face knocking him back. Ronin quickly got to his feet and wrapped his arm around his neck and held the blade of his scaler to his throat.
"You're good, bird boy," Ronin panted. "But I'm better."
"You're lucky, that's all you are." Nightwing growled.
"Says the guy who's inches away from death." Ronin sneered.
While all of this was going on Robin had his staff choking Reaper's neck while Hitgirl held her .45 to Batgirls head. Batgirl's was held in front of Hitgirl like a human shield. Batgirl struggled to breathe as Hitgirl had her arm wrapped tightly around her neck.
"Why are you doing this?" Batgirl struggled to say as Hitgirl looked over at her.
"Why, because the kid has a right to avenge his mother's death," Hitgirl snapped. "That pig Cole killed his mother right in front of him and on his birthday no less. He has his right, and if you or Batman gets in the way I won't hesitate to kill all of you myself!"
"You really think revenge will make it all better?" Batgirl asked not sure if she should be angry at them or feel sorry for them.
"That's not my call, its Phoenix's." Hitgirl said.
Just then a whole stampede of children and teens came storming out of the hole Shadow had created earlier. While everyone focused on them, Shadow, Reaper, Nightwing and Batgirl broke free from their holds.
Shadow had ordered his team to follow him as all four warriors disappeared into the horde of children. Batman and his team regrouped as they looked to their leader for advice.
"What's the plan, B-Man?" Batgirl asked.
"Nightwing and I will go after Shadow, you and Robin tend to the children." He ordered.
"Got it." His two young pupils said. "Everyone, we're with Batman follow us and we'll lead you to safety." Batgirl said. Batman and Nightwing went through the hole as Batman pressed his fingers to the side of his cowl.
"Oracle, I need you to contact Gordon and tell him we found a lot of the kidnapped children." Batman said.
"Already done," Oracle said in a cocky tone. "By the way you should know that we've got reports that a man fell from the twentieth floor of Kinsley's pharmaceutical. He's been identified as Adam Kinsley."
"Ally's father," Batman whispered with concern. "Dammit, they won't stop until the whole tower is burned to the ground. I need to stop them, Shadow's associate Hitgirl said that Phoenix would stop at nothing until he killed Cole."
"Dammit Jayden," Barbra sighed. "Bruce you need to stop them."
"I will."
(!)
Phoenix had finally reached the top floor of the building. It looked like it was still being under construction as multiple tools; tiles and floor boards littered the room.
Phoenix slowly walked in and carefully scanned the room he knew Cole was here he could feel his presence. Sure enough he was right as he heard a few bars get knocked over. He kept his eyes trained in the darkest parts of the room making sure he was ready.
Something slithered behind him and slowly moved towards Phoenix for a kill. Its mouth opened as black fangs dripped with drool and venom. The monster leaned his head back and dived for Phoenix's neck, but Phoenix quickly leaped out of the way as the monster retreated back into the darkness.
"I know it's you Cole!" Phoenix shouted. "You can't hide from me, and you sure as hell aren't getting away from me!"
"Little Phoenix." A voice hissed. Phoenix knew it to be him but his voice sounded very different. "Isn't that what your mommy use to call you?"
"Yeah, right before you blew her damn brain out, along with my father you miserable bastard!" Phoenix cried.
"Well, if it's any constellation to you, all I did was waste my time working on you." Cole grunted. "I spent five years and wasted a lot of money, resources, children and time to make you the perfect weapon and it all went away when those damn justice league kids broke in and took you away. Afterwards, my contractors lost interest I was broke and my life went to hell after that."
"You deserved it you sick fuck. You ruined my life!"
"Ruined?" Cole snapped. "I gave you power which man has been dreaming of wielding for centuries and you claimed I ruined you?"
"You took away my parents, killed innocent children, made me kill and turned me into a weapon. It pretty much sounds like you ruined me you bastard!" Phoenix stated.
"You can hold fire in the palm of your hands you can do what man has dreamed of since the discovery of fire. I mad you a god, but all you care about is love." Cole spat in disgust.
"And all you care about is money."
"Of course, I don't care about people, love, life or death. I just want what I can get." Cole said. "You see criminals out there like Joker, Lex and Kinsley they all want something, world domination, to leave a mark on the world or to simply see Batman kill someone. All impossible, why would I reach for the stars when I can grab what I can reach."
"Yeah well I see you made a few improvements to yourself, so you must be interested in the power you created." Phoenix snapped.
Oh, yes a parting gift from Slade, once he got my research from me, he left me with nothing but my serum, with a few…improvements." He gloated.
"So, you were working for Slade." Phoenix stated. "Dumb move on your part, but now he's finally turned you into the monster you always were." Phoenix finished as Cole finally appeared from the Shadows.
Cole was now a fully mutated monster, his body was mostly in the form of a cobra, and his skin was all black and scaly with a few red patterns. He still had his arms but instead of being short and stubby they were muscular and long with veins breaking through his arms. Each finger had a long black razor sharp claw with a pair of black fangs to match them and his eyes were amber with black reptilian iris glaring right at Phoenix.
"I made plenty of mistakes in my life, but now it's time to correct one of those mistakes!" Cole hissed as he lunged at Phoenix. Phoenix was quicker than Cole thought as he jumped into the air and on top of Cole's scaly head. He ran down his back and pulled his knife out of his ankle and stabbed it into the end of Cole's tail. Cole hissed in pain as he was nailed to the ground by the knife, he turned to attack Phoenix, but Phoenix was already running towards him with his fiery fist. Phoenix landed multiple punches to Cole's head, each hit hotter than the last as small burst of flames erupted with each hit.
Cole let out a snarl as he raised his arm and smacked Phoenix across the room. He then gave his tail a yank and split the end in half. It didn't stay like that for too long as it regenerated in a matter of seconds.
"When did you get so good at fighting?" Cole snickered.
"Shadow, taught me that in battle I should rely more on myself than my powers." Phoenix said as he picked up his hunters knife. "He said that and gave me this."
"Well, it's not enough to bring me down!" He roared.
He then took another dive at Phoenix and swung at him with his massive claws. Phoenix ducked and charged up a fire ball and fired it into Cole's face. Cole flew back clutching his face and letting out howls of pain as he slithered back. Phoenix took this opportunity to attack Cole as he held his knife high ready to kill him, but before he could land a hit Cole spun around and smacked him away with his tail. Phoenix crashed through a table and on the ground with a thud as he looked back at Cole. Cole ran his hands down his face to reveal his face healing from the burn. Phoenix's eyes widened under his mask as Cole's face broke out in a twisted grin.
"See, you can't kill me." Cole gloated.
Phoenix quickly got to his feet and charged up another fire attack. He aimed his hands at Cole and fired a stream of fire at him, but he quickly jumped up into the air and disappeared into the rafters. Phoenix cancelled his attack and drew his knife again. He slowly looked up at the raters waiting for something to move. His heart was racing as the adrenaline finally started to kick in. He then jumped when he saw something move and shot another fire ball at it but started to panic when he realized he hit nothing.
He waited for another movement when he felt two large hands grab the sides of his head and lift him up into the ceiling. Claws dug into his face as blood started to drip through his mask as he struggled to break free. His struggle was over when he was thrown through a vent and onto the roof of the building. Phoenix landed on a helicopter pad and struggled to get up as he saw Cole slither onto the pad carrying a containment pod filled with water.
"You're looking a little warm kid, you want my advice," He chuckled as he unscrewed the top. "You need to cool off."
He then splashed the water all over Phoenix soaking him to the bone. Some of the water seeped through Phoenix's mask and got into his mouth as he started spitting all over the place. It was right then and there when he recognized the taste.
"Mercury…." Phoenix whispered in a shaky voice.
"That's right, Mercury." Cole gloated. "While I perfected the formula I didn't have enough time to figure out the immunity to mercury. For some reason every time you light up while you were under the contact of mercury you would trigger a chemical reaction and explode upon impact. You were kurt but you never died. This time however I've exposed you to too much mercury and I can assure you if the explosion doesn't kill you the fall will."
He was right, Cole was a monster, a demon and worst of all an asshole, but that didn't stop him from being right. Blaze couldn't use his power, not without killing himself and he knew it.
"But I can still fight!" Phoenix roared as he ran towards Cole.
Cole grinned as he waited for Phoenix to make the first move. Phoenix leaped up into the air and brought his knife across Cole's face, but he had it healed in a matter of seconds. Cole roared in Phoenix's face as he raised his razor sharp claws and landed three massive cuts across his chest. Phoenix cried out in pain as he fell back on the ground. Cole let out another laugh as he wrapped his massive hand around his throat and lifted the boy up off his feet. He then took his thumb and index finger nails and pinched the top of Phoenix's mask pulling it off. Blood stained Blaze's face as he looked into Cole's yellow eyes.
"Poor little Blaze, you're mother and father are dead, no home no family, completely alone in this world." He hissed as he raised his free claw to end it.
"So this is it?" Blaze thought as he closed his eyes and waited for his final moment to come.
Only, it didn't come as he fell to the ground and hears Cole screaming. He opened his eyes to see Cole clenching his left hand, the one Cole had just restrained Blaze with, only to see that his hand was on the ground.
Blaze looked over to see Shadow with his sword drawn and covered in green blood. He turned to look at the wounded monster with anger in his eyes.
"The only one in this building who's alone is you asshole." Shadow growled.
Cole's hand had already regenerated but it didn't do him much good as he was under fire by Hitgirl, Reaper and Gauntlet who were using their guns to kill him. Cole let out another roar as he charged at Blaze not caring that he was being shot. Shadow stood between them, but Cole swiped his claw across his chest knocking him back. Blood stained the ground as Blaze saw his mentor fall to the ground.
That did it.
Blaze's eye instantly flared bright red as red shimmering image of a phoenix appeared on his face. He stood up and stared Cole down as his body emitted a red hue. The rest of the warriors stopped firing as they looked at what was happening.
"But how," Cole asked surprised and scared. "You're supposed to blow up when you come in contact with mercury."
"I'm not alone," Blaze said in a stern tone. "I have my friends behind me and they are also my family. One of my brothers by the name of Gauntlet also taught me that the fire is an extension of myself and that it is powered by me." He said as a dark orange ball of energy formed in his hands. "This is no longer your formula, this is my energy!"
He then fired the ball of energy at Cole who remained frozen where he stood. Though the ball of fire was about to hit him, he couldn't help but admire how beautiful it looked.
The ball of energy hit him and created a large explosion that nearly knocked everyone off of the roof. The heat that came off of the energy ball was enough to kill everyone but Blaze made sure to keep it down to avoid hurting his friends.
When the red light finally faded into the night sky everyone looked over to see Shadow tending to Blaze. The poor boy was unconscious from the attack as he lay in Shadow's arms.
"Shadow, what was that?" Hitgirl asked.
"I think…the kid finally relied on his own power and not the formula of Damian Cole." Shadow smiled.
"We should get him home." Reaper said.
"Yeah," Shadow said as he radioed Red. "Hey Red, bring in the Raven please."
"You got it boss." Red said as he brought down the large black jet. Shadow was about to carry him when Gauntlet stepped in.
"You mind if I take him?" He asked. Shadow smiled before nodding and letting Gauntlet carry his friend into the jet. Everyone else boarded when Shadow heard someone wheezing for air. He looked over to see Cole back in his human form only with almost the bottom half of his body gone.
"Stubborn bastard aren't you." Shadow said as he reached for his sword. "Time to pay for your sins Mr. Cole."
Right before he could draw his blade he felt a firm hand grip his wrist. He turned his head and smiled as he saw Batman standing right next to him.
"He's had enough. I'll take it from here Shadow." Batman said in a stern voice.
Any other night, Shadow would have gone at it with Batman, but after being kidnapped, turned into a werewolf along with his girlfriend and all the evil they've seen tonight. He realized his team would come first.
"Fine, I got my kid to look after anyways." Jayden said as Batman let go. Before he boarded his jet Batman stopped him one last time.
"Do you think any of this made a difference in his life?" Batman asked causing Jayden to freeze.
"Before he finished Cole he called referred to us as his family. He never even called us his partners in the past." Jayden then took off his mask and glasses and looked at Batman with compassion in his eyes. "Yes, it did help him."
With that he got on board and left the crumbling building and all its evil behind.
Whew Loooong ass chapter, sorry for that I just couldn't figure out when to stop. Okay, next chapter is gonna be a small wrap up and then onto Thanatos, and Spartan if you're reading I need an idea or I'm just gonna wing it.