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"You cannot win. Surrender now and live."

Jason Todd, now operating under the codename Blackhawk, could barely stand. Waves of vertigo were coming in and out as he stood. Still, he held his stance, waiting for his adversary to make the first move.

The man before him, if he could even be called a man, was huge. He was grotesque, with scars and stitch trails along his exposed flesh. His skin was pale, and his eyes burned with determination and age. He was one of the most dangerous men on Earth, and one of the oldest.

His name was Frankenstein.

Blackhawk staggered momentarily. "If I were you, I'd worry more about getting more sun than taking me out. It'd be better for your health." He sounded cocksure, but inside he was starting to feel fear. He had died once before. He had no desire to do so again.

"I will say it one last time," said Frankenstein. "Surrender."

Blackhawk took a step back to the ledge of the rooftop they were on. His mask was torn, revealing his mouth and part of his nose. "Get bent." He stepped back again..and fell off the ledge.

Frankenstein said nothing, but rushed to the edge before he lost sight of his quarry. He looked over, brandishing a hand cannon that a normal man would be hard-pressed to lift let alone aim.

Blackhawk was gone.

 

DC Infinity Proudly Presents

#6

"Shades of Gray" - Part 2 of 6

By Mike Hintze

 

Then

"How sure can you be about him?"

Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had seen Bruce Wayne through some very dark times as both his son and his crimefighting partner, but none had been as daunting as facing the return of Jason Todd. Jason had supposedly been killed years before at the hands of the Joker, an event that had nearly emotionally destroyed the Dark Knight. When Jason turned up alive.and dangerously homicidal as the Red Hood..it had nearly beaten Batman again. Dick knew that Jason had been through a Lazarus Pit and was seemingly in control of his mental faculties once again, but he still didn't trust him. Before Jason's seeming demise, he had been reckless and dangerous while in the field, both with Batman and with the Titans. Dick found it hard to believe that Jason could have turned back so dramatically in such a short time.

"As sure as I am about you," said Bruce Wayne. He walked through what was to become the new headquarters for Nightwing and his new wife, Barbara Gordon, known as the computer savant Oracle. "We'll never know what Jason went through when we thought he was dead. We'll probably never know exactly how he returned to us or what damaged him mentally. All I know is that he is now in his right mind, and he has my full trust."

"I hate to beat a dead horse," said Dick, "But I think your judgement is clouded on this. Jason shouldn't be allowed back in the field."

"He's my son," said Bruce.

"So am I," said Dick. "And Tim as well, in any way that counts. Both he and I agree that trusting Jason is a bad idea. Don't our opinions count for something?"

"Of course they do," said Bruce. "But I think over the years I've done enough that I've also earned your trust. Jason will be monitored and report to me. I've covered all the angles on this."

"You also thought you had covered all the angles on Brother Eye," said Dick. "I'm not saying that to make you feel bad, I'm just stating that maybe another perspective is needed here."

"Oliver agrees with me," said Bruce.

"Queen? You've discussed this with him?" asked Dick.

"He's agreed to be my White King in Checkmate," said Bruce. "He's seen Jason and knows what happened. He thinks this might be good for him."

"I still think this Checkmate thing is a mistake," said Dick. "Adding Jason to that mix is just compounding it."

"Be that as it may," said Bruce, "My decision stands."

Dick said nothing in return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now

"Hey baby," said a muscled man wearing a muscle shirt, sporting a buzz cut. His face was scarred from a lifetime of fighting and killing. It was the kind of face that any normal woman would find repulsive. It was the face of a man that paid for sex because he had to.

Selina Kyle, aka the Catwoman, hung from a set of chains worked into the ceiling. Her legs were chained to the floor. Blood had crusted on her face from the hits she had taken. Buzzcut had been the main instigator of the beatings. They had repeatedly asked her questions. She hadn't uttered a word.

"That's ok," said Buzzcut, "I don't need you to answer me. Not with what we're about to do." His smile told her everything she needed to know. He was done beating her. He was going to the next level.

Selina winced at the pain from her fractured jaw. "I-I know when I'm beaten," she said.

"Damn straight," said Buzzcut. "No reason we can't have a little fun before it's all over."

"Whatever," said Selina. "Just make it quick."

"Oh," said Buzzcut, "It'll be anything but quick." He walked up to her, unzipping his pants and undoing his belt as he approached.

He was close enough for her to smell his unbearable breath. Garlic and curry, with a side of halitosis. He grasped her head and moved to kiss her, his tongue flicking out like an obscene snake.

She snapped her head forward, butting Buzzcut between the eyes. He yelped in surprise. At the same time, she kneed him in the groin. This move wouldn't have worked if he hadn't been as close as he was. As sick as the prospect was, she had needed him to get this close.

Buzzcut went down on his knees, gasping for air. As he came down, Selina opened her legs and caught his head between them. A quick snap up and it was over. Buzzcut's neck was broken.

She worked him with her legs so his body slumped beside her feet. It wouldn't be long before the second one came in to check on Buzzcut. The keychain was on Buzzcut's belt, which was now loose around his waist. Slowly, with what room her chained feet had to move, she worked the belt from around his waist. When the keys couldn't move due to catching on the belt loops, Selina worked her bruised and bare feet onto the key chain. Hours of practice had made her extremely dexterous with her feet. She began to work the chain off the belt.

She could hear footsteps echoing down the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Batman looked down at the crime scene below him. He, Green Arrow and the new Aztek had arrived in Stockholm twenty minutes before. Cloaked from detection, they had landed their aircraft on a rooftop across the street from Jason Todd and Selina Kyle's last known location. Police reports were showing what Batman had been told by Oracle: an officer had been shot and killed by a man bearing Jason's description as Blackhawk.

Police cars were still surrounding the area in front of the Bialyan embassy. Much of the gated front yard was demolished. Batman had no reason to doubt that metahumans had been involved here. What bothered him was that Jason was the only one mentioned on police reports with any kind of description.

"Looks like a hell of a fight took place," said Green Arrow.

"The last communication I received from Jason or Selina was that they were off to see an informant regarding illegal genetic weaponry sales with Bialya. They weren't going to the embassy. Something happened that made Jason lose contact with us between his informant's location and the embassy."

"Where was this informant located?" asked Aztek.

"Several blocks from here," said Batman. "I want you two to check that out."

"What about you?" asked Green Arrow, "Or do I really have to ask?"

"I'm going to see what I can do about breaking down international relations," said Batman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Connor Hawke watched from his perch atop one of the many gothic buildings in Prague. His mask's night vision was activated. Across the small street, he saw the others moving into position.

"Arrowhead, this is Tuffbitch, come in."

Hawke groaned at the creativity shown by his teammate. "Grace, we're on a secure line. No need for the James Bond stuff."

" Whatever. I'm in position, Arrowhead ." The humour was obvious in her voice.

"Everyone else, check in," said Hawke.

"Manhunter here. In place and ready to go."

"Thunder here, Arrowhead. Five by Five."

"Rex here, Connor. Good to go."

"Great," said Hawke. "Let's do this by the book. Rex, your move."

" On it ," said Rex Mason, aka Metamorpho the Element Man.

Connor watched as Rex, located on the opposing rooftop, shifted his form to gas and entered an air vent.

Sixty seconds passed. "Manhunter, you're up." As he spoke, Hawke shot an arrow across to a gargoyle on the opposing rooftop, a thin cable strung across with it. Using his bow, he slid across the street. As he did so, Manhunter dropped from the rooftop and using her staff, propelled herself into a large window at the same time as Connor went through one beside it.

Not a sound was made. The room was dark, until Metamorpho turned part of his body to phosphorous, creating dim illumination. Bodies were strewn all over the room and into adjoining hallways. Everyone was asleep.

"A little carbon dioxide goes a long way," said Rex.

"Nice job on the windows," said Manhunter.

"Eh, a little acidic evaporation goes a long way," said Rex.

A door leading to the room was smashed open, with Grace running in. Thunder followed behind, shaking her head.

"I told you Rex had it under control," said Thunder.

"Well," said Grace, "I wanted to smash something. Sue me."

Hawke ignored their banter and kneeled down to one of the unconscious people on the floor. He turned a man over and ripped open his shirt.

"I didn't know you swung that way, but whatever," said Grace.

"Leave him be," said Rex. "He's looking for something."

"Is this where you tell us what the hell we're really doing?" asked Grace. "I'm getting tired of this lack of sharing when it comes to information from the higher-ups."

Hawke turned the man over and fully removed the shirt. As soon as the man lay bare, he stopped breathing.

"What is it?" asked Manhunter as she walked over the Hawke.

"This just got a whole lot bigger than we thought," said Hawke. He pointed to the man's right arm, which bore a tattoo of a massive snake. The eyes reflected light back with a metallic sheen.

"Kobra," said Manhunter. "We knew they were involved here, that's no surprise."

"No," said Connor, "But this is." He aimed a small light to the man's lower spine. At its base was another tattoo. It was a rectangular horned shape with dark eyes.

"You lost me," said Manhunter.

"This isn't a tattoo," said Hawke. "This is a brand. I've seen it before."

Thunder, Grace and Rex walked up to him. "What is it?" asked Thunder.

"This is a Demon's Head, the brand of Ra's al Ghul," said Hawke.

"Ok," said Grace, "But he's dead and his daughters have disappeared. The guy was out of work with Ra's, so he came over to Kobra. Didn't Talia and Nyssa lead the whole shebang a while ago?"

"Yes," said Hawke, " But recent intelligence has shown a rift between Kobra and the al Ghul forces. They're not on speaking terms right now."

"Why does this brand worry you, though?" asked Thunder. "Maybe they kissed and made up?"

"This brand hasn't fully healed," said Hawke. "If this man is a recent initiate into the Demon's Daughter's forces..then that may indicate Kobra and the al Ghul's have gotten over their differences. You might be right."

"You don't think so, though," said Rex.

"Nyssa and Talia have disappeared, reports say they were ousted as leaders of Kobra and the al Ghul organization," said Connor. "We know that Kobra has a new leader..Vandal Savage. The JSA didn't indicate that their findings of Savage's plans had anything to do with al Ghul."

"You think someone else has stepped up the al Ghul plate?" asked Rex.

"This is barely circumstantial," said Hawke, "But yeah, that's what I'm thinking."

"Um..guys?" asked Manhunter. "Something's up with the knocked out people here."

They turned to see what looked like steam rising from their bodies. Hawke looked down at the man he had examined and felt intense heat rising from his body.

"Everyone out!" he yelled. They all ran for the open windows and jumped just as the unconscious people erupted into white-hot flame, then exploded. The entire floor of the building was blown away, causing the rest to collapse.

Minutes later, the dust had begun to settle. Rex had created a protective sphere around them all. Now, standing across the street from Hawke's original perch, they watched as emergency vehicles arrived at the scene.

"Now what?" asked Grace.

"Now," said Hawke, "Back to square one."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Red Bee stood beside Frankenstein, who was frustrated enough that the Bee heard him grinding his teeth. He let the man-monster simmer as he spoke into his heads-up communication display within his facemask.

"We've lost him again," said the Bee. "We're tracking now for the isotope traces, but we're getting nothing."

" We need him ," said the voice on the other end. " Bordeaux said he was important ."

"Will do," said the Red Bee, "After that cop's murder though, it'll be tough to drag out this search for long without getting the locals involved or in the way."

" Just bring him in ," said the voice. " S.H.A.D.E.'s plans revolve around him ."

"Understood, Father Time. Red Bee out." As the communicator link quit, the Bee saw Frankenstein begin to smile.

"Something funny?"

"Our quarry is a wily one," said Frankenstein. "But not wily enough."

"You've found him?"

"No," said Frankenstein. "But I know where he went."

"Where?" asked the Red Bee.

"Underground," said Frankenstein. "The sewers. The isotope tracker would be suitably masked down there."

"Underground it is, then," said the Red Bee, glad his facemask has a breathing filter built into it.

"We're coming," said Frankenstein more to himself than anything. "Coming for you, little Blackhawk."

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Next Issue: Batman storms the Bialyan Embassy! Green Arrow and Aztek encounter a surprise! Blackhawk cornered! Catwoman unleashed! The pieces start to come together in Checkmate #7!