Chapter 60: Never a Dull Moment

Authors Note: Okay people now we can start getting into the real threat and the final story arc. The Trigon Arc I have been waiting for this moment for a while now and I can finally say it's here. I like to thank everyone for your reviews and support this is all because of you enjoy! Also after this Illusive Man is starting up another story so keep an eye out.

Disclaimer: I don't own Batman.

It had been a long night for everyone. After The Justice League took Slade the team did a quick report on the evening. The Outlaws took off after the attack on Gotham without a word to Shadow. He'd never admit it but he was a little hurt his friends didn't stick around. He had been friends with Arsenal for the longest hell they were together when Dick fired them and Jason was his brother. Starfire stuck up for Jayden when they were let go and as for Leonae, well Jayden didn't give a rat's ass.

Apollo was tending to everyone's wounds and Shadow allowed the Justice league to catch their breath for a tic. Jayden looked over at the doors and grinned as the young justice squad walked in.

Aqualad , Kid Flash, Superboy, Misss Martian, Tigress, Blue Beatle, Lagoon Boy, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, Bumblebee, Guardian, Static and Wolf. All of Shadow's old teammates and friends.

Shadow walked over to the team that he was once a part of and approached them menacingly. Aqualad stepped forward as the two leaders stood face to face before grinning and embracing each other.

"Long time no see Kal." Shadow chuckled. "Good to see you."

"Likewise Jayden." Aqualad said breaking away. "You and your team have done a good job holding down Gotham. Sorry we were unable to help."

"Yeah, I hear about that. Don't worry we had it under control." Shadow reassured.

"Jayden, we came here to regroup and to discuss the issue with Trigon." Aqualad said. Shadow nodded.

"Come with me, Batman, Superman lets go." Shadow said as they followed him to the war room.

Leaving the rest of the team to talk.

Marcas was still shook up from his fight with Slade and was just sitting with a bottle of Vodka and a shot glass. He downed another shot and was about to do another when a pair of skinny digits came between his mouth and the vodka.

"Hey Dinah." Marcas muttered.

"Hey Marcas." She said taking the shot. "You did the right thing you know."

"And I'm celebrating by getting piss drunk." Marcas chuckled filling the glass again. "You know before I left the Justice League I came this close to blowing Superman's brains out and wounded Flash just to find Slade and now that I found him I let him destroy Gotham, terrorize Mexico, wreak havoc on my friends and steal the souls of thousands to awaken an allegory of Satan just to poke his eye out." Marcas let out a snort and downed another shot. "What a crock of shit."

"He lost his vision and is all alone." Dinah reassured. "He wanted you to kill him and you didn't. You won, you should be proud."

Marcas didn't say anything and just had another shot. Dinah started to look at him concerned as she looked out at the Shadow Warriors.

"Has being with Jayden helped you in anyway?" She asked trying to lighten the mood. Marcas nodded.

"These guys are pretty well trained some by people we know." Marcas pointed at Ally and Sarah who were talking to Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl. "Ally there has elemental blood and can control wind. She was trained to fight and be sneaky by Catwoman and Sarah there was saved by the Question the man who saved me. Then there's Flynn who was trained by Jayden he was his first partner."

"Sounds like they all have something special about themselves." She chuckled.

"Yeah, we all help each other." He said. "We don't judge each other and we all know what it means to be a warrior."

"Sounds like they are perfect for you."

"Yeah…"

"You ever think about coming back to the League?"

"Not really."

"We wouldn't mind having you back." She admitted.

"Miss me?" Marcas teased.

"Only some of the times." She chuckled. "We were friends."

"Yeah, sorry but I have a new home now." Marcas said.

"I figured as much." She said as she wrapped her arms around him. Marcas did the same and slowly lowered his arms down to her ass. "If those hands go below my waist I will squash your balls like grapes." Marcas quickly placed his hands back in the middle of her back valuing his manhood more than a quick grope of Black Canary's ass.

Then again…

Wonder Woman was examining Sam's gauntlets carefully as Black Canary stormed pass them, her face was beet red as Marcas lay on the floor whimpering.

"These are the Gauntlets of Vulcan." Diana said. "They said he once assisted the Amazons against Trigons wrath. You are very lucky to possess his powers."

"Thanks." Sam said trying to keep his cool around the Warriors Princess. He wasn't used to a woman dressed the way she was and being so close.

"Yes this is my armor and I know it's revealing so stop staring at me like Sparrow did." Diana said as she sat next to Ally who looked a bit taken back.

"Jayden use to ogle you?" Ally asked. Diana rolled her eyes.

"He would constantly stare at my backside and when he was smaller he would press his head against my breast." She explained as she shook her head remembering the good times. "Aside from that he was sweet. He would always comment on my hair and admire my abilities as a warrior. Next to Batgirl he would always accompany me on missions."

"He liked you." Sarah teased.

"He did, he was a bright boy until Jason died and he discarded his cape and picked up a sword." She said in a solemn tone.

"You mean when he became Shadow." Ally said.

"Yes, I trained him with the blade." She said. "He was a skilled swordsman."

"But…" Sarah implied.

"But he was still in mourning for Jason." She sighed. "He was too eager to get his hands dirty and unfocused. All he wanted to do was prove to Batman that he was better than him, that he could make the world better by killing criminals."

"But he failed." Ally said.

Over at another corner Flynn along with Zack, Blaze and Mark were talking to impulse or Kid Flash, Static, Guardian and Superboy.

"So, why did you guys fire Jayden?" Flynn asked.

"It wasn't our choice." Superboy grunted as he leaned against the wall. "He and Arsenal became too wild and reckless. After they rescued us Nightwing let them go."

"A bit rough don't you think?" Zack said. "I mean being a part of the League was all he had left after Jason's death."

"Yeah, I did feel sorry for him though." Kid Flash said. "He was our friend."

"He was heartbroken too." Guardian said.

"How heartbroken?" Blaze asked.

"Breaking down and crying while still in enemy territory heartbroken." Static said. "I admit I was angry at them for it, but looking back he was ruthless. Still watching him fall to pieces so quick was bad."

"He was really that devastated, I mean he always said he quit the League and never looked back." Flynn said.

"Well yeah, you were his protégé," Superboy said. "He wouldn't be the dark ruthless Shadow if everyone knew he broke down and cried in front of everyone and Jayden would never admit it. Hell, go ask him right now and he'll totally deny it."

"Or kill me for imagining him crying." Flynn joked earning a chuckle from everyone else.

"Still, he was a great artenr, but after Jason died well it didn't work out for any of us." Guardian said. "After that whole summit with the Light and Reach betrayal Dick tried to offer him a place on the team again." This earned a sideways glance from the warriors.

"I take it he wasn't much excited as Nightwing thought?" Blaze asked rhetorically.

"He told Dick that he could go fuck himself, walked out with Starfire while grabbing her ass and flipped all of us off." Superboy said. "It took all of us to stop him from killing Jayden."

"That sound like our boss." Zack laughed.

"What about after you know…Barbra?" Mark asked carefully getting a few uneasy looks.

"After well that, Jayden didn't remember ever being one of Batman's pupils or being one of us." Kid Flash said.

"Except that he hated you." Flynn stated.

"Yeah, now you know." Superboy said. Flynn nodded.

"Now we know."

Maria and Zatanna were comparing spells, Thanatos was comparing tech with Cyborg and Blue Beetle and Jenny was talking to Batgirl. Just then Aqualad, Superman, Batman and Shadow all walked out of the war room.

"Okay everyone, we're done here." Superman said. "Shadow has updated us and we are in a mutual partnership and will do everything we can to prevent Trigon's upcoming."

"Yep, so thank you for coming but as you can see we are all tired as hell so…get the hell out." Shadow said sarcastically getting a few glares from his former teammates. "Hey come on I'm just joking. Seriously it was great seeing everyone again."

"Likewise Jayden." Aqualad said. "I hope we don't have to cross paths on bad terms in the future."

"I hope so too." Ms. Martian said.

"Thanks M'gann." Shadow said.

It took some time and some goodbyes but soon the team were now alone in their destroyed home.

"Guess we'll be spending the next few weeks fixing this up?" Jenny asked.

"Hey we've done worse damage when Leonae crashed our home, we can rebuild." Jayden reassured as Mark walked up to him.

"Hey man what about you know." Mark pointed over at Marcas who had recovered from Canary's wrath.

"Just give him some time." Jayden said.

"I'll be fine guys." Marcas reassured.

"You sure, you let the man you swore to kill leave alive tonight." Jayden said. "I know what that's like and it still tears me apart inside."

"I'll find my way to deal with it." Marcas said looking behind Jayden. "Looks like you got a girl to attend to."

Jayden didn't know when he was talking about when he felt something wrap around his neck and pull back. When Jayden turned to see who was strangling him he along with a few others eyes widened to see Ally dressed in a Wonder Woman costume. She gave him a sly grin as she turned and strutted off.

"Whose ass looks better now?" She asked playfully.

Jayden didn't answer, but instead chased after her. Everyone laughed as they each went off to their rooms. Marcas walked up to his room to grab some clothes to sleep in when he saw a black disk on his dresser.

"Don't remember this." He said as he picked it up and examined it. His eyes narrowed in at the end when he saw a red crosshair symbol on it. He waved his finger over it and it turned on instantly. A shadowy image appeared on the disk as Marcas watched what was happening.

"Marcas, if you are getting this, then Deathstroke did his job well. I originally sent him as a messenger, he thought that he was supposed to capture you. But he was wrong. If he was to capture you, I told my agent Red Saber to kill him and give you this, for this is your legacy. Your life up until now has been nothing but cloaks and daggers, and now I am about to lift the curtain from your eyes. Marcas I am your father. It may sound cliche and ironic, but it's true. Anton Valitov was not your father, I am. Now your mother was real, oh yes she was, but Anton was an agent of her organization which greatly opposes mine. Many years ago our marriage had a fallout, and she figured that I was going to make you my heir to lead our organization to glory! She on the other hand sought to give you freedom...Ha! There is no such thing as freedom, I told her, but she didn't believe me. Anyways, I hope that you seek the truth sometime soon and find your old man. Chao."

Marcas was shocked beyond belief. He couldn't hear the creaks of the house of the whisper of the wind. Everything came to a sudden standstill as his hands started to shake. Suddenly, he dropped the projector and fell to his knees clutching his head. He shut his eyes tight but opened them when he started seeing red crosshair symbols in his vision.

He then started to have visions, but they were not his own. He saw his mother smiling and giggling as a hand rose up to caress her cheek. Then in a flash he is walking down a hallway with white banners hanging on the wall each bearing the same symbol. He felt another surge of pain shoot through his head as he suddenly saw his mother carrying him as a baby through the snow. His eyes widened when he saw the same hand caressing his mother's cheek was now aiming a desert eagle at her. The man whose eyes he was seeing through fired the gun, but the flash sent him into another memory. His last memory was the memory of his old mansion the one where he grew up in, in Russia.

In a flash Marcas was back in his room as the hologram started up again.

"Now that I've implanted my message into your skull, I hope that it drives you mad until you find me, and your destiny." The man chuckled again before turning off again.

"Bastard." Marcas grumbled as he saw picture of his team appear before him. That's when Red finally got it together. "This son of a bitch isn't giving me a choice. He wants me to find him."

He then looked over at his hammer and sickly and quickly grabbed them both. He felt a strong sense of justice and pride flow through his veins as he looked at his respected weapons.

"This sick bastard may call himself my father, but he isn't my father." Marcas emphasized. "Don't you worry you sick twisted bastard. I'll find you, but I won't let you go like Slade. I'll make you bleed until all the blood stops flowing from your veins."

That was a promise.

(!)

The warriors were gathered around drinking coffee and cleaning u as best they could that morning. Jayden had swept up the rest of the rubble as 'Jack' Flynn A.I robot assisted in every way possible. He quickly approached Jayden with a cup of coffee who was staring at his Rolex.

"Your French vanilla cappuccino, sir." Jack said as Jayden took the drink.

"Where the hell is Marcas?" Jayden grunted.

"Lighten up." Ally reassured, now wearing jeans and a T-shirt. "He had a rough night, he just needs some time alone."

"You got that right." Marcas said as he threw the holodisk at Jayden who caught it. "That's why I'm leaving."

Everyone froze at that.

"Leaving, why?" Ally asked a bit hurt.

"Slade wasn't my target, it was the Shadow Man." Marcas said. "And I need to find him on my own."

"But we are a team." Sam said.

"And that's why I have to go alone, this man only wants me. If I'm seen with you guys then he won't let me find him."

"What do you mean; you mean he wants you to find him?" Sarah asked.

"He's his father." Jayden said as he closed the hologram. "And he really just wants Marcas to himself. Not us."

"But we already have so much trouble on our hands." Mark said. "If we start breaking apart now who knows what will happen."

"I'll be back, I just don't know when." Marcas reassured. Everyone was still looking down sad at losing their friend.

Just then Jayden walked over to Marcas holding a wooden box in his hands.

"Then you'll need these." He said holding the box towards him.

Marcas opened the box and his eyes widened like dinner plates as he reached in and pulled out two new gold desert eagles. It was a mix, the slide was gold, the frame was black and well as the hand grip and a small red crosshair symbol was placed at the top of the grip.

"These are awesome." Marcas grinned. "You sure you want to give me these?"

"Well your other ones are scratched and dirty so yeah I want to give you those." Jayden said with a grin.

"Also this." Ally said handing him a box from her clothing store.

Red opened it and pulled out a dark red leather jacket with a pair of matching fingerless gloves.

"I figured if you would want to spice improve your look from a classic military uniform." She said as he put on his new attire. He grinned wickedly as he looked at his friends.

"Thank you all for everything." He said as he shook some hands and received a few kisses from Jenny and Sarah.

"Just remember, this isn't goodbye." Jayden said in a stern voice which made Marcas laugh.

"I know, it's see you later." Marcas chuckled.

Later on that day Marcas hopped in his Ferrari and took one last look at his H.Q and his team. Ally and Jayden gave him a reassuring nod as he nodded back at them and set off to find his answers to his past.

This wasn't goodbye this was hello. To the new Marcas that would one day come back to his family in Gotham a new and cleansed man free from the shackles of his pass.

"One day my friends, but not today."

(!)

Adrian with Cyrus at his right and Black Beetle at his left stood before a holographic image of Shadow Man.

"I assume all went to plan?" Shadow Man asked in his modulated voice.

"Yes, aside from one of my soul eaters being vaporized, it went swimmingly." Adrian said. "I assumed Marcas is on his way to you as we speak?"

"The message went off last night, I'll be seeing him soon, by the way did I ever give you my name?" Shadow Man asked turning off the modulator.

"No, but I never gave you my full name, it's Adrian Baron." He said.

"Martin Nathaniel Harper." Shadow Man said clearing the dark image revealing himself to be an older version of Marcas. "I am curious to know though what your next plan is."

"This whole escapade has given me a few new souls, but I need more for one last orb and I think I know how." Adrian said with a grin.

"Well don't keep me in suspense." Martin chuckled as he sipped his whiskey.

"By placing a large bounty on the warriors." Adrian said causing Martin to laugh.

"No one in their right mind would go after them after the beatings they have been giving out." He chuckled as he looked off screen. "Hell if my associate Red Saber wasn't a vampire the cops would be mopping him up outside of Wayne Tower right now."

"You underestimate the power of greed my friend, it is one of the most corrupting sin ever to exist." Adrian grinned with a dark twinkle in his eye. "When I offer my bounty every crime lord, mob boss, super criminal, mercenary group, street gang, hoodlum and even twitching meth heads looking for a fix will be after them. And that's when we harvest their souls for their dark energy."

"How much you offering to kill them." Martin asked taking a puff from his cigar.

"One billion dollars." Adrian snickered in a low voice.

Martin choked on his smoke when he heard that. He pounded his chest trying to cough out the smoke as he looked at his associate.

"What in the hell makes you think they will fall for that and what will happen when they come to collect the bounty?" He asked in disbelief earning a surprised look from Adrian.

"What makes you think that these bounties will even last a night before the warriors slaughter all of them?" Adrian asked playfully as a grin grew on Martin's face.

"Adrian, this is the start of a beautiful partnership." Martin said raising his glass to his associate.

"And the start to a better world."