Rain paced silently in his penthouse. If looks could kill, Gor Roh and the guards would have dropped dead then and there. This Anarky had the gall to threaten him? If Rain had any sense left in his mind, he would have come to respect that. But as of now, oh no. He wanted Anarky dead. Deader than dead, actually. He wanted him so dead, that whatever children or grandchildren he had would be dead as well. It will be a blood bath. Rain will take Anarky's head and put it on display. And he would cherish that piece, as it would tell how no one could bring him down.

It would read, in big bold letters, "THE POOR SAP WHO TRIED TO FIGHT THE RAIN."

It brought a smile to Rain's face when he thought about ripping that mask off, and punching whatever brat hid under that porcelain mask. But first he had to wait for the guide to arrive. It had been ten minutes since Anarky delivered that message. Rain sat down across from Gor Roh, who had barely moved since the message. The commissioner had gotten up to get a snack, and that was it. That was the one thing Rain could not stand about his puppet. Well, there were others, but this was the main thing.

Gor Roh was far too cocky.

At least in situations like this. Gor Roh was a great face for Rain's underground activity, but when left alone to plan, he was little more than worthless. Once, Rain decided to take a vacation. Turned out to be one of the very few things that Rain actually regretted about his life. That and that one trip to Vegas. Anyway, Rain went down south to Gotham City for a weekend, to checkout his connections there. He figured he could leave Gor Roh in charge for two days, what could possibly happen?

Everything. Everything could happen.

Gor Roh accidentally leaked some information to the press detailing some of the activities that may not be legal. When Rain returned, he did not have to act surprised that he was being hounded with these questions. He did, however, have to be careful to not say anything revealing. The only reason Gor Roh was still a part of Rain's operation is because it would be far too suspicious if he were to suddenly be found dead in his own home. But his pay did drop dramatically.

Rain shouted suddenly, "Is that all you're going to do?!"

Gor Roh looked at him with an expression of shock. "What?"

"You can just sit there and eat while Anarky is getting ready to blow us both to Hell?!"

"What do you want me to do, Rain?" Gor Roh asked, finishing his snack. "It's not like we can do much until Anarky's guy gets here."

A voice called out, "Boys, boys, no need to fight. You're both just awful."

"Goddamnit, not him again," Rain sighed, massaging his temples.

"Lovely to see you too, Rain. But we can discuss the pleasantries as soon as you get here. And, by my calculations, he should be there right about…"

A security guard walked in and proclaimed, "You have a visitor, sir."

Rain and Gor Roh looked back to the guard then up at the ceiling. The crime lord called out, "This proves nothing." He then walked passed the confused guard, leaving Gor Roh alone. Rain told the accompanying guard, "Get Jerry and Lou, then meet me in the back. Got it?"

The guard nodded and rushed into the opposite direction. Rain pulled out a pistol from his jacket, checking to see if it was loaded. Anarky would play for all that he had done to his business.

Rain placed the gun back in his jacket and placed a purple bowler hat atop his black hair. When the guard returned with two others, all wearing black. Rain asked, "Phil, where's the guide?"

"Just down here, boss," Phil, the first guard, replied. They all stepped into the elevator, with Phil explaining, "He just showed up in the middle of our security room. None of the security camera picked him up."

Rain stopped briefly and asked, "Are you telling me that someone got into this building without tripping any of the alarms?"

"Appears so, sir."

Rain balled up his fists, swearing under his breath. He grabbed Phil by the shoulder and commanded, "I want you to comb this entire building. Make sure he didn't place a bomb." Phil nodded before running off in a different direction. The crime lord looked to Jerry and Lou and ordered, "Let's go."

"Yes, sir," they simultaneously said, following their boss down to the lobby.

Waiting for them was a man dressed in an all red suit with the anarchy 'A' stitched onto the side. The man noticed them and called out, "This way, my friends. Hurry now. Anarky is a very busy man."

Rain snorted in derision. "Yeah, I bet." They both walked out the back entrance and stepped into a red car parked outside. Rain looked back at his two guards, who nodded at him. The car soon drove off into the barren streets.

Kabal spat the blood that had been built up inside of his mouth. It was torture. Literal torture. Kano was a monster. That much was obvious from the way he toyed with the men he had taken during that protection check, or whatever it was. It was disgusting. Not as disgusting as what Kano had done to him the past few weeks, but enough to make Kabal sick to his stomach. He was thankful these torture sessions only lasted two hours at maximum, and only happened once a day.

Still… they were not a walk in the park. Scars ran across his body. The wounds from the first day were almost healed, but it would only be a matter of time until they were reopened by Kano. There was one scar, where the pain had yet to go away. The "X" shaped scar on his face. It still burned whenever he blinked. He made sure to keep his eyes closed a lot now. From out of the shadows, that appeared to be the only feature that could be made out on Kabal's face. It was highly possible that his face was hard to look at now.

At least he was given food three times a day. Lunch was delivered by Kano personally. That was also when the sessions started. It usually happened with a knife. There were few areas that Kano had not touched with that knife. His chest took the most damage. The face was left alone, save for that scar from his first visit from Kano back in that room. Look back, Kabal was hoping that he could go back to that room. At least it had a bed.

He was currently looking at the floor. It was covered in blood. Kabal was unsure of which was his. He had lost a bit yesterday. All sense of time had left two weeks ago. Now, he could only guess as to when Kano would visit him this time. It was always a mystery. He heard the tumblers on the door shift. It opened to reveal Kano, in all of his "glory." He stood with a plate of food in his left hand. A smile was on his face, showing those white teeth of his. It pissed Kabal off whenever he saw those pearly whites.

Kano chuckled and called out, "Who's hungry?"

When Kabal failed to answer, Kano's face shifted from amusement to one of rage. "Now, Kadeem, you know you're going to have to eat. Just feel lucky we feed you well."

It was true. Kabal was fed more now than he was before he became a prisoner. That hardly made Kabal feel any better about the situation though. Without waiting for Kabal to answer, Kano took a sandwich and offered it to Kabal. The vigilante just glared at Kano, who slapped himself in the head. "Oh, that's right. You're arms are tied up. Here, let me help you."

The criminal held the sandwich in front of Kabal's mouth, who accepted the meal. It was pointless to resist, he learned that a long time ago. Once all of the food was finished, Kano tossed the plate to the side and smiled. "Now that the five course meal is out of the way…" A knife gleamed in the little light that was provided, as Kano pulled it out of his coat. "…It's time to have some fun."

He brought the knife closer to Kabal's eye, which twitched slightly. "How about the eye?" He moved the blade down towards a slightly more… sensitive spot between Kabal's legs. "Or maybe something… else a bit more personal?"

Finally Kabal spoke. "You wanna know something funny?" The tone of his voice shocked even himself. It was hardly recognizable as his own anymore.

The tone of voice, however, did not deter Kano from laughing. He crossed his arms and asked, "And what, pray tell, would that be?"

"For the past two minutes," Kabal started, slight amusement present, "I could have escaped any time I wanted."

Kano's eyes went wide with bewilderment. "What-?" A fist to the face sent him staggering back. Kano realized too late that he had dropped the knife. He looked up at Kabal, who had acquired the knife. The criminal's eyes went wide with fear and realization.

The now free vigilante brought the knife down hard. He didn't know where he hurt Kano, only that it did hurt. If he had the time, Kabal would dish out every torture Kano had performed on him. Instead, he tightened his grip on the knife and ran out of the room. The only noise that filled the hallway was Kano's screaming.

If Kabal were to walk back into the torture room, he would see Kano clutching his right eye, blood pouring out of his palm, dripping to the ground. The criminal mastermind got to his feet, steadying himself on the wall. He removed his hand, revealing the empty socket where his red eye used to be. In place of his usual smirk was a fierce snarl, growling a deep, animalistic sound.

The mask was sitting in front of him. Kabal's mind always did wander when he sharpened his weapons. He didn't know if it was healthy or not. But it happened. Whenever he thought about slicing that knife against Kano's flesh always brought a smile to his face. It was one of the few times he allowed himself to really feel good about delivering pain to someone. Sometimes, he regretted that action.

He should have stabbed instead of sliced.

But no matter what anyone says, no one can travel back in time. But one can dream, can they not? He looked up at the clock. Only ten minutes unlike they stormed Rain's tower. Or killed themselves. That was most likely what was going to happen to them. He finished sharpening the last sword, placing it back in its sheath. The vigilante rubbed the scar above his nose and sighed.

Kabal took a deep breath. He grabbed the glass of water that was next to him, downed the entire cup in several seconds, and got to his feet. He swiped the mask up and placed it over his scarred face. His breathing became muffled, same as his voice.

The mask was not a product of the scarring he received. While that was the main purpose now, it was meant to both conceal his identity and give a single detail that distracted scum. That was why Kabal was as famous as he was. Not because he went out there every night and took out the criminals the cops were too afraid to. It was because he wore a mask, like comic book heroes, the press paid attention to what he did.

How could they not? After three months of known murderers and pedophiles showing up dead, some people would start to get suspicious. That was why the cops were gunning for him. Or, at least, they were.

Now he was working alongside three cops at this very moment. In fact, he should probably meet with them already so they could get this suicide plan started. Kabal walked out of the room, flicking the light off. Behind him, the entire cell block was silent.