บท 28: An Unexpected Meeting part 2

This is the first full on deviation from Canon.

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(General P.O.V)

An alert appeared on the Batcomputer's screen. Batman clicked on it and narrowed his eyes. Someone had used the Zeta Tubes in the cave to go to a non-prioritized zone, Los Angeles. He accessed the surveillance footage to find out who it was while having his suspicions already.

"Maelstrom."

The Dark Knight found he was right on the mark when he saw Aden dressed in a baggy hoodie use the Zeta tubes moments after Artemis did the same and leave for Gotham.

The Dark Knight could already guess why Aden had decided to go to L.A. Truth be told, he'd expected it. sooner or later, the displaced teen would feel the urge for some semblance of familiarity and going to his city of origin despite it being just an alternate of the real Los Angeles would provide it.

Batman decided to take a wait and see approach. Something he had been doing a lot these days. He just hoped that he would get the answers he was looking for soon. As the world's greatest detective, it bothered him that he didn't have all the cards.

(Aden's P.O.V)

I cracked my knuckles as my first match began. The floor was sleek with blood as mentioned earlier and as I stepped forward, a scanning device washed over me to test for the meta-human gene. Call it bloody, ruthless and dangerous but the match executives tried to make it fair. I eyed the device with a critical eye. It wasn't sleek like Lexcorp equipment and neither was it efficiently made like Wayne tech products either. If anything, it looked constructed out of poor materials. Like a prop you would expect from a 80's sci-fi B-movie.

A smile split my face into two, clearly the work of a genius. Building something that could read deep into a target's body and see if they have the meta-gene in their d.n.a wasn't something just anyone could do. Regarding the poor make of the whole thing, it meant that that person was severely lacking in funding. That meant they could be recruited.

The device beeped an all clear and let me through. I didn't have a meta gene and I wasn't an alien so it made sense I had been let through. Now if the device worked by studying the density of a target's muscle tissues or esoteric energy readings…that might have been a problem.

"I am going to break your bones and suck the marrow in them!"

My first opponent threatened, much to the uproar of the crowd. These people loved mayhem and were looking forward to one of us breaking the other. I took a second to study him. He was dressed in ripped jeans that had poorly washed bloodstains on them. Showing one, he had a poor sense of hygiene and two, this wasn't his first rodeo. His teeth were serrated, making his ugly face look even more menacing. Couple that with his crooked nose and you get, a 6,6 foot behemoth who literally ate people for breakfast; based on his choice of words.

I cracked my neck and unzipped the hood, leaving me in a black T-shirt, a matching pair of shorts and my mask that I had designed to look really cool. It had webs crossing it's length in a spiderman suit theme. There was a chime and the match officially begun. Instantly, my whole demeanor changed. There was no backing down from this fight and I couldn't afford to get blind-sided by not taking it seriously.

The Monster, believe it or not that was his moniker, advanced towards me with his hands apart and his tongue licking his serrated teeth. Someone else would have taken him for a joke but the fact that he had survived countless fights and was in this establishment that catered for the rich and powerful showed there was more to it. I studied him again, while we circled each other.

His foot shifted to the front slightly and there! I saw it, his stance was stable and his back muscles were probably ready to push him forward in great momentum. This guy was trained. And sure enough, I saw a fast punch headed towards my belly. An attack that anyone else except for someone good would have failed to block.

I parried the blow to the side, pulled in close and chopped my palm onto his neck, cutting the blood flow to his brain. He stumbled back and took a knee to the blood soaked floor. I didn't grant him any respite and my leg whipped out, catching him right on the side of the head with my foot and sending him to the ground.

The Monster passed out.

There was a brief silence before the Crowd went crazy.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

I looked around in great surprise. Are they serious? Turning my attention to my opponent, I found him unconscious and helpless on the floor. How can they ask me to do something so deplorable?

I raised my hand and prompted them to keep quiet. Once the crowd of hundreds of people was silent, I spoke up.

"I do not kill. Will not kill."

"Boo! booo! $^it! F*ck you!

A litany of insults was thrown my way as I left the cage. My surprise turned into anger. How many people have died here due to these people. It was fine with me if you break bones but killing those who were out of the fight or didn't deserve it rubbed me the wrong way. Of course I knew I would have to kill eventually. The changes I wanted to bring about couldn't be done without a few truly evil villains dying. But senseless killing wasn't something I would condone.

That's why when the booing and cries of 'kill' didn't end, I decided on something someone else would call hypocritical. I was going to shut down this whole thing and steal their money.

(Unknown P.O.V)

"Maze dear, you feel that? The stench of a greedy little pig, so far away from home."

A tall and very handsome man dressed in a Tuxedo said to his companion. The man had black wings unfurled behind his back and a majestic aura surrounding his form.

His companion on the other hand was a devilishly hot female. She was dressed in all leather and had a glint of menace and killer charm glowing in her eyes. She cocked her head to the side while looking down at the Sunset Bloom nightclub in a little interest. They were both standing on the roof of the building opposite the establishment.

"I've always wondered where that piece of hellhound crap, Galiel was. I was even looking forward to hunting him down and…slowly slicing the skin from his bones."

She stated while sliding her finger along the length of the sharp looking dagger.

The handsome man laughed.

"You're still mad at him even after 3 millenia I see."

He commented while sparing his servant/ former lover/ best friend a glance. Mazikeen snorted.

"Isn't it the same for you Lucifer? He abandoned his post."

The now named gentleman shrugged his shoulders and answered smoothly.

"It's a matter of principle. You on the other hand are making it personal. This is the human world Maze, I urge you to exercise a little bit of… restraint. We don't want the same debacle with Hitler now do we?"

Maze rolled her eyes.

"Oh please…just because I gutted him and stringed him up by his entrails, you all can't seem to forget that can you."

"Maze… I'm The Bloody Devil and I understand eternal damnation and suffering but that…that was just brutal."

Maze spared him a smile.

"But you loved it."

Lucifer sighed and matched the devilish smirk on his partner's face.

"I did. That said, I don't want to announce our presence too early. Otherwise Father might decide to send one of my brothers to come and 'run interference' before I corrupt his precious pet project. Not that they need any corrupting, free will has done that splendidly."

"Fine. You're no fun today. Woke up on the wrong side of bed?"

Maze teased to which he ignored and focused his attention on the nightclub before him. They would need a base of operations and a place such as this, filled with debauchery and the smell of sin was fitting…for him, he supposed. The fact that a former resident of hell, a demon by the name Galiel who had escaped hell a few millenia ago was the owner just sweetened the deal.

"Hey Maze what do you say we crash a party?"

"I thought you'd never ask. Galiel is mine."

(Aden's P.O.V)

I made my way towards the locker room . I didn't make eye contact with anyone and opened the door to the bathroom. I looked at myself on the mirror of the dimly lit room and breathed out. This wasn't going the way I thought it would. I couldn't stomach the thought of going back onto that ring again. Something was messed up in this place.

It was clear. much clearer now. The air itself was more oppressive inside this whole establishment than outside. I couldn't quite put a finger on it but a malevolent aura pervaded the whole place. I wasn't unsure about my decision to shut this place down now. Infact, how about I start with the couple of idiots coming my way?

The door to the bathroom opened and in walked Dumb and Dumber. Two generic men dressed in tight black shirts and trousers. They weren't normal either. A barely detectable scent of blood clung to them in a miasma that just screamed wrong.

"Is it a requirement for you to be big, ugly and dumb to work here?"

I asked them, opening the tap and lightly washing my hands. My face scrunched up in distaste. Even the water was kind of murky.

The first of the men ran his eyes up and down my form, a sickening and hungry smile appeared on his face as he started to talk.

"You're coming with us. The boss wants to see you. See what's behind the mask. Maybe understand what makes you think you're better than the rest and why you won't kill."

The boss. That was... actually great. If I could get to him then I could take this whole thing down starting from the top. I turned to Dumb and Dumber.

"Ok, what are we waiting for then? Let's go."