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The woman that Dark Heart identified as Paradox was still in the same position, uncaring that Genocide and Jade Rose were aiming their weapons at her. "Why are you here this time?" the way the Winged Phantom asked his question made the two other men realize that this wasn't the first time this had happened.
"Aw, you don't sound happy to see me," Paradox teased, her grin still present as her cat ears twitched. The woman then rolled to lay on her stomach and started swinging her feet. "And here I went through all the trouble of coming here to visit."
Genocide and Jade Rose were rather confused that Paradox wasn't taking the fact that they were aiming at her seriously or even care that they were there. "So, are we interrupting a private night between you two?" the jester masked man asked referring to how the woman wasn't wearing much other than her top and shorts.
Paradox snorted. "He thinks we were going to f*ck!?" she laughed while rolling on her back and swinging her legs.
"Dark Heart," Genocide looked at the Winged Phantom for an explanation.
The black-clad man simply walked towards a table beside the one that Paradox was laying on and activated a computer on that table before taking an office chair and sitting on it. His partners were surprised that he simply dismissed the woman as if her being here wasn't anything new.
"You know," Genocide and Jade Rose immediately turned around and pointed their weapons at Paradox, who suddenly appeared behind them, much to their shock. "I didn't really expect you to bring people here. It sort of ruins how special this place is since it used to be just you and me."
"Who are you?" Genocide demanded, making sure that the barrels of his shotgun were pointing at the woman's head. He really didn't enjoy how she seemed to just ignore his presence.
Much to the Demon slayer's irritation, Paradox ignored him again and looked at Jade Rose with a finger on her chin. "Hmm, Choice of Death, huh? I haven't seen that in a long time."
The assassin immediately pulled out another pistol, an exact copy of his other one, and aimed it at the woman. "How do you know about that?" his question made it sound like he was ordering her to answer.
However, like before, Paradox paid no heed for the danger. "Well, I guess it's not so surprising seeing who your parents are," behind the jester mask, Jade Rose's eyes widen realizing that the woman knows who his family is. "And Crimson Nova energy," she then turned her sights to Genocide. "If I remember correctly, then I only gave one human the ability to use that stuff," the Demon slayer was confused when she said 'gave the ability', as if she's the one responsible for him having his powers. "Yes, now I remember," Paradox's grin turned somewhat dark. "I gave it to a farm boy who lost everything to demons, so he decided to take everything from them."
Hearing enough, the Unofficial Sin of Wrath immediately pulled the trigger, fully intending on killing the woman. However, Paradox vanished in a rainbow-colored hue before appearing on the table that Dark Heart was working on, laying on her side again.
"So, what kind of trouble are you in this time?" Paradox asked, uncaring about the glares of Jade Rose and Genocide, or their weapons being directed at her again.
"I'm pretty sure you already know," Dark Heart replied, still typing on the computer. The woman grinned again, confirming his statement. "I also think you know what's really going on," the Winged Phantom said more like a statement than a question, causing his partners to look at Paradox in shock, who gave a wider smile. "Are you going to tell me?"
"Where's the fun in that?" Paradox childishly replied, causing Dark Heart to sigh in annoyance.
"Wait, you know what's happening?" the Unofficial Sin of Wrath took a step forward, wanting an explanation. "What the f*ck was that about!?"
Again, Paradox seemed to completely ignore him. "I prefer to watch you figure things out on your own," she said. She seemed to completely ignore Genocide and Jade Rose, while only paying attention to the Winged Phantom.
"You always do," Dark Heart replied with a sigh. He was already used to her antics. "You never do anything but watch, do you?" he asked sarcastically.
"Now, you know that's not true," the cat-eared woman said in a mock-hurt tone. "I always look out for you, you just never notice," Dark Heart sighed again, not sure if she was telling the truth or lying. By far, she was the only person he knew that he couldn't predict. Suddenly, Paradox's cat ears twitched. "Oh, it looks like a species is going extinct," the woman gained a sadistic smile. "Well, I guess I'll see you later. Ta, ta," giving a wave of goodbye, Paradox vanished again in the same rainbow hue as before, only this time she didn't appear anywhere in the room again.
When she left, the room returned to normal. Fluids stopped floating and returned to their containers. Machines returned to normal. And, outside the room, the clock on the door's monitor started ticking again. "Every time," Dark Heart groaned, sounding as if it wasn't the first time this has happened.
"Okay, who the f*ck was that?!" Genocide demanded, wanting to know who the woman is. He stepped forward to stand beside the chair Dark Heart was sitting on, waiting for an answer.
Putting away his Pistols in his coat, Jade Rose also stood beside the Winged Phantom. "Dark Heart, can you please tell us who that was?" the assassin sounded more polite in his question.
Dark Heart stopped typing on the computer and turned the chair to face his partners. "... I don't know," his answer caused them to blink in confusion.
"Wait, YOU don't know?" Genocide asked, making sure of what he heard.
"YOU of all people, don't know?" Jade Rose had the same tone in his voice.
They might not know a lot about the Winged Phantom, but they did know that he was one of the best people to acquiring information, rivaling people like John Constantine, Reed Richard, Charles Xavier, and the Batman himself.
"All I know is that her name is Paradox and that she is very powerful," Dark Heart explained before turning the chair back to face the computer and started typing again.
"How powerful are we talking?" Jade Rose asked wanting to know what exactly they were dealing with.
The Winged Phantom stopped typing and looked at the assassin over his shoulder. "I'm not sure, but I wouldn't put her that far from your mother."
The jester masked man narrowed his eyes under his mask suspiciously. He didn't believe anyone can come close to his mother in power, but he couldn't exactly doubt it since Paradox seemed to not only know what he possesses but also who his family is.
Then, something unexpected happened. Dark Heart reached for his helmet and pushed a button on the side that caused the back of the helmet to slide open. The Winged Phantom then took it off to reveal his face.
They were truly stunned at how young he was. By the way he acts and talks, Jade Rose and Genocide both believed he would be older. Dark Heart looked to be in his early twenties with lightly tan skin. He had pitch-black hair that almost reached his chin. His left eye matched his hair. However, a distinctive feature about him was his right eye. Unlike his left one, his right eye was purple and had a Y-shaped scar over it.
"What happened to secret identities?" Genocide asked rhetorically.
Dark Heart sat his helmet on the table and took a cable from the computer before connecting it to the inside of the helmet. "We have been just declared as enemies of the world's greatest hero teams. I hardly believe that keeping our identities a secret from each other matters if we're not enemies with each other," it was the first time that they heard Dark Heart's voice without the modulator, and it suited someone as young as he was. "My name is Aiden Throne," he introduced himself.
Genocide shrugged his shoulders, deciding not to argue with that logic. Truthfully, he didn't really care about secret identities, his own included. After all, he had nothing to lose anymore. Plus, there were already two people out there who knew who he was. One is an old friend that is locked in a sarcophagus, who is probably pissed off beyond belief. The other is the person who made Genocide's armor, but that's a story for another time.
The Unofficial Sin of Wrath used the core of his armor to make his helmet vanish revealing his face. He looked to be somewhere in between his late twenties and early thirties. He had short, spiky brown hair and red glowing eyes from the Crimson Nova energy. Other than his eyes, there wasn't anything special about his looks.
"My name is Oscar Williams," the Demon slayer introduced himself. It's been so long since he heard his own name, that he sometimes forgot how it sounded. Genocide then looked at Jade Rose. "And, aren't you going to do it?" he asked expecting the assassin to take off his mask.
The assassin looked away while dramatically putting the back of his forearm on his forehead. "Ah, the world is not ready yet for my beauty," his statement caused Genocide to look at him strangely.
"Ignore him, I already know who he is, and trust me, you don't want to know," Aiden suddenly said from his seat. Jade Rose wasn't surprised, after all, he purposely told Aiden who he really was after Dark Heart saw his true power. "Look at this," he said catching their attention.
The two that were standing looked at the computer screen over Aiden's shoulder. The screen revealed a scene from the first-person point of view. It apparently showed what Dark Heart was seeing since they can see Genocide standing beside him in front of a pair of double doors.
The doors opened to reveal the dead people and H.I.V.E agents. "What the f*ck!?" Genocide's voice was heard through the video.
Aiden paused, causing the screen to stop at the dead people. "Wait, you had a recording!? Why didn't you show it to those capes?!" Oscar yelled, angry that they could have solved the misunderstanding like that.
"It doesn't matter if I had showed them or not," Aiden replied, causing the Demon slayer to raise an eyebrow.
"What he means is that the video shows only you two entering the room, but it doesn't show what happened in the room itself, which means that they can simply say that you took the video after you killed those people," Jade Rose explained, understanding what Dark Heart was trying to say.
"I didn't do it!" Oscar stated in frustration.
Aiden turned the chair to face Genocide. "How can you prove that?" he asked.
"You were there! You saw-" the Unofficial Sin of Wrath stopped upon seeing the deadpan look that Aiden was giving him. And, even though he was still wearing his mask, he can tell that Jade Rose was giving him the same look. "Oh," Oscar finally realized that Dark Heart wasn't asking how can he prove that to him, but was asking how can he prove that to the world.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," the Winged Phantom turned back to the computer. "The scanners in my helmet didn't pick up any sign of weaponry or anything, and you said that there were no signs of anything magic related. Add how convenient the timing of the Avengers and the Justice League was-"
"And we have a setup," Jade Rose guessed realizing what Dark Heart was getting to.
"But why? And who would do it?" Oscar asked. He did have a large number of enemies, but they were mainly in the underworld and not on earth.
Aiden put a hand on his chin. "There are individuals who could have done this, but we still lack key information to identify who they are," he said explaining that there still too many unknowns for him to figure out what happened.
There weren't many people out there who were smart enough to plan something like this, and even less who can actually pull it off. However, even then, that list of names is quite a long one.
"What we need is information," Jade Rose commented crossing his arms.
The Winged Phantom suddenly unplugged his helmet from the computer. "Exactly," Aiden put on the helmet, and the back slid to a close. "Which is why we got to go and gather it," the voice modulator covered his voice again.
Dark Heart stood up from his seat and turned towards the doors of the lab. "So, where are we going?" Oscar asked, summoning his helmet back on.
"I am going alone on the plane, and you two need to go on your own. It would be easier to spot us if we were in a group," Aiden replied as he walked out of the lab and started heading towards the hanger.
Neither Genocide nor Jade Rose complained. They can see the logic behind his reasoning, and they didn't doubt they can get away if they were discovered. Plus, neither of them wanted the other two to see their 'source' of information.
"Can you at least drop us off?" Jade Rose requested and Genocide realized that he doesn't know where they are or how to reach his destination.
…
Meanwhile, in outer space lies a large satellite facility called the Watchtower, the HQ of the Justice League. After the fight, the League and the Avengers had agreed to gather there, since it was more resourceful than the Avengers Tower back on earth.
After a quick check in the medical section, and a long lecture from Batman to Superman, they were confirmed to not be injured except Green Lantern's shoulder and Superman's knee, but they were still told that they would make a quick recovery.
Currently, Batman, Ironman, and Captain America were in the main hall with Martian Manhunter. They were all looking at the monitor which showed a map of the Nevada desert. "Any sign of where they went?" Batman asked.
The Martian shook his head as he typed into the monitor. "Negative. Whatever cloaking device Dark Heart used, it completely erased their traces," he explained, showing that the last location that the jet was before it vanished.
"Do you ever wonder where Dark Heart gets his stuff?" Ironman asked, wondering how the Winged Phantom keeps getting such technology.
The Dark knight ignored him and looked back at Martian Manhunter. "Keep searching for any sign of their location, and give out a message to all Justice League members. If anyone spots them, they are not to engage unless absolutely necessary and ONLY after calling for back up," Batman instructed.
The green-skinned alien nodded in confirmation as he started typing on the monitor, preparing the message to be sent to all members. "Aren't you exaggerating a bit?" Tony asked.
Steven Rogers decided to get into the conversation. "These aren't your typical thugs, Tony," he said crossing his arms.
"Captain America is right," Batman backed up the Super Soldier's statement, while slightly annoying Ironman that he calls Steven by his alias and not his last name like Tony. "Dark Heart has proven to be dangerous enough to take on several super-powered individuals and still win. Genocide is a man who killed demons on a daily basis. And, Jade Rose, is an assassin that managed to hunt down any target he had while escaping all attempts at capturing him."
Tony rolled his eyes, still thinking that they were getting a little overworked over three people without any confirmed superpowers except Genocide. Suddenly, a peeping was heard from inside his helmet. "Sir, it seems Ms. Potts would like to speak with you," Jarvis said from inside the Ironman's helmet.
Tony face-palmed, causing a metal clanking of metal because of the face-plate and armored arm smacking together. "Shit, I forgot to call her," Ironman groaned realizing that he was getting one hell of an earful. "I'll be back… whenever Pepper calms down," he admitted in defeat before walking away to answer his most likely angry girlfriend.
With Ironman gone, Captain America and Batman also left Martian Manhunter to do his work, and entered one of the many hallways of the Watchtower that had a glass wall on the side, giving them a beautiful view of the planet Earth.
"Well, this is quite the predicament, isn't it," Steven light-heartedly commented to lift the mood a little.
"It is," Batman nodded in agreement. He hadn't felt this troubled since the Justice League fraught Darkseid for the first time. The Dark knight wasn't pleased at all by the thought of those three going to the evil side.
Jade Rose was an assassin that had no employer. He wasn't like Deathstroke, the Beetle, or Deadshot. He simply appeared and disappeared whenever he pleased. His targets seemed to come in a large variety from around the world. There was no pattern except that they were all considered criminals that the law couldn't touch, like corrupt businessmen or secret weapon facilities by the government. There was also the fact that he somehow has ammunition from extremely rare materials.
Next, there was Genocide. The Demon slayer had suddenly appeared one day right in the middle of a fight between the Fantastic Four and the Wrecking Crew. It was safe to say that the gamma-powered criminals were slaughtered brutally before escaping. After a little research, John Constantine and Stephen Strange managed to discover that Genocide was an ancient Warrior from the earlier ages of Hell, who's name is enough to strike fear into the hearts of demons, and that he killed the primordial Demon- Satan -before he seemingly vanished.
And then there was Dark Heart, which could be the most dangerous out of the three. It wasn't what they know about him, it's what they do not know about the Winged Phantom that made him so dangerous in Batman's eyes.
The Dark knight doesn't want to admit it, but he might have met his match with this one. No matter how hard Batman searched, he couldn't find anything about Dark Heart before his first public appearance. No background, no traces, no place of origin, or even a source of technology. It's as if he didn't use to exist.
Suddenly, Captain America stopped and turned towards the window so that he can look at Earth and Batman did the same. "Bruce, do you really think they did it?" the Super Soldier asked in a hushed tone. He was honestly suspicious about Genocide and Dark Heart killing those people.
Normally, the only people who might know who the Batman is are probably the founding members of the Justice League. However, Steven Rogers was the only exception in the Avengers.
Apparently, Thomas Wayne had the same relationship with Captain America as Howard Stark did. But, even though Steven was good friends with his father, that wasn't enough for Batman to tell him who he was.
However, Steven Rogers managed to find out who the Dark knight was. When Bruce asked how, Steven said that Bruce had the same look Thomas Wayne had when he does things, with and without the cowl. Batman wouldn't admit it, but his chest swelled up in pride that day.
Back to Captain America's question, the Dark knight replied by saying something not many has heard him say. "... I don't know."
(A/N: Thank you for reading this.
First, Jade Rose's family has been mentioned here a few times. Unlike my other OCs, his family is still around, but I'm saving more information for the future.
Second, about Dark Heart and Genocide revealing who they are. You have to admit that Dark Heart is right, they literally have no reason to keep their identities from each other anymore.
Third, about the Batman not finding anything on Dark Heart. If you read his bio, it should be obvious why Aiden was such a mystery to even Batman himself.
Again, thank you for reading this. Please comment, review, and give me your thoughts on my story.)
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