Chapter 38: Vengeance

Authors Note: Okay, I finally got my own laptop so no more sponging off others for theirs. Only this one's a little smaller and I have to get used to the keyboard. So if you see any spelling mistakes. My bad, okay let's get started then shall we? Also, I'm glad I was able to get some attention from some readers about Flynn's secret project. It will be explained in time. So now here we go. Also, this chapter will have a scene based on a video game. Can you guess which one? I'll give you a hint when the scene starts it will only feature Hitgirl and no one else.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.

In a crummy little apartment in the slums of Gotham a young blonde haired boy around nineteen years old was sitting alone in his living room currently typing away on his computer. He was working on a college paper for his master's degree and in time become something better. He sat on the floor because he couldn't afford any furniture and was fidgeting the entire time. He looked over at the door to make sure it was locked and reached down to the waistband of his shorts. He tugged them down slightly and from the back popped out a long blonde tail.

"Whew, that feels better." The boy sighed as his tail waved around freely.

Just as he was about to start up his paper again a light knock came to his door. Taking no chances he saved his work to his flash drive and got up to answer the door. He looked through the peephole and was confused to see no one there.

"Maybe I'm working too hard." He sighed.

"No, you're fine." A new voice said.

The boy jumped in panic as he turned to see a man dressed all in white, even his face was hidden by a white mask. The boy squinted at the two slits in the mask to see a pair of green eyes. The boy's eyes widened in horror when he recognized those eyes.

"L-Logan Crow?" The boy asked.

"Actually, it's Phantom." Phantom stated playfully. "I got to say it is nice to see you again Richie." Phantom said while walking towards Richie. "You haven't forgotten me completely have you? I mean you and me were best friends in Waylon's old gang. You and I were the fastest and craftiest in the bunch. We'd have those races in alleyways and free run through construction yards. The Ghost vs The Monkey. And then you just left me."

Phantom's tone grew dark causing Richie to panic. Phantom walked towards Richie while running his index and middle finger up the handle of his combat knife. Richie held out a hand in his defense trying to muster up enough words to explain himself.

"L-Logan, you don't get it." Richie stuttered. "You and Flynn were really dedicated to Waylon, but the rest of us knew his condition was only getting worse. A lot of us we took what money he gave us and he told us to forget about him and start over. And that is what I've been doing." Phantom cocked his head and raised an eyebrow before laughing uncontrollably.

"You think that's why I stayed?" Phantom said while laughing. "I only stayed to ensure Flynn and Croc's death. Once Flynn joined our gang, he and Croc were inseparable. I was just waiting for the right moment to kill them both and let their bodies rot in the sewers but Croc went rouge sooner than I expected and sent me to the hospital for a few years." Richie was starting to sweat from this man psychotic banter.

"It's been you, hasn't it?" Riche asked. "You're the one who's been killing all of our friends!"

"Yeah, Gary said the same thing." Phantom mused. "I offered him the same choice as everyone else to join me, but he said no…Okay, he actually tried to kill me but he was the weakest of the bunch. I mean what did expect to do to me. He was a failed lab experiment of a cross species between a tiger and a human. He was nothing compared to me."

"You're sick!" Richie snarled.

"No, I just wanted my old team, but you were all soft." He sighed in disappointment. "I guess you'll be revoking my offer as well?"

Phantom looked over to where Richie was standing only to see that his apartment door was open and Richie was gone. Phantom let out a heavy sigh and stormed out the door.

"They always want to do it the hard way." Phantom groaned as he took off after Richie.

Richie was running for his life. He was running down the streets hard as his feet slammed against the pavement. His lungs were burning from breathing so fast and his heart was pounding so fast that it felt like it would stop at any second.

He took a turn down an alleyway and immediately jumped onto a nearby fire escape. He reached up and grabbed the bottom rung of the ladder. He lifted his feet up as if he weighed less than a feather and climbed up the ladder and into the building in a matter of seconds.

"I still got it!" He grinned as he kept on running.

Richie was now in an abandoned building which was completely run down and empty. He made his way towards what he assumed was an exit, but he never made it. He fell to the ground when he felt something strike his leg. Richie let out a scream and looked down to see a custom made knife sticking in his leg. The handle was black, but there was a crest at the point where the handle met the blade. It was gold crest with a red cross and the blade was stainless steel, or it was.

"You could have joined me brother." Phantom said, still hidden in the room. "But no you had a big shot and forget where you came from." He taunted.

"No, I remember where I came from." Richie grunted. "I also remember who my friends are. You, you are not my friend. You're a monster."

Just then Phantom appeared from out of the darkness and stood over Richie. His green eyes glared down angrily at Richie as he reached down and yanked his knife out of his leg. Richie let out a scream in pain but was cut off when Phantom turned him over on his back.

"Do me a favor," Phantom said. "When you see all our friends tell them I said hi."

Richie spat in Phantom's face. His face was protected by his mask, but his pride was however wounded by his harsh action. The streets were so empty that night that no one heard Richie scream.

(!)

The sky was pitch black as a small boy dressed in a suit and tie walked down the lonely road. Tear streamed down his face while he slowly walked step by step. He felt an ominous presence lurking in the shadows of the woods when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned around and his eyes widened in horror at what he saw.

His shadow rose from the ground and towered over him, taking the form of a cloaked figure. In his hands a long scythe appeared out of nowhere and he figure wrapped its skeleton hands around the scythe. The boy looked up to see that the persons head was covered by a hood. The boy squinted his eyes to see that the persons eye were glowing red out of his skeleton head.

The boy's eyes went from confused to shock when he recognized the figure to be none other than death itself. The boy fell back in horror when death's right hand reached out to the boy. Only death never touched him. It was interrupted by a man who looked similar to the boy.

"DAD!" The boy exclaimed.

"Run Flynn!" His father shouted. And Flynn did that. He ran.

(!)

Flynn shot up from his bed covered in sweat trying to figure out where he was. After taking a few breathes he knew he was still home and still alive. Letting out a sigh of relief he fell back onto his bed and turned his head to his alarm clock. It read nine thirty, so he thought it was a good time to get up and get some breakfast before going to work.

After slipping on some sweat pants and a shirt he walked out to the kitchen to see that Sarah and Ally were making breakfast while the rest of the crew were just sitting around talking. Sam was currently pacing around as he told his story.

"So me, Blaze, Jason and Zack were just walking home after practice to go get some grub." He started. "When suddenly we hear some lady screaming at the top of her lungs. On instinct we rush over and were ready to beat the crap out of an attempted mugger, rapist or abusive boyfriend. But what we weren't ready for was a giant bat towering over a young woman."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Sam who had his arms spread out like bat wings. Sam looked at everyone before sitting back down embarrassed.

"What, don't you guys think that's scary?" Sam asked in a weak voice.

"Sam, let me tell you something." Blaze said as he sat next to his friend. "In our business we have fought mud men, cyborgs, a face stealer, a clone of me who can shoot ice, a man who thinks he's a fairy tale character, an ice man and a whole crap ton of animal people who altered their D.N.A. Why on earth would we find a giant bat man scary?"

"Well you pretty much just answered your own question right there buddy." Sam said sheepishly.

Flynn shook his head and sat down on the end of the couch which Hilary and Marcas were sitting on. Hilary got up right away and sat at the counter where Ally and Sarah laid out the food. Flynn knew she was still mad at him and so did his crew when some of them like Marcas and Max gave him a stern look while Sam and the rest of the kids gave him sly grins. Not wanting his awkward love life to be this morning's attention he decided to change the subject.

"So, this man bat, do you think it's one of Slade's plans or one of Cole's splicers we missed?" Flynn asked.

"Neither." The voice of their leader said as he and Thomas entered the room. Thomas placed his hologram projector on the coffee room table and activated it from his wrist computer. An image of a brown haired man in his forties appeared in the center for all to see. "His name is Kirk Langstrom also known as Man-Bat. He was reported missing by his wife Francine yesterday evening."

"Yes, I remember him." Marcas said. "He specialized in bat genetics. Like Cole, he wanted to give humans bat like abilities like their sonar with the intent of curing a human of being deaf."

"Wow, gold start Marcas." Thomas said. "Yes, as he said it was his intention to create a cure for the weaker hearing and in sheer desperation he injected himself with the serum and ended up turning into a Bat like creature. While under this affect he is nothing but a mindless creature that does nothing but terrorizes and destroy."

"So what he decided to go on a bender?" Blaze asked. "Let's just eat our breakfast, wait till night and waste the bastard."

"You don't understand though, Blaze." Max said. "I remember watching the news, which he did a segment vowing to Gotham that on his wife and kids he would never become Man-Bat again."

"He's right," Jayden said. "He wouldn't jeopardize losing his life over n old feeling, which brings us to our next targets." Thomas clicked a few key pads and two figures popped up. "Edward E. Nigma and Richard Teach. Also known as Blackbeard." That earned a few chuckles from the crew even Ally and Sarah who were hiding their grins behind their cooking. Hillary was unimpressed however. Instead her eyes narrowed at the black bearded man. Her blood started to boil as countless memories went through her mind. She continued staring at

"Yes, yes I know the name is ridiculous, but it isn't like that." Jayden waved off. "He says that he is a descendant of famed pirate Edward Teach, the real Blackbeard. He said that one night when he was young man he was haunted by the ghost of his ancestor and told him who he was. Afterwards he started his own gang and moved to Gotham two years ago. He claimed however, that even though he named himself after his ancestor that he was not going to stoop as low as to dressing up and talking like a pirate. He claimed that he was evil not crazy, so he wouldn't act like Joker, Scarecrow and the rest of our traditional cartoon loony's."

"Wait, I mean this is a good lesson and all, but what does this have to do with Langstrom?" Sam asked.

"I was getting to that." Jayden stated. "You see while in Arkham, Blackbeard and Riddler became buddies due to Blackbeard's intellect. After a few riddles the two took a liking to each other and decided to team up. Last night Black Mask and his crew were all taken out by a bat like creature. Black Mask lived, but he isn't going to be causing any more harm anytime soon."

"So, Blackbeard and Riddler are holding his family hostage?" Jason asked.

"No, the family is perfectly fine." Thomas said. He then clicked a few more buttons bringing up some security videos. One of the videos was blurry but everyone knew that the image was that of Man-Bat. Thomas clicked a few more buttons and was able to enhance the image for a clearer view. Thomas then zoomed in on Man-Bat's neck and everyone tried to make out the collar around his neck. "This collar is rigged with enough explosives to level a house."

"So that's the case then." Sam mused. "Do what I say or you're fired."

"Ugh, dammit Sam." Jayden grunted as Sam smirked coyly at him. "Yes, he is being held hostage by Blackbeard and we have to save him and take down Blackbeard. Any questions?"

"Yeah, how did a street thug like Blackbeard get a scientist and monster like Man-Bat under his control?" Blaze asked. "I mean where did he get the collar?"

"Well, Langstrom hasn't touched the serum that transforms him in a long time." Jayden explained. "He can't just do it at whim like I do with Adonis or like you and Sam do with your powers. My guess is that him and Riddler worked together to detain him and Riddler used his knowledge to make that collar and control him."

"Okay, well what's the plan?" Max asked.

"I don't know when they will attack again, but for now we each split up and search the town, tonight." Jayden said. "And if you catch wind of anything then you call in the team. Do not be heroes you call in the team, understood?" Everyone muttered yes but Jayden was not satisfied. "Understood!"

"YES!" Everyone snapped.

"Good, now everyone have a good day and I will see you tonight." Jayden said as he picked up his briefcase and headed for the door. Before he could leave someone stopped him.

"Hey, what is this down here?" Flynn asked.

Jayden turned back and saw a file on more recent crime. More specifically the ones last night.

"A poor soul was found mutilated last night." Jayden said in a low voice. "Probably some sick fuck looking for kicks. I'll see you tonight." Jayden finally left the room as did everyone else after a while.

Flynn looked at the hologram for a little while longer and decided to look through it until he felt someone tug at his ear. He let out a grunt when someone twisted his ear and looked out the corner of his eye to see Ally with a deadly glare in her eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Flynn snapped tugging his ear out of her hands.

"You promised Hilary you would take her out last night." She grounded out. If Flynn wasn't at least on edge before he was now.

"I had something important to do." He defended but Ally still wasn't buying it. "Come on it's not a big deal. I'll make if up to her another time."

"That's what you said last time and that 'other time' you mentioned was last night you lying bastard." Ally snapped. "If you ever do something like that again I will kick the crap out of you understood?" Flynn nodded and she backed off a little. "Now, man up and apologize to her."

Flynn nodded and got up from his seat and walked over to Hilary who was seated by the bay window. She had a distant stare on her face while she looked down at the streets of Gotham. Flynn stood there for a few seconds trying to muster up the right words.

"Hey Hilary." Flynn said sheepishly. She still remained silent while he continued his apology. "Listen about last night I'm sorry I canceled. I had a lead in my case in tracking down Phantom and I went to find Croc to see if he knew anything."

"No, you knew he knew nothing." Hilary stated bluntly. "You just wanted to see him because you were worried that Phantom had killed him, which he didn't. I don't care."

"What do you want from me they guy was like my father." Flynn said.

"Yes, was like your father, but now he is nothing but an animal." Hilary stated bluntly aggravating Flynn a bit. "Listen, don't worry about it. I don't care, you have your things to do and I have mine. Thank you, I accept your apology." She then got up from her chair and turned to Ally. "You ready to go now?"

"Yes, let's go." She said as they two started to leave. Flynn was confused and went to follow them.

"Hey, where are you going?" Flynn asked.

"I work for Ally down at Warney-Tech." Hilary said. "I'm her secretary."

"When did this happen?" Flynn asked.

"Last month." Ally said. "I needed a secretary and Hilary needed an alibi."

"Okay, I guess I'll see you guys later then."

"Yup." The two said in union and left the penthouse for work.

Flynn went back to see that file real quick before he went to work as well. He didn't know why he was so worried but he just needed to see who the victim was. He went back to the hologram and tapped the file with the exclamation mark on it.

The file popped up and Flynn's eyes widened in shock when he saw the photo of the boy who was murdered last night.

"Richie…" He whispered as tears started to stream down his eyes.

(!)

Later that night Hilary was standing outside in the rain in front of a gentleman's club called 'A Little Slice Of Heaven'. It was a fancy place covered in white lights giving it an ominous glow. This was the kind of places thugs like Blackbeard hung out. Hilary knew who Blackbeard was and what he was capable of after all, Richard Teach was the name of the man who raped and murdered her mother all those years ago.

She and her mother were both walking home from work that night. Her mother was a waitress so she couldn't afford a sitter to watch her and brought her along on the nightshifts. One night however they stumbled across a man with a black beard disposing a naked woman in the dumpster. Hilary's mother told Hilary to run and without even thinking she did. She didn't know any better. All she knew was when her mother told her to do something she did it no questions asked.

After an hour of running she turned back and when she arrived her mother was torn out of her clothes and covered in blood. She cried for hours that night and would have died if her mentor hadn't found her. He taught her to fight, to stay hidden and to survive.

She pulled out her duel .45's and crossed them over her chest feeling the power to kill course through her veins. She swore to her mother and mentor that she would make him pay.

She holstered her guns and moved to the entrance where two thugs were guarding it. Tonight she wore a black leather jacket to hide her guns so she could avoid any unwanted attention. She could have easily snuffed these guys out, but she couldn't risk alerting Blackbeard, so she just settled on bribing them.

This place was roaring with god awful techno music and reeked with greed and lust as she made her way in. The girls were dressed in all sorts of variety two pieces and were currently swinging, shaking and grinding all over then men in this hell hole.

She made her way to the bar and pulled out two hundred dollars. The bartended smirked at her and placed a glass he was currently cleaning on the bar.

"What can I do for you little lady?" He asked in a charming tone.

"Richard Teach." She said over the loudness of the music. "He used to be an enforcer for Falcone here, but was chased off when Mask took over. Word has it he's taking over again and I was wondering where I could find him."

The bartender looked her up and down admiring her curves and let out a small chuckle.

"You looking for work?" He asked. 'As if.' She thought.

"Something like that." She muttered.

"You could check upstairs, but it's not for civilians." He said. "That guy over there." He pointed over to a short stocky guy in a cheap suit. He was currently dragging a show girl by her arm and leading her to the back. "He has a card key leading to the top floor. You see he runs the place for the big guy."

"Not for long." She muttered as she threw the guy more money. "Thanks."

"No problem, and hey." He said giving her a stern look. "Be careful of this new boss guy. He's more vicious than Mask. This one girl went to complain to him and well…she went to heaven."

"What's heaven?" She asked.

"Don't know, but I do know is this. Out there you want to go there but in here. No one wants to go there." He warned.

"Thanks again." She said as she went after the manager.

She walked into the back rooms and listened for the manager. She moved all the way back passing empty rooms and ones full with frat boys and college graduates. She heard the fat bastard groan in ecstasy causing Hilary to shudder in disgust. She reached in her pocket and pulled out her mask and fastened it to her head so no one else would recognize her.

Hitgirl waited for the stripper to finish up and once she did she made her move. She heard the fat bastard talk on his phone about the girl's ass and breast and how much the boss would enjoy her. Then he mentioned the name Teach. Hilary wasted no time in pulling out her gun and outing a round in his head. She knew she could of question him but she already knew he knew nothing. She grabbed his key card off his belt and left his corpse in a broom closet as she made her way to Blackbeard's office.

She used the key card on the door and from then on out she carefully made her way in. As she snuck by multiple guards she realized that they weren't bouncers but armed thugs. She knew that Blackbeard was here she just had to find him. Along the way she came across multiple strippers putting make up on their faces and adjusting their 'uniforms' while one girl was freaking out.

"I don't want to go to heaven." She snapped while the rest tried to console her.

"Don't worry, he's just bluffing so you don't think of quitting or mouthing off to clients." One girl said.

"I'm not so sure." Another girl with a half-naked cowgirl costume said. "That heaven room didn't exist till after that new guy took over."

"What is heaven?" Hitgirl asked. All the girls looked to her but she didn't care she knew that they wouldn't squeal.

"You a new girl?" One girl asked.

"No, but I'm the one who will make that sick freak pay." Hitgirl said. She lifted her jacket fold to reveal her gun and the girl's eyes widened all at once.

"Okay look, this new guy Richard Teach. He came in and said he was taking over Black Mask's racket. We didn't care as long as we just danced we didn't do him no harm." One of the veteran girls explained. "But one night when one of that pricks thugs got ruff on her and she slapped him for it. So what does this guy do, he asked her to meet him in heaven and that was the last anyone saw her."

"I take it heaven didn't exist when Mask was in charge?" Hitgirl asked.

"Fuck no, when he came down he gathered us all up and told us all that we'd go to heaven if we didn't just do what we do."

"Okay, thanks and do yourself a favor." Hitgirl said as she threw a small envelope at each girl. "Start over."

Hitgirl left the girls and went up to the office as each girl opened the envelope. Their eyes widened when they each pulled out three grand from the envelope. Hitgirl ended a lot of careers that night. Some for the better and some for the worst.

She finally made it to Blackbeard's office and pulled out one of her .45's. He slowly reached for the nob and felt that it was not rigged and slowly opened it. Once she heard that 'click' she kicked down the door and aimed her gun around the room. To her surprise no one was there.

She looked around the office to see that it was no different from any other scumbag mob boss office and went to his laptop that was on his desk. She opened it and powered it on as the password bar came up. She tried thinking of a good password when a picture of a ship on the wall caught her eye. She looked up at the ship and then typed in 'Queen Anne's Revenge'. With luck she cracked it and browsed his files. She saw multiple listings on his gang, weapons and other stuff, but wanted to take the time to study it properly. So she pulled out a plash drive from her jacket pocket and stuck it in the computer. After a few minutes she downloaded everything and was ready to leave when she saw the door which read 'heaven' on it. Taking a deep breath she pulled her gun back out and slowly walked through the door.

Of course the word heaven was an understatement, because the room she was now in looked like an old rundown apartment building. She shook her head in disappointment remembering how freaked out the girls were when in fact it was nothing but a flop.

She saw an exit and was about to leave when she heard someone crying. Her stomach started to churn and her breathing started to get slower with each step as she stood in front of a rusted door. Not waiting another second she kicked the door down and her insides turned to ice at what she saw.

Multiple girls were locked in cages or chained to the wall each and every one of them crying and covered in blood. It was the most horrid sight Hitgirl ever witnessed and it was the most agonizing thing she ever seen. These girls looked like they were barley in their twenties and it took all of her strength not to vomit uncontrollably.

She suddenly started to feel dizzy and soon lost control of her motor skills as her fingers turned to rubber. Her gun fell to the floor and so was she when she felt someone grab her arm and pull her to their chest.

"It's alright, I got you you're safe." The voice whispered.

Hitgirl was still dizzy and could only look up at the face of death. Panic started to sink in when she realized who she was talking too. She reached up at his face with both hands and lifted the mask up to reveal the face of her former crush.

"Flynn…"