A/N: this chapter was cowritten with my good friend phen0m20
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It was a starless night. The moon was not quiet full, but it was still very bright and pale. Mercer was slowly walking down a completely empty street in the dead of the evening, no where to go and with the inability to stand still for some reason he couldn't understand. He thought about how he and Batman both knew who the other really was, and how neither of them would ever tell anybody. His mind slowly veiled over him and made him become entirely oblivious to the world around him, but he was suddenly pulled back into reality when he heard a thud behind him. He instantly stopped walking and turned around. He saw a supply crate that had literally just landed; the parachute was still falling to the ground. He looked at the crate for a long moment and then up and down the street. He found that he was the only "living" thing around. At that moment, he decided to stand guard by the supplies until someone deserving came around to collect things vital to their survival. He knew that if he simply turned on his heels and walked off, one of the gangs would get their slimy hands on it and charge for a profit. He walked over and leaned his back onto the wooden box that was almost as tall as he was and just waited.
After five minutes of dead silence, he heard a small approaching the crate on the opposite side he was on. Their conversation made it redundant for him to wonder what they were doing.
"Why does the boss want us to steal a stupid box?"
"Because, ya moron, if we take the stuff inside, we can sell it the the losers who come knocking."
"But why would he want more money? We can't go anywhere, and nuthin' can come in."
"It's not about the monry you idiot! It's about him showing everybody that he can decide whether or not the live or die."
Mercer removed himself from the crate and walked to the side so that he was in clear view of the goons, and the moment they saw him they stopped dead in their ttacks even though every single one of them was holding a weapon. The pure terror of being in the presence of the lethal predaotr Zeus made them freeze completely.
"If he has such power, why is he sending lowlifes like you to do his work?" he asked forming his deadly claws on both arms. The sight of the murderous talons alone was enough to make them all turn around and run as if their lives depended on it (Mostly because it did.) Mercer shook his head. "For enforcers, they really don't handle threats well."
Just as he prepared himslf to chase after them and cut them to ribbons, he heard a light patter of footsteps emit from the mouth of the alley next to him. He kept himself wary as he approached it. He allowed his body to relax, but kept his claws on his arms when he saw the sourse of the noise. Even though he couldn't see a face dur to the poor lighting, he could tell that he was looking at a young girl with long orange hair wearing a pink sun dress. Her arms seemed abnormally pale.
"What are you doing out here alone in the dark?" Mercer asked with slight concern. Harming children was taboo for him, but he was positive that it wasn't for some of the other freaks in this city.
"Die," she said with a bubbly voice. She slowly stepped into the street, giving Mercer a full view of her.
"Holy shit," he whispered to himself. Her face was white and frozen in a permanent smile. It seemed ceramic, almost like a doll.
"Die!" she spoke with the same cheerfulness as before. She ran up to Mecer who was so shocked by the sight of her that he wasn't able to react swiftly enough to stop her from latching onto him and spitting out a stream of acid on him. He slapped her away and sent her flying, and then felt somewhat disgusted with himself for not only hitting a girl, but a child at that. He looked at the spot where she had landed her attack, his left shoulder, and saw that it appeared to be boiling for a second before slipping off of him and becoming a small black puddle on the ground.
"Die!" the freak of a child screeched as she ran up to him again and leapt at him. In one swift move motion Mercer sidestepped out of her path, turned his body so that they were facing the same direction, and then shot his left hand out forward and grasped her by the back of her head. He held tight enough so that she had no hope of breaking free, but loose enough so that he wouldn't crush her head in. She attempted to free herself by flinging her small body all about and raising her arms up and desperately clawing at his armored wrist.
"What the fuck are you?" Mercer wondered to mostly himself. He kept his hand pointed away so that she wouldn't get another shot at him.
"Die die die die!" She never slowed down in her fruitless attempts to break free.
"Is that the only word in your vocabulary?" Mercer dryly asked.
"What she is is one of Professor Pyg's Dollotrons." Mercer looked over to see Batman had apparently suddenly materialized right beside him.
"A Doll-what?"
Batman looked intently at the still-struggling child. "Pyg enjoys making people what he sees as perfect."
Mercer looked at his youthful assailant. If this is what Pyg considered 'perfect' his screw was looser than the Joker's. "So what do we do with... her?" He successfully fought off the inclination to call the Dollotron 'it'. "No wait. No we, I meant you." He dropped the now nearly unconscious Dollotron. "I'm not a babysitter." He leapt off with Batman looking at him with the same unreadable expression he always had on his face.
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Mercer stood on a rooftop, looking at the city and nothing at the same time. He began to question himself. Why was he protecting these people when so many of them were violent, insane, and just plain dangerous? As more and more doubts poured into him, it was halted by a sudden uneasy feeling. He was no longer alone. He turned around to see the woman who had told him about someone called Rā's Al Ghūl. Her sword wasn't drawn and her eyes were saying 'follow me'. She ran towards him and then jumped over the edge; she just passed him without a single sound. This time Mercer didn't hesitate and have chase.
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Mercer leaned on a wall, allowing himself to recollect himself before any more pursuit. He hadn't been following the woman so much as he had chased after signs; after the rooftop he had chased her into a subway system underground, and once they were below sea level she didn't show herself entirely to him again. He made his way to her by follow discrete noises and sights; her light running echoing, her shadow crossing a wall for not even a second. It didn't take long for him to see that she wasn't trying to lose him. She was leading him somewhere, and now he was there. He looked around the small subterranean city his target had led him to. It somehow managed to look both futuristic and old fashioned at the same time. A bunch of banners and signs spread out all around it, and all of them read "Wonder City". Several humanoid robots were also scattered around the ancient-looking town. The whole place looked like it hadn't been seen by a single living thing for eons. But looks can be deceiving.
It was clear to him why his prey wasn't leaving behind any more traces of her for him to follow; there was only one way forward, and it had to be the gigantic door on the far side of the tiny city. He walked over to it and looked at it. It seemed to haven't even been touched for centuries, and it was obviously incredibly thick. He wasn't fazed by that at all, he had destroyed barricades and obstacles that were just as sturdy with an "accidental" wave of his arm. He prepared himself to dig his fingers into the metal and tear the door right off its rusted hinges, but before he could be heard a scraping noise to his left. He looked over and watched as a portion of the wall about as big as a regular door pressed itself inward and then slid to the side, revealing a tunnel. He shrugged his shoulders and walked down it. If they were planning to ambush him, it would cost them an arm and a leg. And their heads. He reached then end of the tunnel to find a ladder that led up to a manhole cover. He simple jumped up and smashed through it. When he was on solid ground again, he looked around to find what looked somewhat like an early twentieth century plaza, except for the huge chamber right in front of him. He guessed that was where they wanted him to go. He walked into the ancient-looking room, and saw two forty-foot tall identical statues of a man wielding a sword at the far side of it. In the next instant he was surrounded by a cloud of thick smoke and when it cleared, he saw that he was surrounded by five women dressed exactly like his prey/guide, but they did have their weapons drawn and were in battle-ready positions. Before he could even react and start to tear them to pieces with his bare hands, another woman called out from behind him.
"Don't give him an excuse. None of you will last three seconds if you anger him."
The warrior relaxed their bodies and held their swords at their sides. Mercer turned around to see the smart woman who had just prevented a very gruesome bloodbath. Like the ones she was obviously above, she wore an all black outfit, except she wasn't wearing a mask and the only part of her body that wasn't covered by skin-right material was her head and most of her neck. Her hair was a light brown and much shorter than her soldiers.
The two of them stared at each other in silence for a long moment until Mercer broke it. "Is your boss too busy to see me?"
"Not at all. In fact my father is waiting for right now. We've been expecting you." She clapped her hands together twice, and a long but not very wide section of the floor behind Mercer began to rumble for a moment and then fell downward to reveal yet another tunnel. Mercer was glad that the photographic memory Band had "given" him would get him back to the surface without getting lost, and he couldn't just rocket himself upward to the city since that could cause quite a few building to collapse. The woman began walking down into the tunnel and it was clear that Mercer was intended to follow her. As a warning to all of them in case they were planning to get the drop on him, he formed his claws on both arms before following his new escort. As they desended deeper into the stone hallway, the woman of higher ranking talked to him again.
"Tell me, do you prefer Mercer, Zeus, or just Alex?"
"I could really care less. What do I call you?"
"Talia."
The two of them reached the bottom of the tunnel, passed a simple wooden door, and then began making their way up a staircase.
"Those are very impressive." Talia said eyeing his claws. "How did you get them? Did you make make them?"
"I got sick." Mercer responded flatly.
"I... see." Her voice was filled with confusion. After another few moments of silence they came to stand before another somewhat large door. Talia pulled it open and gestured for him to go in, which he did. As soon as he was inside Talia closed it but didn't dare lock it. That was sure to piss him off.
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The room was almost circular and moderately lit. Mercer allowed his arms to return to normal after he looked around and saw that the only ones inside were him and some man looking into something that was giving off an eerie green glow. The walls were covered with large electrical equipment. Mercer walked over to the man and looked down at what he was staring at and saw a strange small pool of pale green water that looked extremely clean and clear.
"I've been expecting you, Virus," the man said in a very withered voice breaking his gaze with the pool and looking at Mercer.
"You... look like shit," Mercer said as he looked at the man who could be nobody but Rā's al Ghūl's face. He looked like a tired and miserable old man who had every disease known to man except Redlight and Blacklight.
"I am aware, and I feel just as bad. But allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Rā's al Ghūl, Head of the Demon and leader of the League of Shadows."
"Well met. I'm assuming that my introduction is redundant since you who I am already."
"You are correct Mr. Mercer. I know a plentiful amount about who, or moreso what, you are. Why did you decide to come to Gotham? Was Manhattan getting to you?"
"Did you have your dog drag me all the way down here just for a game of Twenty Questions?" Alex tried to change the subject. He didn't want to think, let alone talk, about the place where he was labeled as many horrific things.
"I can see that you are not the type who likes to dawdle on the past," Rā's said with a weak smile. "I like that in a man, but no, the true reason why I have brought you here is a proposition. This world is doomed. All the people that inhabit it do nothing but take up space, fill the air with diluted poisons, and pollute the ground they walk on. I have a vision of a future with a far smaller population that is strong in any environment."
"They can adapt," Mercer said knowingly.
Rā's nodded his head. "This dream of mine can become a reality if we two immortals work together. With my resources and leadership with your ability to survive, we can usher in a strong, healthy new world."
"'Immortals'?" Mercer had stopped listening after the assassin leader said that one word. "You... are immortal?"
"Yes. Yes I am." Rā's had an amused smile on his lips. "I have walked this Earth for over five centuries."
"Well whatever it is you do to stay alive, could you please do it? Because honestly I'm worried that you are going to drop dead right in front of me any second now."
"Very well." He turned his body so that his back was facing the green pool and he then allowed himself to fall back into it. As soon as his body was completely submerged, the water began to bubble and the machine all around the room revved and came to life. Sparks flew out of them at random intervals. For almost a minute the chaos continued and Mercer began to wonder if the old man would drown. Finally it all died down and Mercer leaned over the pool not knowing what to expect. Much to his surprise, Rā's jolted himself up into a standing position and smirked at Alex who was looking back at him in total awe. Rā's know looked nearly a third of his age and three times as strong.
"You didn't really think you were the only one with eternal life did you?" he asked smugly as he stepped out of the pool and next to Mercer who was now leaning over and looking at the green water in amazement and bewilderment.
"Wha... What is that?"
"It's your enlightenment," Rā's replied as he gave a hard shove on Mercer's bent back.
The water again began to boil and the machinery roared back to life after he fell in.
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A/N: My beta and one of my consultants like what happens to Mercer.