(A/N): And I'm back! Thank you all for your patience and continued support. I've decided to go with option #1 in terms of finishing this book and am currently making loose plans for a "season 5".

Any suggestions for what should be included are more than welcome. I can't promise I'll be able to do everything or if I'll even incorporate someone's suggestion at all, I have to wait and see how things play out in my life (school, work in the summer, etc), but I'm interested in hearing what you guys think should be included.

Thanks again

-MattFromWii

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3rd Person POV:

*Premiere Building, Hollywood*

*Outsider's Penthouse Headquarters*

After extensively searching Brooklyn and the surrounding area, the Outsiders gave up their search and reluctantly returned home. Beast Boy and Aquaman informed the rest of the League that Zatanna and Mary were missing. They immediately searched the mansion which was acting as a safe house for everyone close to (Y/n) and Zatanna.

Nightwing and Tigress found Traci alone with Titan. The young girl had no idea where Ortega and Coswald disappeared too, but informed the heroes they left without telling her.

Fearing that the location of the remote mansion was compromised, Nightwing brought Traci and Titan back to the Premier Building.

Once the group got Traci settled in, they started comparing notes to see if they could figure out where Zatanna and Mary went. Black Canary joined Nightwing, Tigress, Superboy, Miss Martian and Aquaman in the tower along with all the Outsiders.

Beast Boy: "I don't get it, how can they just vanish without a trace?"

Tigress: "Is it possible that they went to the Tower of Fate, or some other magical place?"

Aquaman: "Dr. Fate is away from the Tower of Fate but he did confirm that Zatanna and Mary are not inside nor in any hidden magical realm where he can sense."

Nightwing: "Alright, with any magical hiding place eliminated, that doesn't leave a whole lot of explanations for their disappearance and none of them are good."

Beast Boy: "Wait, are you suggesting that they were kidnapped?"

Miss Martian: "How many people have the ability to kidnap the most powerful magic user and not leave any evidence?"

The room fell silent as the founding members of the team exchanged a worried glance.

Tigress: "We're all thinking it, the only people with the ability to capture someone like Zatanna without alerting anyone would be the Hunters."

Superboy: "But how did they know she'd be in Brooklyn? As far as I know she's never been there before, it wasn't a place she or Mary frequented. I doubt the Hunter was just sitting in the city waiting for something to happen, they must have a way to track her."

Nightwing: "Her pocket watch. (Y/n) made it with SHD tech so she could call for help and have access to ISAC if she was ever in trouble. The Hunters must've found a way to track it."

Black Canary: "If the Hunter's are responsible for Zatanna and Mary's disappearance, where would they have taken them?"

Nightwing: "(Y/n) confirmed that the Hunters are working for the Clairvoyant. So let's go see if the CIA has anything new on him. Hopefully they have a lead we can follow up on."

Superboy: "Are we going to break into Langley again?"

Nightwing: "No, I've got a much better idea."

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*Arlington, Virginia*

The bio-ship was holding positions above a secluded gated community in the suburbs of Arlington. Nightwing, Tigress, Miss Martian, Superboy and Aquaman were staring down at a newly built home. The group was dead silent as they searched for anything out of the ordinary.

Nightwing: "Felix Blake, former Division agent and current CIA station chief for all Division operations. This guy is responsible for well over half of the horrible shit (Y/n) went through as a kid."

Superboy scoffed as he cracked his knuckles. Tigress pulled out several arrows and proceeded to sharpen them with a small sharpening stone.

Nightwing: "Listen, I want to hurt this guy too, but we need him to cooperate and not retaliate against us or the League. If the Division has any new intel about the Clairvoyant or the Hunters, this guy will know what it is."

The heroes checked their gear and patiently waited for Blake to return. Eventually a black SUV pulled up and parked in the driveway. Two armed guards exited the front of the vehicle before moving to the back and opening the door for the war criminal.

Blake has short grey hair and a grey beard. He appears old and frail but the group in the bio-ship knew better than to assume he's helpless.

Nightwing: "Let's go. Kaldur, you should probably stay in the ship. He definitely has cameras all around his house and we don't need to hand the Light another excuse to further restrictions on the League."

Kaldur sighed and sat down in the driver's seat of the bio-ship.

Aquaman: "Just be careful. (Y/n) is living proof this man is a monster and he may not cooperate."

Superboy: "I'll be happy to convince him."

Several minutes later the group entered Blake's house through the back garage door and krept into the house.

Blake: "I was expecting visitors, but I wasn't expecting you, "boy wonder". Why are you here?"

Nightwing stepped out of the shadows and Blake's guards aimed their rifles directly at him. A split second later Miss Martian used her telepathy and threw both Blake's guards into the far wall, knocking several pictures off as they fell to the ground unconscious.

Miss Martian: "He isn't the only one here and we have some questions."

Blake ignored the sudden appearance of the rest of the heroes and poured himself a glass of scotch. The former agent smiled as he turned around and faced the heroes, taking a long sip of his drink before he gently placed it on the counter.

Blake: "No Vanguard or his pathetic witch? Figures, the kid always was a coward. Couldn't face the hard battles. That's why I forced him through my class, I made him a man."

Superboy clenched his fists and Miss Martian had to calm him down through the group's telepathic link.

Tigress: "You're a pathetic excuse for a man."

Blake: "Insulting the man who's help you desperately need. That's a new one."

Miss Martian: "You tortured (Y/n). He was a helpless kid and you experimented on him!"

Blake: "You people should be thanking me. Because of my Project VANGUARD (Y/n) became the best agent the Division has ever seen. How many times has he saved the world? He stopped the Reach by scuttling their fleet, he's gone toe to toe with the Light and won, he killed Aaron Keener and saved the Justice League along with all of you."

Blake smiled and leaned back in the counter, savouring the mix of sad and angry looks on the heroes faces.

Blake: "Face it, I'm a hero to my country and to you. My experiments on (Y/n) saved your lives. He's a soldier, an agent but most importantly he's a tool. He's the best tool I've ever crafted and if it weren't for Alani Kelso I'd have a hundred agents just like (Y/n)."

Nightwing: "You're a monster. You tortured (Y/n) just to see how much he could take, you cut him apart and filled him with alien blood just to see what would happen. You didn't create (Y/n) (L/n), Kelso did. She took the broken boy who barely survived and slowly pieced him back together the best she could. He's more of a hero than you'll ever be."

Superboy: "If you want to stay out of prison, you'll tell us what you know about the Hunters!"

Blake laughed. He set his drink down and crossed his arms, smiling as he stared straight into the eyes of Superboy.

Blake: "And why would I do that?"

Nightwing: "Because we believe that the Hunters have kidnapped two people close to (Y/n) in an attempt to lure him into a trap."

Blake: "Well, the kid was stupid enough to fall in love and make his loved one vulnerable so as far as I'm concerned, he has it coming."

Superboy lunged over the table and grabbed Blake's neck, pinning him up against the fridge.

Nightwing: "We're all very close to (Y/n). I don't know how much longer I can hold them back. If I were you, I'd start talking."

Blake: "Oh please.... You people... are above torture..."

Superboy dropped Blake and backed away. The former agent grabbed his neck, rubbing it gently as he caught his breath.

Blake: "Fine, you want the intel, you can have it. We managed to dig up information pointing to large penthouse owned by the Sokolova's. We believe that's where Natalya has stashed Ivan Tarnako. If the Hunters took your friends, that's where they'll be."

Nightwing: "What building."

Blake simply smiled as he pulled out a small piece of paper from his jacket and handed it to Nightwing.

Blake: "Good luck. You'll need it."

Tigress: "Why's that?"

Blake let out an almost evil laugh and took a moment to calm himself down. The former agent and "training instructor" smiled with a sinister grin as a chill went down everyone's back.

Blake: "Because you're going to be walking right into the Hunter's nest and they know exactly how to kill each and every one of you. Before you ask how they know, they've obtained a copy of Batman's contingency plans."

Nightwing turned to face the former agent, Blake took a step closer when he noticed Nightwing freeze in place.

Blake: "When you broke into my garage you tripped the silent alarm. I've been stalling."

The front door crashed open and a CIA team rushed through. Each operative was dressed in full tactical gear with a balaclava covering their face.

Tigress turned and fired a small explosive arrow, creating a blast that knocked the first two members of the CIA team down.

Nightwing threw a small smoke bomb towards the assault team and then broke the back sliding door open.

Nightwing: "Let's move people!"

Aquaman landed the bio-ship in the large backyard, allowing everyone to rush onto the ship and quickly fly away.

Aquaman: "I will take us to the Watchtower. We can get every available Leaguer to help us take down the Hunters."

Nightwing: "There's no time. (Y/n)'s had this intel for over 24 hours. He's more than likely already on his way to Natalya's penthouse and he has no idea that the Hunters have Zatanna and Mary. He'll be walking into a trap, we need to go to New York right now."

Miss Martian: "We can try and call him. Tell him to hold off until we get there."

Tigress: "Once he learns they have Zatanna, there's not a chance he'll wait for anyone. Not to mention the comms blackout is still in effect. We won't be able to contact him until we're in New York and even then the signal will be spotty at best."

Superboy: "Alright, so we head to New York now."

Nightwing: "The Hunters don't know we're coming but they're still extremely dangerous. We need to find (Y/n) without being spotted and make a plan."

Miss Martian: "Hopefully we aren't too late."

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Zatanna woke up to a cold bucket of water being dumped on her. She gasped and tried to sit up but pain surged through her body and the restraints kept her bound to the bench.

Natalya: "Looks like Crimson's men had some fun with you."

Natalya placed her cold hand on Zatanna's stomach and ran it along her body, purposely putting pressure on the man cuts all across the magician's body.

Zatanna's magicians uniform was tattered and worn, the black tailcoat was almost completely destroyed and several small cuts were scattered across her stomach and ribs. The cuts weren't intended to scar or kill, but simply to bleed.

The Hunters know the human body perfectly, they know how much pain a person can take, how much blood they can lose before death. They know how to break people and Zatanna was seeing first hand how the Hunters broke their victims' will.

Zatanna let a pain filled groan slip out but it was muffled by the cloth gag wrapped around her head.

Natalya: "Shh, it's all going to be over soon. You may even survive this, I'm still debating on what to do with you after we kill your fiancé."

Zatanna's eyes widened in fear as Natalya moved away from her and over to a small medical cart. The leader of the Black Tusk started slowly picking up and examining several sharp medical tools before settling on a small taser.

As Natalya walked back to Zatanna she held the taser in clear view, activating it and watching fear run through Zatanna's body as the taser crackled.

Natalya: "Crimson has asked me to hand you over to him after (Y/n)'s death. Though I'm not entirely sure what he wants you for, I can only guess that he'll enjoy it a lot more than you will."

Zatanna thrashed against her restraints but stopped once she realized it was all in vain. Natalya laughed and started gently caressing Zatanna's face, brushing her hair out of the way to expose her neck.

Natalya: "I imagine Crimson wants you as some sort of trophy, or to have his men use you to... relieve some stress."

As fear gripped Zatanna, the thought of being used by Crimson's men almost made her sick. Natalya pressed the taser against her neck, ripping her out of her horrified state and sending a massive amount of pain through the magician's body.

The twisted woman smiled as Zatanna screamed and trashed violently in an attempt to spare herself of the immense pain.

Natalya removed the taser and slipped it into her pocket once Zatanna succumbed to the pain and passed out.

She retreated to the large metal door of Zatanna's cell and opened it, allowing two Hunters to enter.

Natalya: "Bring her up to the penthouse, Vanguard will be here soon."

————————————————————————

(Y/n) and Kelso arrived on the 25th floor of the building directly across from one containing Natalya's penthouse. The two agents were fully dressed in winter tactical gear and had enough ISAC gadgets to mimic the firepower of a small army.

(Y/n): "This is high enough."

Kelso set down the large crate she was carrying as (Y/n) quietly broke open the window. Kelso removed a large grappling hook launcher from the crate and started setting up the stand for the large device.

Kelso: "You sure ISAC got the schematics right?"

(Y/n): "Yep. We'll zipline across to the restaurant on the 20th floor and then work our way up to the penthouse, clearing the entire building as we go."

Kelso attached the launcher and took aim at the concrete just above the restaurant's balcony. She took a deep breath and (Y/n) placed his hand on her shoulder.

(Y/n): "We're going to get Kandel back, I promise. But we need to focus, once we land on the balcony they will more than likely know we're here."

Kelso simply nodded her head and fired the grappling hook. The second she was certain the line was secure, the two agents attached their harness to the line and jumped out the window. Gravity took care of everything, the agents were off the zipline in mere seconds and tore off their harnesses.

The two agents broke through the locked glass door and stormed into the restaurant from the balcony, quickly securing it and heading for the stairs.

(Y/n): "Natalya's penthouse takes up the entire top floor with access to the roof, ISAC says there are multiple floors under construction directly below the penthouse. My bet is they're using those floors as holding cells and storage for the Hunters gear. If Kandel is being held here she'll probably be stashed somewhere on those floors."

Kelso: "If we hurry we can get there before they move her to the penthouse."

(Y/n): "No. We need to clear every floor as we go up so nobody sneaks up behind us, we won't be saving anyone if the Hunters kill or capture us. ISAC is monitoring the airspace and the snowstorm will keep every helicopter in the city grounded for the next several hours. The only way anyone is leaving this building is by going through us."

Kelso took a deep breath before pushing open the door to the stairs.

Kelso: "You ready to do this?"

(Y/n): "Elevator's been disabled, this is the only way up. And yes, I'm fucking ready to kill some Hunters."

Kelso and (Y/n) both racked the charging handles on their rifles before starting their climb up the stairs.

As the agents moved up the steps they immediately came across evidence that the Hunters were in the building.

Bullet holes were all over the walls and garbage bags were placed along the walls, mixed in with the construction equipment and building supplies.

The floor was extremely cold and most of the windows were broken, letting the snow and cold air fly in.

Kelso: "Two targets, end of the hall."

The agents advanced, taking cover a short distance away and aiming their rifles at the unsuspecting Hunters. The mechanical growling of the DARPA voice changers made it impossible to tell what the two Hunters were saying, though (Y/n) thought it was safe to assume they had no idea he and Kelso were there.

(Y/n) shot first. His first shot hit the neck of the closest Hunter and he collapsed instantly. Kelso surged forward and fired three shots, her suppressed rifle making little more than soft thumps as she planted two shots into the Hunter's neck and on in his head.

Both agents double tapped their respective kills, ensuring that the Hunters were dead regardless of their high tech body armour.

Kelso and (Y/n) made sure to grab the Hunter's combat axes and attach it to their belts so they could have something other than their knives for hand to hand combat.

Once the agents had taken everything of value from the Hunters they resumed their climb, making it to the stairwell and heading up to the next floor.

————————————————————————

Miss Martian: "We've arrived in New York. The snow storm is making visibility difficult but we're right above midtown."

Tigress: "I can see lots of lights down there, it looks like the Division was able to get the power back on."

Before anyone could respond to Tigress's comment, Black Canary contacted the group and appeared on a holographic screen.

Black Canary: "Good, I'm glad I caught you before you went in."

Aquaman: "We have just arrived in New York. I take it you have additional information."

Black Canary: "Yes, communications have been restored with the outside world in all places but the Dark Zone. The storm is making things difficult but once it's gone things should be back to normal, communication wise at least."

Aquaman: "Good, we are about to investigate a location we believe is serving as a base of operations for the Hunters. We hope to find Zatanna and Sergeant Marvel there."

Black Canary's eyes widened for a brief moment but she quickly regained her composure and found her voice.

Black Canary: "The Division just sent a situation report to the government, Lois Lane has a source in the state department and managed to get us a copy of it. (Y/n) and Kelso led Noble squad on the mission to restore power. They successfully restored power to most of New York and fixed any damage that required immediate attention. But they were surrounded and pinned down when they tried to get back to friendly lines. They were forced to retreat into the Dark Zone where the Hunters found them."

Tigress: "Oh no..."

Black Canary: "The report largely leaves out the details but Noble squad is gone. Agent Ann was the only survivor and she's in critical condition. By the looks of it (Y/n) and Kelso were banged up pretty good as well."

Nightwing: "Does the report say where (Y/n) and Kelso are now?"

Black Canary: "No, not exactly. But the Division received intel that the Hunters captured doctor Jessica Kandel along with the same intel you have about the Sokolova's penthouse. (Y/n) and Kelso geared up and left the Division's base of operations early last night. They're probably already in the building working their way up to the penthouse."

Nightwing: "Then we need to go in now. (Y/n)'s working on outdated intel and is going to be blindsided by Crimson if we don't act now. We'll drop in on the roof and storm the penthouse, hopefully the element of surprise will be enough to end this quickly."

Black Canary: "If the Division's report is right, that penthouse and the few floors below it contain all the Hunters. Even with the element of surprise, that's going to be one hell of a fight."

Nightwing: "We can handle it."

Black Canary: "I know you're all strong, but these people have proven to be incredibly unpredictable. I'm gathering up everyone I can and I'll be there soon, just don't die."

Nightwing: "Wasn't planning on it."

The former Robin ended the transmission and sighed, taking a look out the window of the Bio-ship and down at the penthouse.

Miss Martian: "We're all thinking it, so I'm just going to say it. Are you more concerned about saving (Y/n) from a trap, or concerned that he may fight through it, find and kill Jason."

Nightwing: "(Y/n) already said we'd capture Jason."

Miss Martian: "If possible. You need to realize that Jason may not give him a choice. If it's between saving Zatanna, Mary and Kandel or saving Jason... you know what his choice will be."

Nightwing: "He won't have to make that choice, I can get through to Jason if he's down there. I know it. Take us down to the roof and try to establish a psychic link with (Y/n)."

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Gunfire rang out as (Y/n) and Kelso pushed forward, desperate to make it down the hall before they became bogged down in a protracted gunfight.

Kelso: "If we get pinned down it's over!"

(Y/n): "Get behind me and get ready to take the shot!"

(Y/n) deployed his ballistic shield and stepped out from behind the construction equipment serving as his cover. The large caliber bullets of the Hunters AK 12's slammed against (Y/n)'s shield as he struggled to keep himself upright.

Kelso pressed up against his back and the agents slowly moved down the hall. Once they were close enough, Kelso dropped several seeker mines and reloaded as the explosives raced towards the Hunters barricade.

The three Hunters jumped over the barricade as the seeker mines flew over to the side they were on moments ago. The blast happened before the Hunter's feet hit the ground.

The three Hunters each lost their rifles, the blast sending them rolling across the ground and scrambling to pick up their weapons. Kelso and (Y/n) broke their formation and charged, taking out their axes and lunging towards the Hunters.

The agents descended upon the Hunters with an unmatched fury. Blindly slashing and hacking at the Hunters with everything they had.

The first Hunter fell with ease. (Y/n) plunged his ace deep into the Hunter's neck. Blood splattered across the wall as the Hunter collapsed without making a sound.

Kelso body slammed a Hunter into the wall and slashed down at him with her axe. The Hunter blocked her attack and grabbed Kelso's axe.

Instead of wrestling the Hunter for control of the axe, Kelso let go and grabbed her handgun. She quickly placed one shot in the Hunters knee and two in his stomach.

As the bleeding Hunter slouched down Kelso shot him right through the eyehole on his ballistic mask. Blood and brains splattered across the ground as the Hunters body slumped over.

(Y/n) rushed the last Hunter, covering the ten feet to the killer in half a second. The Hunter managed to deploy his own ballistic shield and braced himself for the agents first attack.

The power of (Y/n)'s swing caused the axe to get lodged in the Hunters shield. (Y/n) quickly let go of the axe and just as quickly tore the shield away from the Hunter. Before the Hunter had a chance to react, (Y/n) slammed his fist into the Hunter's mask.

The ballistic mask cracked and the Hunter stumbled back, allowing (Y/n) to quickly pull out his handgun and shoot the Hunter. The agent only stopped firing when the Hunter's body stopped moving.

Kelso: "I know you've got some impressive strength to say the least. But how hard did you punch him? Those masks are built to take a direct shot to the head from large calibers."

(Y/n): "I punched him hard enough to get the job done."

Kelso smiled as she reloaded her handgun. (Y/n) stuffed a new magazine into his handgun as well and was about to resume his advance to the next set of stairs when Miss Martian's voice rang out in his head.

Miss Martian: '(Y/n)! Kelso! Can you two hear me?!'

(Y/n): 'M'gann! What are you doing here?!'

Miss Martian: 'Listen, it's not just me. I have everyone with me. Where are you now?"

Kelso: '76th floor, northwest corner. The Hunters have knocked out the southern stairwell, it's completely destroyed. The only way up through the building is through the north stairwell.'

Miss Martian: '(Y/n) listen to me carefully, we are on the roof of the penthouse. Natalya has Mary and Zatanna somewhere in the building. We're going in to rescue them now before she can use them as hostages against you.'

(Y/n): 'No! Wait for us to get closer to the penthouse. We're too far away to help you if the Hunters get the upper hand!'

Miss Martian: 'We'll be careful. Trust us.'

Miss Martian ended the link and (Y/n) started to panic. His heart rate skyrocketed and he just now realized how beat up he and Kelso were.

Dozens of small cuts from shrapnel and stray bullets covered their body like grass in a field. Kelso had it slightly worse but refused to show any sign of weakness.

(Y/n): "We need to double our pace. We can't let them get hurt!"

Kelso: "Kid, trust me. I'd like nothing more than to charge up the next ten floors and rescue our girls. But we need to be smart about this. If we rush up there thinking with our hearts and not our heads, we'll get killed before we make it half way."

(Y/n) closed his eyes and attempted to calm himself down. He tried to recall his training, how he'd been taught to remain calm and in control of his emotions at all times, but nothing seemed to work. The memories of his training were pushed away by his memory of Zatanna's smile, him hugging her after sliding the ring onto her finger and the fear of never holding her in his arms again.

Kelso: "Hey, you promised me that I'd get to hold Kandel again, you kept me sane when I was about to break in that subway. Let me help you."

(Y/n) nodded his head and let out a stressful sigh and pushed the pain away.

Kelso: "You're going to get your girls and bring them to safety, and we're both going to kill Natalya and Crimson before we burn this place to the ground."

(Y/n) locked eyes with Kelso and nodded, mentally preparing himself for the rest of the fight.

Kelso: "You good?"

(Y/n): "Yeah, yeah I'm good. Thank you Kelso."

Kelso: "Don't thank me yet, we've still got a lot of Hunters to kill."

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Mary and Kandel woke up to an extremely loud crash followed by a muffled scream.

The Outsider and doctor were tied to support pillars and forced to face an empty room, looking out at the city.

Mary heard the click of Natalya's heels and mentally prepared herself for another round of torture. She'd put on a brave face and refused to give the Black Tusk leader anything but her confidence and strength were fading fast.

Crimson: "I told you they would come."

Natalya: "The Clairvoyant didn't inform me until a few minutes ago."

Crimson: "If you had followed my request and moved our base to the world bank, we could've avoided this problem all together."

Natalya: "Just shut up and do your job. Are they here yet?"

Crimson: "The Martian's ship arrived two minutes ago, we have them on thermal imaging and my men are ready to engage."

Natalya: "Where's Ivan?"

Crimson: "Acting as bait."

Natalya stopped walking in front of Mary and briefly looked at the hero before snapping her gaze back to the Hunter who was dragging a barely conscious Zatanna by her neck.

Natalya: "They can't be allowed to capture him alive. He knows far too much about the Clairvoyant and our plans. If they make him talk they could destroy everything we've carefully built"

Crimson: "I'll take care of it. Do I have your permission to engage the heroes and prepare our escape plan?"

Natalya: "Yes. Once you've eliminated them as a threat, move down to the floor we've prepared for Vanguard. I'll take the witch down there now and get her properly set up."

Crimson forced Zatanna to stand and shoved her towards Natalya. Zatanna stumbled forward and was immediately punched across the face by Natalya.

With her hands bound behind her back, Zatanna couldn't block the punch or brass herself when she fell. Zatanna groaned in pain as she collapsed and desperately fought to stay awake.

Mary and Kandel screamed when Natalya took a large knife from Crimson and knelt down, pinning Zatanna on her stomach and starting to slowly cut her arms.

Zatanna screamed in pain as tears welled up in her eyes.

Natalya: "That's for punching me across the face when I was trying to help your precious agent with his memory problems. But this... this is because I want you to hurt, I want you to remember that you can have all the power in the world and you'll still be helpless against me. You'll never be able to stop me from hurting you or any of your loved ones."

Zatanna screamed into the gag as Natalya pressed the knife up against her neck and slowly started moving it, cutting her neck just enough to make it bleed and terrify the helpless magician.

Mary and Kandel screamed into their gags but were silenced by Crimson when he activated the inhibitor collars on their necks, sending surges of electricity through their bodies.

Natalya grabbed Zatanna's hair and pulled her head to the side after she tossed the knife away. The red head smiled as she whispered into the magician's ear.

Natalya: "Ready to watch your precious agent die?"

————————————————————————

ISAC drones flew down the long and brightly lit hallway, firing small bullets at the group of Hunters that were pushing towards the agents.

(Y/n) and Kelso ducked down behind cover as their gadgets unleashed a hailstorm of bullets, keeping the Hunters at bay and allowing themselves a small moment to come up with a plan.

Kelso: "This is going to take too long!"

(Y/n): "We need to split up, draw their forces apart and force them to reorganize."

Kelso: "You sure about this?"

(Y/n): "Positive. ISAC, link my deployed gadgets to Kelso's watch and get ready to deploy whatever I have left."

ISAC: "Warning, transferring gadgets to Alani Kelso will leave you with two assault drones and one turret. Ammunition levels are dangerously low."

(Y/n): "Just do it!"

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Nightwing: "Is everyone clear on the plan?"

Tigress: "It's a bit of a stretch just assuming Zatanna, Mary and Kandel will be out in the open. The Hunters probably have them hidden away somewhere."

Miss Martian: "Not necessarily. If they intend to use them as human shields they probably will be right beside Natalya."

Aqualad: "Let's go. We can't afford to waste any more time."

The heroes entered the cargo hold as Superboy lowered the ramp, revealing the snow covered roof.

The snow storm had largely subsided and the sun was poking through the dark grey clouds, shining over the city and creating a hopeful aura for everyone that looked outside.

Superboy heard the click before he saw it. A Hunter was standing by the stairway entrance into the building with a large anti aircraft rocket launcher in his hands.

The rocket screamed to life and slammed into the bio-ship before anyone had a chance to react. Miss Martian screamed in pain and horror as the bio-ship caught on fire and plumitted towards the ground.

Everyone in the cargo hold was thrown out onto the roof, crashing down several feet to the roof as the bio-ship slammed into the edge of the roof before plummeting out of view.

The Hunter didn't give the heroes a chance to collect themselves. He charged forward and Superboy jumped up to meet him.

The Hunter ducked under Superboy's first swing and in a move that mirrored what (Y/n) did in training, used Superboy's momentum against him and swept the hero's legs out from under him.

As Superboy fell to the ground the Hunter jumped back and out of reach. Superboy's attack gave the rest of the heroes enough time to push themselves up and join the fight.

The Hunter took out a small grenade launcher and aimed it at the heroes. Superboy stepped forward to block the shot and protect his friends, but his good intent would prove a terrible mistake.

The Hunter fired, aiming directly at the "S" on Superboy's shirt. The round impacted Superboy and a thick green mist erupted instead of an explosion.

Nightwing: "NO! SB get out of there, don't breath in!"

Superboy stumbled back, out of the kryptonite mist and collapsed, coughing up blood onto the clean white snow. His skin around his neck was turning green as the Hunter dropped the grenade launcher.

Miss Martian: 'NO! CONNER HANG ON!'

Miss Martian rushed forward, using her telekinesis to blast the kryptonite mist away. Nightwing looked at the Hunter who now had a remote in his hands. The detective's eyes widened in fear as the Hunter pressed the remote. Small explosive charges, hidden by the thick blanket of snow, detonated all around them in a large circle.

The roof caved in and everyone but the Hunter fell through.

The heroes groaned in pain as all but Superboy pushed themselves up. Miss Martian struggled to stand as the blast had sparked multiple fires and the temperature was rapidly increasing.

Miss Martian stumbled forward and fell at the feet of six Hunters, each armed with shotguns. The Hunter took out a small flare and lit it as the power in the penthouse went out.

Tigress: "Get away from her!"

Tigress lunged forward, shooting an arrow that forced the Hunters to scatter and started the fight.

The Hunter holding the flare dropped it down beside Miss Martian, causing her to pass out from the extreme heat.

Aquaman surged forward and blocked the first of the Hunter's shotgun blasts with a massive wall of water he summoned from the snow on the roof. Tigress continued to fire her arrows at any Hunter she saw out of cover, causing dozens of small explosions all around the expensive penthouse.

Nightwing dove for cover behind the large bar and just managed to avoid a shotgun blast from a nearby Hunter. The former Robin then threw a small explosive at the Hunter, causing the killer to stagger back and drop his shotgun.

Tigress spun around to see a Hunter directly behind her. She barely got her bow up in time to block his axe. The strength of the Hunters slash broke Tigress's bow in half, leaving her temporarily defenseless. The Hunter swiftly punched her across the face and sent the crime fighter staggering back.

Aquaman was thrown back into the far wall after blocking a rocket that was shot towards Miss Martian's unconscious body by a bloodthirsty Hunter. He was about to get up when a Hunter stepped on his chest and aimed his shotgun directly at the Atlantians head.

Before the Hunter had a chance to pull the trigger, Nightwing slammed into the killer's body and sent him crashing to the floor.

Ivan: "ENOUGH!"

The fight suddenly stopped as the Hunters followed Ivan's order and the heroes heard Mary's scream. Ivan Tarnako was standing in the doorway leading towards the elevator with Mary on her knees before him.

The heroes could cleaerly see that Mary was tortured and beat. She had several bruises all across her face and arms and several cuts across her body. Her brand new Sergeant Marvel uniform was worn and ripped from the methodical torture she endured.

Nightwing's eyes were drawn to the inhibitor collar on Mary's neck and cloth gag wrapped around her mouth.

Ivan: "Drop your weapons or the girl dies."

The heroes hesitated for a moment before Ivan pressed the knife up against Mary's neck. A moment later Tigress, Nightwing and Aqualad's had thrown their weapons towards Ivan, leaving themselves defenseless.

Ivan: "You should never have involved yourselves in my experiment."

Tigress: "Your experiment? You caused this?!"

Ivan: "Of course. The virus is my greatest creation. With it I can cripple governments and bring about the greatest natural reset the world has ever seen! Nobody can stop me, not even the Justice League!"

Nightwing: "I wouldn't bet on that."

Ivan: "You're fairly ignorant for being trained by Batman."

Nightwing: "It's part of my charm."

Ivan scoffed as he removed the knife and slipped it back into his jacket. The former Soviet scientist carelessly walked to the bar, leaving Mary by herself.

Mary stayed on her knees and didn't move a muscle. Fear gripped her as she heard familiar footsteps approaching behind her.

Ivan poured himself a drink at what remained of the bar and smiled as the heroes were studying their surroundings, trying to figure a way out of their predicament.

Ivan: "You know, it amazes me that you people are so blind to what's really going on. The Hunter's, Natalya and before them Keener and Maxwell, they've all carelessly left clues and it's fairly easy to put them all together."

Nightwing: "How are they connected?"

Ivan: "Seriously? Your mentor is widely considered to be the best detective in the world and you can't figure it out? What's one thing they all have in common?"

Silence overtook the room as Nightwing searched his mind for an answer, but as much as he hated to admit it he knew frighteningly little about the groups or people Ivan mentioned. He knew that if (Y/n) was here he would most likely be able to figure it out, all he had to do was survive to ask the agent.

Ivan: "Seriously? It's the-"

*BANG*

Ivan's body fell forward as a bullet passed cleanly through his head. Glass shattered as the scientist fell back and took a few shelves with him as he crumbled to the ground.

Natalya stepped out from behind Mary and shot Ivan three more times, ensuring that the scientist and his seacrets died together.

Natalya: "The Clairvoyant thanks you for your services."

Two Hunters dragged Kandel in behind Natalya, throwing the barely conscious doctor to the ground beside Mary.

Natalya tossed several inhibitor collars towards the heroes. The collars landed with a deafening thump as Natalya smiled sinisterly as the helpless heroes.

Natalya: "Put on the collars. I'm not going to ask twice."

Natalya aimed her handgun at Mary, leaving the heroes with no choice but to put the collars on and hope (Y/n) and Kelso weren't far away.

Natalya: "There, see, painless as ever."

Aquaman: "We are familiar with your methods, nothing you touch is painless."

Natalya: "Oh don't be so dramatic, I'm not going to hurt any of you unless I have too. Permanently hurting or killing any of you five will more than likely reunite the Justice League in an effort to hunt me down."

Aquaman: "We will hunt you down regardless. You will never win."

Natalya: "Strong words for someone who's never been in a weaker position. You've lost half your covert ops team over a glorified publicity stunt, more than half the League has resigned and any notable heroes on the half that's still with you are off in deep space. You don't have the manpower to hunt me down."

Natalya walked to the bar and stepped over Ivan's bleeding corpse, grabbing a tv remote and walking back to Mary's side.

The large tv had somehow survived the blast and following fight completely untouched. A nearby Hunter pressed a button on a small remote and turned to power back on for Natalya.

Natalya: "Let's check in on the agents and see how they're doing."

Natalya turned on the television and showed a live broadcast of (Y/n). He was slowly making his way down a hallway to a small door at the end of the hall.

————————————————————————

(Y/n) could hear his own heartbeat. His chest pounded as he slowly crept down the cement hall, inching closer to the door and waiting for the ambush to trigger.

He was almost out of ammunition and was certain the Hunters knew it. The fights on the previous floors had left him drained of everything, his gadgets were gone, his ammunition was almost gone and his armour had taken a far worse beating than it was designed to sustain.

Suddenly (Y/n) heard stomping behind him and the signature puff of a smoke pellet. The agent spun around to see Crimson charging at him. The Hunter was moving at an incredible speed and (Y/n) wasted no time raising his rifle and firing the last of his ammunition at the Hunter.

Crimson slid under (Y/n)'s initial burst and used a ballistic shield to block the few bullets that would've hit him. Crimson jumped up and kicked (Y/n)'s rifle out of his hands just as the weapon ran out of ammunition.

(Y/n) grabbed ahold of Crimson's shield and tore it away. The agent backed up with Crimson's shield in hand as the Hunter pulled out his combat axe.

(Y/n) spun around and threw the shield at Crimson with an alarming amount of force. Crimson dodged the shield and it flew down the hall, lodging itself in the wall a few feet away.

Just before Crimson could hit (Y/n) with his axe, the agent stabbed Crimson in the gut with a small knife, just below the Hunter's plate carrier. (Y/n) left the knife in and brought his hands up to defend his body from the axe.

Crimson screamed out as he swung the axe down at (Y/n). The agent slipped out of the way just in time and punched Crimson across the face, sending him crashing down to the floor.

(Y/n) dropped down onto Crimson, planting his knee on the Hunter's chest and pinned him down. The agent then ripped the knife out of Crimson's stomach and brought it to the Hunter's neck.

(Y/n): "WHERE ARE THEY?! WHERE ARE THE GIRLS?!"

Crimson: "Natalya has Sergeant Marvel and the good doctor, I don't know where she's moved them. But she gave me Zatanna, the little witch is going to be entertaining my men the second I'm done with you."

Fear rocked the agent on a level he wasn't prepared to deal with. The thought of Zatanna being raped by Crimson's men absolutely terrified him. Anger surged through his veins as he punched Crimson across the face.

(Y/n): "WHERE IS SHE?!"

Crimson: "On this floor through the door at the end of the hall there will be a small storage room with another door leading to a conference room, she's through there."

(Y/n) was about to plunge the knife into the Hunters neck when Crimson kicked him off and punched him across the face.

The Hunter then pounced on (Y/n), grabbing the agents neck with both his hands and choking the life out of him.

Crimson: "Your love makes you predictable! You could've been one of the best Hunters that ever lived!"

(Y/n): "F-fuck y-you..."

(Y/n) was desperately reaching for anything to use as a weapon and break Crimson's hold. He managed to reach the stock on his rifle with his fingertips while staring up into Crimson's grey eyes.

The Hunter was savouring his kill, enjoying every moment and every little detail as the life faded from (Y/n)'s face.

With one last burst of energy, (Y/n) grabbed a hold of the rifle and swung it up at Crimson, smacking the Hunter in the side of the head and knocking the Hunter off him.

(Y/n) rapidly drew in breaths as he pushed himself up. Crimson was using the wall to hold himself up and (Y/n) took advantage of the Hunter's dazed state.

The agent lunged forward, smashing the stock of his rifle against the Hunters mask. The first strike cracked Crimson's mask and caused the Hunter to bring up his hands to defend himself.

With adrenaline rushing through his veins, (Y/n) refused to let his advantage pass. He smashed his rifle into Crimson over and over again.

A loud crack was heard as Crimson's mask broke, falling off the Hunter's face in two large pieces and landing on the floor. That second Crimson pushed (Y/n) away with every bit of strength he had left and dropped a smoke pellet.

Smoke filled the hallway, causing (Y/n) to cough as he desperately searched for the Hunter through the smoke.

In a few seconds the smoke was gone and the only thing that remained of Crimson was his broken mask.

(Y/n) collected himself and pulled out his handgun, it was all he had left. His body wanted to give out but he knew he needed to keep going.

After catching his breath, (Y/n) started limping down the hall, opening the door and quickly walking through. He saw exactly what Crimson had told him. A storage room filled with cleaning supplies and a single door at the end of the small room. He ran forward as fast as he could when he heard muffled screams coming from the other side of the door.

————————————————————————

*Flashback*

Zatanna awoke as her body was being dragged through the storage room. She was pulled through the door and realized she was in some sort of conference room. The large table that traditionally sat in the center of the room was tipped over and blocking the windows.

Natalya forced Zatanna to sit down in a metal chair that was bolted to the floor. Her arms were bound to the arms of the chair and her legs to the front two legs of the chair by the two Hunters that escorted Natalya.

Natalya made sure the cloth gag in Zatanna's mouth was secure before leaving the room. She returned several minutes later with another Hunter who held a large automatic turret in his arms. The turret was an automatic sentry system built by DARPA. A large red lens on the right side of the turret that acted as the automatic weapons "eye". A bright red laser shone directly where the weapon was aimed. The entire weapon looked terrifying.

Zatanna could hear her heartbeat as the Hunter set up the turret behind her and pointed it at the door. The weapon's tripod was so tall that the suppressed barrel of the gun sat two feet above Zatanna's head when she was seated.

Natalya linked the weapon with a remote and walked towards the door.

Natalya: "The weapon has been programmed to shoot the next person that comes through this door. We both know who that person will be."

The woman laughed as Zatanna was rocked with fear. She thrashed against her restraints and tried to squirm out of the chair. Natalya only laughed louder as Zatanna realized she was never going to be able to break the metal restraints holding her and began to panic.

Natalya: "Goodbye, witch."

Natalya shut the door and Zatanna was left to panic in complete silence.

*Small Time Skip*

Zatanna screamed when she heard footsteps approaching the door. Tears welled up in her eyes as she violently thrashed against her restraints.

The handle turned and to Zatanna's horror the door opened. She instantly locked eye contact with (Y/n) and screamed into her gag. The mechanical sound of the turret aiming pulled (Y/n)'s gaze up slightly and his eyes widened. He tried to drop down and back out of the room but he was too slow.

The turret fired its single shot, a powerful crack rang out despite the weapons suppressor and it hit the agent directly in the center of his armour.

(Y/n)'s body went flying back and crashed in the center of the storage room. His handgun flew from his grip and slid across the floor.

Zatanna squirmed in her chair as tears started falling from her eyes. She waited and prayed that (Y/n) would get up or at least move a little bit to show that he was still alive, but his body was completely motionless.

The magician cried out as tears streamed down her face. She was forced to watch (Y/n)'s motionless body several feet away, laying on the cold floor of the storage room.