章 53: CHAPTER 52: "Where Is Krios?!?"

*Gotham Superior Courthouse, Gotham City

The morning sun shined upon what Felix thought was the most disgusting major city in the world. Rome, London, hell even Paris and that city was overrun with rats was better then the best of Gotham for him. Even before his confrontation and semi-mutilation from John and Sarah he had hated this city. Standing outside one of the courthouses with his sunglasses on and his uncomfortable prosthetic jaw inserted already put him in a bad mood.

It did not help that his 10$ coffee he bought at the food truck could very well be the worst beverage he had ever had the misfortune to drink.

He had arrived in Gotham in the very early morning hours and immediately set to work establishing contacts with the underworld and authorities to try to hunt down Krios. Money was the key to open all doors.

Which standing outside of the courthouse he waited with growing impatience. He could still feel the reminder his Commandant gave him of what he would experience should he fail.

Despite the early hour the courthouse was busy, various clerks and administration staff were crowding the area. But the more obvious presence was police officers and even SWAT out in force. The attack last night on GCPD Major Crimes and the following fight with Justice League members a few miles north had placed the entire city on lockdown.

The one thing that Felix found amusing was the panicked effort from A.R.G.U.S. to clean up the slaughter Krios had inflicted on them last night. They undoubtedly had to spend a fortune destroying evidence and removing the bodies from the scene. The one positive they had going was the fact that Batman was incapacitated during the fighting and so they at least did not have to deal with him.

From the court steps he could see the man he was waiting for. Checking his watch showed his contact was already 15 minutes late, a fact that vexed the punctual man.

His contact seeing him made his way towards him and with an easy smile that did not reach his eyes introduced himself.

"Chris Nakano, I apologize for the delay but the mayors office is rather busy right now..."

He stuck his hand out to Felix to shake, a gestured ignored by the man pointedly which he dropped quickly.

"You have the information I requested?" Felix asked impatiently.

Nakano narrowed his eyes at his tone but spoke respectfully, "Yes, all CCTV cameras of the area and current investigative files are on this drive as requested."

Felix hummed and reached out to grab the drive only for Nakano to increase his grip on it.

"Tell me... how do you know Mayor Hill?"

Felix gave the man a thin smile at that. It was not like he could say he payed the mayor a small fortune for his assistance during his time in Gotham.

Deciding to go the 'legitimate' route he said, "Mayor Hill has kindly offered his assistance to my office as we try to hunt down the suspect."

Reaching into his jacket he produced one of the many ID's he kept on hand just in case. For Nakano he decided to go the NSA route with the ID card which he carefully showed him before pretending to discreetly hide it from view of others.

Nakano seemed to eat it all up, based on his widening eyes and and release of the drive. It almost made Felix laugh at how easy it was to deceive the good guys with fake paperwork.

Taking the drive and putting in his suit Felix gave a nod, "I would appreciate your discretion during this time. Krios is not only a state criminal, but a national threat to the United States."

Walking away Felix quickly formulated his schedule in his head. He would take a few hours to review what the GCPD had, which while not much would hopefully provide some clues. It probably would of been cheaper to hack their systems but this way was quicker. While he was studying what information they had he hoped his underworld feelers would return with some more conclusive data of the whereabouts of Krios.

The Order which he served had waited a long time for the completion of their plans. Even though their home nation had failed them they manage to survive if barely. The Commandant emerging and taking control of their Order after the war had not only kept them safe, but on track with the ultimate goal set by their fallen glorious leaders.

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*Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Gotham City

Gotham this morning was in complete disarray.

Not since the Eastside fire, or the last Joker's terror attack had the city been so tense and panicked. Even the temporary breakout during the Riddler heist had not put the city on edge as much as it was now.

Batgirl was actually somewhat surprise the Riddler hadn't tried to make a move to regain some of his notoriety he lost that day in his failed theft attempt. Then again, no one had heard from the him in months including his crew which was also odd.

Firefighters, police, FBI and so many other emergency services were scattered about. Most were heavily focused on where the collapsed Major Crimes HQ stood and the rest a few blocks north where Krios fought J'onn, the Martian Manhunter.

Barbara was situated at where Major Crimes once stood standing on-top of one of the buildings rooftops watching the progress. What made the scene more pronounced was the amount of Justice League members on the ground.

The Question, Wonder Woman, Flash, both Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Red Tornado, Metamorpho, one of the Lanterns and another 10 members were helping emergency services. Whether it was lifting fallen rumble, directing EMT's, or merely keeping the press back from the crime scene they had their hands full.

"Holy shit... he did all of this?" Wally said in shock.

On top of the roof the Team had joined Batgirl, with the amount of League members here they had decided to take a step back and watch rather then get in the way.

Kaldur sighed, "It seems Krios has become a greater threat then we could of imagined."

"How is M'gann's uncle doing?" Artemis asked.

M'gann along with the rest of the team upon hearing the news quickly made their way to the disaster. And upon hearing the critical condition of her uncle, the Martian Manhunter, she had requested immediate teleportation up to the watch tower to check on him. Superboy went with her as moral support.

"So far he is recovering but will require bed rest for awhile," Kaldur said, relief evident in his tone.

"And Batman?"

While the Red Tornado was their caretaker, and Black Canary their training instructor, Batman was the chief of their Team. Though aloof and at times incredibly frustrating, for many of the team members he held a special place.

"He is fine," Dick's disgruntled voice said.

"Some of the building collapsed on him and he breathed too much smoke but he is already up and about... look."

Robin pointed to where Wonder Woman, Commissioner Gordon, mayor Hamilton Hill, his advisor Christopher Nakano and sure enough Batman stood in a circle. They were obviously in a deep conversation and based on the big wave of his hands, the mayor was not happy.

"What now?" Wally asked as he leaned on the rooftop ledge.

Kaldur and Robin exchanged a look. The boys were obviously in disagreement about something, but Batgirl could not be sure.

Zatanna, one of the Team's newer temporary member spoke up.

"Well, Robin asked if I could try to track Krios and I am willing to give it a shot."

Kaldur kept his eyes on Robin, "Really? Do you think this is a wise course of action?"

"Yes," Robin said staring down the Atlantean.

"The League will be stuck doing clean up, press and finally get around to investigating. The trail will go cold by the time they can jump on it. Right now we are doing nothing but sitting around waiting for instructions from Batman!"

"Umm, not to interrupt or anything but..." Wally interjected, "Are you saying you want to hunt down the guy who not only went against all of us the last time we fought, but is now at the level to knock out Batman and put the Manhunter into critical care?"

Wally's word were said with his usual joking tone but everyone around felt unease at the thought. Every encounter with Krios ended very badly, the last time saw multiple police officers killed, facing him again without League backup did not seem like a great idea.

"I am saying, that right now Krios is injured and in Gotham!" Robin stated firmly.

"I am saying that we have let this guy go so many times now that it is not funny. This is a murderer! A man who keeps coming back and wrecking my city and so far Batman and the League have done nothing because he is not a big enough concern for them!"

Artemis gestured to the destroyed Major Crimes HQ, "I think they will now though wont they?"

Robin shook his head, "Sure now they will, but if we don't act now I know he will escape. This guy worked for the Penguin for years, he knows how to escape Gotham given the chance. Each time he leaves he comes back more powerful and destroys a lot more."

Hearing his words put a certain perspective for the team and one that they all could acknowledge. Krios was dangerous, and becoming more so, if he wasn't stopped soon what else would he destroy and kill.

'He is right,' Batgirl thought, 'We need to stop him before he does something like this again.'

Robin took a deep breath and looked at all of them, "We might not be League members, but lets not forget despite our age we are superheroes. We have a responsibility to act when the League doesn't."

Batgirl gave a sigh, "Robin, you are right but..."

"But nothing Barbara!" Robin gave her a glare. She wondered if he knew what she was about to ask. If his desire to capture Krios was entirely heroic or an attempt to out due Batman...

Wally spoke up, "Well I want to be clear this is a bad idea, but lets do it!"

"Lets stop him." Artemis nodded.

Kaldur seemed to hesitate before saying anything, "I suppose it is best to stop him before he hurts anyone else. At the very least finding him and summoning the League would be useful."

"Plus," he mused look at Zatanna, "I would imagine magic would be a nice surprise to throw at him."

Zatanna smiled and tugged her white gloves tighter into her hand, "I look forward to proving you right."

The group became startled by the distinct sound of the Tower's teleporting beam sounding right next to them. On the rooftop M'gann and Connor appeared.

Connor was his usual scowling self though when he glanced over at M'gann his expression would grow almost soft. M'gann's eyes looked red from crying and her face showed a great deal of sadness.

Kaldur looking concerned asked, "M'gann?"

M'gann stayed quiet but Connor wrapped an arm around her shoulder before saying, "J'onn will be alright. He is hurt badly but the doctors say he will make a full recovery and is resting now. We decided to head back and help in anyway we could."

"No..."

When M'gann spoke she did so with her head down before lifting it up, her tears were gone and now her eyes burned with anger.

"Where is Krios!?!"

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*James (KRIOS), Unknown Location

Why in the last two years of his life did he have to experience so often waking up in pain?

His breathing felt raw, probably from the explosion burning his lungs, his whole body sore, probably from the gunshots and fighting the Martian, and now his head ached.

That one he was not sure of as his vision began to clear and his senses returned to him. Both of his arms were bound to the arms of a cushioned chair with his wrists bound in the same metallic cuffs Batman had used early last night. The low whine of the cuffs still eluded what exactly they did, but did irritate his ears making his head pain worse.

Looking around he became more confused by his dark surroundings. Rows of raised wooden bleachers made a circle in what appeared to be a massive tent. The ground was sand and scattered about was brightly colored hoops, and other stage equipment. Everything looked like it had seen better days with faded motifs, rotting benches and broken material scattered everywhere.

Suddenly a loud click sounded followed by a bright stage light shining down directly on him. Scrunching his eyes to fight the increase headache from the blinding light, he waited till he could reorient himself enough to escape whatever this place was.

"WELLLLLLLLLLLLCCCCCCCOOOOOOMMMMMMEEEEEEEE!"

A bright high and amused voice shouted from behind James causing him to wince from the sound.

From behind him he felt two hands grip his shoulder blades and give a strange if comforting squeeze.

"I hope you will forgive the boys, they didn't know who you were and gave you a nasty wallop."

The voice giggled at that. It was strange as James tried to fully wake up, why was this voice familiar?

Giving another comforting squeeze the figure leaned down till his lips were near James ear.

"To make it up to you I made sure that you kept your hood and mask on. I can respect an artist like you preferring to keep your identity a secret. Plus hee hee hee ha ha ha, you are just so much more interesting then whoever you are underneath it ahahahahahahahhahahaha."

Thankfully whoever this was moved away from James ear to let out a full belied nearly screaming laugh.

'Wait... I was in the sewers... I went down one of the main pipes that should of dumped me into a river or ocean... I was on a beach and some guys... are you kidding me?!? Did I really accidentally bump into some weird drug deal?!? Of all the stupid bullshit coincidences...'

James thoughts were interrupted as the figure finally finished laughing, though a few giggles were still coming from them.

"I must say, when you first appeared on the scene I was jealous, NO! I was mad that you were taking so much spotlight."

'Wait... why would drug dealers take me to this place? What is this a circus...'

James felt his eyes widened and immediately tried to reach for his powers.

'SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT FU$#K FU@#KING....' his mind raced with every panicked explicit word he knew as he realized where he was.

"But then imagine my surprise," the hands left James shoulders as the figure walked around to face him.

"You and Riddler teamed up and you held the entire GCPD, some super brats and even Batsy hostage! Mwahahahaha, what an amazing performance!"

The vibrant green hair, sickly white pasty makeup and smeared red lipstick or blood making a smile on his captor's face showed the most terrifying visage one could see in Gotham.

Leaning towards him till they were nearly touching noses, the Joker's deranged smile grew even wider.

"And now tonight! You have colored me impressed! I am your number one fan!"