Chapter 31: Big Changes
Authors Note: Okay, not gonna lie yes the Shadow Warriors did in fact get owned last chapter. But do not fret things are moving into motion. This chapter will explain Hush's plan the next we will get more insight on Gallagher and Shadow's past and of course ACTION!
Okay I loved the feedback and I hope you love this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Batman.
(Five Hours Earlier)
Batman was on his computer terminal typing away trying to find Dr. Hoenheim. He knew what was on that truck and it wasn't an attack from Joker. He was always watching out for important cargo, but this time whoever stole it was quick to the punch. He then pulled out a file of an old government project he had once fought against.
"Ace." He whispered as a pale, frail girl with short black hair appeared on his screen,
"You're absolutely right!" A voice exclaimed.
Batman whipped his head around to see no one. His face broke out in a scowl as he looked around carefully. He knew this scare tactic he was just waiting for them to make the first move. He stood in the center of the batcave as he felt a presence come up behind him.
Just then three blades came down on him, but Batman gripped the wrist of the owner of the blades and threw him over his shoulders. The assailant was none other than Leonae as he quickly got to his feet.
"Nice arms." Batman grunted.
"Yeah, you're little friends are the ones who gave them to me!" Leonae snapped as he threw off his purple cloak. "Speaking of friends, I got some new friends of my own."
Just then three throwing knives flew at Batman, who raised his hand and blocked with his gauntlet. He smacked the knives out of his wrist as Phantom drew a machete and attacked Batman. He brought his blade down at Batman who dodged and blocked as Leonae also fought him.
Batman leaped back and threw a few tear gas canisters at their feet. The white mist burst out of the canisters and burned their eyes as they fell to the ground screaming. Batman's victory was short lived as two metal arms wrapped around his chest locking him to Bruticus's chest.
Batman tried to break free but stopped when he heard his comrades in arms muttering gibberish. He looked up and saw Sarnina, Tim and Richard freaking out as they were thrown to the ground by Frost and two other assailants.
"What did you do to them?!" Batman roared.
"I call it menacing stare." A familiar voice said. "It was one of the door prizes when I crawled out of Hell."
The figure took off his hat revealing himself to be Seth Gallagher. His face broke out in a twisted grin as Batman's eyes widened in shock.
"Hello Batman!" He exclaimed.
"What's happened to them?" Batman asked ignoring the fact that Jayden's first victim has come back from the dead.
"Menacing Stare, you see when I have someone in eyes view they'll be seeing some interesting things for an hour or so." He said playfully. "When they come too they'll either be dead or scared shitless depending on their psyche."
"What do you want?" Batman asked.
"To see you break Batman." Another familiar voice said. Batman looked over to see a man in a trench coat, a bullet proof shirt similar to Jayden's and hat with bandages over his face. "Or would you prefer Bruce Wayne?"
"Hush." Batman growled.
"Yes, thanks to Mr. Gallagher and Bruticus it was quite easy to manipulate you're men and infiltrate you're home." Hush mused as he paced around the Batcave. "Tie him."
Bruticus nodded as he clasped some electronic handcuffs on his wrist. Bruticus then placed him on the edge of the floor that led to a watery under passage.
"What do you want Hush?" Batman growled. "And how is Gallagher alive?"
"His desire for revenge that is what brought him back." Hush said, placing a hand on Gallagher and Bruticus's shoulders. "They've all been wronged by a certain group of assassins and I am here to help them achieve their revenge."
"Shadow…" Batman whispered. "Hush, you're making a mistake, Shadow and his crew are organized and prepared to take down anyone who is evil. If you go after them they'll slaughter you!"
Hush looked to his crew and remained silent for a few minutes before Leonae started to laugh in a high pitch squeal. Everyone else excluding Bruticus also laughed as they looked back at Batman.
"Not likely, all we have to do is lure them into a false sense of security and then they'll be no more." Hush whispered.
"If it's getting under people skin is what you want you leave that to me." Phantom snickered.
"And they may be talented assassins, but they are still humans." Bruticus said in a monotone voice as he pulled out a high tech land mine. "Even they can't survive explosives."
"And of course their heart." Leonae exclaimed as he dragged along Kris, Sam's girlfriend. "They wouldn't endanger the lives of their friends squeeze and even if they do Gauntlet will slaughter them all."
"That won't happen." Batman growled. "Am I also to believe you are the one who kidnapped Hoenheim and captured Ace?"
"Ah yes," Hush mused as he left the cave momentarily and brought back a beaten Dr. Hoenheim. "You see I need some men in order to secure my plan, but the problem is that people are so damn unreliable that you can't trust them to do a simple job." Hush explained as he snapped his fingers in delight. "Then it hit me, your friends would give their lives for you. They are smarter, talented and dedicated. If only I had a way to manipulate them without hindering their abilities."
"Ace, you plan on using her to alter their motives without hindering their abilities." Batman said as Hush nodded.
"And soon, the Shadow Warriors will be a part of my little army as well, excluding Jayden and you of course."
"Go to hell." Batman growled.
"No thank you I've been there and I have no intention of going back." Gallagher said in a grim voice.
"I think we've gone on for too long now." Hush said as he started to unravel his bandages. "My goal isn't to just kill you but to destroy everything that you and your father helped build." He said as his bandages finally came undone revealing his face to be that of Bruce Wayne's. Batman's eyes widened as he looked into his own face. It was perfect too, the smirk, the hair, the cheeks everything that was Bruce Wayne's face. "You've spent so much time mourning you're parent's death and now I will send you to meet them." He said as he pulled out a glock and aimed it at Batman's head. "Goodbye Bruce, my old friend."
When Hush went to pull the trigger a scream echoed through the cave as everyone turned to see Alfred charging straight towards Batman. Hush pointed his gun at him and fired a few times missing as Alfred reached Batman and tackled him off of the ledge and down into the dark abyss below. Bruticus, Leonae and Frost all looked down in anger as Hush stood there calmly as he holstered his gun.
"Shouldn't we go after them?" Leonae snapped.
"Don't bother," Hush sighed. "By the time we get down there they will either be long gone or sprung up a trap for us. It matters not though, for you see they will come to us and that's when we will finally be rid of them. Now come we've got work to do."
Hush was about to leave when Phantom let out a sigh.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" He deadpanned as he nodded over to the trio of young heroes.
"Oh right, get Ace in here now and Jarvis as well." Hush ordered.
After a few grunts of annoyance they eventually went up and retrieved a mobile container along with the Mad Hatter himself Jarvis Tech.
"Thank you for your help Jarvis, it will help things move along quite easily." He said as he went to open the containment pod.
"The pleasure is all mine, now what is it you'll have me do?" He asked.
"As you can see my dear pet Ace can manipulate and bend people to their will, but as long as the dark knights here have their free will it will be difficult for them to co-operate." Hush explained. "I need you to use your talent to ensure that their minds are in a 'happy' place as you would call it to weaken their mental stability."
"Ah yes I can do that for you." Hatter snickered as he moved to the young heroes and pulled out his golden watch.
"Hey, why don't I just use my power to weaken their mental states?" Gallagher asked.
"Because, I need them to think that they are in Heaven not Hell, Mr. Gallagher." Hush chuckled as he watched Jarvis go to work.
"Come little children follow the white rabbit down the rabbit hole, come tumbling and stumbling as you all go, forget your problems and you're worries as you land, for you are all in awe in the glory of Wonder Land." Hush muttered as the young heroes let out sighs of content. Jarvis looked over every one of them to make sure his spell worked. He chuckled in glee as he looked over to Hush and nodded.
"Ace if you would please." Hush said as a small short raven haired girl with manic eyes stood next to him. She wore a one-piece suit all white except for her right sleeve and a clover on her left breast. She raised her hands over the young warriors and emitted a blinding light. Everyone turned away for an instant before it quickly faded away as everyone looked down at the young warriors in awe.
Nightwing was now wearing an all-white jumpsuit with red boots and gloves and a mask covering his head which had a red diamond on the top, Batgirl was now wearing a black miniskirt with a set of matching boots and glove and a white top with a spade crest on her left breast and a black mask covering her eyes and her hair went from bleach blonde to jet black and tied in pigtails. Robin's appearance had a similar resemblance to Nightwing's but his suit didn't have sleeves and his mask only covered his eyes. His symbol was a heart which took up the entirety of his chest. Hush was amused at the sight of his new royal flush gang as he started to chuckle.
"Very good Ace but," He said as his vision looked over to Batman's wall which held numerous photos some even with him and Jayden or Sparrow at the time. "We will need more members."
(Present time)
Jayden let out a gasp of air as he looked around to see where he was. He saw nothing but a blinding white light and for a moment he thought it was Heaven. That was until he heard the sound of beeping and looked over to see medical supplies and a heart rate monitor as it continued to beep.
Jayden let out a sigh of relief as he ran his hand down his face. The last thing he remembered before passing out was how he and his friends were jumped by Gallagher and…Gallagher!
"Oh crap!" Jayden growled as he turned over on his bed and fell off the edge. He landed on the ground with a loud 'thud' as he heard a few people enter the room. He looked over to see Hilary, Marcus and Christina rush over and help him back into his bed.
"Jayden, you must calm down or else you will reopen you're wounds." Christina warned.
"Wha-what happened, where are we?" Jayden strained as he started to calm down.
"We are in one of our secret hideouts, down in the slums." Hilary asked. "It was the closest place we could help you guys."
"Wait what about Sam his arms were ripped off for god sakes." Jayden snapped.
Everyone looked even more solemn as they looked over at Jayden's left. Jayden looked over as well and his eyes widened in horror at what he saw. Sam Jackson, Gauntlet his witty comeback, fire manipulator and most of all, friend was lying on a table with an oxygen mask over his face and bloody bandages over his torn shoulders. Jayden looked down at the base of his feet to see that his arms were lying there in a neat row no longer emitting that orange hue.
"Is he…" Jayden struggled to say but was cut off by Marcus.
"No, we were able to save him, but his arms…I afraid he's done." Marcus muttered hanging his head in shame.
"God dammit all!" Jayden groaned as he ran his hands over his eyes. "What the hell happened out there, how did we let this happen?"
"They got the drop on all of us." Ronin said as he was accompanied by Whisper. "Bruticus cheated Thanatos and used a kill switch to deactivate him and they had already planted explosives all around the area. Some were even sleeping gas so that explains how they got Dusk and Reaper."
"You know what I really don't care." Jayden snapped. "Look at Sam!"
Everyone looked over at the young demigod and immediately felt their spirits fall as they stared at their young friend. Jayden let out another scream as he gripped his hair and began pulling on it. He was about to rip out a few locks when Christina calmed him down.
"Hold on, I was waiting for Sam's blood pressure and heart rate to drop before I began operating on him." She said as Jayden snapped at her.
"What are you gonna do sow his arms back on?" He asked rhetorically.
"Watch." She said as she stood over Sam.
She then started to undo the bloody bandages on his shoulders and threw them away. She then proceeded to pick up his arms and place them both back in their original places. Once she was absolutely sure they were perfectly aligned she held her hands over the gap between his shoulders and arms. Everyone looked at the girl with confusion before two big glops of shiny metallic gel plopped right on his wound. Everyone leaned in to get a closer look and saw the tiny metallic parts of the gel moving. After a few minutes the gel covered the entirety of Sam's shoulders and after about ten minutes the gel moved off of the table and climbed back inside of Christina's hand. Evryone looked back at Sam and they're eyes widened at what they saw. Both of Sam's arms were perfectly healed. There was some scarring but it was very unnoticeable, everyone then looked back over at Christina who had a smug grin on her face.
"Christina, how did you do that?" Hilary asked.
"Nano Machines." She said. "You see I wasn't just some clone made to be a medic. I was made to be a new kind of being, one that can cure any ailment. Those scientists spent nearly three million to crate me giving me all the knowledge and skill to get the job done."
"And Sam's arms?" Jayden asked.
"It was like putting together a puzzle," She chuckled. "You just have to put the right pieces in the right places, but I'm still only a medic, so let's say you get your head cut off or brains blown out then I would just order a casket and call it a day."
"Okay I get it." Jayden groaned as Christina let out a sigh. She turned to walk out of the room when Jayden stopped her. "And thanks, for saving him." Christina chuckled as she looked back at the warriors.
"No problem, we misfits have to stick together." She said as she left the room.
As she left Jayden turned to the rest of his team to figure out what their next move was gonna be.
"Okay, first thing is first, you," Jayden said as he pointed at Whisper, who was leaning against the wall of the room in front of Jayden's bed. "Who are you?"
"My name is Whisper," She said as she tilted her fedora up to reveal her mask which was a black checkered pattern and her outfit was mostly black and leather. Her trench coat, boots and gloves even her jumpsuit which Jayden could see from her legs. "I've actually wanted to join you for a long time."
"Why join us?" Hilary asked.
"I need help with a certain problem, but it can wait." She said gruffly. "I knew you would be in the neighborhood that night when those mechs started attacking but I didn't realize it would be a total cluster fuck of a mess."
"She did help us out boss." Marcus said. "She came in before they took you and chased away Leonae and Gallagher."
"Okay, but if you want to join me you-"
"Need to do as I say, follow my instructions and if you fail you're done." Whisper mocked. "I was taught everything I needed to know by Question and he gave me the same talk."
"Question, I think I've heard of him," Jayden pondered. "Yeah, he was blacklisted from the J.L.A for being crazy or something."
"He's is not crazy!" Whisper snapped. Everyone gave her a cautious glare before she calmed down. "Sorry, but the man trained me to be a great fighter and a detective. He's my mentor and I just lose it when people refer to him being crazy."
"I didn't mean any offense." Jayden defended. "Truth be told his methods were what helped drive me to become Shadow. Anyways, if you are with us and dedicated then we'll be happy to have you."
"Really just like that?" Whisper asked as she cocked her head at them. "How can you be so sure, I could be a double agent who was waiting for the opportune moment to save you and get inside you're headquarters."
"You're not an agent, I know from the way you talk and the way you acted when you saved us." Jayden stated. "But if you do even think about betraying me I will kill you."
"Noted." Whisper grunted causing Marcus to laugh.
"I like her she is dangerous as she is clever." Marcus chuckled.
"Yeah, she did pull some sick moves against Bruticus." Hilary stated.
"And we are gonna need all the help we can get if we're even gonna think about making a move on Hush." Ronin said.
"Alright kid you're in." Jayden said as he held out his hand. Whisper grunted and shook his hand as they finally sealed the deal. That's when it hit Jayden.
"Oh crap, Thomas." He exclaimed as he rushed out of his room and into the next. There he saw Thomas sitting on a medical table with Christina still treating his wounds. He looked up at jayden as he entered the room and smiled as Jayden walked up to him. "Are you alright?"
"He cheated Jayden." Thomas chuckled as Jayden looked at him confused.
"What do you mean?" Jayden asked.
"Bruticus, he and I didn't even fight." He chuckled. "He used some kind of kill switch on me and deactivated my armor."
"Wait, so does that mean you can't turn back into your robot form?" Jayden asked timidly, not wanting to upset his friend.
"Yeah, he said that my father designed it when he made me in case I ever went rouge.
Thomas grunted. "I was a killing machine, a helper of peace a Shadow Warrior and now….nothing." He grunted as he looked at his hands.
"I don't believe that." Jayden stated coldly.
"I know it's hard to believe." Thomas chuckled.
"No, I mean I don't believe that you are nothing." Jayden grunted as Thomas looked up at him. "I also don't believe that your father would give you a kill switch. Hell I don't even think it is a kill switch because if it was you would be dead."
"But Bruticus said,"
"To hell with Bruticus," Jayden snapped. "Just tell me what the kill phrase was."
Thomas was silent for a moment before Christina placed a hand over his. He looked over at her, his gold eyes meeting her light blue eyes as he told Jayden what Bruticus said.
"First he made some quips about how feeble I was compared to him and how human I was." Thomas sighed. "Then he told me that I didn't deserve this power and then he said my kill phrase 'Live well and die well Thomas' and then my suit just deactivated on the spot. That's when he started throwing me around."
"You see, right there." Jayden pointed out. "It wasn't a kill phrase for some killer mech it was a shutdown process for Thanatos. You're father Gree Nexro didn't view you as a weapon you were his son. He gave you that shutdown to live the life of a normal person."
"Yeah, well that doesn't matter, you know why?" Thomas snapped as Jayden and Christina jumped back a bit. "I'm not ready to give up being Thanatos yet and I'm sure as hell not ready to just let that monster Bruticus take what's mine while he continues to abuse his power."
"So, get it back." Jayden stated blandly.
"What, I can't, I've been messing with this switch for the past hour and nothing's happened." He said as he motioned to the small wrist watch on his left hand.
"Thanatos isn't just tech or a suit, he's you Thomas." Jayden told him sternly as he grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look him in the eyes. "My power was never a formula it was something I was born with. Batman may have something that can suppress it but neither he nor anyone can take it away from me and the same goes for you. Bruticus he's a fool to think that you aren't worthy since he was the one too afraid to fight you head on. Thanatos doesn't make you, you make Thanatos."
Thomas didn't say anything but Jayden knew he took what he said into consideration. He looked Jayden dead in the eye and nodded as he got up from his spot on the table.
"Christina, come with me please, I'm gonna need your help." He said with confidence as he and Christina left the room and into the small lab Jayden set up a while back just in case. Jayden let out a heavy yawn as he went to bed for the night. He knew he wouldn't be able to get a good night's rest but he had to try, for his team's sake.
(!)
The next day at Wayne-Tech Lucius Fox was currently going over the numbers for their latest sales. They made progress in the Wayne Pharmaceutical by having the splicer serums legalized so parents and police officers wouldn't have to worry about any high school kids going to school as lions, tigers and bears.
Just as Fox was about to continue the doors opened at the other end of the board room as Bruce Wayne along with Alexandra Kinsley both walked in, Fox was about to greet them when he realized that Jayden wasn't with them.
"Good day Mr. Wayne." Fox said as he shook Wayne's hand. It was no different from any other time he shook Wayne's hand, but this time it just felt wrong like something cold and evil had just went through him. "And hello Ms. Kinsley." He said shaking her hand as well and just like before he got that cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Where's young Mr. Warney."
"He is busy at the moment he will not be attending this meeting." She stated in a cold demeanor.
"I wasn't aware of any meeting." Fox stated.
"Sorry, Lucius it was kind of last minute." Wayne stated as he sat at the end of the board room table.
Now Fox knew something was wrong. First off, Bruce would never just spring up a meeting with Jayden without calling him first. Second, Jayden wasn't here, if there was ever going to be a meeting with Bruce about Warney-Tech deal Jayden would definitely be a part of it. Third why would Bruce hold a meeting involving the board of directors with a competing company without the owner of the company and at the last second?
Fox kept his eyes open and his guard up should he need to make a quick exit.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am glad that you are all here today." Bruce greeted formally. "As you know we have made some great progress with the legalization of the splicer serum and of course our contract with the oil companies and government contractors as well, but I think it's time that we expand our horizons and do more for our community."
"What would you have us do Mr. Wayne?" Fox asked.
"Well it's no secret that Gotham is nothing but a criminal's playground. People can't even walk home at night without getting mugged, rapped or murdered. I think my parents are a prime example of that." Bruce said as he got a few nods of approval from some of the board members.
"So you want us to donate money to the G.C.P.D?" Fox asked.
"Donate money?" Wayne snapped. "For what, corrupt cops who turn a blind eye to a poor girl getting raped, or a truck full of illegal drugs getting towed away to a schoolyard or mobsters killing people. No, I'm talking bigger and more solid. Something that can't be bought or bullied, ladies and gentlemen I present to you the defense system known as Bruticus."
Just then a giant red root with golden edges walked through the doors of the board room and stood in front of everyone. Everyone leaned back cautiously as they observed the giant mech. Fox was definitely starting to panic as he looked towards Wayne.
"Mr. Wayne, you can be seriously thinking about letting this thing roam Gotham freely can you?" Fox asked.
"No of course not." Wayne stated which relived Fox momentarily. "I'm gonna have over fifty of them for starters, and thanks to Ms. Kinsley and Mr. Warney's government contracts we can get fifty well trained soldiers in these suits and protecting the streets of Gotham."
That did it. Fox was definitely convinced that something was wrong with Bruce. He would never suggest something as bold and reckless as putting robots out on the streets. He was about to say something when his cell phone started to buzz. He carefully pulled it out so Wayne wouldn't see and saw that the number was a private caller.
He tapped the screen and saw that it was a text message.
"Get out." Was all it read as Fox carefully examined the room.
Just then right behind where Wayne was standing the window suddenly cracked as something flew right into it. Everyone jumped as Bruce quickly got out of the way as something hit it again this time shattering the window. Fox then heard something like a gunshot hitting the building as the Bruticus robot started going berserk.
"Shot's fired three hundred yards away." He shouted as he flew off towards the building.
Fox then took the opportunity in the confusion to get out of there. He quickly made his way to the doors and ran down the hall, not too fast to draw attention but not too slow to get attacked. He was just about to get in to the elevator when someone threw a bag over his head and started to restrain his hands. He was then dragged off to some unknown location as he heard an explosion somewhere in the distance.
After what felt like an eternity Fox felt the cold air hit his skin and he knew he was outside. He then heard a car door open as he was thrown into a cushioned seat he was positioned between two men as the bag was taken off his head. He looked up at the driver and recognized the driver to be Marcus, Jayden's chief of security.
"Buckle up." He ordered as every put their seatbelts on. He looked to his left and then his right and he couldn't believe who he saw.
"Bruce?" Fox asked in confusion.
"Hello Lucius." Bruce greeted casually.
"Alfred?" Fox asked as he looked back at his left.
"Mr. Fox, always a pleasure." Alfred greeted as he looked up at the passenger's seat. "You remember Master Warney don't you?"
"Hey Lucius." Jayden greeted without looking back as he told Marcus to drive the SUV away from the building as he made a call on his phone. "Hitgirl, are you okay?"
"Pfft, look at who you're asking. " She gloated on the other line. "I was long gone by the time Bruticus even got there. I even left a surprise for him."
"Yeah, the whole goddamn city knows." Jayden grunted. "Did you really need a bomb; you didn't even use enough explosives to kill him."
"I know I just wanted to piss him off, who knows maybe they'll even blame him for the explosion." Hitgirl suggested.
"Doubtful, Hush will definitely pull some kind of crap, anyways are you and Ronin okay?" Jayden asked.
"Yeah, we're heading back now. Sorry I didn't get Hush." Hitgirl admitted shamefully.
"Don't worry, our goal was to get Fox, Hush can wait." Jayden said, hoping she would feel better.
"Okay, we'll see you in a bit." Hitgirl said as she hung up.
"What is going on, will someone explain please?" Fox asked.
"Hush made a move on me and the Shadow Warriors Lucius." Bruce explained to his friend. "He's using Ace and Jarvis to manipulate my team and Shadow's team to do his bidding.
"What the hell would he do that for?" Fox asked.
"He's still after his goal of ruining my image and what my parents stood for. He's going to use Jayden's team to destroy me and then use Ace to destroy the team."
"Not only that but he's planning on using Jayden's company resources to authorize the use of those battle armor suits we confiscated. He said that he would get real soldiers to pilot them, whatever that means." Fox explained.
"Of course, those Nano chip grunts we fought can pilot them, but they can't fight," Marcus explained. "But if he gets well trained US soldiers piloting them he will have his own private army."
"Yeah, but some of those soldiers can't be manipulated by those chips, it screws with their combat capabilities due to their mental resistance." Jayden explained.
"Not if he gets Ace and Jarvis to manipulate them like he did Ally and my team." Bruce stated getting everyone's attention.
"Of course," Jayden exclaimed. "I was under Jarvis's spell once. While my mind was off in la-la land my body was out here kicking ass just as good as I did in my own free will."
"And as long as he controls our friends he controls some of the Shadow Warriors, even shift the blame to them to get support." Marcus stated.
"Hush has really given this plan some great thought." Alfred commented.
"Yes, he will stop at nothing until I am either dead or broken. Same goes for you Jayden." Bruce said causing Jayden to grunt in annoyance.
"Hush started this war and I am going to finish it." Jayden growled as he and his friends drove off into the city.