Chapter 32: Retribution: Part 1

Authors Note: Okay, a lot of people are excited and have given me a lot of ideas Light seeker 001 is one of them, but I also got a few more Christmas ideas too some from Daniel Wilks and some from Light Seeker. As for oc's I got Age Zen (Ronin) Jedimasterchris (Reaper and Hitgirl) Dragonslayer 223 (Whisper) and a new oc by Stone cold who will be revealed later before the final arc which consists of Red crosshairs owned by illusiveman.

I want you to know I'm not trying to rush I just want to give each character their dues while having them interact with the rest of the team. For example Reaper and Dusk have shared a bond and Hitgirl and Red Crosshairs have formed a pretty good alliance so I just want to show how each different character interacts with one another. Okay I've rambled on long enough let's get started.

Oh and FYI yes I know I screw up with Jervis Tecth's name I was typing away so fast that I spelled it Jarvis instead of Jervis and when I went through to check for error I didn't see the little red line as for the tech part same thing I probably just forgot the 't'. Okay game time people/

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah blah blah.

Back at the temporary headquarters Jayden and the rest of the gang along with Fox made it back safely and were surprised to see Sam sitting on the couch watching TV. Everyone quickly rushed over to see how he was doing as Jayden casually walked up to him.

"Sam, geez are you alright?" Hilary asked.

"I'm fine, my arm sockets are pretty sore," He explained. "But Christina said that as long as I don't move around too much I should be good to in a couple of days."

"That's good to hear, because we're gonna take Hush and his crew down in a couple of days." Ronin said.

"Great." Sam deadpanned as he slouched down on the couch. Marcus then nudged Jayden getting his attention as he motioned towards Sam. Jayden let out a sigh as he sat next to Sam.

"Sam, listen." Jayden started as he took a deep breath. Sam had a concerned look on his face as he sat up on the couch. "They have Kris."

"What, Ow dammit!" He snapped as he shot up from the couch but fell back down as he grasped his shoulder. "How and when did this happen?"

"The night we all got attacked, Leonae brought her to Hush way before we even fought those mechs." Jayden explained.

"Where is she?" Sam growled.

"We don't know but we're looking." Jayden reassured, but still failing to calm Sam down.

Just then the screen started to go off as a call was being made to them on an unknown channel. Bruce was about to answer when Jayden pushed his aside and answered it. On the screen opened up to reveal Kris looking torn up, probably from her captors abusing her every chance they got.

"Kris!" Sam shouted.

"Sam!" She gasped as everyone looked over at the screen. "Listen I don't have much time so I have to be brief. I was locked up in Bruce's office with Brutiucs's electronic cuffs on my hands when suddenly someone tried to kill Hush, the man who is disguised as Bruce."

"Yeah, we already know who we're up against." Whisper snapped as she rushed up to the screen from out of nowhere. "Now quit wastin what little time you have and tell us what you need to tell us."

"Hey," Sam snapped as he got up to confront her, but was stopped by Kris.

"No, she's right." Kris reassured. "Look as I was saying I was locked up when someone tried to kill him. Just then my cuffs turned off and someone called me on my cell phone. I answered it and some woman who called herself Oracle answered me. I asked her what she wanted but she quickly told me to do what she said and I would be fine. She told me where to move and where to go which was in the R&D lab. She told me to go to a vent and when I got there I found this little robot spider. After I found that she led me back up to Bruce's office and inside she led me to his panic room. That's where I am now."

"Oracle," Jayden pondered then it hit him. "Barbra."

"What was that?" Kris asked.

"Nothing, what's on the spider?" Jayden asked.

"Evidence to prove that Hush is fake, his goal and his phony Royal Flush Gang." Kris explained. "I downloaded them to your channel you should be getting it now."

In a few seconds a mail icon appeared on the screen as Jayden went over to a terminal and opened it. Sure enough everything Kris had said was true everything was on there, even a video explanation of Hush's crimes.

"Great job Kris." Sam exclaimed.

"There's one more thing though." Kris said as her mood started to drop. "They already attacked the Mayor of Gotham on his way home. Hush used the Royal Flush Gang and he plans to blame it on Jervis."

"Dammit, which means that Hush will have his full support and in a matter of days they'll enlist the army through my contracts and Hush will soon have his own little army of mechs."

"That reminds me isn't it you're company?" Hilary asked bitterly. "Don't you have any say?"

"I dropped out of high school and didn't go to college what the hell do I know about running a company?" Jayden asked rhetorically. "Meanwhile, Ally knows everything under the sun, hell including the sun so of course she is mostly in charge of my company I just fund it so I had no choice but to give her most of the say."

"Great." Hilary deadpanned.

"Okay, look Oracle knows what she's doing we'll have you out of there in no time okay?" Jayden reassured.

"Okay," She sighed as she looked over at Sam. "And Sam, you owe me a drink when this is over."

"Bu you don't drink." He said.

"I do now, especially after all the crap I've been through." She chuckled.

"But we're under aged." He reminded her.

"…And?" She asked bluntly.

"I love you." He swooned earning himself a swat upside the head from Jayden and Hilary.

Kris's cheeks redden a little before the connection finally ended leaving behind a blank empty screen. Sam sat back down on the couch as he looked up at Jayden shaking his head.

"Dumbass." Jayden scoffed. "Okay people you heard the lady. Hush manipulated our team and Batman's team into becoming the new royal flush gang so we need to act fast."

"Our main concern is Ace." Bruce stated. "As long as Hush has her he has our men."

"Right, so we need to take her out before even thinking about going after Hush." Jayden stated.

"We don't need to kill her Jayden." Bruce scolded. "She's being manipulated by a mind control chip, the same that was being used on Theodosia."

"It was on the back of her neck so we just need to scramble that chip on Ace and we'll be good to go." Sam said.

"What about Jervis?" Marcus asked.

"He's nothing unless we're all tied to a chair." Ronin said. "What I'm concerned about is Leonae, Bruticus and Gallagher. Phantom I can probably take but those three are super powered and I can't take them by myself."

"I'll handle Leonae." Sam snarled. "He deserves what I have in store for him after what he did to Kris."

"Bruticus will be a challenge though." Jayden said as he massaged his temples. "The only person who can take him is Thanatos and he's,"

Just then the doors to the small lounging area opened to reveal Thanatos back in his black armor and silver edges. He had his sword on his back and his other weapons at hand as he stomped into the room with Christina who was also suited up.

"Thomas, you're back in your armor." Ronin stated.

"Yeah, thanks to Christina I was able to get back up to one-hundred percent capacity." He informed as he took his helmet off.

"What about the kill phrase?" Whisper asked. "Don't forget that's how Bruticus beat you before."

"I couldn't erase it but I did change it, so only Christina and I know what it is." Thanatos explained.

"Great, things are looking up for us." Jayden said with eagerness.

"Wait, we still need to figure out how to deal with Gallagher." Ronin stated.

"Speaking of which, who the hell is he and why does he know you?" Hilary asked.

"And what the hell was that power he used?" Sam grunted.

Jayden took a deep breath as he sat down on the couch next to Sam. Everyone started to listen in as they either took a seat or leaned against the wall.

"Alright, when I was fifteen around when things started to go downhill for Sparrow, it was also the rising for Shadow as well. After Jason died I started to drift away from Bruce and the J.L.A and went my own way." Jayden started. "So I threw together some gothic attire grabbed a Japanese officers sword off my wall and went out spreading my own justice. At first I was just gonna be a more…aggressive version of Batman. Cutting off limbs and putting the fear into men's hearts. It was going good for me, and as long as I stayed under Batman's radar he would never find me or know who I was. It was actually gong pretty good, until one night I met him."

"Gallagher?" Whisper asked gruffly.

"Yeas, he and some of his gang friends decided to force themselves upon a few school girls." Jayden said as his fist clenched the fabric of his jeans. "They screamed and cried and those bastards just mimicked them and continued. As you could imagine I was really angry at them, before I even knew what I was doing I was cutting them down one by one. They all lay dead before me until it was just me and Gallagher I had my sword he had a sickle, my guess is that was his calling card or something."

Jayden remained silent as the rest of his crew waited in suspense to figure out what happened between the two.

"So what did you do?" Sam asked earning a skeptical look from Jayden.

"What do you think?" He asked rhetorically.

"You killed him okay but how did he come back to life and where did he get those powers?" Marcus asked. "His shadow wasn't just bending to his will it was like it was its own person."

"Not to mention those things on his hands." Ronin stated. "I saw what happened. He used them to absorb not only you're energy but you're powers as well." Jayden said nothing as he pulled out his cellphone.

"When I find him I'll ask him." He said as he dialed a number in his phone. He held it up to his ear as someone answered on the other line. "Hey, Jenny how are you."

"I'm fine, how are you I haven't heard from Ally in days." Jenny answered.

"That's why I'm calling, is Theodosia there?" Jayden asked.

(!)

Two days later Hush organized a whole gathering with the mayor of Gotham and a four star general that was stationed in Gotham. Reporters, police and the board members were all gathered outside as ten security mechs stood in a neat row behind Hush. Hush straightened his tie and took his stand as he began to speak in the microphones.

"People of Gotham," He began as everyone quieted down. "As you know my parents wanted nothing more than to help the good citizens of this fine city. Up until now we have relied on the help of Batman and the Justice League to help us, as of late I feel that they are the cause of some unfortunate thugs that go by the name Shadow Warriors."

Everyone started to quiet down more as Hush continued.

"The Batman has corrupted the minds of our youth and turned them into blood thirsty vigilantes and monsters. We cannot allow this madness to go on any longer. We must allow our new security mechs to patrol and protect Gotham." Everyone cheered and applauded as he continued. "That is why with the help of our fellow soldiers and Wayne-Tech we will make Gotham right again."

Everyone applauded as Commissioner Gordon walked through the crowd with Lucius Fox and Bruce Wayne.

"Or do you really want the military only to manipulate them into taking over the city, Hush!" Bruce shouted as everyone gasped and Hush looked on amused. "Give it up Elliot it's over. We have evidence that indicates you breaking out and harboring criminal, manipulating innocent people, kidnapping Dr. Hoenheim and Kris along with Ace and the stealing of government property."

Hush merely chuckled as he looked on at the stunned audience in amusement.

"Please, this a web of lies." Hush sneered. "For all we know he could be Batman in disguise."

"Actually Hush," Gordon grunted. "Thanks to a young lady who happens to be hold up in Mr. Wayne's panic room she got some pretty juicy evidence on you and a few other Arkham and Black Gate inmates all addressing you as Hush. We also have information that you are harboring know criminals like Leonae, Logan Crow and Frost. How do you explain that?"

Hush was starting to lose his cool as his eyebrow started to twitch and his palms began to sweat as he rubbed them against his pants. Taking a deep breath he straightened his tie and cleared his throat as he decided to hit below the belt.

"People of Gotham I have one last announcement to make." He said, breaking character as he grinned sadistically at Bruce. "Bruce Wayne is Batman."

When Hush said that he expected everyone to gasp or start bombarding Bruce with questions. Instead all they did was look at Hush like he was crazy, which he was. But why was no one reacting like he had planned?

"Hush, do yourself a favor and look behind you." Gordon grunted.

Confused, Hush did as he was told and looked behind himself only to see an oncoming fist. Hush was sent crashing into the podium breaking it upon impact as the mics let out screeching noises throughout the main yard. Hush let out a groan as he looked up to see Batman standing over him. He stood up straight as his cape cloaked his entire body. Hush was a master of disguises and he knew when someone was either real or an imposter.

This man was not an imposter.

"Give it up Hush it's over." Batman growled.

Hush only giggled as he lifted up the sleeve to his suit up to his mouth.

"Kill him!" Hush ordered as all the security mechs started to turn towards Batman. Meanwhile, down in the crowd the other Bruce also grinned wickedly as he also talked through a wrist communicator.

"Do it now." He quietly ordered as he waited for his team to respond.

As the mechs were about to open fire one of the mechs closest to Batman was suddenly hit in the head as his brains blew out of the metal helmet. Batman looked on in both confusion and disgust as another mechs brains were blown out.

Across a city block on the eighth floor in a small office building Hitgirl and Red Crosshairs were picking off the mechs one by one as they aimed their anti-aircraft rifles at the mindless drones.

"Great performance Jayden." Hitgirl stated as he loaded another round into the chamber. "I thought you played Bruce well."

"Thank you Hilary," Jayden said sarcastically. "Listen, tell Red that when the mechs outside are taken care off that you two can come give us a hand okay?"

"Okay, Red did you get all that?" Hitgirl asked as she picked off another target.

"Da!" Red said as he took down another mech.

As soon as he was done talking to his two snipers Jayden quickly broke away from Gordon and rushed over to an alleyway. Once there he was greeted by Ronin, Gauntlet Whisper and Thanatos along with two new members. Jayden quickly took off his wig and removed his suit as Ronin walked over to him and handed him a long metal briefcase.

"Thank you Ronin." Jayden said, still sounding like Bruce Wayen. Jayden reached behind his neck and unclasped a hidden voice modulator which he had been using to disguise his voice. "Great job with the modulator Ronin," Jayden said, his voice going back to normal. "I sounded exactly like him."

"No problem," He said in his usual monotone voice. "Now, what is the plan?"

"We go in and save our friends." Jayden said as he threw his coat on. "He'll be hiding behind Ace and his new Royal Flush who are also our men along with Leonae, Phantom, Gallagher and Bruticus. Everyone got your non-lethal weapons?" Everyone looked down at their belts and checked over their weapons. Knockout gas, tranquilizers and tazers. "Okay, keep calm and cool and we will save our friends."

"And don't forget about Kris, she's held up in Bruce's panic room." Gauntlet stated.

"We'll get her don't worry." Jayden reassured as he flipped his shades on. "Let's go!"

The team then regrouped with Hitgirl and Red as they all entered the building and up the stairway. They went up a couple floors when all of a sudden everyone came to a sudden halt.

"What the hell is going on?" Whisper grunted.

"Oh shit," Jayden grunted as he tried to move. "It's A-"

Before he could finish the wall they were next to started to crumble revealing Ace standing right behind it. Her manic stare read untold tortures as she pulled everyone into the large empty office floor. Ace along with the rest of the villains all stood alongside the new royal flush gang.

The first three Jayden recognized as Sarina, Dick and Tim. The rest he also knew who they were but they were all dressed in ridiculous outfits. Dusk was now wearing a vest and pants both white with black gloves and boots with a black spade on his chest. Reaper wore a black robe with a red diamond pattern on it. His scythe was also black with a red bladed edge and a diamond at the junction point of the shaft and blade. Phoenix wore a black outfit with a sleeveless shirt and a white clover on his chest and Breeze wore an elegant outfit which consisted of a red velvet top with black glove and leather pants with matching boots with a heart on the front of her shirt.

"This isn't a royal flush, it's a mess." Gauntlet snapped.

"In war names mean shit." Red grunted. "Only numbers matter."

"You have a very smart friend Mr. Warney." Hush chuckled. "But as you can see you've lost."

"Lost, what the hell are you taking about you lunatic?" Hitgirl snapped. "Everyone knows you're a fake and you can't hide from anyone anymore. It's over!"

"Over," Hush asked amused. "Look at the men I have my dear. We are enough to take out the entire Gotham City police. You interference cost me nothing but time."

"Yeah, well as soon as I free Ace from you're control and free my friends you're odds are gonna go from screwed to shit out of luck." Shadow snarled.

"You seem to be forgetting, I have the mech." Hush chuckled. Just then Bruticus walked forward drawing his great sword.

"We are all mindless puppets in life." Bruticus chuckled as he leaned the tip of the blade towards Hitgirls face. "But some of us learn to cut the strings and become our own men."

Just then before he could stab her, Thanatos crashed through the wall and tackled Bruticus out of office floor and down into the streets. On the way down Thanatos and Bruticus delivered each other's fist into the others face as they finally hit the ground. Thanatos quickly got to his feet and drew his sword ready to finally take down Bruticus.

"How is it that you're still alive?" Bruticus asked as he picked his sword up off the ground. "I activated you're kill phrase."

"My father never meant for it to kill me, he made it so it would set me free from this life of war and pain." Thanatos said through his modulator. "My father wanted me free from this life."

"And like you're foolish friends and leader you squandered that freedom for vengeance." Bruticus scoffed. "You should have just run away when you had the chance."

"And let you continue slaughtering innocent people, not a chance." Thanatos grunted as he held his sword with both hands. "This ends now, like warriors not cowards."

"So be it." Bruticus grunted.

Bruticus activated his jets and leaped towards Thanatos bringing his sword down hard. Thanatos brought his sword up and blocked his attack. The contact sent a shockwave through his arms as he pushed Bruticus off.

Thanatos then activated his own jets and flew straight towards Bruticus. He tackled him and wrapped his arms around his waist dragging him up in the air with him. Bruticus tried to break free but Thanatos gripped him tighter as he flipped around and started to descend to the ground. Bruticus crashed into the ground leaving a crater on impact.

Bruticus's helmet popped off revealing himself to be a pale white man with no hair and grey eyes. Thanatos looked down at the man in pity as he raised his sword to end his misery. Thanatos brought his sword down, but Bruticus swiped his sword at his, knocking it out of his hands. He quickly got to his feet and swiped his sword down and cut through his armor drawing some blood in the process. Thanatos let out a grunt as he dived towards him again brining his sword down on him again. The two mech fought on for a few minutes tearing off a piece of armor with every strike along with a gush of blood. When the two were finally winded from their battle their bodies were partly exposed through the crakes of their armor.

"Y-You fought well, for a weak creation." Bruticus panted. "But it over for you now."

Thanatos tried to figure out what Bruticus was talking about, but his train of thought was broken as a small plasma gun on a rail rotated on Bruticus's shoulder and fired a bolt of energy at Thanatos knocking him down on the ground. Thanatos was too exhausted from his fight to get up as Bruticus towered over him.

"Well, this is it for you whelp. This is why you fail, because you're so called team made you forget that you were made for war. This is why I am strong and you are weak. " Bruticus grunted as he aimed his gun down at the wounded mech. "Any last words?"

"Yeah, who will mourn you when you die?" Thanatos panted.

Bruticus was confused at that statement as charged up his plasma gun. Before he could fire off a shot, Thanatos fired an energy bolt out of his chest and into Bruticus's chest. He quickly got to his feet and gripped Bruticus by his exposed shoulders and with all his strength had begun to pull.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bruticus shouted as he was being physically removed from his armor. "NO!"

With one final pull Thanatos ripped Bruticus out of his armor and threw him onto the ground. The once powerful red armor turned to scrap as its ruthless owner lay weak and frail on the ground. Thanatos towered over him as Bruticus glared at him with his steel grey eyes. Bruticus took a deep breath as he tried to form words.

"Y-You don't realize what you have just done to me." Bruticus said in a weak whisper.

"Actually I do." Thanatos said as he narrowed his eyes at him. "My weak counterpart Christina or Apollo as she wants to call herself, my weak boss made her a Shadow Warrior. Anyways, before we got here she gave me an old schematic on your armor and it reads that you are bound to your suit. Meaning you can't live without it. I guess you're father didn't care about you're happiness." Thanatos's eyes then softened as he continued to stare at the fallen mech. "I really feel bad for you, you will never know the true value of life other than war. You don't know what it's like to eat or to have dreams or to love or even to live. I want a wife and a family one day, that's what my father wanted from me. To live well and die well…I truly pity you."

Bruticus lay there lifeless as he started to let out gasp of laughter. Thanatos looked at him in confusion as he looked down on him.

"See, you're compromised by your emotions." He chuckled. "You said who would mourn my death and here you are mourning my death." His laughs died down into coughs as tears started to roll down his cheeks. "I never thought I would die with a smile…let's meet again…in the next life."

"Yeah, let's do that." Thanatos mumbled as Bruticus slumped down on the ground dead. Just then a blue flame erupted from Bruticus's chest and incinerated his entire body turning him to ashes. Thanatos let out a sigh as the sound of gunfire and a few other unusual noises got his attention. He looked up at Wayne tower, which he could only imagine his friends were either winning or losing. Either way he still had a job to do.

"I'm coming my friend's, just hold on." Thanatos said as he put his helmet back on and returned to finish off Hush.

(Meanwhile)

Shadow was torn up and bloodied as a more demonic looking version of Gallagher's shadow restrained him as Gallagher twirled a small sickle around. His veins glowed amber as he held the blade up to Shadow's neck.

"I have you're girl, I have you're power and I can't die." Gallagher gloated. "You failed again Shadow. Now you die!"

To be continued.