Chapter 29
An Era Ends Part 1
I think innocence is something that adults project upon children that's not really there. - Donna Tartt
In the end, Raven only began to know the truth of herself when she lost her innocence; when she saw what sort of actions Shafaq was willing to take to defend her. It was through his actions that she lost her innocence and preserved her life.
Four Marks to mark the transition from Titan to Raven Queen; a slow transformation. The effect it had on all of us when we found out... It was a rough time when Trigon came back. That's all I really want to say.
-Garfield Logan, ex-Titan, CEO of Markov Media, Prince Consort of Tara Markov I of the Kingdom of Markovia
Innocence has many definitions. One definition is that of a lack of knowledge of the world or a concept, or a lack of guilt. For a victim to be innocent requires a presence of guilt. In my experience, everyone has degrees of innocence and guilt within them. The only person who I really know to lack any form of innocence was Azaluhaiz, or Aziz, as I knew him. Then again, he wasn't exactly human, so it may not apply to him.
-Gregory Pereira
Innocence is the most commonly-used word for what I call 'total faith'. The thing that defines humanity is its faith: the ability to believe or hope in the face of all reason. We call sociopaths inhuman or bestial, but animals would never turn on their fellows without reason. That is because they never had any faith to lose. Animals do not believe in gods; they do not believe that there is an order or greater scheme to things, or that good and evil exist. We do.
Because we believe that good exists, we want the world to be good. Of course we do. We want to live in a world that rewards our faith in good things and good people by continuing to be good. Although it often does, this cannot be the case forever. You can believe with all your mind, body and soul that a rock will not drop, but it will drop, regardless. Sooner or later your faith will go unrewarded, and a tiny part of you will be stained by cynicism: the gravestone of faith. That is why prolonged maintenance of total faith, that is to say innocence, is impossible.
- An excerpt from The Collected Philosophies of Damon Kazuaki
A/N: To all the loyal readers, I'm going to be tightening the plot. A lot of stuff was planned but I'm tightening it after gaining experience and some harsh but necessary advice from my beta. Next few chapters will tie up various plot elements and minimise the holes. I ask forgiveness for the detour, but like the Ganges River, this story will reach the end despite meandering. The story and its author have simply meandered a bit far from the plains.
Titans won't be mentioned much and OCs will be dealt with accordingly. As for overpowered extradimensional beings...well...deus ex machina! The poor writers solution. If Greek poets could carry it out, Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert pull it off multiple times in one story and George Lucas pull stuff out his ass for Star Wrs 1,2 and 3,I can do it too.
Also, please don't read Sidney Sheldon books. They are TRASH! Read mine..:)
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Sophia ran her hands over her still flat abdomen. Consciously, she adjusted the nutrient balance of the amniotic fluid in her two amnions that surrounded the embryos, the children of her and Bruce Wayne, maintaining a perfect balance of electrolytes, protein, carbohydrates, lipids, phospholipids and urea.
In actual terms, he had served primarily as a stud and sperm donor. Sophia doubted that he'd have any part to play in nurturing children.
He couldn't be a father. Biologically speaking he had proved himself capable, but in the proper sense of the traditional family unit he just couldn't fulfil that role. He had long ago dedicated his entire life to a single purpose, and there was no space left in it for children. Talia al Ghul understood this. She was willing to sacrifice her husband to his purpose while raising her children.
Sophia tapped away at her laptop, bringing up the files she'd wanted to review.
She jumped as she heard a sudden knock, turning to see the very devil of her thoughts.
"Brother."
"Sophia. I trust you are well." His face was neutral as always, his biosigns unchanged.
Sophia grinned. "So how did you get past all my security systems? They're the most sophisticated on the market, straight out of Israel. Same for the reinforced doors."
Aziz tapped his head, with the merest suggestion of a smirk. "I designed them, remember?"
"How could I not?" she replied wryly.
"So how are your children doing?" he continued, quite conversationally. "What of the genetic projections you made of me as a breeding stud for Raven? Or your decision to sire children by Bruce Wayne?"
Her face fell, her eyes narrowing and lips a grim slash. "How did you discover that? That's secret information-"
"It was hidden behind several layers of security, encrypted by several Associated Intelligences and Artificial Intelligences, many of a hyperturing grade. Along with proprietary security software and firewalls programmed by you and licensed by the Department of Defence over the substandard Microsoft slugware."
"But how did you-?"
"I accessed the files. Your chemical scent has changed, and I detected the scent of Bruce Wayne wafting from your bedroom. Similarly, Jaras informed me of the situation. He was my apprentice after all. Just as he trained Natas who trained Deathstroke, so did I train Jaras."
"I see…" Sophia replied.
"No, you don't. That is why you're checking up on my files to see why the Janthril Grand Matriarch is getting involved in the issues at hand, of Project Raven Queen. Not to forget your questions about why a brigade of Torrasque Ushtars simply showed up in orbit in a transdimensional shiftship and ransacked my formerly secret bunker."
Sophia sighed heavily, looking at her foster brother with annoyance.
"Stop doing that. It's annoying, how you always know what's going on."
Aziz smiled. "I have my sources, but unfortunately for me, a certain voice in my head doesn't know when to shut up."
"Charming," Sophia replied. Her tone indicated anything but pleasure.
"When they first assigned me to guard Raven, I was clueless. I didn't question, but too many things didn't add up after a while. The shifts in reality that the Janthrils orchestrated, the hidden interference, why they didn't deploy Rayaan earlier… it was all too complex. So I took actions to reduce the variables. I'm still reducing them, with the help of an old friend."
"And what variables are those? Speaking of which, those Ushtars have done an excellent job of evacuating all the refugees from this planet. Care to explain why they're not responding to my commands anymore?"
"The Orodruin, shiftship of the Torrasque Ushtars, of a lineage from the Arashikage Peshmerga. I have a lot of pull with all the organisations loyal to the Janthrils."
Sophia simply shook her head in disbelief.
"Aziz Zahedi, Karas'thy Raksa and a member of the Janthril Warmaster Azaluhaiz's personal retinue. At least that's all I could get when I asked Onraed why the hell the Ushtars had shown up. It's interesting, how much of your life is a blank slate to me. We all have our secrets, Aziz, but how much pull do you actually have that you can call on a favour and order an entire Ushtar brigade to aid in evacuating the Corvinii and Chiropterans from here despite it not being their job? Were you a general? A special agent of the Warmaster? A Janthril Custodian?
"Who the hell are you?"
The last was a telepathic whisper. She stared at this man, a man who'd raised her and taught her so much; a foster brother she'd looked up to and admired since the beginning of her time.
He was no longer the same man. His face, voice and speech were the same, but he had become something utterly alien to Sophia.
"I am the father of Grand Matriarch Ghanima Karas'thy Raksa Janthril and her brother Sorentho Janthril, lover of the former Grand Matriarch Chayara Janthril. I am the father of the hybrid Imperial Ulthaj and Cha'Gukal, Urenor. I was the Warmaster of the Janthril Dynasty, last and greatest; God-Emperor of a Myriad Universes and more, Shah of Heroes, Lord of Nightmares and King of Conquerors."
"No." Sophia began to back away, head shaking in denial. Irrational fear began to overwhelm her as she looked at the being before her, eyes burning with sparks of gold. The man who was her brother now spoke in a voice that sounded like nails scratching across the soul, if such a sound could exist.
"I am everything and nothing. I am known by many names, but as a person known by none, nor shall I ever be. I am the void; the shadow; the twilight; the dusk; the evil; the darkness. I am the chaos; the order; the light; the stars; the shades of grey and the blackness of space. I am both the white and the black. I am beyond eternity and infinity. Think of epochs to the power of eons compounded by time without end, for that is as long as I have existed."
Sophia began to crawl backwards, the computer falling from her hands as she looked up at him, her hands shaking. A cry rose in her throat, but was choked down. Her hands began to shiver as golden runes formed over the skin of the thing before her.
"Think of your awareness; of the awareness of Onraed; of a being with a million eyes and ears whose awareness of all things stretches across a cosmos. Think of a mind, multiplied infinitely and taken to the depth of forever, and you will have hardly even touched upon my true nature."
"No."
Then the voice became harsher, a horrifying sound like the flames of a primeval hell reaching upwards to engulf her in their ferocity, as the voice of Rukt spoke, as the shell of Aziz who was Azaluhaiz slipped his hand to the side and let Rukt out but a mere inch.
"Are you righteous? Kind? Does your confidence lie in this? Are you loved by all? Know that I was too, once. Do you imagine your suffering will be any less because you loved goodness and truth?
KNOW MY SUFFERING AND MY WRATH! I AM BEYOND EVIL! I AM THE DEVOURER OF ALL! I AM THE DARK BLADE WHO ONLY AZALUHAIZ WIELDS! I FEED ON ETERNITY! I CONSUME INFINITY! I AM ENDLESS WAR AND DEATH FOREVER INTERTWINED!"
Sophia crawled backwards hugging her womb as she felt the embryos, barely a few weeks, begin to panic, a manic terror that seized her and them in a vacuum of bottomless darkness. They weren't conscious, but that wasn't required. They were alive. That was all the dread blade needed.
Rukt was sealed back in its sheath, blackness like blood oozing from the scabbard.
"But before all of that, I am your brother. I am a mortal man, Aziz Zahedi, born of noble Persia and ancient Sparta, descended from the kings and whores of Babylon, the maharajas of India and the aristocrats, artisans and societies of a million times a million nations. I am the descendant of slaves and beggars and criminals. I am the descendant of warriors and murderers, product of the love and lust of a man and woman. I am a monument to the sorrows and sins of humanity in this form, as Azaluhaiz is to all species that ever were and ever will be."
"What are you?"
Aziz knelt down to Sophia's form on the floor, her eyes brimming with panic and no small amount of awe and terror. He cupped her face and looked into her eyes. She hugged herself tighter, looking like a small girl once more.
A scared, deluded child.
"I am Aziz, a human shell; a detachment; an incarnation; a mere echo of Azaluhaiz, the one who is destined to confront the Ulthaj Nightmare: the Great Devourer himself. I am the true aim of the Ulthaj for that purpose via Raven, the one who sleeps that shall be wakened. Aziz is but an echo of what I truly am. Raven's awakening and special destiny is but a process in something greater than anything in this universe."
Sophia's eyes sunk to the floor, unable to meet his gaze.
"Warmaster Azaluhaiz, I-"
Then his voice was soft once more, no more a tower of terrible majesty. It was Aziz once again.
"I am your brother and I love you, Sophia, but there's a path I must take. I'm bound by destiny. As are all of you: my family and the ones I love. I'm a dead man walking and I made the mistake of my mortal side to fall in love with so many people that they are trapped with me. There's only one way out."
"And what is that way?"
He turned to leave, his silence being her answer. As he reached the window, Jaras slammed through the ornate oak door, hands at the ready. The minute he saw Aziz, he stopped, genuflecting to him.
"Master."
"Jaras. Please leave me and my sister. I will talk to you after."
Jaras exited, closing the door.
"Sophia. Do what you must to survive. The Ahriman Society is growing in power and it is up to us to deal with it. It is my duty, my dharma, to deal with them. I have some time before I die. Three years or more; I can't tell. The Torrasque Ushtars will evacuate those of the Corvinii and Chiropterans who came to this world and will maintain a dimension gate on this end and a small force of a hundred soldiers. They're meant to evacuate you and your associates, all my friends and their family should anything go wrong. The less of my people we have exposed, the less hostages Ahriman can take. Once I have nothing to lose, I have no need to hold back."
"What of Anya?" Sophia asked, sniffling as she looked at him.
Aziz paused, hesitating before answering. "She's a loose end I'll have to deal with."
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Aziz stood on the roof of the Vittoria Complex Skycraper with Jaras, the Titans Tower visible in the distance.
"Jaras, am I an evil man?"
Jaras looked up quizzically at Aziz. Though he was more than sixty years old, he looked barely more than twenty-five. It was a consequence of the energies flowing through him and his mastery of them.
"No, Azulahaiz. I believe not. You have done many things that are evil, that is indisputable, but they were always in the service of stability and the greater good. People have lived better lives because of your actions. Lives have been saved, and societies enriched."
"Is that so?" Az asked, his tone distinctly thoughtful and his eyes distant. Jaras didn't answer, deeming it a rhetorical question.
"Protect my sister to the best of your ability, Jaras. Make sure she doesn't lose her way in this war. You, Eko and Tyu are the ones I trust the most. Make sure to protect her smile."
"Is that all?"
"That's all, Jaras. You may leave."
As Jaras turned, he heard Azaluhaiz speak in a soft voice.
"Thank you."
Jaras nodded and left. It was worrying. Generally his master wasn't so conversational. Something about him had changed over the decades but Jaras couldn't quite put his finger on it. His surrogate parent was simply too enigmatic at times.
As Aziz mounted Sky Blue and activated the hover engines, he whispered to himself a question that had plagued him since he'd come to this world. Of the nature within him.
"This great evil. Where does it come from? How did it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from?"
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Raven looked around the living room of the tower. It was oddly deserted, empty of the normally joyous voice of Starfire or the yells of Robin and Cyborg as they chased BB around the tower.
Her thoughts wandered to Terra and BB. It'd been mildly surprising to discover her heritage but didn't give much thought to it. BB was currently hanging out with Terra somewhere in the urban jungle while she pursued the 'womanly art of shopping', as BB had labelled it.
Cyborg had left to visit his father at Stone Tech headquarters regarding personal affairs. Though no one commented on it, the relationship between Cyborg and his father was known to be estranged. Considering how most, if not all of them, had bad relationships with their parents, they felt it a pity that Victor didn't try harder to reconcile, seeing how it was his father who often approached him.
Of all the Titans, Terra had at the very least a brother while they now knew that Bruce Wayne was in fact the adoptive father of Dick. BB had no living relatives aside from the Doom Patrol to speak about, what with the obvious tensions between Mento and him.
Raven had no need to comment on her family relations. Her father had nearly destroyed the entire world. Of all of them, Cyborg was the Titan with the distinction of having a living parent who they were estranged from by choice.
Walking into the training room, she noticed all the deactivated droids. Looking around, she shaped a telekinetic blade around her forearm. It was trick Aziz had taught her, using her telekinesis to enhance her physical attributes and speed.
It was different due to the fact that she never focused her telekinesis in her body but outside of it. Her meditations had taken on a deeper tone as well and she found herself able to react faster than before. Her senses had become more acute while, unnoticed by others, she'd begun to heal faster.
Slowly, she was able to reconcile her demonic heritage with her human side, accepting them both for what they were. It helped to have two companions accompany her in her dreams. Urenor was always the silent one, never saying more than a word or two. He was reticent to talk and seemed the wiser of the two, if that could be said.
With Sorentho it had become a close friendship, him verbally jousting with her and pushing her in several different directions at once. He'd drop hints about his father every now and then, but Raven found them extremely hard to reconcile with what she'd witnessed of Aziz.
Was he a man who inspired fear? Certainly but she couldn't imagine him having accomplished half the things she'd heard he'd done.
"Activate combat training, safety mode off."
"Which level do you wish to train at?" the metallic voice chirped.
Smirking slightly, she decided to see how Aziz went about his training. How good was he?
"Shafaq-level."
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Aziz stepped through the lift doors, hearing the sound of metal clanging against metal, a million thunderclaps echoing through the room. Suddenly Raven flew through a portal into the room, a look of panic on her face.
It dissipated the instant she laid eyes on Aziz. As she opened her mouth to speak, the sound of thunder echoed through the tower as the wall melted behind her. Through the pall of metal vapours and concrete dust the droids stood defiant, aiming their weapons at them.
"Kukulwodokwanamoolookanazek," Aziz pronounced, the syllables spilling from his mouth. The droids immediately halted, turned and marched back to their recharge stations.
Aziz eyed Raven, sparks of laughter in his gaze. "Care to tell me why you were running from the training droids?"
"Well… uh, I… disabled the safeties and asked them to fight at your level. And how about a more normal safety word?"
There was a pregnant pause before Az stifled a short burst of laughter. "Raven, I only use that level when I'm in my armour. I tend not to use it at other times for the simple reason that I'd get killed. As for the safety word, that's my personal one. Why should-?"
"Stupid. Foolish. Reckless and utterly arrogant. To think that you could match Lord Azaluhaiz in skill. What sheer-"
"Tara. Enough."
Aziz spoke with a quiet voice, calm, firm and authoritative, an ethereal quality to it. Tara locked eyes with him as she halted.
"Raven, I want you to meet the person who's going to teach you more about magic. I've told you a bit about the struggles that are coming, how I was sent to protect you. I was also sent to teach you. Obviously I have… exceeded my duties at some points. But there are some things I can't teach you about and that is magic. I can't wield it but Tara can, and she can teach you."
Raven tentatively reached out a hand in greeting but quickly retracted it as Tara gave a growl that caused the entire tower to tremble.
"Tara." Tara looked at him, a flicker of hurt on her face before she turned back to Raven. At the back of his mind, Aziz felt a pang of regret coming from his true self, Azaluhaiz.
It was perhaps not the best way but Tara knew well enough that if anything happened to Azaluhaiz, she would at least be there to carry on his work. Love was a hopelessly complicated concept, only getting more complex yet simpler as one got higher up the ladder of sapience.
"Tara, teach her about magic. I leave it you to determine to what extent. Raven, learn from her. Hopefully you'll both get along."
The last was said wryly, for Aziz knew anything but friction between the two would occur. Both were more alike than they realised in their possessiveness towards the man in their life.
"You will address me as mistress. I expect only the best from you. Lack of effort is never an excuse. Whatever I tell you to do, you will do. Understood?"
Tara asserted her dominance, looking at this young female who dared to approach her intended mate. It did not matter if he was Imperial Ulthaj or not. No matter his persona or actions, he'd always loved her and she him. She would settle for nothing less than being his prime consort, first in the hierarchy of his beloved and no one else.
Raven's demonic side began to stir for the first time in days, expressing anger at this female who expressed so much interest in her man with that gaze. Her eyes turned a pale shade of red as she stared at Tara, Raven unconsciously baring her fangs.
Tara gave Raven a condescending glare even as she beckoned for her to approach. The dynamic of their relationship was definitely not getting off on the right foot.
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Dumiel sniffed the air, sensing the metallic taint of the industrial area combined with the harsh chemical smells emanating from behind him. Their scent was well concealed.
Contact with the other safe-houses had indicated that most of their brethren had made it off-world to the waiting shift-ship. However what was most disturbing was the news of Miria's sister, Devon and her Chevaliers.
They had accompanied several Corvinii immortals, vampires and lycans to Johannesburg in South Africa, in the hopes of splitting the attentions of the Ahriman Society and the Khagat Alchemists. For more than a week, no news of them had been received. This meant they'd either escaped without telling them or had been captured.
"We're near the warmaster now, aren't we, Dumiel?" Miria asked him, staring across the unfamiliar horizon of buildings. Their Corvinii vampire allies remained within the containers, waiting for the sun to set.
Miria's blue eyes looked out from the face of a sixteen year old girl. She was in reality at least three centuries old. Chiropteran queens entered states of deep hibernation after a period of several years of activity and Miria was nearing her own.
Dumiel had chosen to remain her Chevalier servant, though not linked by blood as her other Chevaliers were. He was her grandmother's Chevalier, her mother's and now hers. His existence was defined by his protection of her.
All of them were migrants who'd seen opportunity. When rumours of the Janthril Warmaster beings present on this world had spread, it had been their first choice. They'd thought it would be secure and safe. It had been so for six decades, just in the aftermath of this world's second world war.
Obviously, it hadn't lasted.
Like the humans they'd masqueraded as, they paid taxes, raised families, gone about their lives and grew their businesses, fulfilling their duties as citizens of whichever countries they lived in.
All that had changed when the waves of violence began to sweep the hidden world they inhabited.
"We're near him. If anyone can help save us and reverse this madness it's him" he said with confidence.
"If not him, then who?"
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The minute the sun set they went in a convoy, unmarked vehicles moving swiftly along the expressway spread out just far enough that they could respond to an attack yet evade the attention of observers. Their destination was the Dalibor Academy.
Through tinted windows the ageless Chiropteran queen looked out. Dumiel rode a motorcycle behind the convoy, on guard for any suspicious followers.
Yet for all his advanced senses, Dumiel failed to detect the electronic whispers that flew before his eyes and through his body, drones of silicon and plastic the size of houseflies stealthily concealed in the crevasses of the jeeps.
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"Ascanio, I trust that the Society is satisfied with my progress?" Cyrus asked inquisitively.
"Your magic has grown more potent. And yes, you are to be granted acclaim for your actions. After a fashion, anyway," Ascanio replied, his large frame relaxing back into the chair. The Bhagatur and Alyp around him eyed Joculare to the side, the madman giggling at some private joke.
"They're going to die anyway," Ascanio thought to himself as he observed the men before him. Cyrus Creed, now a Lord of the Second Inner Circle of Ahriman and his wild dog Joculare were notorious among the First Inner Circle and the Council.
Ascanio had been assigned a project that no other had been trusted with. To flush out the Ahriman Society's most powerful enemy, a hidden threat that Ahriman, Jorgumander and Gurenon had talked about. The man who was masquerading as 'Shafaq' of the Titans. A fitting name if he was truly who they said he was.
The Darkness before the Dawn.
To do that they had to let the Chiropteran queen and her associates lead them to him. Unnervingly, only this Chiropteran band remained on-planet. With the exception of this group, all of their intended quarry, known to be very indirectly associated with the Black Tiger or Shafaq as he was now called, had escaped.
It had totally mystified the Society, the efficacy with which their quarry had escaped them, often leaving no trace save several anti-matter bombs that had resulted in the annihilation of several powerful sorcerers. It turned out magic and anti-matter did not mix very well. For that matter, anti-matter didn't mix well with anything.
Ascanio had no wish to repeat such encounters. The losses to the Society in terms of manpower and the embarrassment in front of their allies had been unprecedented.
"Remember, I want them alive. Although you may kill the others if it becomes necessary, the queen must be brought in alive at all costs."
The third significant person in the room spoke. Celia Reyes was exquisitely beautiful, voluptuous and seductive in her business clothes. A hint of cinnamon tinged the air around her. However, it only belied her lethality and power.
An extremely powerful executive within the State Department, she carried herself with an aura of one accustomed to command. She was not in the least intimidated by any of the people around her. Her two bodyguards were no less intimidating than her, piercing eyes briefly fixing Ascanio.
Ascanio looked away, unable to hold the stare. He had witnessed many things as the expediter and personal silencer of Lord Imperial Derman Ugorj but these three individuals before him managed something that no one save the Lord Imperial had ever achieved.
They scared him. For that matter, they'd scared most of the Lords of the First Inner Circle by the force of their presence.
"Remember the deal you cut with the State Department and Pentagon. We require these… life-forms alive. At the very least the queen, though we'd prefer all of them alive. Can you guarantee that?"
"Of course." Ascanio nodded, observing the woman closely. She was confident and assured. The Society had incredible amounts of evidence that incriminated senior members of the US government, in fact, most governments worldwide. It wasn't too hard to find a crooked politician.
But this woman had approached the Lord Imperial and the Inner Council of the Ahriman Society, Shadow League and Assassins League with utter disregard for all parties and the material in their possession.
She'd emerged from behind sealed doors having achieved the full cooperation of all three societies and achieved the unthinkable, leaving Ras al Ghul and his elders agitated in the extreme, the Lord Imperial himself breaking into a rare display of anger after she'd left their presence.
What little intelligence they possessed on her was useless in trying to evaluate her. Her name was Celia Reyes, a Hispanic woman who'd come from an orphanage in Mexico City, an outstanding scholar and athlete who'd left an impression on all who'd encountered her.
After applying for and gaining scholarships from Yale, she'd gone on to read law as well as nanotechnology within four years, leading a seemingly charmed life before being poached by the State Department and rising rapidly within their ranks to become attaché to Amanda Waller, Director-in-Chief of the Joint Covert Operations Directorate.
She'd made herself so indispensable that when Amanda Waller had been placed in charge of the fledgling Cadmus Project, designed to counter metahuman threats to American interests, she'd come on board as the Vice-Director, second only to Amanda Waller.
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Celia cast a contemptuous glace at Joculare. He was a disgusting specimen of a sentient being, a paranoid schizophrenic who'd been further warped by Cyrus Creed beyond irrationality. He was Creed's pet; a wild dog turned into a beast. A pale shadow of a man, his insanity had allowed Creed to manipulate him into serving his interests.
His exploits, especially Creed's penchant for racial supremacy, was a danger to the Society. Such things were not tolerated for the simple fact that they attracted the attention of society at large. They divided the society along racial lines and division was the last thing the Ahriman Society desired or wanted.
The Ahriman Society was a secret society for certain reasons – their members knew the protocol for behaviour and maintained discipline. Enforcers like Ascanio did so at the behest of the Inner Circle and Council. Internecine warfare within the Society was strictly prohibited, for it could easily spill over and become public.
Cyrus Creed had used the resources to pursue his own racist agenda, turning against agents simply because of their skin colour, something the Society of Ahriman couldn't afford. It had been bad enough that he'd snubbed several elders of the League of Shadows for being Arab, Persian or Nubian.
Many of their key alliances could be compromised because of his actions. This would be rectified.
Celia knew well enough exactly how they were setting up Creed. Her father Azaluhaiz, or at least his mortal detachment, Aziz, was a man with a reputation. His attitude was not an eye for an eye. Rather his approach was best summed up in a statement Sao Feng had once made, apt to describe his approach.
"Fuck an eye for an eye. If any man targeted my family and friends, I'd cripple him, gouge out both his eyes, string him up by the innards and slaughter his entire family."
And Celia knew for a fact that Aziz had done much worse. Of course, it was motivated for his own and Raven's sake. Celia was just there just to grease the wheels of progress, as it were. Whatever happened next, she took responsibility for it. After all, what was her purpose but to be a vessel for the Janthril Grand Matriarch?
Cyrus Creed and Joculare were to be their sacrifices in drawing out her father. Given Jorgumander's hatred of him, he'd been all too willing to work against Aziz when given a free pass. Ahriman literally reeked of a Cha'Gukal but didn't yet know its part to play. Its time would come.
Khagat and Gurenon were intriguing possibilities. As far as anyone knew, Gurenon was a renegade High Lord of the Black Tiger Society. In actuality, he'd been serving Ghanima from the beginning, assigned by Azaluhaiz himself as her retainer and confidante. Gurenon was her mole in the society, her follower and one-time lover who remained loyal to her.
With Khagat, Celia foresaw interesting possibilities. Like Gurenon, Khagat exhibited a nobility and purity of essence unlike his 'parents', Ahriman and Jorgumander, who'd given off themselves to form him.
Khagat sought to align only with the strongest: those who would survive, who fulfilled his harsh philosophy. The Landscape of the End; those who fulfilled his vision of a paradise. Khagat sought only the strong and despised the weak.
But who exactly was the strongest was something yet to be known…
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Steve threw down the controller in frustration. Once more Anya was proving to them who exactly was the King of Fighters. Idimmu sat down smoking a hookah, Shoah staring intently at the television as he watched Anya's dextrous fingers making short work of Steve.
Greg lifted dumbbells as he watched them, his ego bruised at his defeat by a young girl less than half his age at Street Fighter, King of Fighters and Need for Speed. The dogs passively lay around him, tired from the five mile run he'd put them through an hour before.
His spirits were lifted as his girlfriend called him from the kitchen, asking him to come in and put his knife skills to good use cutting onions and garlic. Clare found him a potent accessory as a boyfriend – he was a companion, bank account and relatively skilled chef rolled into one.
Iskandar sat back on the couch, nursing a cold beer. He'd been roughly ejected from the kitchen after getting in the way of Naima, Izusa and Clare who were engaged in a cooking frenzy, eager to celebrate the discovery that Naima was pregnant.
When Iskandar had called his mother-in-law over the phone, forgetting that it was 4 am in the morning in his home country, he'd been met with a thick silence followed by a devastating banshee's scream upon telling her.
It turned out that she was very eager to have grandchildren. His own parents had taken a more reserved, dignified reaction, though his father had started to crack several rather dirty jokes about handcuffs and whips. Iskandar suspected his old man was wise to what he and Naima had gotten up to that one time they'd stayed in his old room.
Naima had an unnatural fondness for whips and chains that he was perfectly happy to indulge. After all, if he made sure she was happy, she made sure he was happy. Either way he benefited. It was a common misconception that married men didn't get much sex. On the contrary, he'd had sex till it was coming out of his ears.
He looked forward to the gathering tonight. It was a chance to relax among friends and family, to share the news with his closest friends. As well as to fulfil the promise he'd made with Damon.
Over a drunken session of mahjong he'd made a blood pact with Damon, slicing open their palms with a kitchen knife and pressing them together, the blood intermingling as they'd sworn to be the godfathers of the others children.
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Aziz waited patiently for them, hidden in the shadows of the office building. He monitored them as they entered the basement car park one by one, tinted windows glinting in the light. Clad in a black leather jacket and face concealed by a mirrored visor, he observed, scanning for anyone who might have followed.
The office tower was heavily secured, home to several banks who'd rented the office space at relatively low prices. Honeycombed with tempered glass, titanium-reinforced concrete and hardened Kevlar in critical sections, it could withstand a sustained assault by the equivalent of an Israeli Defence Force battalion for several hours.
At the very least it could play host to the refugees until midnight when the Torrasque Ushtars could pick them up. They would also fetch the items he requested. Where once he'd maintained a high-tech inventory, he'd downgraded his technology to what was available to him. Technology like that tended to attract attention. Given the removal of a vast amount of the infrastructure of his bunker, it was no longer viable to keep them, lacking the capacity to maintain them as he did.
Watching as the last car moved into the garage, he made to move before he felt a blade across the front of his throat. His head was tugged back as a threatening voice whispered into his ear.
"Move and you die. You've been following us since the junction of 5th and Mercador. You're good… but you're only human."
"Dumiel. Sworn Chevalier of the Chiropteran Queen Sandira of Clan Meshun. The same clan that served under the Warmaster Azaluhaiz. You haven't changed at all, old friend. Paranoid as you ever were."
Dumiel backed away, morphing his arm from a blade back into its normal form. "Aziz?" he said, an echo of hope in his voice.
Az pulled off his helmet, meeting the gaze of his old comrade with a smile. "We've got a lot of catching up to do, Dumiel."
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"We've tracked them to the Arad Financial Tower. It's hard to penetrate. Where will Joculare be going?" Ascanio asked.
Cyrus smiled disturbingly. "He has a more important assignment. He'll be attempting to draw the attention of Shafaq. This man the Lord Imperial fears so much. What can a single man do?"
"That is a question one should ask Ras. Perhaps you should ask him about Batman?"
Cyrus stopped smiling immediately at the mention of the Batman. Creed Pharma had suffered severe losses when Wayne Enterprises had brought them to court over several patents they'd violated, supported by documents and reports that were supposed to be sealed in secure vaults in Switzerland.
Surveillance videos had revealed the culprit in the form of grainy images of Batman breaking into the vault. The evidence had found its way to the police commissioner of Gotham, James Gordon, who was also a golfing buddy of Bruce Wayne.
Cyrus had met Bruce several times in a professional capacity and seen little beyond the façade of a powerful man who toyed with women, favouring Russians among the many lovers he kept. Yet all the decadence was but an act, and Cyrus knew it. Beneath was a savvy businessman worth several times his weight in gold.
"Ascanio. Take a group of Alyp and infiltrate the Arad Tower. Joculare will be taking the Bhagatur to attract some attention." Ascanio acknowledged it, expecting none of the Bhagatur to survive.
For all their vaunted strength, these new initiates were fanatics who been deemed unsuitable for mainstream work and reassigned to this task. They were expendable assets, unlike the Alyp, who undergone years of training and indoctrination.
"Lord Cyrus, a simple warning: the Lord Imperial told me long ago about this man. Perhaps it would be wise to not be so dismissive of a single man. After all, as Ras al Ghul has his Batman, so perhaps may you have your Shafaq. But Ras al Ghul never had to worry about his greatest nemesis killing him."
He left with the Alyp, going over the plans in his mind that would wipe out evidence of any involvement by Cyrus Creed with the Society. Ascanio knew very well the consequences to come, for Joculare was a wild dog about to be unleashed by Cyrus.
Was a hound truly responsible for its actions while unleashed… or did greater responsibility lie with its master for unleashing it, knowing of its behaviour?
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Sao Feng watched Clare and Gregory at work on the barbeque, Clare skilfully putting her metahuman ability to control flames to culinary use. The rack of lamb was roasting in the oven, the pate was seared just right, the pumpkin-spinach-strawberry salad dripped with balsamic vinegar while the scent of roasted tomato couscous wafted through the house.
Upstairs his kids moved around like cape buffaloes, engaged in a game of blind man's bluff. Sao Feng did not wish to witness the aftermath. More than likely it would look like a twister had made its way through the room. Not that Aziz would mind.
It was a spacious townhouse along the coast that he used occasionally when he needed to escape or when holding gatherings for his friends. Gregory had been granted the keys and used it for several parties of his own as well as romantic interludes with Clare during the times he was in the USA, every few weeks or so.
Cyborg had decided to join them and had brought Sarah along, After making the introductions she'd been inducted into the kitchen brigade where the women were exchanging dirty stories and otherwise engaging in the profound intellectual exercise of 'girl-talk'.
Cyborg was currently trying (and failing) to defeat Gregory in a game of Tekken 6.
A sudden chill ran down his spine as he heard a rustling in the bushes. All of a sudden the dogs went berserk, barking ferociously at a corner of the garden. His old instincts, honed by years in the military, kicked in as Sao Feng made his way there.
Idimmu joined him, trying to quieten the dogs even as their racket increased. Sao Feng inspected the bushes.
The air shimmered before him. A giant of a man appeared. A punch sent him flying.
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Anya was with the children when the entire house suddenly shook. The door burst open, wooden splinters flying as a man entered, ragged paint splotched across his face like a demented mask, hair askew and eyes bloodshot.
He lashed out at the nearest child, one of the twin boys. Faykan was sent flying like a rag doll; his head smashed against the concrete. Jacob threw himself against the man in a fury, seeking to avenge his brother. His sisters huddled in a corner, the eldest, Serina, using her body to shield them.
The sound of metal sliding on metal caused Joculare to freeze. He turned to see Anya pointing a pistol at him, hands shaking in fear. He stomped his foot and she fired at him. The bullet impacted, the metal point flattening as it drove against his steel-like skin.
It slid down ineffectually, Joculare grinning madly like a Cheshire cat. Lord Cyrus had seen fit to enhance him with skin as hard as Kevlar, bullets and blows as nothing but rain to him, courtesy of some of his magic.
"So which one is Anya?"
At the mention of her name, the other children glanced at her. Joculare followed their glance to the girl holding the pistol. Clicking his tongue, he approached her even as she emptied the clip at him.
For all her fear she was Az's adopted progeny and he'd trained her well, entrusting her with a pistol despite her age. But that meant little here. Joculare grabbed the firearm, twisted it out of her hand, just as she snapped a kick at his knee. He laughed. It ended abruptly as he slapped her, sending her sprawling.
"Poor little girl. All alone. No one to defend you. If only that man who survived my poison, the one who cradled you, or that Asian man. A worthy opponent who could almost hold his own with me. What was his name?"
"Idimmu." A harsh voice sounded from behind him as Joculare was propelled through the wall by a kick to his back.
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Sao Feng let loose blades of sonic energy from his hands, visible as arcs of yellow energy that crackled with power, each impact of his fist pummelling hardened flesh and bone. With wild abandon Iskandar cut loose, engaging three of the massive men at the same time.
Who were these men? They had no idea. One minute they were relaxing, the next they were fighting for their lives. He heard the sound of gunshots from within the house, just as Gregory ripped open a hidden panel in the wall that concealed a G36C rifle and several magazines of ammunition.
The attackers were all of similar size, Anglo-Saxon in appearance. One collapsed in a ball of flames as Clare cut loose with everything she had, shielding Naima. Cyborg grappled with another, before Greg slid in and kicked out the man's legs. Izusa stood beside the pregnant Naima, wielding a steak knife, for what little good it did.
In a frenzy of motion, Greg rammed the rifle into the man's mouth and pressed the trigger, emptying half a clip into his skull. The giant continued to move feebly before Gregory silenced him, slamming the butt of the rifle into his skull repeatedly.
Cyborg gazed in horror as a man was killed before his eyes. His attention was snatched back to the present as someone grabbed him from behind and threw him through the window, landing on top of him and grinding his head into the earth.
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Iskandar slammed his forehead into the man's skull, cracking it open to reveal the bloody mixture of brain matter within. He felt the soft tissue of the eyes collapsing under the thrust of his fingers as he tugged upwards, feeling the hardened bone reinforced with foreign materials of incredible strength give way to his brutality.
Another attacker came behind him, punching him with enough force to crush the bones of any normal man. Iskandar simply shrugged it off before side kicking his attacker's torso, tearing through the flesh as the spine of his enemy shattered into fragments.
Sao Feng grabbed another and broke his neck before pulverizing his head underfoot. The final opponent he got into an armlock as a dark column of purple flame engulfed them both. A sudden burst of pure silence drowned out everything before the column dissipated. Only Sao Feng remained, the man's body reduced to ashes.
The final attacker died within moments, Iskandar incinerating his skull in his hands, his Hadou no Chikara burning like a star, the Satsui no Hadou overcoming him before he released himself from its grasp. He felt the darkness within rise in anger, the threat to his friends and his wife still present.
Sao Feng dashed upstairs, the townhouse shaking from the force of his passage. He slammed headfirst into an invisible wall of force. Behind it were his children, sadistically crucified to the walls, barbed spikes driven through their wrists, hands, ankles and feet.
Joculare held a sphere in his hand, a dimness that opposed the fluorescent lightning radiating from it. It sucked in the light around it, casting an effervescent gloom that seemed to bubble and froth. Anya was thrown across one shoulder, unconscious and tied up, crimson bands glittering on her hands and feet.
Idimmu threw a tornado kick, the powerful cybernetic limbs twisting from his hips as they slammed into the field around him. With a roar he threw another one, this time the field bending under the force of the blow.
With a look of concern Joculare made a flicking motion. Several large spikes attached to chains materialised out of nowhere, flying towards Idimmu. With a roar of pain Idimmu was chained to the floor, the spikes ramming themselves through muscle and bone as they dug into him. Idimmu struggled as his cybernetic legs feebly tried to rise, the spikes staking him to the floor. A sudden crunch echoed in the room as his backbone snapped and the roars turned to screams of agony.
"Amazing how they restored your eyes after I took them from you. They belong to me, little Asian man."
Joculare lanced out his fingers and gouged them out once more. Snapping his fingers, the women suddenly appeared in front of him. Izusa, Naima and Clare were bound by chains that burned into them, rotating around their limbs as they tore the skin from them.
With another snap Gregory appeared before him. With a single glance at the situation, Gregory paused for a split second before raising his rifle at Joculare. It transformed into a bouquet of pythons and cobras in his hands. Gregory dropped them, the snakes slithering towards the children, hunger in their reptilian eyes.
"Gregory Pereira. The self-named Wolfhound of my master's enemy. Shafaq is his name, isn't it? I've been observing you and your friends-" He narrowly dodged a punch aimed at his face.
"Learn your place, half-breed," he spat. "It disgusts me to think that a woman of pure European blood could think to lay with a filthy brown-skinned piece of shit generations ago, to give rise to you. How about…"
Gregory collapsed to the floor in a tangle of limbs as his weight spontaneously increased, tendrils of darkness surrounding him. They slowly tightened around him, before coming together with a single snap.
The crunch and grind of bones that resonated from him was drowned out only by the pained scream of pure agony and horror as Greg felt the bones of his foot, ankle, shin and thigh split in multiple directions at once, breaking beyond the capacity to heal. Then he felt his collarbone give way as it broke, separating within his body. His nano-glands, the only one of his implants, attempted to pump out painkillers, only to be overwhelmed.
Clare could only look on in horror as she saw her boyfriend tortured. Tendrils crept up around her fingers without her notice. She only realised her peril just as they tightened, breaking her hands and ripping her fingers from their sockets.
Then the tendrils began to creep towards Naima…
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With a mighty crash the barrier gave way as Iskandar slammed into Joculare. Sao Feng tore the snakes apart, attempting to free his children from their crucified position on the wall.
Joculare could only giggle as he felt his bones break, only to reform once more. "Your wife is pregnant. An abomination. Hybrids like you shouldn't exist. Weak and corrupt. Let me destroy that foetus within her "
Iskandar attempted to rip Anya from his grip before a viselike grip caught him around his throat and began to squeeze. Gagging, he swiped the air in front of him, attempting to get at Joculare.
"Anastasiya Iosifovna Khruschev, or Anya. Adopted daughter of Sophia Perennis Mendes of Mendes Defence Decisions. Also known to be closely connected with the Siberian Ghost and the Wendigo of Kosovo. His adopted daughter. Such a pretty little thing. Tell your master or friend, whoever he is, that Cyrus Creed desires to see him. Tell him the Ahriman Society has an agenda with him and his Raven Queen."
Sao Feng made a lunge at him. Joculare dodged, grinning. "Yun Sao Feng. The Chinese Jew. The most dangerous of all the people in this room. Help Shafaq again and your family will pay. That is a promise. Now, call him. Tell him to come here."
Sao Feng rammed his knee into Joculare with extreme force, doubling the man over before slamming the point of his elbow down on his neck. As the hit collided, his skin crackled. Sao Feng found himself clutching his head as lightning arced across his body.
"Inadvisable. I take it you don't wish to save your family. Very well. They'll make excellent drinks for some friends of mine. Vampires. They always love the blood of children – when they can get them, of course. Or you can simply tell me where he lives so that I may approach him directly."
With a gleam in his eye, Sao Feng struggled to rise, staggering against the torrents of pain that inundated him. His lips cracked as he spoke.
"I… I'll tell you."
Joculare raised an eyebrow. Just to be safe, he snapped his fingers and Sao Feng screamed as both his ankles broke. He collapsed to the floor, staring up at Joculare.
"Now, you'll tell me where he is, won't you?"
"Behind you."
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Joculare whirled around, only to meet Cyborg pointing his cannon straight at him. "Give it up, motherfucker. The Titans and police are on their way here now. Your buddies are all dead or unconscious. I don't know what you are but you know who I am. Now get down on the ground, release everyone and maybe I won't beat you up. Drop that sphere. Now!"
Joculare lost his grin as he knelt down, his hands sinking to his feet. In a blur of motion, he dropped the sphere and pulled out a dagger, stabbing it into Cyborg's human face as he sidestepped and tripped him.
With magically driven strength he ripped out the cybernetic arm while kicking him towards the sphere. The sphere levitated, a ray of light lancing from it into Cyborg's torso as it pierced his armour, slicing cleanly through one of his biomechanical heart's chambers.
Joculare didn't understand the sphere very well but he understood its effects. The woman, Celia Reyes, had given the sphere to Cyrus Creed, saying it would be needed for his task and would be of great aid. Joculare had used it to devastating effect and appreciated it.
As he turned on his heel he suddenly felt an enormous ripple of force around him as the sphere spontaneously projected a force field around him. He heard the gasps from the men on the floor as Eko and Tyu literally ripped through the magical tide that suddenly surrounded them.
Their bodies strained against the field, their eyes glowing a vicious red as they stared at the scene before them.
Gripping the orb once more, he pointed it at Eko and Tyu, willing it to stop them in their tracks. It responded by freezing them into place, each as still as a statue.
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Eko and Tyu were thousands of years old, able to kill Kryptonians of the level of Kal-El with ease by virtue of their strength alone. They'd survived the destruction of entire worlds and dimensions, in Tyu's case surviving immersion in a quantum singularity, more commonly called a black hole. They were magi of the highest order, capable of 'true magic': miracles that defied all the known laws of science and sorcery.
The fact that Joculare wielded an artefact capable of stopping them wasn't lost on them or on Anya as she was slapped awake by Joculare. She stared at the scene around her, trying to stop from vomiting. Idimmu lay whimpering on the floor, spikes staking him to the wood. Sao Feng had been rendered catatonic, the rest strung up in a grotesque caricature of a party.
Her dogs had been leashed up, howling and barking as they struggled against the chains that bound them to the wall. All of them were in various states of injury, her dog Darky having its ears and tail amputated in a bloody mess as it struggled to stand, woozy from blood loss and pain.
The two ancient beings who were her guardians were frozen in place, paint sprayed onto their faces in colourful tattoos. Profanities were scrawled across the wall in the blood of her friends and family, Cyborg barely able to move as his systems struggled to keep him alive.
"Wakey wakey, little girl. I need your help to send your father a message. You'll never be rescued from where you're going. Lord Cyrus is going to teach your father a lesson he'll always regret."
"When my father arrives, he's going to kill you." With a defiant glare, she spat at Joculare's face. Joculare casually wiped the spit off his face as he brought the dagger up and set to work. He made sure the sphere recorded everything and made sure everyone watched. He didn't have much time left.
He smiled joyfully as Anya began to scream…
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Aziz flung himself through the hole in the wall, boots pounding the floor as he ran up the stairs through the broken house. Raven, Terra and BB followed behind him. The stench of blood reached him as he threw open the door to the attic. The scene that met him was one of horror.
As the others reached him, Raven gave one look and rushed to release the children, suppressing the feeling of horror, rage and most disturbingly, pleasure as the demon within rose. Terra went to unravel the women from their chains. BB stared at Idimmu writhing feebly in pain, unable to tear himself away, before Az sharply barked at him to call for an ambulance.
A sphere levitated in the centre of the room, glowing dimly with lines of darkness on its shell. Tyu and Eko stood frozen, unable to move but for their eyes which whipped from side to side, roiling with darkness within.
Aziz reached out to the sphere and grabbed it. It began to tremble before its outer shell cracked open and the energy, inky black and freezing to the touch, flowed like smokeless flame up his arm. It poured the memories and experiences of everyone who'd been present into him, filling his mind with the full magnitude and scope of all that had occurred.
He applied more pressure to it, feeling it tremble and quake in his grasp. Using what knowledge he had, he recited the ancient words that burned his throat as they escaped his mouth. Words that caused his ears to burn, ancient power beyond magic that acted just like it.
A sudden shriek startled everyone as the orb quavered before tearing free from his hands and flying out the window. Slowly falling to his knees, Aziz shook as he channelled the energy through him, bargaining with Azaluhaiz, with the other within to aid him in restoring the others.
"Help them. Heal them."
"Why should I? You always choose to fight me, your true self. And I allow it. I could devour you in an instant, but why? Why do I tolerate you? You have yet to realise your actuality. You have yet to reconcile your purpose with your ego."
"Please. This is not the time. Anya…"
"Is still alive. We all know that. I feel your rage, Aziz. I feel it. Do not misunderstand me. I love her as much as you do, but I see the bigger picture. This is a threat to you. A message. If I heal them, convert this energy, there will be a price for you to pay. When the time comes, 1 will exact my pound of flesh from you."
"I will pay any price to protect them. I've… we've lost too much."
"I know. But we are bound by destiny that you have fought and delayed for too long until fate became immutable. You delayed facing the Ulthaj Nightmare. I delayed too long where I should have done the right thing. In the end it is our fault, and ours alone. I know what you plan to do with Anya after this. Proceed as you will. But remember that we both will pay a price."
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Within minutes, the pain faded. Idimmu leaned against the wall. The others had been extricated from the wall, their wounds closing quickly and bones re-setting. But no one could or would meet Aziz's eyes. Not even Eko or Tyu. Sao Feng rocked his children to sleep, their memories removed by the magic of Eko.
By tomorrow they would be on flight out of the country on unmarked tickets with Tyu back to Singapore, where they could be protected.
Baleful like a demon, Aziz's eyes sparked with wrath as he viewed the video, watched as Joculare used a steak knife to saw off Anya's nose, ears and thumbs. They lay within the fridge now, frozen solid in blocks of ice. Aziz forced himself to watch every single frame, recording every single detail for future reference. He forced himself to listen to the gristle and grinding of teeth, as Joculare licked the blood of the knife slowly.
Had God himself dared to look into the face of Aziz, he would have quaked in fear.
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In the basement of a skyscraper, Anya stared through a haze pf pain at her tormentor. Blood and mucous dripped from what remained of her face, the splatter as the fluids hit the concrete floor the only sound.
"Joculare, I told you to bring her to me unharmed," Cyrus said disdainfully, looking at the girl's ruined face. She could have been a beauty when older but now any chance of that was gone. Joculare had seen to that with the addition of sulphuric acid to her face.
"No Lord Cyrus. I distinctly remember saying alive, but nothing about unharmed. She is in a condition that suits your purposes, isn't she?"
Cyrus chose not to grace Joculare with a reply. A useful tool, but nothing more than a wild dog. His wild dog.
By completing this mission personally, his status would rise in the Society and he would gain further acclaim, finally able to enter the First Inner Circle and eventually, the Council. The orb that Celia Reyes had given him floated around him, following his every move.
A powerful weapon no doubt, but why had she given it to him? She'd told him it was a Project Cadmus trinket but he knew it was much more. Using his magics he had probed it and found the ingredients for a greater spell within it. It needed one more ingredient to trigger something, a process that was beyond his understanding of magic. Interesting, but not entirely within his realm of understanding.
"Ascanio, why are you leaving?" Cyrus turned to look at the enforcer of the Lord Imperial. He seemed oddly agitated, disturbed even. It was unusual behaviour in a man known to be absolutely calm even when facing the Justice League or Vandal Savage.
"Urgent business calls me back to headquarters, Cyrus. My own mission failed, though we did get some blood samples. I wish you the best luck for your mission."
It had not only failed, it had been an utter disaster. An entire platoon slaughtered and Ascanio escaping by the skin of his teeth from a man who'd been able to transform his arms into blades and move faster than the eye could see.
Cyrus replied with laughter. "He's only one man. What can one man do?"
As Ascanio closed the lift doors, he gave his answer.
"He can kill you."
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As Ascanio's car entered the highway, heading for the airport, he looked back to see the lights of the skyscraper, the headquarters of Creed Pharmaceuticals, suffer a power failure. The faster he got out, the better.
Ascanio had done some of his own digging and found out who exactly was the enemy the Lord Imperial was trying to draw out. The answer had intrigued him. It was a living legend he had idolised as a child. The same man who had conquered the Russian Mafia groups and tamed the cartels of South America in the past two years alone.
It was the same man who'd brought down the 'untouchable' Calabrian 'Ndrangheta cartel and assassinated the entire Giuffrè family at the funeral of their patriarch, castrating and amputating their operations in Europe and across North Africa.
Cyrus's wild dog had mutilated the daughter of the world's most dangerous man. You almost had to feel sorry for him.
