Chapter Three
April 3rd, 2010
Earth Orbit
Watchtower
The Justice League is the most powerful organization on the entire planet.
This is a reality that even men like Ra's Al Ghul reluctantly admit, no matter how much it vexes their egos.
The Justice League comprises sixteen members in total, and the quality of each Leaguer stifles its lack of sizeable numbers.
They play a crucial part in the League's internal politics and are scrutinized for their external actions by the global media and the United Nations.
But make no mistake.
They are Gods amongst Men.
And all of them stared at Davian with a suspicious gleam in their eyes.
The Leaguers occupied a crescent-shaped conference table, and he was silently directed towards a lit platform near its epicenter.
The founding members sat at the head of this table while the rest were arrayed along the flanks. His crimson orbs matched the stare of each Leaguer, but he avoided making direct eye contact with the Amazon.
The less he acknowledged her presence, the better.
"Davian Al Ghul." The man of steel himself spoke with an aura of invincibility. "My colleagues and I are…hesitant to look past the stigma that looms over you."
The Martian Manhunter spoke up, drawing Davians attention. "The scion of Ra's Al Ghul abandoning the League of Assassins is a concept we have not once entertained and seemingly impossible to occur in our eyes."
"But nothing is certain," Batman finished. "And you standing before us proves that notion."
"However," Captain Atom interjected, casting a glance towards certain members such as Green Lantern and the Hawks. "There are some among us who doubt that you can operate to the League's standard and even more who do not believe in your…authenticity."
"They shouldn't." Davian's lack of argument surprised a few Leaguers, but Red Tornado pushed for an explanation.
"Elaborate." The robot's cold logic was a welcome difference from the sentiments expressed by his fellow Leaguers and Davian appreciated Red Tornado for his direct approach.
"I was born from a tube in the pits of Nanda Parbat. Basic knowledge such as mathematics, history, and biology are just a fraction of the material I learned, but my specialty is death." The heroes glanced at one another in interest at the prospect of his birth, but they allowed him to continue.
"I know how to kill a human in a thousand different ways in either a fraction of a second or over several weeks." Davian left nothing to chance, and his unabated honesty made a few Leaguers shuffle in their seats. "Killing is my talent."
"Then why desert the League of Assassins?" Green Arrow pressed the crux of their issue, and Davian momentarily hesitated in coming out with the truth, but a sure nod from Bruce tempered these doubts.
"Because I hate my father more than anything else in this world, and if there is one man I will kill, it will be him."
"I do not doubt you, child." The Amazon finally spoke her poisonous words, and Davian bristled at the inadvertent taunt. "But the League has a code, and if we are to grant you status, we must know if you can abide by it."
"Not in my current form." The Al Ghul tentatively admitted. "My movements are too precise, too quick to end the fight by whatever means necessary, and the search for a proper teacher has alluded me thus far."
"Not anymore." Bruce's statement infected his veins with dread and silent contempt. "Wonder Woman is the best suited to readjusting you to our standards, and in your case, she is the only choice."
A subtle sneer leaked into his stone-faced visage, and his hands curled into tight fists that Batman did not fail to notice.
"Do you disagree?" Bruce dared him to contend with the League's decision, throwing a subtle glance toward those who doubted his intentions.
"No." It was a bald-faced lie but no one called Davian out on it. "But I do have an aversion to Amazons."
"Aresia was a fanatic, and I am nothing like my sister." Diana's protestation did not endear her to the Al Ghul, and his visage snarled in barely concealed contempt.
"You are both byproducts of a civilization that has failed to evolve wit-." Davian caught himself before he could launch into a tirade. This was not a conversation or a debate he desired to participate in. Nothing short of a complete cultural evolution could change his mind that Amazons were nothing more than the savages they made men out to be.
"We understand your dislike for Amazons," Bruce intervened, cutting off Diana's retort with a narrowed gaze before turning to Davian. "But the fact remains that Diana is the only one qualified to train you to our standards.
Red Tornado piggybacked off the Dark Knight's words. "Batman has assured us time and again that you have the potential to be more than just the Heir to the Demon. But our…blessing is hinged upon your acceptance of Diana."
Every fiber of Davian's being denounced this transgression, and he considered telling the whole lot of them to go fuck themselves. The mere idea of being anywhere near carbon copies of his mother was nauseating to consider.
But what choice did Davian have?
The League of Shadows was still searching hell and high water for the Demon's Heir, and if he were to deny the Justice League's offer straight out, they'd cut him loose. Davian was here only because of Batman's word, and he was only willing to go so far as a favor to Talia.
Bruce didn't have to be the world's greatest detective to pick up on the Al Ghul's hesitancy. "Do you accept?"
No matter how much Davian despised the Amazons, there was only one answer to the Dark Knight's inquiry.
"Yes." The words were spoken through grinding teeth, but no one felt compelled to reprimand him.
"Then it is official," Superman announced, seeking a swift conclusion to this matter in favor of more pressing subjects. "Wonder Woman will take Davian to Themyscira once our meeting is complete."
A stillness occupied the Al Ghul's senses, and his entire body shook with disbelief.
"What?" He felt a cold wind roll up his spine as his eyes searched Batman's for answers to the Man of Steel's statement.
"You're dismissed." Batman stared at him with an even gaze, but it served to broker no argument from Davian. The Al Ghul turned on his heel and exited the conference room with a heavy tension to his step.
They were shipping him off to Themyscira, of all places.
Was it too late to go home?
Diana's eyes never strayed from the Al Ghul during his examination.
And not once did he meet her gaze.
It was impossible to think of Aresia ever having a child, let alone a male. In Davian's case, he wasn't the product of any joining but the result of genetic tailoring.
When Bruce informed Diana of her newfound status as an Aunt, it was met with suspicion and silent vitriol.
Aresia was still a sore spot for the Amazon and a constant reminder that her people had much to learn. Their archaic civilization had failed to grow with the times, nearly costing humanity its future.
Centuries of isolation from the world unraveled with Aresia's actions, and it propelled Themyscira onto the world stage in the worst possible position. Aresia's attempted genocide of every male on the planet was a crime of the highest order, and her death only left people scrambling for an outlet to pour their hate into.
Diana worked tirelessly to undo the damage to the Amazon's reputation, and half a decade after that fateful day, Aresia continued to haunt her people.
The irony of Davian's existence was the last act of Aresia's life, even if forced, brought both amusement and great sorrow to Diana.
She would take the boy under her wing and, in turn, teach the Amazons that their bitter hatred of males is a sentiment of a bygone era.
It was time to evolve.
"Are you sure about this?" Dinah Lance, a long-time ally to Diana, sat across the conference table with a worried gaze. Their meeting was in the midst of a recess to give the Founding members a moment to stretch their legs.
Dinah and the other Leaguers were dismissed for the night while she lingered across from Diana.
The Amazon would usually take a stroll through the gardens, but she couldn't find the will to depart the conference room, and Dinah was willing to stay behind and offer Diana a much-needed ear.
"I won't lie." Diana began after a deep exhale. "My confidence has wavered because of his…reaction."
It wasn't a verbal condemnation, and there was little physical feedback to Diana's declaration of taking him under her tutelage, but a silent fury embodied the Al Ghul's revulsion.
Bruce warned the Amazon that Davian would not welcome her with open arms, but she didn't expect such a visceral reaction.
Aresia's shadow loomed over the boy, sapping any chance for a cordial relationship between the two at the onset of their partnership.
"I can't entirely agree with sending him to Themyscira." Dinah let loose a heavy sigh and shook her head. "The boy has a severe distaste for Amazons, and I doubt they'd welcome him with open arms."
"They wouldn't" Diana couldn't help but snort in amusement at the mere thought of her mother throwing open her arms to her one and only Nephew. "But this is an opportunity for both Davian and my sisters to prosper."
Dinah pursed her lips but didn't have or want to speak up too much about this tense subject. She had her own reservations about bringing Davian into the fold, but she was absolutely against sending him to Themyscira.
Of all the Leaguers, Dinah was the only one qualified for psych evaluations, so Bruce asked her to write up a psych eval for Davian and determine if he was mentally capable of being a hero. She had her doubts at first, but her opinion of him shifted into a more favorable light after a thorough examination.
Davian was level-headed, selfless, and fully capable of mentally meeting the League's standards if he had the teacher necessary to guide him, but there was one stipulation she uncovered during a session for word association.
"Mother." Crimson eyes sharpened, fingers dug into the leather chair, and his expression turned blank.
Bruce neglected to tell Dinah about Aresia, and in that moment of silence, she uncovered a deep hatred that should never be associated with one's own mother.
But Davian was the exception to the rule.
"Corpse."
She would never forget how easily he schooled his feelings behind a wall of pure ice. The boy has a stout heart and a sound mind, but he will be continuously hindered by his connection to the League of Shadows.
And very few Leaguers would trust his judgment in the days to come.
"Bruce is forcing this issue, Dinah," Diana explained, her head leaning into the headrest. "But he is not stubborn enough to commit to it wholeheartedly. Bringing Davian to Themyscira is a temporary measure that I have pushed for. My mother has sought a catalyst to change our ways and accept all mankind. I believe that Davian can show my sisters that our way of life is…archaic and traditions are not the quintessential element to our existence."
"That's a heavy burden to place on his shoulders." Dinah's expression momentarily turned sour. "You Amazons are the definition of stubborn, and I would hate for him to test their boundaries all by himself."
"He won't be alone," Diana said. "Kara has offered her assistance."
"And how exactly is she going to help?" Dinah liked Kara as much as the next Leaguer, but she was relatively new on the hero scene and still adjusting to her new home.
"By giving him someone he can rely on," Diana explained. "Someone that won't give him a distrustful stare based on circumstances outside his control. Kara will be his confidant, and I trust her to be a good example for Davian."
"I trust your judgment Diana, but this might be crossing one too many lines for everyone involved." Dinah's communicator rang, and her eyes glimpsed over the message from Oliver. She stood to her feet, her blue eyes trailing over the tense-filled Amazon. "You want my advice? Ease into it. Take Davian to Themyscira for one day and then come right back because I doubt a prolonged stay right off the bat will do anyone any good."
"I'll consider it."
"That's all I ask." Dinah stood to her feet and tucked in her chair, sparing the Amazon a final glance. "See you around Diana, and good luck."
Diana's body sunk into her chair as the conference room doors closed with a tremendous thud. The mental exhaustion of her duties, combined with the unprecedented situation with Davian, was slowly taking its toll.
"Hera, grant me the strength to endure this trial." She prayed to the heavens in search of salvation.
But her god remained silent.
Gotham City, USA
Miagani Island
It was a miracle that Davian didn't fall into a terrible fury once his feet touched the solid ground of Miagani Island. He had half a mind to trash the League Zeta-tube behind him, but a cooler head eventually prevailed.
The…Amazon and the other founding Leaguers would still be deliberating for a few more hours, leaving Davian to patrol Gotham City.
A wave of boiling anger crept underneath his skin at the mere thought of setting foot on Paradise Island. Why Bruce would even ponder sending Davian anywhere near an Amazon was lost to him.
The history alone should have dissuaded any notion of partnering him with Wonder Woman, but Bruce made his decision against all the evidence.
And that left Davian in desperate need of an outlet.
"W-w-wait, please!" Davian's fist crashed into a poor thug's jaw, knocking a few teeth loose and sending him crashing to the ground.
"Kill him!" A thug pulled his assault rifle up and unleashed a burst of 5.56 crashing into the vehicle next to Davian. The Al Ghul dodged to the right, palming one of his Raven Hawks and firing off a single round.
The non-lethal shell slammed into the thug's forehead, sending a jolt of electricity down his spine and knocking him backward.
Another gangster swung at Davian's blindside with a wooden baseball bat, but the Al Ghul ducked underneath the attack and snapped out a head kick that smashed into the thug's cheek.
Both baseball bat and gangster fell to the ground in a heap, leaving two more thugs still conscious for Davian to handle.
They didn't last very long.
Much to his internal chagrin.
Davian disassembled the assault rifles strewn across the floor and surveyed the unconscious bodies for more firearms. The gang patches etched into their clothing and tattoed on their arms belonged to the Penguin's crew. His men were selling weapons in an alleyway near Grand Avenue Station, a mere hundred meters from the Zeta-Tube platform.
He would never have stumbled across these idiots if they weren't raving about their money after a lucrative transaction.
Davian surveyed the alleyway for any firearms he missed before activating his GCPD transponder. Batman's relationship with the police officers had improved over the last few years to the point that a mutual partnership was finally reached.
In his early days, Bruce had a penchant for breaking the bones of both thugs and corrupt cops alike, and that didn't buy him any favors with the GCPD. Up until Commissioner Gordon's tenure, Batman was hunting GCPD SWAT and Criminal enterprises as if it were open season. Now he was in the market of solely taking down the gangs and syndicates that plagued Gotham City.
The Al Ghul grapnel up the side of a ten-story building and landed on its rooftop. His feet kicked off the concrete floor, and within seconds his legs were carrying him across the clustered rooftops of Miagani Island.
He'd just put a stop to an attempted mugging outside of the Botanical Gardens when Robin raised him on their shared comm channel.
"Davian, come in." The Al Ghul disappeared, leaving a thoroughly confused woman and an unconscious mugger in his wake.
"What is it?"
"Silent alarm went off in a diamond exchange not far from your location," Davian couldn't stop the dismissive snort that fell from his lips. If there was one crime in the world he didn't care to intervene in, it was stealing.
In terms of criminal offenses, stealing was one of the few that was relatively bloodless and therefore didn't require a hero's full attention so long as the perpetrator kept their hands clean.
And in Davian's opinion responding to a silent alarm wasn't exactly a critical offense in a city like Gotham, but he operated on Bruce's rules.
Even if he found them hypocritical at times.
"I'll check it out," Davian responded after a long silence.
"Sounds good," Robin replied. "When you're done, head back to the manor. Sun will be coming up soon, and tomorrow you have a very busy day."
"Understood." The Al Ghul hopped off the net and followed the marker Dick had uploaded to his visor. Word traveled fast, and Davian could practically visualize the condescending grin on the little shit's face.
This diamond thief had better be worth his time.
Davian grapneled up to one of Grand Avenue Station's rail lines and sprinted down the tracks towards the diamond exchange. A speeding train screamed toward him, and at the last second, he jumped off the tracks and landed on a structure adjacent to his waypoint.
The streets were empty of all life, and not even a passing car was spotted as he crept towards the rooftop edge. The diamond exchange looked relatively hollow to the naked eye, and the lack of broken glass indicated, at the very least, that if there was a break-in, it wasn't done by an amateur.
Storming in to find the thief was Robin's style, and he possessed none of the boy wonder's impudence. Davian preferred patience, so he maintained a steady overwatch of the exchange in relative silence.
The only route into the business was through the glass skylight or the front door, and Davian suspected the burglar had infiltrated through the former.
His suspicions were correct once he caught sight of a lithe figure sliding through the wide-open skylight. The figure ran across the roof and jumped toward an adjacent fire escape.
Davian shadowed the thief's movements, nearly losing track of them on a few occasions before spotting a shock of silver hair in the distance.
His visor zoomed in on the lithe burglar and watched them climb up the face of an apartment building before throwing open a window on the top floor.
"Gotcha." The Al Ghul moved to confront the thief, mantling the apartment's fire escape and bypassing a handful of cats lounging on the metal platforms. In hindsight, Davian should have realized that he was treading on territory that Bruce would prefer otherwise.
If only to keep the Batman from looking like a hypocrite.
Gotham City, USA
Miagani Island
Selina Kyle wasn't known for her charitable nature, and in some ways, she could be considered grossly selfish.
But as she lay sprawled across the width of her king-sized bed dressed in comfortable yet risqué sleepwear, she began to enjoy the fruits of her labor.
"Read 'em and weep, Selina!" Her silver-haired apprentice threw her hands into the air, showering both Selina and her precious kittens in precious diamonds.
Felicia Hardy was everything the experienced cat burglar could hope for in an apprentice. A cunning and morally ambiguous woman whose lively and flirtatious demeanor cloaked a clever and unrelenting thief with a small sense of self-righteousness. She has little to no qualms about manipulating others to her benefit, a trait she picked up from Selina herself.
The experienced cat burglar appraised her apprentice with a cautious eyebrow as she grasped a handful of diamonds. It was Felicia's first time out in Gotham without her mentor shadowing her every move, and everything seemed to have gone to plan.
But Selina didn't survive this game on good fortune alone.
"Did you cover your tracks?" If Felicia was expecting a more welcoming reply, she didn't show it. Selina was always paranoid, but everyone born in Gotham was innately suspicious.
"Of course I did." Felicia scoffed. "I made sure to hit the exchange while boy wonder was out chasing some morons on west 7th, and Batman isn't in town."
"And what about the other stray he picked up?" No one knew Gotham's newest Vigilante by name, and most referred to him as an asshole with guns, albeit the nonlethal variant.
"Radio silence," Felicia assured, crossing her arms over her chest. "You got nothing to worry about. I was in and out of that store within a minute flat, just like we practiced. I'm ready."
Selina carefully considered her apprentice's words as she played with a diamond between her fingers. Their tenure together was always temporary because she didn't need nor want a partner in crime.
Thieves worked best alone, but Selina would be cross with herself if she let Felicia strike out into the world unprepared.
Her reputation would take a hit, and status was everything in Gotham City.
Still, the girl did manage to snag over two million dollars worth of diamonds and get back to her penthouse with no one the wiser.
Maybe she was ready.
"If I may interject." A synthesized voice as quiet as the wind sprung them both into action. Felicia fell into a combat stance and bared her claws while Selina reached for the pistol underneath her pillow.
"I wouldn't." A pair of hand cannons poked through the balcony curtains, and Selina's hand froze mere inches short of her pistol's grip. "On your feet, Ms. Kyle. Tell your friend to ditch the claws."
Felicia fell to Selina's cutting gaze, retracting her claws and tossing the gloves in the room's far corner.
"I don't suppose you'd let this poor kitty get something to cover herself with?" Selina enticingly rose to her knees, showing off her immaculate physique that enthralled both men and women alike. "It's getting awfully cold in here."
"You don't have anything that I haven't seen before, Ms. Kyle."
Selina blinked in genuine shock before her expression turned into a vicious snarl. She had half a mind to tear him a new asshole until he stepped into the well-lit room.
"Damn you, Bruce." Selina muttered under her breath. His newest stray had quite the reputation of being just as brutal as Batman, if not more so.
And if he was here, that meant someone didn't do what they were supposed to.
"Radio silence, huh?" Selina sarcastically began as she glanced at a sheepish-looking Felicia from the corner of her eye. The silver-haired thief wholeheartedly knew she was going to pay for this lapse in judgment later, but right now, getting out of this alive was their top priority.
"I wouldn't blame her too much." The Vigilante holstered one of his hand cannons and offhandedly examined the well-decorated penthouse. "I almost lost track of her outside Bristol, but she made the mistake of backtracking at Parker Avenue."
"A mistake I won't make twice next time." Felicia's retort drew his undivided attention.
"That's awfully presumptuous." The Handcannon centered on her forehead. "For all you know, I'm here to kill both of you and take the diamonds for myself."
"I know who you work for." Selina pointed out. "If he even suspected that you could turn into a ruthless killer, you would be in Arkham."
The masked Vigilante snorted in amusement and holstered his Handcanon. "You would know a lot about Batman now, Ms. Kyle."
"I know more than you think, sunshine." Selina dropped her hands and retrieved a silk robe from her dresser. "Now, can we skip the pleasantries and move on to the part where you take the diamonds back? I have an apprentice to reeducate."
Felicia winced at her cutting gaze and would have stepped away from her mentor if she hadn't slammed on her shoulder.
Selina wasn't in the best mood, and to have Batman's newest stray prancing around it was the final straw to her patience. She was half ready to throw in Felicia as a tempting prize to get him out of her home until he said something that threw her for a loop.
"I don't want the diamonds." The veteran thief blinked in confusion at his statement.
Felicia watched the Vigilante as he holstered his hand cannon. His attention was no longer on them or the diamonds but on the rest of Selina's penthouse. He exhumed a silent consideration as he glimpsed over their more illustrious loot, but he remained resolutely quiet.
Felicia's expression shifted into a natural pensive curiosity.
If he wasn't here for the diamonds, what the hell was he here for?
"Then what do you want?"
"…do you want?"
Davian wanted many things right about now. Most of all, he wanted a stress reliever for all the impending bullshit about to be slung his way.
But he wasn't going to find it here.
Selina was Bruce's dirty little secret, and whether or not she was an accomplice to a crime, he would be very cross with Davian if he roughed her up.
The Al Ghul didn't miss its hypocrisy, but it didn't matter to him at the moment. Before the Amazon showed up, he needed to bleed off as much of this tension coiling in his body.
It'd probably keep him from trying to pick a fight.
He turned his back to the cat burglars, ignoring the stunned expression on both their faces and stepped onto the balcony deck.
"From you, nothing," Davian explained. "I have better things to do than arrest a cat burglar. Gotham City has plenty of other things that need my attention."
Felicia's expression was much more lively compared to Selina's. She knew heroes well, and to have one turn a blind eye to a blatant crime was damn near unheard of, and to have this Vigilante do just that was…intriguing.
"What about the Bat?" Selina questioned, her tone incredulous. "You have to know he's going to take issue with this when he finds out."
"If he has a problem with my decision, then he'd better get down here and send you to Blackgate himself." Davian didn't wait for a retort. His foot lifted him up and over the balcony edge, and he dove headlong into the Gotham skyline.
"What the fuck just happened?" He ignored the silver-haired thief's disbelieving tone and slung himself around the GCR tower before landing on an adjacent rooftop.
His helm received a contact notice from Robin, and he reluctantly answered the call.
"Did you find anything at the diamond exchange?"
"No."
"…Are you sure?" There was a noticeable hesitation in Robin's tone.
"Yes," Davian roughly affirmed. "I'm moving into Black Mask territory to see if I can find a few more of his drug labs to torch."
"Belay that." Bruce's visage appeared on his helmets HUD, seemingly finished with his Justice League duties. "Diana is here."
The Al Ghul felt a wave of nervous anticipation seep into his bones, and he was most certainly not ready to face down the Amazon just yet.
"I'm sure she can wait another hour," Davian answered immediately, shifting his weight and preparing his grapnel launcher. He fired the wrist-mounted device and watched the anchor shoot across the avenue at breakneck speed.
Only to slam into an invisible metal hull.
"No." The Amazon's poisonous voice leaked onto the comm channel. "I cannot."
Diana's invisible jet hovered mockingly in front of Davian before maneuvering to its left and exposing its metal ramp to him. A familiar face greeted him with a wide smile, and a resigned exhale fell from his lips.
Kara's expression shifted into a mocking outrage. "You know, I've never actually seen someone seem so disappointed to see me. Anger, yes. Joy, most definitely. But disappointment, that's a first."
"I'm sure you'll get used to it." Davian retorted, earning a playful raspberry from the stunning Kryptonian.
"Real funny," Kara countered, turning her head and gesturing to the jet's hull. "Now, are you going to make this easy or continue being a sarcastic asshole? I have to warn you, though. Diana did permit me to drag you into a seat if I have to."
Davian didn't doubt her for a second, and with great reluctance, he grapneled up the metal ramp.
"Good boy." Kara's playful jab went ignored by the sudden increase of unease in Davian's stomach. He kept his gaze downward, focusing on the steel floors and sliding into the plane's padded seats without acknowledging the Amazon.
Even so, he could feel the weight of Diana's eyes upon him.
This was not going to end well.