Far From Angelic

Prologue: Those Five Years Ago

"Five years ago… I met a shadow."

Bruce, or rather, Batman, didn't enjoy 'supers' in his city. He barely allowed metas into his gates, and even then he would usually kick them out as soon as possible. Even if he was in dire need, he only resorted to supers is necessary. He wasn't stupid, he knew that sometimes supers could handle situations that Batman couldn't. Contrary to what Gotham believed him to be - the theories were enough to make Joker look sane - he was just a Human, trained by one of the best out there. He didn't have to keep up calories, have a secret stone glowing with green, or a shade of yellow. His weakness was being human. And already, that left tons of options to deal with him. He didn't hate supers, other than a certain Superman, but he realized not too long ago that without their super abilities, supers were just as human as an average citizen. Easy to break, easy to kill. He would rather be human, trained to his peak, than a super with strong powers and strong weaknesses. Powers come with weaknesses, but humans have found ways to fight off those. Batman would like to see Superman coming up with anti-kryptonite (although, Batman already had.) Supers were banned from his city, only allowed if deemed necessary. He didn't need another death tallied onto his board.

However, more than often, supervillains charged into his city. And once again, did Batman have to realize how much powers can still pack a punch even if they had weaknesses.

Batman drifted, screeching his Batmobile around the corner of West and Mary street. The car exhaust steamed, the tires leaving tracks on the burning street. He pressed his foot on the accelerator harder and the Batmobile roared with fast ferocity. Car Chases weren't uncommon for the Bat, but super-powered cars were. The new villain was named "Roar n' Kill," which gained him brownie points for the nearest cliche shop. Roar n' Kill's name was Tyler Dan Bartholomew, a rich hunter who stole plenty of mixtures from laboratories and bibles from churches. Batman planned to find out why someone like Bartholomew would steal the two opposite items. A hunter with a religious problem had been an idea, until he started stealing mixtures from Central City and drove over to Gotham. Batman wondered if the man had any brain in his mind to stay out of Gotham. He doubted it. The Batmobile screeched as its boosters in the back lit up with flames and it sped ahead, breaking the speed limit by miles. The midnight-car chase was lucky for Batman, most civilians in clubs and parties inside. Bartholomew's car - Tearin' he had dubbed it - was slowly losing speed, the propulsions wearing off from the earlier drift. Batman could hear the yelling of "No, No! Not now!" from Bartholomew, and he couldn't help but twitch his scowl upwards. The Tearin Car was forced to a stop at the edge of Wayne Enterprises, smoke billowing from its engine. The Batmobile steered forward as Batman landed out of his car. He strode over to the steaming engine and ripped the broken car door open.

"Bartholomew," he growled, tightening his grip on the 'villains' collar. He punched the yelping villain hard in the jaw, a satisfying 'CRACK!' echoing throughout the empty street. Bartholomew was shaking with fright, his arms spasming around. Batman brought Bartholomew's jacket collar forward and snarled in his ear. "Why were you stealing them?"

Bartholomew coughed and shuddered, only a light smile on his face. "Gotta' get rid' of em' pest an' ey' were the onl' way to get em' out of Got'am."

Batman narrowed his eyes and elbowed the villain in the gut. "What do you mean?"

"It en' you cit', Ba'man. It' hor'd sku'l, It' dar' magi'. Y'u shoul' know, Ba'man." Barthomewl was twisting and turning at this point, desperately trying to make an escape.

Batman grabbed Bartholomew's face and slammed his fist into it, before dropping the man onto the ground. Faint police sirens resonated across the building and Batman turned and jumped into his Batmobile. The accent made it difficult to figure out the words, but not impossible. Especially if he had recorded it. The Batmobile let out a screech before turning to Spring and Turner and heading towards an alleyway far from the scene.

The Batcave was filled with insisten typing on a keyboard, words echoing off the walls. Batman, now Bruce Wayne, continued to listen deep into Bartholomew's words while searching cameras of Gotham. Bruce had been able to deduce what Bartholomew had said, something with a 'horned skull' and 'dark magic.' Bruce had met plenty of villains with abilities in Gotham, but none made any sense or fitted the description of the 'pest.' The billionaire had plans to interrogate Bartholomew again, but he had a feeling that Bartholomew wasn't going to let anything slip again. To the added dilemma, Bruce Wayne was needed at Wayne Weapons at Wayne Enterprises. Wayne Weapons had transferred over a shipment of new scientific weapons concerning the onslaught of super villains. The company had gotten a sample of an alien weapon and constructed it forwards. The weapon was able to shoot a burst of levitation, allowing an item to float against gravity. Bruce Wayne was supposed to make an appearance to hand over the prototype weapon over to NASA so they could use it for future astronaut training.

"Master Bruce, what daresay are you doing?" Bruce stopped typing and turned to face Alfred.

Bruce muttered, "Work. Bartholomew is hunting for something, and I plan to figure it out."

Alfred looked at Bruce accusingly, walking over and placing decaf coffee at the desk of the Batcomputer. "Bruce Wayne must make an appearance tomorrow, if I recall correctly. The Batman's work will have to wait."

The billionaire sighed and drank the warm coffee, the liquid gently streaming down his throat. "You're right, Alfred." He paused, putting down his cup, accepting his defeat. 'If push comes to shove,' he though 'Batman will no doubt appear.' He stretched and walked up to the elevator with Alfred. 'Of course, defying Alfred won't get me anywhere, either.'

Bruce smiled as the flashes of cameras caressed his vision as he stepped out of his limousine. He waved with his facade of jovialness and continued to walk across the carpet towards the pedestal for his speech. Lucius Fox walked out behind him, mimicking his waving and smiling. It wasn't unusual to see Lucius and Bruce, after all, they worked together at Wayne Enterprises. Some people even called Lucius 'Lucius Wayne,' believing he might as well be apart of the Wayne family. Bruce shook hands with General Wilms and saluted him with honor. He stood up on the quartz pedestal and spoke into the microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Gotham City, Wayne Tech is proud to present our new advancement in technology!" Cue the obnoxious clapping, Bruce though. Flashes emitted and took in the exciting words of the playboy. "After refining our newest creations and working endless hours to protect our county, Wayne Tech has created a new weaponry to help the UN boost ahead in Space Investigation. We call this new machine -" Bruce was forced to stop as he heard people yelling in joy. "Project STAR! Space Travel and Research! And now, Wayne Tech is happy to hand it over to the Military for continuing its research to help our Earth discover more wonders of Space!" Bruce lightly grabbed the case and handed it over to the General before stepping away to let his speech begin.

Bruce looked over the extravagant city of Gotham, examining the glimmering tops of buildings and skyscrapers. The sun shined onto every creak and shadow, banning all darkness. However, Bruce spotted a lithe figure jumping from the roof of Wayne Enterprises and onto another, its form blurring with pall. Bruce narrowed his eyes for a split second, taking in the mental picture before grinning again at the paparazzi.

"... and I thank Bruce Wayne for the wonderful advancement! Thank you all! And gooday!"

General Wilms turned to shake hands with Bruce, and he obliged, posing for the pictures bound for the front page. As Bruce walked down to his limousine, his thoughts wavered to the inky figure from earlier, when his eyes widened with recognition.

'..It's horned skull and dark magic…'

Bruce raced downstairs to the Batcave, his eyebrows furrowing with realization. He turned on the computer and furiously scanned for the files of Bruce Wayne's speech from earlier. He located a picture from earlier and zoomed in on the suspicious character on the roof. The picture zoomed in carefully, managing to avoid pixely features to keep the image scotch less. The creature definitely had an aura of black and navy blue, with obvious horns sprouting from the top. However, the picture couldn't identify any obvious features, other than it was a boy, definitely no older than thirteen, running across the roof. With his eyes narrowed, he turned and slipped on his Batman outfit and pulled on his cowl. The Batman was curious, and Bats often get what they want.

He grabbed his utility belt and slipped into the shadows, beginning his search for the hybrid boy.

And he thought he had already dealt with all of the supers in his city.

He spotted movement. Batman stalked Gotham City near Wayne Enterprises, ontop of Jane and Oliver's Bank. The building was next to it, windows gleaming with expensive light fixtures. He had staked out here in hopes to see the boy appear again. And he had, as the boy had appeared onto Wayne Enterprises and sat on the glowing 'Y'. Batman shot his grappling hook and swung over to the roof. He silently walked up to behind the boy.

"So, you're the infamous Batman?" The boy turned around to face Batman. "I was hoping we'd meet." He cackled. "The name's Diavol. And I think we're gonna get along bettly!"

Batman stepped closer to the light, examining the boy. "Bettly?" Batman queried, hoping to stall incase the boy decided to run. The vibrant light of WAYNE shown upon the boy, but wisps of shadows slightly blurred it. Diavol had messy black hair and almost-pale skin. He was definitely thirteen, no older or younger. The boy wore a black jacket with a navy blue shirt and black jeans. He had one black and one royal blue horn sprouting lightly on his forehead. A tail wrapped around the boy's - Diavol's - body, was also black and blue. His eyes, however, were covered by the dark wisps.

Diavol nodded. "Yeah, you see, you know how in English 'better' means 'more good'?" Batman nodded slightly in acknowledgement. "So, bettly means 'more good' instead of just 'good.'"

"What are you?" Batman looked into Diavol's blurred eyes.

Diavol's tail swished pleasantly. "Mhm.. I'm a demon." The fact that Diavol had said it as casually as someone would say "It's Saturday" made Batman raise his eyebrow under his cowl. However, Batman knew not to underestimate the possibilities of afterlife creatures. Batman had seen many things like it.

"And you're Bruce Wayne." Batman narrowed his eyes as the Demon dropped down from the 'Y' and stood up. "Don't worry, Batsy, I won't tell."

Batman continued. "How can I be so sure?"

Diavol's tail swished again and he walked over to Batman and stood on his toes to face the man. He whispered, "You can't. I'm a demon, after all." The demon cackled playfully and flipped backwards onto the Y again.

"So many villains want to know your name… They'll strike any deal for it, it makes me jealous." The demon's tale crackled against the air, echoing off the building. The aura around the boy darkened dramatically before reverting back to its wispy form.

Batman reached into his utility belt under his cape and withdrew a batarang in secret. In his mind, he knew the attempt would be futile. He knew bits about demons, but not a lot. They weren't like Gotham's worse, with obvious weaknesses. He knew that some were smooth talkers. "What do you want?"

Diavol paused and tilted his head as if pondering that himself. "Hmm.. what do you offer? I'm kind of picky, y'know." He smirked.

Batman narrowed his eyes. "What's a demon doing in Gotham?"

Diavol froze, his aura darkening again. "That's not an offer, human." His tone was sharp as blade, but curious. Batman mentally smirked. The plan was working, somewhat.

"Demons can't just live in Gotham as they do in Hell, Demon. You'll need a place to stay." The vigilante slowly spoke, conveying the point across.

"I've been doing fine so far, human!" The demon hissed, the aura around him sharpening.

Batman took a step closer. "For how long? You'll need a place, a place to train freely. Gotham may be like Hell, but the people around here don't like demons. Espescially Barthomewl."

Batman felt an icy gust of wind blow around him just as a firey one did as well. The demon glowered, its eyes narrowed. "How do you know Barthomewl?"

The cape of Batman's fluttered against the wind. "The deal, demon. You keep my identity, you'll stay with me. I'll share my resources, you don't damage my city." When he saw Diavol's tail crack again, he continued. "I know what demons are made of, Diavol. And I know you love to strike a deal."

The wind stopped and the aura around the demon dropped. An eerie cackle emmitted across the roof. "You strike a hard bargain, human. But fine." The demon extended his hand, a midnight black fire smoking around it. "Let's shake on it, Batsy."

Batman walked forward and took a deep breath before gripping the demon's hand. The aura around him darkened dramatically, and all he saw for a few seconds were the demon's eyes. The eyes were a vibrant blue and swirled into a purple and then into a redish black. A demon's eyes.

If Batman had knew that this demon would change his life forever, he would've done it sooner.