Chapter 65: The Hand That Pulls The Strings
Authors Note: Okay everyone thank you once again for your reviews and for the support on my injustice story. I am glad you enjoyed them both and I will do my best to keep you entertained. Now we finally have a meeting of minds in this chapter. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Meh
P.S. I edit the ending of injustice sorry to those who were looking forward to that. New chapter tomorrow hopefully.
Ally was lying on her stomach in her bedroom with her kitten sleeping on the small of her back. Jayden left a while ago to bury Ace in Gotham cemetery after Ally dressed her in a beautiful white dress with a black strap around the midsection.
She heard her bedroom door open and knew that it was Jayden. She didn't make any effort to greet him or even glance in his direction. She just kept staring out the window into Gotham's night sky as he plopped down on the bed next to her.
"You're still not talking to me?" He asked giving her a sly grin.
She let out a snort and walked over to the window and looked outside. She wondered how many other couples were having their own disputes. And how many would end badly.
"Why did you not include me and the rest of the team?" She asked. "Why couldn't you trust us, me especially?"
"I needed people I could trust against the league." Jayden shrugged. "Jenny is soft, Sarah is only able when she has her mask on, Mark just joined our team a month ago same for Maria. As for everyone else they aren't as vicious as Max, Flynn and Jason. As for you I didn't want to lose you."
"What are you talking about?" She asked looking at him.
"I knew that if Ra's didn't talk I would need to make them talk." Jayden said. "I couldn't let you see how I truly do things. I needed to get vicious if necessary."
"So you didn't think I could handle it?" She asked. "Or that our friends couldn't handle it?"
"The last time I got vicious I was kicked of the Titans and my friends didn't want anything to with me." Jayden muttered.
Ally gave him a sympathetic look. He wasn't doing this for himself he just didn't want to lose anyone. She was mad at him, but at least he gave her an explanation. He lost his cool back then and it cost him his life, he just didn't want to lose anyone else because of his short fuse.
"You're not a monster." She said crawling up next to him. "The first moment I saw you, you were…beautiful."
"You always did have an eye for beauty." Jayden chuckled as he kissed her forehead.
"Don't get cocky." She warned. "I'm still mad at you for not including me or the team. Just promise me you won't go on deadly missions without at least without consulting us." She then buried her face in his chest. "I just can't stand the thought of losing you."
"Heh, that's the first time anyone's said that about me." He joked, but then decided it was enough when he felt her shudder. "I promise Ally, I will never do something like that again."
"You promise." She asked looking up at him, her dark blue eyes shining like gems.
"You know what my number one rule is?" He asked. "Never make promises you can't keep." He leaned down and kissed her lips softly. "I promise."
(!)
Phoenix was still out trying to find out where Spectra went off too. He needed to talk to her a.s.a.p. He was currently flying over the rooftops when he saw her waving at him from the top of a tenement rooftop. He cooled down and landed on the rooftop and walked up to her.
"So, how exactly did you receive these powers?" Phoenix asked.
"My father is also something of a scientist." She said. "His experiments usually involved ghost. One experiment he accidently conjured up the ghost of a low level sorcerer. I happened to walk in on his experiment and in an attempt for her to come back to life she latched onto the only living thing possible. I'll give you the short version, it didn't work. Instead I just obtained her powers."
"So you can control people and manipulate items." Phoenix stated.
"Yep." She smiled. "But I take it you wanted to ask me about something other than my powers?"
"Um, yeah." Phoenix said sheepishly. "Look, Kaitlin you are a good person and a beautiful woman and if thing were different I would definitely date you. But, Theresa and I we have a lot in common and we also don't have anyone else in this world. My parents were murdered and she's a clone and um…"
"Can we just skip the sappy talk and get to the part where we can still be friends?" She giggled. Phoenix blushed at the comment and looked her in the eyes.
"Can we still be friends?" He asked.
"Sure, besides now that I've found you it will be hard to get rid of me." She winked and pecked him on the cheek. "Now go get your girl little bird." With that she flew away into the night as Phoenix made his way home.
The next morning the team were gathered in the living room relaxing and eating breakfast. Jayden and Ally were the latest to get up as they joined their comrades.
"Hey look who's up." Hilary grinned. "You two kiss and make up?"
"Yep." Ally grinned as she sat in Jayden's lap.
"Look guys about what happened with me not including most of you, I'm truly sorry." Jayden said. "I know I've been a crappy leader and haven't included you guys a lot, but I just didn't want to lose you guys."
"You're never losing us boss." Mark said.
"Yeah, a lot of us don't have anywhere to go." Sarah said.
"Not to mention the justice League wouldn't take us and we've still got Trigon to worry about." Maria said. "Which reminds me of something do you guys remember that book I found in Mexico."
"The one that looked like it came from world of war craft?" Sam asked.
"Yes, dummy." Maria rolled her eyes. "It is actually a spell book from the city of Azarath." Maria stated with a big smile.
"You mean the place where Raven was born?" Max asked.
"Yes, and the page Javier was obsessed over was one that could bring the dead back to life." She exclaimed. No one could believe it.
"I don't know, seems far fetched." Sam said. "Why would someone in Azarath have anything linking to Scath's return?"
"Well it isn't all there." Maria stated as she held the book out. "It's hard to make out but there are few rituals that could work, but they are labeled forbidden."
"Probably because whenever someone was brought back they didn't come back as they once were." Jayden stated as he saw a few familiar looks.
"Seth Gallagher." Flynn said which Jayden responded with a nod. "These aren't magic spells like Mystico's and Zatanna's spells they are dark magic spells."
"The kind you only see in your worst nightmares." Jason grumbled.
"Okay, from this point on we devote everything into stopping Trigon and we do it together agreed?" Jayden suggested. Everyone gave him a look of confidence and nodded.
"Agreed." They all said in union.
(!)
After that night things for the warriors couldn't have been better. The young couples continued their school work and the adults went to work and on their free time went out on dates. They went out on their patrols every once and a while but nothing major ever happened…until that day.
Jayden was in his office going through his emails when a certain email crossed his eyes.
An invitation to Oxford University down in the UK.
Jayden narrowed his eyes and clicked on the message and it opened to the usual classes and libraries and what not. Jayden wasn't interested in that. He scrolled down to see who had sent the offer and his suspicions were concluded.
"Adrian Baron." Jayden grunted. "Light."
Jayden quickly grabbed his phone and dialed in Ally's number.
"Jayden, what's up?" She asked.
"We're going to London." Jayden grinned.
(!)
The team packed their things later that night and got on one of Jayden's many private jets and flew to London. While they were on a recon mission a lot of the kids and some of the adults were a little excited. For cover Max, Mark and Maria brought their dates along with them. Just to keep the press and any other paparazzi away.
The students and parents were gathered in the auditorium waiting for the head master to come out. When the man himself finally stepped onto the stage the warriors immediately felt a chill run down their spines. He was a young twenty three year old boy who wore a black suit and tie with snow white hair he kept combed back.
Adrian Baron son of Cornelius Baron was one of the most brightest and intelligent men to ever attend Oxford. He started when he was eleven and graduated at fifteen his profession was mostly for Chaos theories. He stood before his peers and began his introduction.
"Welcome all to the tour of Oxford University." He started with a false smile. "I am glad to see so many well-mannered students and respected parents have accepted my invitation and I do hope to have you as students in the future. I once walked through these halls a young fresh mind as well. Granted I was younger than most of you, but this University has been around longer than any school in the country and its wisdom and knowledge has aided many young minds to pursue their hopes and dreams. I hope you all enjoy your tour and hope to see you in the oncoming years."
With that he left the podium and everyone clapped in his glory. Jayden and his team did so as well though not as enthused as the rest by that false speech. Jayden never once took his eyes off him and neither did he.
As everyone went to meet their tour group Adrian's assistant walked up to him with a fake smile of her own.
"Mr. Warney, Professor Baron would like to see you in his office." She said.
"Why, I mean shouldn't I stay with my kids?" He asked.
"Oh they will be fine, besides Professor Baron has a business deal he would like to discuss with you." Jayden looked back at his group and Ally gave him a nod as she and the kids walked down the halls.
Jayden let out a sigh and followed the assistant to Adrian's office. Jayden stuffed his hands into his pockets as his hands gripped the handles of his Jennings J. 22. A small conceivable handgun he liked to keep on his person.
Just in case.
His next step of insurance was Hilary on the roof across from his office aiming her w-2000. That girl knew her guns and this is why she was a Shadow Warrior.
As he approached the office he could hear what sounded like Mozart playing. It was Requiem Mass In D Minor. This boy had a taste in music Jayden had to respect that.
He stepped into his office and saw the Headmaster standing in front of the window overlooking the yard. The music was loud but he knew Jayden had arrived as he turned around and looked Jayden in the eyes.
His bright blue eyes met his multicolored eyes as the two approached each other. They were now face to face after all these months and after many battles Jayden had finally met the man responsible for it all. Adrian smiled as he held his hand out.
"Adrian Baron." Jayden said taking his hand.
"Jayden Wayne." Adrian grinned.
"It's Warney." Jayden corrected.
"This meeting has been a long time coming." Adrian said. "I've been waiting for this moment for almost a year now. Please sit." Adrian walked over to his desk and sat in his chair as Jayden sat in the chair in front of his desk.
"I've read your book before I ever knew who you really were." Jayden said. "End of Man I really thought you're mathematic statistics of how every week at least one hundred people either get murdered or turned evil. I'd be lying if I said that wasn't true. You really think we're destined for self-annihilation?" Adrian let out a dark chuckle.
"Isn't the evidence all around us?" He mused while holding his hands out for emphasis. "We wage wars for petty problems. People kill each other and steal what little possessions they have for mere cash. Even your justice league allows chaos to move about freely because they need a purpose to stay on earth. Need I remind you of Joker and Batman?"
"What's your point?" Jayden asked.
"My point is that our world is slowly dying and nothing anyone is doing seems to be working." Adrian explained. "Then I realized maybe we just need to start over from scratch you know, before technology and before freewill was abused. I waited patiently for many times for god to get involved Y2K 2012 nothing ever happened." Jayden's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what this was all about.
Slade and the Red Crosshairs, the soul collectors the soul eaters…Trigon. Adrian was going to summon him and use him to destroy the world in a false dream for reshaping the world.
"You sick twisted son of a bitch." Jayden whispered. "You're not after some god complex like Luthor or in it for the chaos and anarchy like Joker. You're not even a worshiper of Trigon you want to summon him because you know he's the only one who can cleanse the world in one fell swoop."
Adrian grinned madly as Joker when Jayden pieced it all together.
"Yes, I am no worshiper of a false God, hell I don't even love my God." He grunted. "But I do love power and Trigon has a lot of it. I summon him while I preserve our future inside some well protected strongholds. Meanwhile, Trigon can burn the world and when I know he is done I reseal him in his prison and create a new world on the ashes of the old."
"You're insane." Jayden snapped. "You can't control his power and you can't manipulate him. Trigon knows all and he will kill you and you will fail in your false mission."
"My mission is flawed." Adrian snapped. "You and I both know no one can help us, we can only help ourselves. This is why you were the key to it all."
Jayden's eyes narrowed at the headmaster as he got to his feet.
"What are you talking about?" Jayden said in a low tone. Adrian leaned back in his chair as he clasped his hands together.
"Shadows can't be created without light." Adrian said while playing with his fingers. "Didn't you ever think it was strange how Ally managed to just come across a list of unwanted heroes and crack the code without any difficulty, or how every one of your teammates just happened to be in Gotham or made their way to Gotham when there are far better candidates out there? Or how every one of their past villains just so happened to be in Gotham as well and Marcas's father the Shadow Man and Slade with their resources enough to hire enough criminals and fuel my soul collector full of dark energy."
Jayden's eyes started to twitch as he listened to his explanations. He was ready to kill him if he didn't promise to hold back for Ally.
"I see your wheels turning." Adrian said. "You your friends and all of your endeavors were because of me. I needed dark souls but starting up a team of assassins is hard for criminals. It always comes down to the basics, they need money, they have codes or they are afraid to be caught. Cyrus is my friend but he is just one man he couldn't take on the Justice League by himself even with my help. Beetle, once I got him a new scarab he was willing to help, but I couldn't risk the Green Lantern Corp showing up. That's where you came in."
"You mean that's where Batman came in." Jayden snarled.
"Ah yes, a boy angry at the world and angry at his father he never knew he had. Even if the League wanted to arrest you Batman would never allow it. He could never drag his son off to Arkham like another nut job. I almost felt sorry for him at one point." Adrian whimpered playfully. "You were so hell bent on trying to prove a point you never even thought about how you and your team aided me. Two-Face, Hush and Slade the souls just poured in and soon my plan will finally be underway."
Jayden remained silent for a moment before stepping out to leave.
"I only say this once Jayden." Adrian warned in a serious tone. "Join me or die."
"How about…neither." Jayden chuckled as he stepped out of the office.
Adrian closed his eyes and using his magic teleported him back to his secret headquarters in the Sahara Desert. There he was greeted by some familiar faces.
Damian Cole
Lotus
Black Beard
Frost
Phantom
Col Johnson
Javier Diego
Bruticus
Double J
Seth Gallagher
Cyrus
Black Beetle
"The gangs all here." Cyrus grinned.
"Not yet." Adrian said as he pulled out his satellite phone and punched in the numbers. Even he grimaced at the thought of contacting this man. But as they say desperate times call for desperate measures.
"Helloooo?" A sing song voice said.
"Joker, I was wondering if you were still interested in my plan." Adrian asked.
"Oh, Light…Well the misses and I gave it some thought and after some consideration and what you told us about our beloved daughter," There was a long pause before Joker burst out laughing. "We'd be more than happy to help you in your plan!"
"Great, I'm coming to Gotham soon get your little pet under control." Adrian grunted.
"Don't you call my daughter that only I have the right to call her that!" Joker shouted.
"I meant Harley her squeal practically shattered my ear drums." Adrian grunted. He could still hear Harley squealing but was silenced after a slap was heard.
"Taken care of." Joker stated. "Meet me at Funny Bone Warehouse."
(!)
Back at London Jayden was walking with Hilary who disassembled her rifle back into her briefcase and joined the rest of the team.
"How was it?" Ally asked.
"Bad, real bad." Jayden said.
"Dude you don't look so good." Blaze stated.
"He's right." Kris agreed as she handed him her makeup mirror. Jayden looked at himself and flinched. His face was whither than Joker's face.
"Jesus, ii never knew he had that effect on me." Jayden said.
"What did he say?" Thomas asked.
"Later, right now we need-"
He was cut off when an explosion went off down the end of the street. Jayden enhanced the vision on his glasses and saw that it was Captain Cold and Killer Frost.
"What the hell are they doing here?" Sam asked. "They were locked up back in Metropolis."
"Adrian." Jayden grunted. "Gauntlet, Thomas, Christine you three are the only ones who can change right now. Hold them off we'll join you in a bit."
"Right boss." The trio said as they ran down the street quickly putting on their goggles and their armor.
"This is going to get worse isn't it?" Ally asked changing into her clothes.
"Yep, and it's just getting started." Jayden muttered.