Ch 34

Doug caressed his sister's cheek then, looked up at the two men that instigated Dana's abduction.

"Grab those two, and bring them to me."

The men that were with the two immediately turned on them.

"H-hey wait!" The man shouted as he was grabbed by both his arms. They did the same to the other one.

"I'm sorry. It's nothing personal. Just orders." One of the men that grabbed them said so.

The two men were forcefully taken in front of Doug.

"Urgh!"

"Ugh!"

Both of them were thrown down on the ground to kneel in front of Doug.

Doug helped Dana stand up as he rubbed her back.

"Apologize."

"W-we're sorry!"

Doug lifted Dana's chin to let her see the two kneeling.

"Do you forgive them, Dana?" Doug smiled at her.

In her heart, she still had animosity towards the two but the fact that it lead to finding her big brother trumps it.

Dana shook her head "That's enough...Come back home, Doug. Mom and Dad are very worried." She said with a worried expression.

Doug's face distorted after Dana mentioned their parents.

"W-what's going on, Dana? That's your brother?" Nelson asked nervously. He is obviously terrified by the dangerous people surrounding him.

"Is that your boyfriend, Dana?" Doug asked her as he pointed at Nelson.

"Yes...His name is Nelson."

Doug Tan walked up to Nelson. Nelson instinctively backed away until his back reached a wall preventing him from backing up any further.

"Do you love my sister?" Doug asked him with a menacing smile.

"..." Nelson couldn't answer. It was partly because he was afraid for his life.

"Why aren't you answering?" Doug took out a switchblade from his pocket and pointed it at Nelson.

"Doug!" Dana screamed at her brother.

"Gah!" Nelson closed his eyes as he trembled in front of the knife.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Doug laughed. "I was only joking around." Then he stopped pointing the knife at him.

Nelson took deep breaths and felt relieved...and he literally relieved himself.

His pants started to darken in color.

Doug saw this and laughed. His posse who are also wearing clown make-up laughed in ridicule at the poor man who wet himself.

"Hahaha..." Doug wiped his tears then waved his hand at Nelson. "You can go. I'll take care of Dana."

Nelson's eyes trembled and looked at Dana. Dana nodded at him. He turned his heel and started sprinting out of the alleyway.

"That was some guy you have, Dana. I can't let you be with a loser like that. I'd be always worried sick when you go out." Doug said with a smile.

"..."

His eyes showed delight as it mimicked the shape of his smile. "Hey!" He suddenly shouted. "Did I tell you to get up?" His gaze turned towards the two men who were kneeling earlier and were about to get up. "Commercial's done. Let's get on with the show." He said as he walked slowly towards the two with his knife.

"B-but she already forgave us-" One of them said before getting his face kicked. He fell down on his behind.

"I didn't." He said with a smile.

The two gulped.

"Please stop this, Doug. I'm alright." Dana said with a worried face. She didn't want to see her beloved brother like this anymore.

"These two touched you, Dana. I could never forgive that." Doug said with a devil's smile. "They will die here." Then, he faced the two again.

"I said stop!" Dana grabbed one of his shoulder and Doug shook her hand off.

"Get your hands off of me! Just leave if you don't want to watch." He scowled at his sister. Dana was terrified at the sight of him bursting. "If she tries to stop me again, stop her." He said to the others.

"Stop." A man suddenly appeared behind Doug.

"Wha-"

"Where did he come from?"

"I didn't notice anyone coming here."

The men near the entrance of the alley were shocked at the sudden appearance of this man.

Dana gasped at the man suddenly being in front of her. Doug widened his eyes.

"Stop this, Doug." The man that suddenly appeared said. "We don't want to see you go through this again."

Doug smiled. "Well, if it isn't Terry McGinnis, my old pal."

"Terry!..." Dana uttered his name.

The two men that were about to get killed weren't expecting the one who they had a grudge on to save them.

Terry appeared as himself and not as Batman to try and talk his old friend out of it.

"It's me they're after. They just used Dana to get to me. You don't have to do this. I'll handle it."

"You're gonna let them off easy like before, won't you? F*** that." Doug looked at his men "Hey! Handle him."

The other men that brought Dana and Nelson started to surround Terry. It was four against one. One of them rushed Terry and got kicked in the face. Two of them rushed him and Terry dodged and countered them gracefully. While his back was turned, the last one rushed in with a knife. Terry didn't need to turn around to see him. He spun with his leg lifted up and did a spinning hook kick and slammed him on the floor violently.

Dana widened her eyes at this sight.

Doug glared at him.

"Please drop that knife and come home. Your parents have been worried sick."

"...I don't want to."

"Why!"

"You don't know them like I do! All they do is try to ruin my fun!" Doug slowly turned his scowl into a smiling face then, laughed. It was an abnormal scene. But Terry didn't flinch. He was genuinely worried about his friend.

Doug put back his knife in his pocket. "Let's go." He spun his heel but glanced at Terry for a second. "When did you become such a party pooper?" He said as he walked away towards the shadows and led the other clowns.

"Terry..." Dana called his attention.

"Dana. I'll take you home after I ask these two idiots what they know about Doug and his group." Terry stared the men down. "You two. Who were they?"

The two men looked at each other first before speaking. "W-we can't tell you. We're lucky we're even still alive...I don't know why, but maybe it's because of you that they left us alone."

"What do you mean?" Terry's brows furrowed.

"...They kill people so word doesn't get out that they exist."

Terry gritted his teeth with rage at that statement before calming himself down. "...What else do you know?"

"I-I told you-"

"I could just take you back to them and have them kill you if you're not willing to cooperate." Terry said with a serious tone.

The two men shook with fear at that thought.

"Terry!" Dana shouted at him but Terry didn't stop locking eyes with the two to deliver his intent to do what he said.

"W-We'll tell you!"

"Just don't bring us to them!"

Terry grinned. "Good... Start talking."

What they told Terry was something serious that knowledge of it should be passed on to his allies immediately.

"...They've been taking out people that wanted to inform the mutant leader about them. That's how they've been kept secret under the mutant leader's nose. They call themselves the Jokerz.

-A ring of murderous group of individuals within the mutant gang.... I'll inform the mutant leader of them right away. (Barbara)

"Thanks, Barbara."

After the call, Terry looked at Dana who was waiting patiently while the other two were shaking because of paranoia. He walked up to them from the entrance of the alleyway where he just called the commissioner.

"You two. Get on your bike and race to Don. I can't do it because I'm an outsider now. Tell everything to him and pass on the information with the other divisions of the gang. There should be a reason why the Jokerz left you alone. The worst-case scenario is that they already gained the majority of the group." Terry looked at the two men who nodded and started to walk out of the alleyway. "What are you doing, dipshits?! Run!" He shouted at them.

"Terry..." Dana uttered his name.

Terry looked at Dana who had on a worried expression.

"...Will my brother be okay?" She asked.

"...I'll make sure of it." Terry said with determination in his eyes. "Come on. Let's get you home." He said as he held her by the hand and lead the way out of the dark alley.

As they were walking in the direction towards the Tan's residence, not a word has been said between the two. Terry's mind is currently occupied with the mutant gang and the Jokerz. He was thinking of the people who could have possibly joined the Jokerz except the obvious ones who are the new recruits to the gang. And most importantly, who arranged this and took advantage of the mutant gang's unstable footing. The only possible suspect right now is Doug Tan.

Meanwhile, Dana's thoughts were full of worries about her brother...and Terry. Her mind can't stop thinking of what Terry did earlier when he was fighting. The move that he used against the last person was reminiscent of the masked vigilante that saved her before. The back spinning hook kick. It could just have been plain coincidence, but she couldn't stop linking Terry to her savior.

"We're here." Terry uttered as he stopped in front of a house.

"Huh?" Dana was pulled out of her little world and brought back to reality.

"This is still your house, isn't it?"

"O-oh, yeah. I'm sorry. I'm just so tired."

Terry looked at her with a wry smile. "It will be okay." He said as he patted her head just like he used to when they were growing up together.

It immediately brought her back to those days when the three of them used to hang out. Dana, Doug and Terry. It was but a fleeting memory. She shook her head and walked towards the door. "Thanks..." she uttered before going inside.

----

"This is serious." The mutant leader said with his back towards the division leaders. The mutant gang held an emergency meeting at the news of the Jokerz. "They'll probably want to take over our new territories."

"I wouldn't worry, boss. They're just a little club. What can they do to us?" One of the division leaders said as he put his hands behind his head and laid back.

"Even if they are but a quarter of our number, the fact that they have no qualms about killing makes them dangerous. Our numbers won't be a problem for them."

"Then, we should just kill them first! It's self-defense, ain't it?" Another one of them said.

Don just observed the mutant leader and waited for his decision.

"...If it ever comes to that," He turned around and faced them. "I'll disband us immediately." He said with a serious face.

Everyone got quiet. The thought of losing their place of belonging made them scared. These hard-headed, tough, and gritty individuals were scared. Why? They are orphans. Having somewhere to belong to is what they cherish the most. The mutant gang is a paradise to them.

"W-we get it, boss. No killing. But what do we do now?"

"...Discourage your members from affiliating with this group. Cut off the new members. No exceptions. Trust your gut if you suspect someone other than the new members to be affiliated. Guard your assigned territories and don't hesitate to call the police like usual. It's going to get harder because we lost our muscle, but we should have made ourselves work tighter as a group first before we started recruiting." The mutant leader sighed. "It is my fault."

"We don't blame you, boss."

"We'll never blame you for anything."

Don made a wry smile as he looked at everyone in the room who put their trust in each other. This is their family now.

The mutant leader also made a wry smile.

----

"What do we do now?" A big man wearing overalls asked.

"It won't be a problem even if they know. We only used them for their infrastructure and their ability to bring in members. Our group is already established. They can't change anything." Doug smiled. "Right, boss?" He said as he turned his head.

"...Very good, Doug. You remind me a little bit of my young self." A man said with his face hidden in the dark sitting on a throne-like chair. Only his menacing eyes and wide grin can be seen.