Chapter 18: A Partnership Made in Hell

Word Count : 7810

Krieg had to admit, the most tedious part of a crime fighting career was the patrols. Often enough, nothing worthwhile would happen, and you would waste hours just running in circles. Nevertheless, there would always come that day when a simple patrol could yield unexpected results. Today proved to be that day for Krieg, as he raced along the road on his motorcycle.

"Move it, dammit! Faster! He's gaining on us!" those were the words shouted by a masked criminal from the backseat of the car Krieg was chasing. The lunatics drove like madmen through the busy streets, uncaring about the damage they were causing in their mad dash for freedom. But no matter where they went, Krieg was constantly behind them, effortlessly weaving in and out of traffic on his motorcycle.

"Eat this, freak!" a second criminal in the backseat shouted as he took his AK-47 and let loose with full auto, destroying the rear window and spraying bullets wildly at anything that was directly behind them. Krieg barely got out of the way as he drove for cover behind a truck. He waited a few seconds, then he hit the throttle and came roaring out of cover right next to his quarry, facing the driver.

In a panic, the criminal grabbed his revolver and tried to shoot him. His shots were poorly aimed as he struggled to keep an eye on passing traffic as well. Krieg had no such trouble as he placed a tranquil dart in the man's throat with his wrist gun.

"Oh shit!" the one riding shotgun burst out in terror when the driver slumped over unconscious. He desperately struggled to get a grip on the steering wheel. The one in the backseat had by then reloaded his AK-47 and aimed at Krieg. Krieg however was faster and brought out his shotgun. With a one-handed grip on it, he fired a red round straight into the frontal left tire.

The car went spinning out of control and slammed into a parked car. It was flipped over and terrified pedestrians ran for their lives as the car smashed into a wall upside down. Krieg meanwhile came to a stop a few meters from the crashed car and began to calmly approach it. One of the car doors was suddenly kicked open and one of the criminals stumbled out like a drunkard out of a bar. His stay in the land of the conscious did not last much longer as Krieg grabbed a fistful of his hair and slammed his head straight into his armored knee.

There was one last criminal who was still conscious, trapped in the car in the front seat. He was desperately trying to crawl out of the wreckage, but Krieg put a stop to it as he walked up and placed a boot on his hand clawing the ground. He proceeded to grind the hand under his boot, ignoring the poor man's screams of pain.

"Consider this my way of merely letting you off with a warning," Krieg spoke before he placed a tranquil dart in the man, knocking him out as well. With that dealt with, he began walking away, intent on continuing his patrol. But he stopped once he heard a phone ring from the one criminal who had managed to crawl out. Curious, he approached him and rummaged through his pockets until he found the phone. The caller ID said "unknown", so Krieg answered and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" he heard someone say on the other end, "Hello? Are you there? What the hell is taking so long with the delivery? We're expecting you at the airport, and we're growing tired of waiting," without saying as much as a word, Krieg hung up and threw the cellphone away. Outwardly, he remained as uncaring as ever. Inwardly, he was intrigued by this. From what he could gather, something important was going to happen at the airport, important enough that it required his intervention.

With his goal in mind, he jumped on his motorcycle and raced down the street, heading towards the airport. It took him about half an hour, what with the annoying traffic and avoiding those pesky security guards, but he finally reached it, and he found his target straight away. For he found one of the hangars occupied by a group of people dressed in working clothes. That alone would not have caught his interest, if it was not for the fact that he recognized one of the workers.

It happened to be the same criminal he stabbed in the knee and shot in the crotch just a few days ago. Yet despite being forced to use a crutch to move around, he was still partaking in criminal activities. Irritation swelled up in Krieg as he realized this scum had thrown away his warning and continued his life of crime. 'Well, I guess I have to be more forceful in the future to get through their thick skulls,' Krieg thought darkly to himself. He absolutely loathed having to do the same thing over and over.

Once again, he wished that he could just kill these criminals and be done with it. After all, living criminals will often return to their life of murder and mayhem once they are free again, dead ones will never trouble anyone ever again. Alas, orders were orders, no matter how much he detested them.

"No sense complaining now, just get the job done," he said to himself as he dismounted his motorcycle and began to sneak closer towards the hangar. It proved to be laughably easy, as the morons did not have a single guard patrolling the hangar. Then again, they were obviously trying to pose as simple airport employees, so placing guards around the perimeter would in all probability work against their disguise.

He found a small door at the back of the hangar, locked from the inside. But instead of finding an alternate route, or simply break it open, he politely knocked on the door and waited. Finally, he heard someone unlocking the door from the other side. When it opened and someone stuck his head out, Krieg grabbed it and dragged him out in the open. A quick blow to the neck had him out like a candle and Krieg carelessly disposed of his unconscious body in a bush.

With that done with, he slipped inside, finding himself in a labyrinth of crates gathered in neat roves as high as walls. Krieg could hear noises at the other end of the hangar, so he brought forth his shotgun and began to cautiously approach his target. When he finally found them, they were in the midst of piling up another stack of crates right at the entrance of the hangar. While he was certainly curious concerning what was in those crates, Krieg deemed them a low priority, considering there was a total of eleven enemy combatants present, though only ten were in any shape to fight back.

But his lack of interest ended when one of the goons accidentally dropped a crate he had been carrying, spilling its contents out on the ground. It was just a bunch of machinery parts and some high-tech equipment, but what truly caught Krieg's eyes were the words S.T.A.R. Labs stamped on them. 'Something about this is strange. S.T.A.R. Labs is one of the most wealthy and prestigious research companies in the world. Why would they need to hire lowlifes to transport their goods like this?' Krieg asked himself in suspicion. The answer to that question was quite obvious in his mind.

They would not.

Now it was clear what needed to be done, so Krieg abandoned all sense of stealth and stepped out in the open. Two rapid shotgun blasts heralded the fall of two thugs into the land of the unconscious before a third sent another thug to the ground while screaming in pain. The rest then became aware of his presence, and so three drew hidden sidearms while the rest dove for cover. Those with weapons in hand proved to be too slow and had their weapons blasted out of their hands by rubber bullets, breaking a few fingers as an added bonus.

One of those without a firearm had grabbed a crowbar and was charging right at Krieg, screaming like a wild animal. The last rubber bullet in Krieg's shotgun shattered his nose and knocked him out before Krieg was forced to dodge a clumsy swing from behind by a man with a baseball bat. Dropping his shotgun, he ducked under a second swing and came back up with an uppercut that sent the man flying into a pile of crates that crashed down on him.

The remaining five all decided to charge him head-on all at once, though the three with broken fingers let their comrades rush in first. 'All at once, one at a time, it makes no difference to me,' Krieg thought to himself as he cracked his knuckles in preparation. The first one attacked with a wild punch that Krieg sidestepped before ramming his knee into his guts and finishing him off with a fist to the back of the head.

The second tried tackling him to the ground, but Krieg caught him and threw him over his shoulder to slam him into the floor. He was finished off with a kick to the head. The third and fourth attacked from opposite directions, but Krieg merely ducked low and swept them both off their feet. A tranquil dart subdued one of them while Krieg stomped on the crotch of the other one before finishing him off with a fist to the face.

As he straightened himself up again, he counted the number of enemies that he had beaten now. 'Let's see here, I only count nine of them. Where's the tenth?' he asked himself, just as the tenth thug was sneaking up behind him. And just as he tried to lunge at Krieg, he nonchalantly slammed his fist backwards, nailing him in the face and knocking him out.

That only left the crippled one still standing, and he was looking like he was close to dying from a heart attack as he trembled in fear. In fact, unless Krieg was mistaken, it looked like he had developed a wet spot between his legs. Stricken by a paralyzing fear, the cowardly man never even tried to run as Krieg approached, picking up his shotgun along the way.

"Hello again. Remember what I told you last time we met?" Krieg inquired monotonously as he reloaded his shotgun. As if those words had broken some manner of spell, the man found the will to move again. And he made quick use of that by running away with all haste. Considering he relied on a crutch to stand upright, that was not overly fast. Krieg never even felt the need to rush as he slammed in the last round and calmly took aim at his quarry's last undamaged leg.

One shot was all it took to bring him down to the ground, but even then did he try to flee by crawling away. Krieg would have none of that, and so closed the distance between them and placed his boot on the man's fingers.

"What are you doing with S.T.A.R. Labs technology?" he asked as the pathetic little criminal whimpered beneath him.

"We're just gathering it here! Someone else is to come and pick it up!" the criminal answered desperately. At least he had learnt not to lie to Krieg. A small improvement, but improvement nonetheless.

"Who hired you then, and when is the pick-up occurring?" Krieg demanded to know, grinding his boot just a little bit for emphasis.

"I don't know, they never told us! They told us to wait here until they arrived to pick it up! I swear, that's all I know!" he all but screamed in fright. Krieg slowly nodded his head.

"Thank you, your cooperation is most appreciated," he said before flipping the criminal over on his stomach and grabbing hold of both his arms. This of course greatly alarmed the criminal.

"Wait, what are you doing?" he asked fearfully.

"Last time we crossed paths, I promised you that you would suffer greatly should I ever catch you again. And I always keep my promises," Krieg answered with a detached tone before he pulled both of the man's arms out of their sockets. He had to admit, there was some small part of him that felt a sense of satisfaction upon hearing the pitiful man's screams of agony. But not desiring to alert anyone of his presence, he knocked the man out with a blow to the head.

Sadly, it seemed like he would not find the information regarding these men's client the old fashioned way. Instead, he would have to play it a little smarter than usual. So, he therefore dragged the unconscious men away and secured them somewhere remote and isolated, so that none would hear them should they awake. With that done, Krieg carefully piled up the rest of the S.T.A.R. Labs tech and then climbed up on one of the wall high stacks of crates.

From here, he planned to stand watch, and see what nefarious plot was at work. Of course, since he had no idea when the clients would arrive, he could be here for a very long time. Luckily, he had just the thing to pass the time with. Seating himself behind good cover, he removed his gasmask and helmet and grabbed his backpack. From it, he retrieved a bag of M&M's and settled in to wait.

As it turned out, he had to wait until midnight before something happened. The noises of airplanes taking off and landing had kept him company all this time, but this time he heard how an airplane came to a stop just outside the hangar he was hiding in. immediately on high alert, he donned his helmet and gasmask again and crept towards the edge to give him a view of the hangar doors.

They were soon opened and a group of about eight men wearing black clothing and having swords strapped to their backs came charging in. From his hidden vantage position, Krieg silently watched as they set up a sloppy perimeter inside the hangar. 'Amateurs,' he thought to himself in disgust. But then there was something else he began wondering about; where was the airport security? Surely they must have noticed them by now, or were they really that incompetent?

Then, five more people joined the eight already inside. The first four to reveal themselves wore, just like the eight others, all black clothing with swords on their backs. The difference came in the form of some manner of light body armor over their chests, high caliber rifles in their hands and strange high tech goggles over their eyes. But while they may have been a bit more unique sight than what was usually found in these parts, it was the fifth man they were apparently guarding that had the most bizarre look.

Wearing red robes and a helmet with a single cyclopean eye, and added with the most ridiculous moustache Krieg had ever seen, this man definitively had a face that would stick out in a crowd. But even though he looked strange, Krieg was not about to underestimate him. For he recognized him from criminal profiles he had recently read up upon. That one was Professor Ojo, a known associate of the League of Shadows. That told him one thing; whatever these stolen techs were for, it was not good in any sense of the word.

"Where are those idiots we hired?" Ojo asked in equal amount of confusion and irritation.

"We don't know, the place was abandoned when we got in here," one of the eight ninja wannabes answered. Any smart man would get suspicious at that point, maybe even conduct a search of the area.

"No matter, they gathered what we asked of them. Let's just load it up and be on our way again," obviously, Ojo was not that smart when he issued his order. Nevertheless, it served Krieg well enough as he observed the men as they began to carry the crates outside, no doubt planning to load them up on the airplane they arrived in.

But in a way, this was not good in Krieg's eyes. They were obviously going to fly away with the cargo, and he would lose track of them. That was unacceptable to Krieg. No criminal, be they human or otherwise, ever escaped his judgment. He would rather rip out his own tongue before gouging his eyes out with a dull knife than let a criminal escape him. And so, a plan of action was needed here. He could attack now, knock the dirt bags out and send them off to the police. That certainly was the simplest solution.

Had this encounter occurred about two months ago, Krieg would have done just that, but serving with the League had taught him the value of viewing the long term goals. Should he strike now, he would never learn what the League of Shadows wanted with this tech, and they could simply do it all over again. No, this mission required more discretion than a head-on assault. And he already had one in mind as he watched them continue to haul out the cargo. He could sneak aboard and follow them to wherever they were heading. From there, he could gather far more intelligence.

Yes, that could work very well, the more he thought about it. He was about to abandon his position in order to carry out his plan when he was struck with a memory. Batman had told him not to do anything outside of Los Angeles without the explicit permission of the Justice League. So he would have to report this to Batman and await instruction. Hesitation gripped him then. 'But there is no time for that here. They could leave any second now, and I would lose their trail for good,' quite a dilemma in its own way.

But in the end, he chose to disobey an order and continued on. As he reasoned, this was far too important to be wasting time reporting in. As long as he succeeded, he would be willing to face whatever punishment he would receive. Absentmindedly, he began wondering when it had become so easy for him to disobey orders, considering he had done something similar not that long ago. But in any case, that was neither here nor now, all that mattered was completing the mission.

Fortunately, these Shadow operates were either very confident that no one knew of their presence, or they were simply some of the greatest idiots that had ever dared call themselves assassins. Had Krieg been a more expressive person, he would have laughed at the term. 'These blind buffoons are nothing but useless cannon fodder compared to the assassins serving the Imperium,'

It proved to be child's play to sneak aboard and hide amongst the cargo. It proved even easier to remain undetected, the idiots never even bothered to check over their cargo once they were done carrying it onboard. Within minutes, they were off again. To where, Krieg had no idea. But one thing he did know was this; it was going to be a long ride.

His prediction proved to be true, as he sat in his little corner curled up like a ball for many hours before he felt the jet land on solid ground again. But he made no move just yet, even though his whole body ached and begged to be uncurled. He waited for someone to open the cargo bay doors. When light finally spilled into the cargo bay, he took a better position and watched as the cargo was unloaded.

Then, when the worker temporarily had his back to Krieg, he slipped out and vanished into the surroundings. Dawn was fast approaching, and he needed to get his bearings again. This time, he was not concerned with tailing the cargo. After all, he had not been idle in his little hiding place, having attached trackers on all crates. So long as he remained in range of them, he would never lose them.

And so, he left the airport and ventured out into the city. After an hour or so exploring, he could safely draw the conclusion that he was in Miami of all places. In all honesty, it puzzled Krieg. For last that the Justice League knew, the League of Shadows had no presence here, for the simple reason that this city held no strategic value. Then it hit him. Miami did not necessarily have to be the end destination, merely a pit stop. Checking his portable GPS that tracked his tracers, his suspicions were proven true. The cargo was moving again, towards the docks.

Moving as fast as he could along the rooftops, while carefully avoiding drawing attention to himself, Krieg made his way towards the docks. It took him quite a while, lacking a transport as he did, but he finally arrived, hours after the cargo. But as he surveyed the area, he found that sneaking in would be quite the hassle in broad daylight. The area was crawling with workers about to begin their daily shift, and Krieg had no way of knowing who was innocent and who was an enemy.

More observation was definitively needed before a plan of action could be taken. But just as he was about to begin his scouting, he spotted something. A dark shape hidden in an alley and spying upon the docks as well. Krieg furrowed his eyebrows as he glared suspiciously at this unknown player. He did not like to have unknown variables mixed into his work. Because of that, he silently slipped down into the alley, landing behind the mysterious individual. With slow and deliberate care, he brought out his shotgun and aimed it at the back of the person's head.

"Identify yourself," he ordered coldly, causing the person to tense up in shock, having obviously not expected anyone to be able to sneak up on him. Discreetly, the figure began moving his hand towards his belt, planning on drawing a concealed weapon. Krieg was not that easy to fool.

"Don't even try it. Hands in the air, then turn around slowly," he demanded, finger itching to pull the trigger. Though obviously hesitant, the person did as commanded. And when he turned around, Krieg was greeted with the sight of someone he had hoped to never see again.

"You are a long way from Star City, Speedy," he said to the former sidekick of Green Arrow, who for his part only growled in irritation.

"Red Arrow," he corrected.

"What?" Krieg asked in confusion, obviously having absolutely no idea what the idiotic archer was talking about.

"My name is Red Arrow now," Red Arrow clarified, still sounding more than a bit irritated. Now that he mentioned it, Krieg also noticed that it was more than his name he had changed. His outfit had lost most of its bright colors, replaced by dark red and lots of black. It was also more tightfitting, in contrast to that Robin Hood costume he used to wear.

"Speedy, Red Arrow. It does not matter what you are calling yourself, your presence is jeopardizing my mission here, and so I want you to leave," Krieg announced, never lowering his shotgun. Red Arrow visibly bristled at being ordered around.

"You don't get to order me around! I've been tracking these guys for several days, and I'm not about to give my work up to a dog the Justice League holds on a tight leash!" he growled out in open hostility. Krieg was completely unmoved.

"I will not repeat myself, traitor," he simply said. But that last word spoken, caused Red Arrow to freeze up, his furious glare taking on an icy quality to it.

"What did you just call me?" he asked slowly through gritted teeth.

"A traitor, for that is what you are. You once served Green Arrow as his sidekick, but then you deserted the ranks when you felt that serving the Justice League no longer suited your needs. That makes you a traitor to not only your mentor, but also to your fellow sidekicks and the Justice League. Frankly, I am surprised you are allowed to walk free after what you did. Had this happened in my old home, you would have been hunted down like the dog you are and executed for high treason and cowardice," Krieg explained calmly. His words caused Red Arrow to boil with rage, and he so dearly wished he could reach for his bow and arrows.

"Like I care what you think of me, you fucking psychopath," he spat out.

"If you do not care what I think of you, why have you become so agitated by my words?" Krieg merely inquired. Every muscle in Red Arrow was at that point tensed up and ready for action.

"Whatever, I'm still not leaving before I'm done with my mission," he stated. Now that was the wrong thing to say when on a collision course with Krieg.

"If you refuse to stand down, then I will consider you an enemy," he warned as his grip on his shotgun tightened. Red Arrow merely narrowed his eyes threateningly at Krieg.

"You wouldn't dare," he challenged. Without hesitation, Krieg pulled the trigger. Red Arrow's eyes widened in shock as he desperately tried to dive out of the way. 'Holy shit, he did dare!' he thought to himself in alarm as the rubber bullet slammed into his shoulder, knocking him back. Barely had he recovered before Krieg pumped out three more shots. One hit Red Arrow painfully in the stomach while the rest were avoided as he dived behind a garbage container.

He clutched his stomach in pain as he drew in ragged breaths. 'Dammit, that one hurt,' but he bit back the pain and drew his bow and nocked an arrow. Taking a deep breath, he rolled out of cover and fired his arrow straight at Krieg. He dodged the arrow and returned fire on Red Arrow, forcing him back into cover. But he ran out of ammunition in his shotgun, and so dived into cover behind a wall edge before Red Arrow could return fire.

He began to hastily reload his shotgun while Red Arrow poked his head out of cover with an arrow ready. Then, he charged, just as Krieg finished reloading. He stepped out of cover and opened fire on Red Arrow, who fired his arrow at Krieg's feet, engulfing him in thick white smoke. Temporarily blinded, he was caught unprepared as Red Arrow charged right at him and slammed the shotgun out of his hand and sought to sweep his feet off from the ground.

But Krieg recovered fast enough and stepped out of range before charging back in with an uppercut that Red Arrow barely dodged. Before he could strike back however, Krieg grabbed his bow and twisted it until Red Arrow was forced to let it go. Now weaponless, Red Arrow was unable to stop Krieg as he struck him with his own bow. The powerful two-handed blow to his stomach knocked all the air out of him and sent him flying back a few feet to slam painfully into the ground.

It hurt like hell, but Red Arrow ignored it and stood back up, ready for more. Krieg meanwhile threw aside the bow he held and cracked his knuckles. But their little fight was interrupted when dozens of Shadow assassins leaped down from the roofs and surrounded them. 'Great, our fight alerted them of our presence,' Krieg thought to himself as he crouched into a fighting stance.

"There's no escape for you, heroes. You're outnumbered and trapped, surrender now or be destroyed," one of the assassins ordered as he drew his sword from his back, the others mirroring his move. Krieg was hardly troubled by this. These men may have looked intimidating with their numbers and weapons, but that was their only real advantage. Casting a quick look at Red Arrow, who also stood ready for battle, he made a snap decision to even the odds further.

"I never surrender," he said, right before he kicked the bow at his feet over to Red Arrow, who swiftly snatched it up and nocked an arrow. Within seconds of that happening, the battle began. Two assassins leaped straight at Krieg, but he caught the sword arm of the first one and used it to parry the second sword before kicking him in the balls and throwing him aside. The second one had no time to react before Krieg had knocked his blade aside and landed an uppercut that left him unconscious.

Another tried to decapitate him from behind, but Krieg ducked under it and drove his elbow back and straight into his guts. As he doubled over in pain, Krieg grabbed his head and threw him over his shoulder and straight into another attacker. Someone tried jumping at him from above, but ended up missing as Krieg rolled clear. Another came at him from the side and tried to skewer him, and Krieg sidestepped the attack before grabbing the assassin's face with his right hand. High voltages of electricity knocked him out good enough.

Sidestepping an overhead strike from yet another attacker, Krieg finished him off with a knee to the guts and then an elbow to the neck when he doubled over. A roundhouse kick to the head subdued yet another before he incapacitated two more with a barrage of fists and kicks. Yet still they persisted in attacking, as Krieg nearly got decapitated a second time. He easily caught the arm and broke it at the elbow.

As his victim howled in pain, Krieg snatched up his blade and ducked under the swing of another attacker before driving his stolen blade through his foot, pinning it to the ground. Someone tried attacking from behind but was knocked out as Krieg kicked backwards like a mule before he flipped back up again, and crushed the nose of another assassin. A sweeping kick knocked another attacker off balance, and so Krieg grabbed him and threw him headfirst into someone who tried to attack him from behind.

By that point, he realized they had run out of assassins to fight, as Red Arrow finished the last one off with a net arrow. Scanning the incapacitated assassins with a cold and dispassionate look, Krieg located his shotgun and retrieved it.

"Disappointing," he remarked to himself as he stepped over the unconscious assassins while grabbing his tracker from his belt. Though as it turned out, it had not fared as well as its owner during the fight. Someone must have gotten really lucky with a sword swing, because it had been cleaved in two. He gave the two halves clutched in his hands a dull look before he threw them to the ground.

"Damn," he said monotonously. There may have been no physical reaction to this discovery, but inside he was cursing up a storm. That tracker had been his only way to trace the Shadows. Now he had no way of knowing where those assassins had gone. For someone who never liked it when criminals got away, it was quite… aggravating.

"Having trouble?" Red Arrow suddenly asked mockingly, reminding Krieg that the infernal archer was still present despite his wishes. Turning to face him, Krieg found Red Arrow leaning against the wall with a smug look on his face. Krieg was very tempted to remove it with a well-placed punch. Regretfully, he resisted the great temptation.

"None of your business," Krieg said coldly as he began to walk towards the docks. His target had most likely already left, but maybe he could scrounge up something that could point him in the right direction.

"That so? Then I guess that I'll just go and infiltrate the Shadow's base of operation," Red Arrow announced smugly as he began strolling as well towards the docks. That made Krieg freeze up in mid-step.

"What did you just say?" he questioned slowly, earning himself an arrogant smirk from Red Arrow.

"Oh nothing, just that I planned to infiltrate the Shadows base, which I happen to know its location. Too bad you lost your only way to track them. Seems like you get to scurry back to Los Angeles with your tail between your legs," he taunted Krieg, an action truly wasted. His words brought no anger out of Krieg, only annoyance.

"And here I had hoped I could complete the mission on my own. Guess there is nothing to do but call the Justice League for assistance," Krieg remarked out loud as he reached a hand towards his communicator. Faster than Krieg thought possible, Red Arrow had closed the distance between them and grabbed his hand in a vice-like grip. Gone was the earlier superior visage, now replaced by one of anger and desperation.

"Don't you dare call in the Justice League!" he snarled out. Surprised by his reaction, Krieg gazed at him with a quizzical look from behind his gasmask. He had to admit, he had not expected Red Arrow's strange hostility towards the Justice League. But to be frank, he did not care all that much, he was taking issue with something else.

"And why should I obey your order?" Krieg questioned with a dangerous tone as his hands tightened into fists. Noticing the sudden shift in Krieg, Red Arrow wisely let go of him and backed off slightly.

"Look, I can take care of this by myself. I don't need the Justice League babysitting me here," he tried to explain through gritted teeth. 'Was that meant to convince me?' Krieg thought to himself dryly.

"Agree to disagree," he said out loud, planning on making the call. Red Arrow was visibly growing more desperate to keep the Justice League out of this.

"Alright, you win," he finally said, confusing the hell out of Krieg.

"Excuse me?" he asked in surprise, receiving a frustrated growl from Red Arrow.

"You win. I'll take you with me to the Shadows' base and you won't call in the League. That was what you were after, right?" he questioned. In all honesty, that had not been Krieg's plan at all. He had never even thought about such a possibility. But if he was to be honest with himself, it did sound appealing in a sense. 'Blackmailing? Why have I never tried it before?' he asked himself thoughtfully.

"Alright, it's a deal," Krieg finally announced. But Red Arrow was not about to roll over completely for Krieg.

"On the condition that I'll be in charge here. We do this my way, and you do what I say," he added. What went on behind Krieg's mask at that moment would remain a mystery until the end of times. But after several agonizing minutes of silence, Krieg gave an answer.

"Very well,"

As it turned out, the Shadows' base was not apparently on the mainland, nor was it anywhere close to the shores. Krieg was able to draw these conclusions from the simple fact that he and Red Arrow had been driving a boat out into the sea for hours on end, with no land in sight.

"Where exactly are we headed?" Krieg finally found himself asking, not liking being kept in the dark about their destination. Red Arrow seemed to consider not telling him for a moment, but then wisely relented.

"Infinity Island. It's their Caribbean stronghold and center of their operations on the American continents," he explained, never even looking at Krieg. Silence descended over them again, with both merely looking ahead at the horizon. Eventually, Red Arrow broke the silence.

"So, where you looking for Roquette as well?" he asked curiously, only sparing Krieg a quick glance before turning his eyes forward again.

"Never heard of her," Krieg answered tonelessly. The reaction he got out of Red Arrow was a raised eyebrow.

"Expert at Nano-robotics? Doctor at a royal university in Star City? Abducted two weeks ago?" he probed, trying to see if any of this information sounded familiar to Krieg. He remained stoically silent, never even glancing at Red Arrow.

"Does the Justice League ever tell you anything of importance?" Red Arrow asked incredulously.

"Yes, when it involves information of importance to my mission," Krieg answered with the same dull tone, still looking straight ahead. Red Arrow merely shook his head in disbelief.

"You truly are pathetic, you know that? Always taking orders like a well-trained little dog," he sneered at Krieg, who remained completely unaffected.

"Coming from a disloyal deserter, I'll take that as a compliment," he countered uncaringly, causing Red Arrow to bristle in anger.

"The Justice League always kept pushing me and my friends aside, never letting us do things on our own despite having worked alongside them for years. I just left to prove that I can do things solo," Red Arrow tried to hotly defend his actions. A wasted effort.

"Ergo, you deserted the Justice League's ranks after they were gracious enough to take you in," Krieg commented coldly. Red Arrow's grip on the steering wheel visibly tightened in anger at Krieg's words.

"You're the last person in existence who has a right to criticize me! You're no real hero, you're just a coldblooded murderer who the Justice League keeps on a tight leash!" Red Arrow snarled out in contempt.

"Ironic then, that I am on the same team of crime fighting youths as your friends, while you are the one who has gone rogue and refuses to offer aid to your comrades," Krieg observed uncaringly. That shut Red Arrow up, and no further words were exchanged between the two of them.

Only when night began to set in did the two unlikely partners finally arrive at Infinity Island. They landed on a secluded beach and quickly hid their boat from prying eyes. Once they were sure that none would discover it, they began advancing up towards the tropical forest bordering the beach.

"Alright Krieg, I'll go in and rescue Roquette, you patrol the area and make sure no Shadows stumble upon our boat," Red Arrow suddenly ordered. It placed an annoyed frown on Krieg's face.

"Excuse me?" he questioned coldly. It caused Red Arrow to briefly turn around to give Krieg a quick glare.

"We agreed on this earlier, in case you forgot. I'm the one in charge here, which means that you'll do as I say," he explained in irritation before turning his eyes forwards, a big mistake as Krieg was right behind him.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go and…" by that point, Krieg's paper thin patience had burned up and so he grabbed Red Arrow's head and slammed it straight into a tree with enough force to knock him out cold.

"That felt strangely satisfying," Krieg remarked to himself as he dropped Red Arrow's unconscious body to the ground. He was sorely tempted to leave the infernal archer behind for the Shadows to kill, but decided against it. He would never hear the end of it from the Justice League if he did that. So instead, he brought out some rope and tied the archer up before dumping him on the boat.

With that done with, he grabbed his shotgun and began to advance deeper into the island. It only took him a few minutes before he came across a massive building. No, not a building, a freaking fortress. And from what Krieg could see, it was crawling with guards. However, Krieg had to suppress a scoff as he observed their sloppy surveillance. These guards hardly even tried, obviously having grown lax in their duties due to months, if not even years, of inactivity.

This served Krieg very well, as he snuck in close and located an open window up on the fifth floor, well out of sight from any patrolling guards. He swiftly brought out his grapple gun and ascended the height before slipping inside. Spotting no guards, Krieg began to slowly make his way deeper into the fortress. Once again, he found the vigilance of these guards to be sorely lacking. 'By the Emperor, this is almost too easy,' he thought to himself. 'Give me about a week or two, and I would have whipped these imbeciles back into shape,'

Krieg suddenly halted right in the middle of a corridor in surprise as the implications of his last thought sunk in. 'Wait, since when do I care about helping criminals?' he asked himself. But in the end, he simply shrugged his shoulders and moved on. A simple stray thought, that was all it had been.

It was a few corridors further on that Krieg realized the futility of his search. This base was too big, with too many guards. There was no way he would ever find Roquette without some directions. And for that, he needed someone to interrogate. A low ranking Shadow guard unwittingly volunteered himself as Krieg's newest victim when he walked out of a toilet right in Krieg's path.

"Ah, that felt good," he remarked, completely oblivious to the danger right next to him. Before he even knew what was transpiring, Krieg had one of his arms in an arm lock behind his back and a hand covering his mouth. Krieg swiftly dragged him back into the toilet, closing the door behind him before slamming his face into a mirror with enough force to crack it.

"Where is doctor Roquette?" Krieg questioned coldly as he kept the guard's head pressed against the mirror.

"I don't know who you're talking about!" the guard tried to explain, but Krieg was having none of that.

"Lie to me again, and crashing into a wall headfirst will be the least painful activity of your evening," he threated while drawing a knife and slowly waving it in front of the guard's eyes. That got him talking fast enough.

"Okay, okay! I'll talk, just don't hurt me!" he screamed in terror. Must have been a newly promoted guard, considering what Krieg had heard concerning the Shadows.

"Then talk," he ordered, and received the desired information fast enough from the terrified guard. He was rewarded with a blow to the head that knocked him out. Now armed with the knowledge of his target's whereabouts, Krieg made swift progress through the hallways, avoiding guards and security cameras with equal ease. Finally, he stood outside the door leading into the room where Roquette was supposedly held.

Carefully, he knocked on the door, expecting a guard to open it. He was proven true when the masked face of a Shadow guard greeted him the moment the door swung open. While said guard was busy with looking at Krieg in stupefied confusion, Krieg struck with a head-butt that cracked the guard's goggles and left him unconscious on the ground. The second one tried to raise his assault rifle and fire, but Krieg was faster and knocked the gun out of his hands before a spinning kick slammed his head straight into the wall.

With those two nuisances dealt with, Krieg turned his full attention to the young woman seated at a computer. Dressed in a white lab coat with a pair of glasses, this blonde haired woman looked like a scientist through and through.

"Doctor Roquette," Krieg greeted as he walked passed her towards the wall opposite of the door. By that point, Roquette had left her seat and was now standing on her feet.

"Please tell me you're the advance guy," she pleaded with him, obviously not confident of his abilities to rescue her on his own.

"The only guy," Krieg answered as he brought out some C4 and began placing it on the wall, intending to create an improvised escape route.

"You couldn't bring back-up? What, were there budget cuts?" Roquette asked snidely.

"No, the Justice League simply don't consider your plight to be of high enough importance," Krieg said monotonously as he armed the C4, leaving Roquette gaping like a fish.

"Are you joking!? I've been kidnapped by the League of Shadows and forced to build a weapon of mass destruction for them!" she screeched at him in fury. A wasted effort, really.

"As I said, not of high enough importance," he simply answered, right before the alarm was sounded across the fortress. "Time to leave. Please stay clear of the wall," Krieg ordered as he stepped back and pressed the trigger. One explosion later, and the wall was gone. Krieg had his grapple gun out in a heartbeat and fixed a gliding line from the room down into the forest below.

"Now or never, doctor," he announced urgently, but the good doctor did not look all that sure.

"We can't just leave this for the Shadows!" she protested while gesturing towards her invention. Annoyance bloomed up in Krieg. 'Damn scientists and their damn inventions,' he thought to himself.

"Look, I do not have time to set another explosive, so I either take it or I take you," he stated in irritation, already hearing rapid footsteps closing in. That at least seemed to bring the doctor back to her senses.

"Right, take me," she said. No further words were needed as he grabbed Roquette and glided down the rope. The moment his boots hit the ground again, gunfire began peppering the ground around him.

"Move!" he shouted urgently while pushing the doctor ahead of himself as they fled through the forest. There was no doubt in his mind that patrols would be congregating on their position soon enough. Reaching the beach, Krieg pulled away the cover over the boat and urged Roquette into it while he took the driver's seat.

"So what do you call this?" she asked sarcastically, obviously referring to heroes' habit of naming their vehicles.

"A boat, now get down," Krieg ordered as he pushed her down, just as gunfire impacted the boat. Hitting the throttle, he raced out towards open water. Eventually, they were out of range, and so the Shadows ceased firing to Krieg's relief.

"We are in the clear now, doctor," he announced as the doctor came up from her crouched position, not looking all that relieved.

"Good, leaves only one problem," she said wistfully as she looked back the way they came. It was then she noticed the unconscious Red Arrow lying tied up in the backseat.

"Who's that?" she asked incredulously.

"Just an undesired passenger," Krieg answered nonchalantly as he continued driving.