The heroes stood across from me in their fighting stances as I played around with my newly restored fire powers. "So, this was your plan? Take us to Hell where we're weak and get your powers back to kill us while we can't fight back?" NVRmore demanded.
"To be completely honest, no. I had absolutely no idea that this would happen. I brought you down here for the exact reason I said. This is just a pleasant little side effect." I explained, tossing a baseball-sized fireball back and forth from one hand to the other.
"How can this be happening? Only the deed of true heroism can restore your powers!" Wonder Woman demanded.
"It's simple. It's like the rest of you, really. The seal is still foreign magic from Dr. Fate, so it's being suppressed and weakened while the demonic energy of this place is flowing through me and making me and my abilities stronger than ever." I explained, removing my trench coat and shirt to reveal that the sigil on my back.
"So, what happens now, then?" Green Arrow asked cautiously.
"Well, there's just one more thing to see, then." I said, focusing my inner power, trying to achieve my natural demon form. Soon enough, my wings, tail and horns all appeared. Then... Nothing. I opened my eyes and looked down seeing that my body was still that of a human. "What..? No..." I said, my heart sinking. I then brought my tail and wings out in front of me and looked to my horns, at which point my good mood only continued to disappear, as my demonic appendages were only bones, the muscle, skin, scales and feathers nowhere to be seen. "Oh... I was so happy there, for a second." I said, the added appendages breaking away as I tried to retract them.
"There is no easy way out of this, Sai. Dr. Fate ensured you could only truly regain your powers when you learned the right way to use them." Superman said.
"I could always break off our deal right now and leave you trapped down here. You know that, right?" I snapped.
"And Dr. Fate would send your family to another dimension forever. Do you really want to play that game?" Batman asked.
"Fair enough. Let's go. We're heading to the forge. We'll get a few measurements and make you guys weapons and armor that will be perfect for fighting the demon-powered thugs. If they get any stronger, your weaker members will start dropping like flies." I told them.
I started leading them to a large forge building not too far away, before the noise of a battle could be heard, the group jogging over to the nearby to see a massive battle going on below. "What is happening down there?" Wonder Woman asked.
I still hadn't moved towards them, intent on heading to the forge. "If I had to guess, I'd say the souls of the damned are trying to fight their way past our forces keeping them imprisoned and trying to go back to the land of the living." I said with a shrug.
"Could they do that?" Flash asked, fearing what would happen if evil souls reached the human world.
"Ha! It's cute you think that." I laughed, before turning serious. "No. No, they cannot. Look at how badly they're struggling. And this is just the first level they have to get through. There's 8 more levels and my grandparents would vaporize them as soon as they reached the highest level. And that's if any of my cousins or anything didn't take them out first. Or heck, even some Randoms on the third or fourth level." I assured them.
Suddenly, a maniacal laugh cut through the crowd. Batman zoomed in and noticed several familiar faces, such as Grodd, the Riddler, Cheetah and none other than... "Joker's down there. It doesn't surprise me he's down here." He said.
"Yeah. But they wouldn't be if it wasn't for him." NVRmore snapped, glaring back at me.
I rolled my eyes at this. "My gods, you'd blame world hunger on my if you could! Look, just because I made them lose their mortal coil before they naturally would have doesn't mean that's the reason they're down here. Their actions led to their placement here. No matter what killed them, they'd still be here." I said, walking up and taking Green Arrow's bow, before pulling out a red arrow with multiple barbs on it, firing at the cursed villains, causing it to fly to each one and impale them, causing them to explode in a burst of red and black energy. I then tossed the bow back, jumping off the cliff and landing in a superhero pose, sending out a massive wave of black and red energy that engulfed the battlefield, leaving my forces completely unharmed while reducing the damned souls to nothing.
"Well, if what he's making us is even half that good, I'm confident in this plan." Oliver said.
"They'll HAVE to be half that powerful or less, otherwise they'd kill the thugs we've been going up against." Wonder Woman pointed out.
"Assuming that the damned souls are on par with the demonized thugs, which doesn't seem to be the case." Flash countered.
"But if he was just gonna vaporize them all, why did he even need the arrow?" NVRmore pondered.
I then flew back up and looked at them. "Well, to the forge, then?" I asked.
"Killing them once wasn't enough?" Batman asked sourly.
I thought for a moment before answering. "Personally no, but I didn't kill them." I told him. "I just returned them to the bottom of this level, where they'll be tortured until they lose the will to exist, then their souls will be destroyed." I explained.
"Have you ever considered trying to redeem their souls, so they can be sent to heaven?" Superman suggested.
"This ain't the Hazbin Hotel, buddy. What part of 'suffering for eternity' is hard to understand for you? That's what this place is for. And even then, it's not actually eternity!" I said, shaking my head, before finally leading them to the forge.
Soon enough, we entered the forge and the League got a look at all the vicious-looking weaponry and armor that looked like the wearer would be invincible inside it. "So, how's this work? Do we just pick out what we want, or-?" Green Lantern asked.
"Have you ever been to a tailor before?" I asked, before several gorgons slithered into the forge, each one approaching a hero and wrapping their snake hair around their ankles and wrists, keep them stretched out in the T-pose.
The League all began to struggle against the snakes, but were unable to move their bodies at all below the neck, the creatures having that tight of a hold on them. "Gorgons are demons, too! What don't you guys have here?!" Green Lantern asked.
"How many times are you going to deceive us?!" Diana snapped.
"Counting this time? That'd be none." I explained.
"Wait, look!" NVRmore shouted. The rest of the League stopped and soon noticed what he did. The gorgons weren't hurting them, just keeping them still. What they hadn't noticed as they tried to struggle was that the remaining snakes were moving around their bodies, holding themselves out like measuring tape, checking the dimensions of their bodies, like a tailor would. "Huh. Never thought a snake would check my hip size." He said.
The gorgons soon released the heroes and their snake hair whispered something to the gorgons as their eyes began to glow and made a stone tablet with all the information they obtained. "Alright, I've got what I need. If you guys have any special weapon ideas you might want, write or draw them down and get back to me." I said as I began gathering tools and metal, before heating the very impressive and elaborate-looking forge with my fire powers. "You guys better appreciate this. It's not every day a prince and general of Hell makes you armor." I told them.
"So, what are we supposed to do while we're waiting for you to make this stuff? I'm assuming we can't leave until you take us back." Green Arrow asked.
"No, of course not. You're still alive, you can go back whenever you want. Just think about the Batcave and you'll go right back there." I told him, not even looking away as I began making one of the greaves for Wonder Woman's armor.
The League then reconvened. "It might be wise to stay and observe some of the demons around here. We may be capable of finding more weaknesses than what Sai is letting on." Batman suggested.
"And perhaps we may find ourselves allies who do not agree with the methods of Sai and his family." Wonder Woman added.
They separated and turned back as I continued working. "We figured we'll stay. Better make sure everything fits while we're down here and you can still make changes, right?" Flash said.
"Great, whatever." I said, not really caring as I continued to work.
"So, is there anything we can do around here while we wait?" Green Lantern asked.
"Sure, in the top two rings, there's everything Earth has: amusement parks, petting zoo's, museums, restaurants, you name it. I'll have Clayton come down and be your escort." I confirmed.
"So much for suffering for all eternity." NVRmore said.
"Different levels for different punishments. Some people are only here for being lawyers." I stated simply.
Soon enough, The League found themselves at the historical museum of the Blades. "Here, you can learn all about the extensive history of the Blade lineage. But don't be fooled, it also has entries on all the countless other demons the denizens of the upper rings face the risk of predation from on a daily basis." Clayton informed them as they walked up the stairs of the castle-like museum.
"So, it's like Earth, except you could get eaten at any time. Well, that definitely explains why we're still in Hell." Flash said.
The team the split up to search through the various areas of the museum. Batman and Green Lantern looked through the many different levels and species of demons, as well as any weaknesses, but they didn't seem to learn anything new. "Nothing that Sai hasn't already told us. There has to be more to it." Batman grumbled.
"Look, I know we don't like the guy, you especially, but maybe it's time to consider the fact that he's been up front with us about everything so far. We just looked through just about every demon species we could find and all their strengths and weaknesses. And he already told us all of that stuff." Green Lantern said.
"And yet he conveniently forgot to mention when the demon thugs started developing soul attacks." Batman countered.
"Even then, he'd told us about demons possessing soul stealing abilities and that the thugs could get them if they got the right blood. And when he found out, he lost someone just like we did and was in mourning. Trust me, I really don't like defending him, but maybe we have been a bit heartless towards him. Especially when you consider that while he's working in a blazing hot forge to make use weapons and armor to make us as effective as possible against demons, we're trying to figure out how to take down him and his whole family." Green Lantern said.
"You know I made a series of contingency plans in case the League went rogue. This is no different. We have no effective way of fighting Sai or his family. We need to come up with a solid counter." Batman explained.
Meanwhile, Superman and Flash were observing my family's history. More accurately, the many times my immediate family alone had saved the world, although there were also plenty instances of my extended family doing so. "Man. I gotta give these guys credit, they've stopped about as many threats to the universe as we have." Flash noticed.
"And yet, they like to have their deeds preserved and glorified for everyone to see." Superman said.
"Uh... Have you seen the Batcave? Heck, even the Hall of Justice is full of doomsday devices and other trinkets we took from bad guys after we beat them." Flash reminded him.
"It's also important to remember, the upper levels of Hell are also home to the more elite, powerful demons, such as the Blades themselves. And while of course my employers have humanity's best interests in mind, there are plenty of demons that don't. This museum also serves as a helpful reminder of just what could and likely will happen to them should they step out of line if they visit the human world." Clayton explained.
"Sounds like something Sai or his family would say: Come on up, the weather's fine! But if you do anything we don't like, we'll kill ya!" Flash declared.
"That's a HORRIFIC oversimplification, but yet." Clayton confirmed.
"One more thing. While the others certainly have their moments to shine, Sai is at a good number of these incidents. Does he try to be the hero every single time?" Superman asked.
"Well, Master Sai is a fire demon. Many demons have a resistance to fire, so as the Blade clan's main focus is fighting against a rogue demon element, Master Sai was sadly deemed less useful than his siblings, so he's always tried to prove himself in their eyes." Clayton explained sympathetically, before smirking. "But also, on many occasions, it does seem to be rather bad luck Master Sai is dragged into these events over his parents or siblings." He chuckled.
"Great Hera." Wonder Woman's voice could be heard from where she was in the next room. This room was kept much darker, but had lights above portraits of several people and their demon forms. These people looked like they could be related to me and their demon forms were similar to mine.
"Ah, yes. The hall of the Fallen. Although, hall is hardly accurate, since this is one of the largest rooms in the museum and will only continue to grow in time. As you likely surmised, everyone in these pictures is a member of the Blade clan who has irreversibly fallen in battle, be it through soul attacks or repeated deaths to the point they could not be revived again." Clayton said sadly.
"There's so many of them." NVRmore said.
"Yeah. With how tough Sai is, I thought these guys almost never would get taken down." Flash said.
"I'm afraid no matter how great you become, there will always be some one, or a group of people, that will be able to defeat you. It's a sad truth. Even the greatest of the Blades cannot escape it." Clayton explained, leading them to the back of the room, where there were twelve portraits of people who looked almost exactly like me or one of my siblings. "These are the Fallen from the main branch of the Blade Clan, by which of course I mean Lord Ryu and Lady Shizune's children, Master Sai's siblings. Most of them born long before the current brood of Blades you already know, but cruel fate saw them leave this world too soon. The enemies of my master are cruel. The cruelest you could imagine. And since they've failed to defeat the Lord and Lady in the past, they attempted to end the bloodline with their children." He explained.
"That's awful." Flash said.
"Indeed. That is why the Blades now tend to reproduce en masse, to have many children, both so that the next generation will be large and have strength in numbers and for the inevitability that, even with all the ways the Blades may seemingly cheap death, that not all their children survive." Clayton explained, walking up to a portrait of a girl with long and wild dark green hair and red eyes. "Even now, the main branch has seen its share of casualties. This was young Mistress Gwyn, lost at the tender age of 50, almost still a teenager by demon standards, vanquished from an attack to her soul when Masters Sai and Lance were but the tender age of ten. She was perhaps one of the strongest and most talented in all the family, yet one demon got a lucky hit and ended her forever." He told them.
"Just like that, out of nowhere..." Batman said in shock as he and Green Lantern walked up, shocked that one of the Blade had been ended in an instant, just like his parents.
"This is the reason the Blades do not attempt to take over the world, for they know they likely could easily, but during the attempt, it would be inevitable that some of them would die. And family is everything to the Blades. To ensure the safety of their kin, they'd give any price. Even the world. This is why they also kill human criminals and supervillains. They deem them as threats. And threats are eliminated." Clayton explained.
"It may not make it right, but they are only trying to keep the world they live in safer. I can't fault them for that." Superman admitted.
"But, doesn't this also convey that the Blades aren't unbeatable, that they can be beaten? Seems like it derails the rest of the message about why demons should obey the rules or suffer the Blades' wrath." NVRmore said.
"Lord Senso, the uncle of Master Sai and his siblings, believes it keeps them humble, but also that the fear of suffering the clan's wrath is enough to keep most demons in line. And mostly, he is right. Most threats the Blades deal with come from the other realms of the damned." Clayton assured him.
"Well, I think we've learned enough for one day, let's go hit up that petting zoo Sai mentioned earlier." Flash said, starting to get a bit overwhelmed.
After their visit to the petting zoo and a restaurant, Clayton got my message and the heroes followed the Butler back to the forge. "I gotta say, for a place where you're stuck suffering for the rest of time, they've actually got some great food down here." Flash said, finishing off some sweet and spicy cotton candy.
"And I never thought I would see a dragon in a petting zoo." Diana added.
"We should just get our new suits and get back. Who knows what's been happening since we've been gone." Batman said.
"Relax, buddy. I get you're worried, but it's not like Sai brought the whole League down here. There are still plenty of guys to cover for us." Green Lantern reminded him.
"Which is a bit messed up, considering we get specific anti-demon armor and weapons, but they don't." Oliver reminded.
"Hopefully, once we are fully prepped and ready to take on the demons, they won't need similar weapons for much longer." Superman said.
They arrived at the forge and were met by a large reptilian demon with a huge underbite, knife-like teeth lining the lower jaw. "Master Sai was called to a council meeting. It may take him a while to get back. He was able to finish your armor. He said to put it on and return to the living world." The demon explained, leading them to their armor.
The heroes were then shocked when they saw their new outfits. "Wow. I mean, they're definitely impressive, but it looks like something out of an edge lord's craziest dream." Flash said.
"They don't exactly convey the bright and hopeful look most of us go for." Superman agreed.
"It's Sai. They were never meant to be like that." Wonder Woman said, rolling her eyes.
"They're likely meant more to inspire strength and intimidation. Something I can get behind." Batman said as they all approached their new suits.
Superman's costume was similar to his usual attire, only of course, it was now metal, plates and segments of metal combined into a black suit with dark red greaves and gauntlets, plus a similar colored shield with a black S in the center, no belt or trunks present. It also included a black helmet, covering most of his head, but still showing his face, like Iron Man without a faceplate. And lastly, a frayed and lightly torn dark red cape similar to the boots and shield on the chest with a black shield and red S. It also had a number of half-inch spikes on it, particularly the shoulders, elbows, knees and the knuckles of the gauntlets. "Well, I certainly feel protected, but I feel like I'll destroy anyone I hit wearing metal boots and gloves, especially with spikes on them." He said hesitantly.
"Demons are resilient. And they heal. Plus, spikes aren't long enough to hit vital organs." Underbite explained.
"Also, the correct terms are greaves and gauntlets, sir." Clayton chimed in.
Wonder Woman was given something similar to her old golden armor, but in black and red, without wings, similar spikes in similar areas to Superman and a Roman centurion helmet. She was also given a red saw blade shield with a black maze-like design on it, a pair of short black flamberge swords and a short, but heavy and strong double-sided axe with a black handle and red blades. "As always, Sai never shies away from the weaponry." She noted.
"Warriors should never be without weapons." Underbite said.
"It is a well-held family creed to always have some form of weapon on their person at all times, so they are never defenseless." Clayton explained.
Flash's costume was one of the most unique, black again, but with countless cracks running through it with what had the appearance of lava flowing through said cracks, even making up the symbol on his chest and the fingers were tipped like talons. The mask was also a helmet with orange eyes and an open mouth with orange, razor-sharp teeth. The lightning bolts on the ears were also doubled up and also lining his arms similar to the blades Batman has on his usual outfits, as well as the elbows, shins and knees. "Well, it's still not as bad as that speed demon. "I won't lie, I kind of dig it. Mask's a bit spooky, but it's way lighter than I expected." Flash said, taking a test run through all the levels of Hell and returning in a minute.
"More aerodynamic material. The metal used for the others would cause too much drag, slow you down. And couldn't handle your top speed." Underbite explained.
"Do be mindful of the trails of fire you will leave behind at higher speeds." Clayton advised, pointing at the ground to reveal he did indeed leave a line of fire behind him, leaving Flash somewhat shocked.
Green Lantern's outfit wasn't too different, other than, again being metal, but also mostly black with no white, spikes on the joints and the gauntlets and greaves being green and spiked with the lantern symbol on the chest inside a green circle, the white around the lantern black as well. The gauntlets also gave the appearance of Hal having a ring on each finger and his head was also mostly covered, other than his eye mask and his mouth. "You know, it seems obvious now, but why didn't most of us think to cover our heads?" He asked.
"Because we prefer to show our face, let people see the hopeful, smiling faces of their heroes." Superman said proudly.
"Faces that'll get bashed in if and when the demons get to Sai's level." Underbite countered with a dark chuckle.
Green Arrow's outfit looked like a normal black and green suit of armor with spikes as always on the joints and a helmet, but it also had an armored hood to further protect his head and back. Lastly, the gauntlets each also housed small repeating crossbows that would fire viciously barb-tipped bolts into the enemy when he made contact with a punch. Next, his bow looked it it was made from a pair of dragon wings combined together, along with arrows that had similar barbed tips to the crossbow bolts in black, red, purple and of course, green. "Whew. Well, if they work half as good as they look, I should be dropping whole gangs of demons solo." Green Arrow declared.
"Different color arrows do different jobs. Black pierce armor. Red catch on fire. Purple is gravity, makes the guy hit heavier. Green heals human wounds and makes demon wounds." Underbite explained.
Finally, NVRmore's outfit consisted of a black skull helmet with red eyes and a mouth guard that looked like a traditional samurai face-guard with the classic snaggle teeth. In fact, most of the armor was rather samurai-like, but still covered all the same areas as NVRmore's standard armor and, much like the old armor, was also black and purple and allowed him to wear his cloak over it. And finally, it had serrated blades on the gauntlets, similar to Batman's, along with the spikes on the joints like the other armors.
"Well, I'll give Sai credit one one thing. He definitely makes some slick-looking armor." NVRmore said.
"Of course. Master Sai may be a joker, but one thing he always takes seriously is the armor and weapons he crafts." Clayton assured him.
"So, what makes this armor different than any other armor we could make ?" Batman questioned.
"The armor Demon's Bane. A demon touches it and they burn. The gate to the human realm is constructed out of it. That's why no Demon's can just leave without permission. Your weapons are made of Devil's Scourge. It makes injuries inflicted from the weapons more taxing on a demon's healing factor. The wounds will still heal, but the demons will wear down faster. Regenerating a cut would be like running a mile. Regrowing an arm would be like running a marathon." Underbite declared.
"Then how could you and Sai possibly make these?" Superman asked.
"Gloves." Underbite answered simply, raising his log of an arm, revealing he was wearing tough-looking gloves.
"But if these weapons are so effective against demons, why would Sai simply give them to us. Surely, he realizes that he's giving us the means to fight him and his family." Wonder Woman said.
Underbite and Clayton both laughed at this. "Ah, forgive us, but the Blades have dealt with these metals for the entirety of their existence. They know all about its strengths and weaknesses, the ins and outs of it. They've learned long ago how to defend themselves from the metals of THEIR realm." Clayton told them.
"Makes sense." Flash admitted.
Clayton then checked his pocket watch. "Oh, dear. I'm afraid I let the time get away from me. I must be off to prepare the family's dinner." Clayton declared, returning to the living world.
"Preparing a meal for a family of at least 20 people? That's got to be rough." Green Arrow said.
"Naww. Clayton's a good one. He could probably be the only cook in two fully packed human restaurants and still get everyone's order out to them on time. Plus, he's got Cassandra to help him. A werewolf and vampire being butler and maid to a bunch a demons. Ain't that a story." Underbite chuckled.
"Well, we should be heading back, then." Superman said.
"Or, we could see exactly what that meeting is about." Batman suggested.
"Why? We've looked everywhere we can for signs of treachery and there haven't been any. As hard as it is for me to admit, Sai really isn't the enemy." NVRmore said.
"But a council meeting between Sai and the other forces of hell. Essentially like a war meeting between the highest ranking warriors in an army. It might be worth looking into." Wonder Woman said.
"You really hate Sai that much you have to dig that deep to find a reason why you should be against him?" Underbite asked.
"It's not that we hate him. We just know what he's capable of. He's beaten nearly all of us before. If there is a reason why he might be against us, we need to know it." Superman said.
"Fine. I'll take you to the meeting. And you'll realize you're all a bunch of paranoid assholes." Underbite said, walking off and waving for them to follow. "He builds them armor and weapons. What else does he gotta do, wipe there asses?" The dinosaur-like demon grumbled. The League looked at each other and shrugged, then nodded.
They soon arrived at council chamber, a massive circular room with ledges at different altitudes that several creatures, both human-looking and demonic, all having similarities to Sai's demon and human forms, likely related to him, stood watching as Sai stood in the center of the room before a pair of thrones, where man and woman sat. The man was easily 8 feet tall with waist-length black hair with red streaks, paper-white skin and eyes with black sclera and red irises, wearing a black robe and blood red greaves and claw-fingered gauntlets that looked like the feet and hands of a humanoid dragon.
And the woman was of a similar height, shoulder-length platinum blonde hair, equally pale skin, waist-length platinum-blonde hair, a red dress similar to Ada Wong's in resident Evil 4 and thigh high heeled boots, as well as perhaps most importantly, dragon wings on her back and ram horns on her head emerged from the portal. Her eyes also had black sclera, but this time golden irises.
The heroes and Underbite hid in the shadows as they observed the meeting. "So, who are the big shots in the big chairs?" Flash asked.
"Lord Arokai and Lady Ignis. Sai's Grandparents, the rulers of this realm and the God and Goddess of Death and Hell respectively." Underbite explained.
"Sai, this situation with the demon blood is getting out of hand. If it spreads much more, we will have to send our army to dispose of anyone with the blood." Ignis declared.
"They'd be killing dozens, maybe hundreds at this point." Wonder Woman said.
"I knew we couldn't trust him." Batman growled.
"You are aware of how courts work, right? Both sides get to plead their case before the judge says guilty." Green Arrow said.
"I understand, Lady Ignis, but I beg of you for more time. I've equipped the heroes of the human world with weapons to better prepare themselves for the fight with demons. I believe it will be enough to tip the scale and allow us to regain control of the situation." I explained.
"So you've armed them against demons. How do you know they will not use this against us?" Arokai questioned.
"Your apprehension is warranted, Lord Arokai, but I trust them. They only go after those that have broken human law on Earth, or who present a threat to the human world, which we do not." I told him.
"He really trusts us?" NVRmore asked.
"At least enough to not start a war, but usually you can trust a lot of people not to do that." Underbite said.
"You say that even after they've sealed away your powers and left you nearly helpless, unable even to take your true form?" Ignis questioned.
I sighed at this. "I won't lie, I've hated being powerless. I've despised every second of it and for the first week or so, I wanted nothing more than to destroy them all and have this seal destroyed." I admitted, then took a deep breath. "But all this time, I've tried denying it, only to realize I am the one to blame. Even if I was only the projectile that destroyed the hospital, it was still my fault. I was vain, callous and uncaring. I believed I could defeat my opponent and that was all that mattered. The lives lost that day are as much my fault as they are Black Adam's. My actions more than warranted my powers being sealed." I stated.
"Well, that was... almost nice?" Flash asked.
"What's important is, he's accepted responsibility and he's taken accountability for it. That's the first step he's needed to take in order to change." Wonder Woman said.
Suddenly a new voice rang out. "Why should we try to stop the spread of demon blood?" A voice rang out. "If humans are turning themselves into demons, perhaps it's the sign they are ready for us. And it is our time to rule over the human world." The voice explained as a boy who looked similar to Sai walked up, only with a rounder, wider oval-shaped jaw compared to Sai's thinner triangular jaw, with noticeably whiter hair to Sai's distinct Silver, green eyes with black sclera and, most obviously, he was dressed in black armor, carrying a large black sword.
"And that is?" Batman asked angrily.
"Perun. He's a lightning demon. And Sai's cousin." Underbite explained.
"Where's he stand in all this?" Wonder Woman asked.
"You guys got armies?" Underbite questioned.
"Unfortunately." Superman said.
"You got generals?" Underbite asked again.
"Yes." Green Lantern confirmed.
"Sai would be the top general of Hell's army, Perun is the Brigadier general. He hates being beneath Sai, though. He's always trying to wrestle control from him. And he's one of the few that wouldn't mind taking over the human world." Underbite explained.
Batman glared. "So, even some of Sai's family considers taking over our world." He said.
"Yes, but such action would be severely punished, both by Lady Ignis and Lord Arokai, but also by Sai and the rest of the surface Blades.
I turned to my armored cousin with a glare. "That isn't now, nor was it ever, nor will that ever be your call. The Earth is the domain for humans. We may choose to roam in it, but we are not going to take it over." I declared.
"And why shouldn't we? Over the years human have tried bringing demons to their realm and now they're turning themselves into demons. They must want us there, so why don't we oblige them?" Perun suggested.
"It's not happening. If you want to pop up and visit, maybe even take up residence go for it. But it isn't our domain to take." I told him.
"And how would you stop me? Without your powers, you are nothing." Perun taunted.
"Then why am I the top general and you barely qualify?" I countered. "But to answer your question, even if I couldn't stop you, any of my siblings could put you in your place, let alone my parents. And, of course, you'd have to take it up with our fair Lord and Lady." I said, bowing to my grandparents.
"It seems we are at an impasse. True, the human world is not ours to take, but this problem with humans tainting themselves with demon blood must be settled." Arokai said.
"Then you will decide by combat. Should Perun win, we shall send our armies to destroy the threat. If Sai wins, it shall be left in the hands of the Blades on Earth and the heroes he has placed his trust in." Ignis declared.
"Are they nuts?! No way Sai can win like this. Sure he's got SOME power back down here, but not enough to defeat a full-powered demon that's on his level WITH powers, that's also getting powered up from being down here." Flash said.
"We are demons. At are core, fighting is in our blood. And it's the fairest way to settle our differences." Underbite said.
"And if there's one thing we've learned in all our time knowing him, it's never under estimate Sai Blade." NVRmore added.
Perun and I took several paces away from each, before Perun changed into his demon form, an electric blue reptilian humanoid with giant dragon wings and tail, plus a human head with six glowing white eyes and red hair, as well as visible veins with yellow electricity coursing through them. "I've never considered you a rival!" He boasted, sounding similar to Soundwave from Transformers Prime as he released electricity from his hands as a show of intimidating, although I tilted my head to the sides to easily avoid any stray bolts.
"That's funny, I never considered you at all." I said, drawing my Asmodeus playing cards and picking a hand.
"Asmodeus? But that's probably his riskiest weapon. If he doesn't get good hands or high cards, he's toast." Superman said.
"That's what it means to be a gambler. You take a big risk and hope it pays off." Green Arrow said, knowing full well about gambling from his days of debauchery.
"That's it! Come here!" He snapped, rushing at me as I tossed the 6 of hearts over my shoulder.
"Background Music: "Ride The Lightning" by Metallica
I then flipped forward as Perun rushed at me, allowing me to pass over my demonized cousin as he couldn't stop in time and crashed into the now standing and door-sized 6 of hearts, which exploded with a small burst of demon energy. Only being a 6 and not in a hand, it was only about as effective on a demon as a human running into a closed door, but still enough to stagger... right into me, as I had two foot wide, three foot long card charged with demon energy in each hand, the jacks of Diamonds and Clubs. "Two!" I shouted, cross-slashing his chest with the cards, which disappeared and were replaced by the last two cards in the hand I'd drawn, the eights of Spades and Hearts, delivering a simultaneous horizontal slash to his was with each card, also unleashing an energy wave that sent him back into a wall.
"Sai! Don't avoid me!" He snapped, firing several lightning orbs at me, which I countered with my hand of high cards, flinging them like Gambit at the lightning orbs, causing them to explode in between us, creating a giant cloud of smoke. Perun rushed through the smoke and grabbed me, impaling me in the gut with his sword and then grabbing my head and surging massive amounts of electricity. "I knew it! Without the power of a demon, you're nothing!" He laughed.
Superman tried to go forward, but Batman stopped him. "He's gonna kill him!" He told the Dark Knight.
"Just wait." Batman said.
I worked through the pain of electrocution to glare at him. "Power means nothing if you're not smart enough to use it!" I growled, the joker card falling out of my sleeve and exploding, launching us both back into a wall. My wounds healed slowly, but enough to so I wouldn't die. Luckily, I drew a hand with a powerful play in it, plus a useful extra card. "I've got to give you credit, Perun. You really are one of a kind. Too bad for you, I have four of a kind!" I said, holding up the four aces and tossing them into the air, where they vanished and reappeared around Perun, as tall as doors, boxing him in and shocking him with demon lightning, before exploding, while I used the remaining card, the nine of hearts, to heal myself.
"Don't talk rubbish one-liners to me!" He snapped, rushing in and slashing at me with his claws, tail and sword. "I will have your head! Your status and your precious human world!" He declared, still attacking me and ignoring the five hands of straight up garbage I was drawing and throwing at him. Even the punches, kicks or fireballs I hit him with weren't doing much. Not to mention, while his physical attacks weren't connecting, the bolts of lightning arcing off him caught me several times. I had to come up with a new strategy.
I drew yet another crappy hand, but then looked up to the pillar where Perun's throne sat for these meetings. I then came up with a great way to do damage to him and annoy him. I threw three of the cards, a two of Hearts, four of Spades and three of Diamonds, at the pillar and shattering it, at which point I flew up and caught the largest chunk of it, plus the throne and stabbed them with the remaining two cards, four of Hearts and 6 of Spades, charging them with demon energy. "You look stressed, Perun! Maybe you should sit down." I said, flinging the chair and pillar at him, sending him to the ground, where he exploded.
I drew one final hand as Perun got back up shakily. "Well, this still probably went better than any politics on Earth, but I think it's time we ended this, cousin. You're looking rather... Flushed." I said, showing my hand of the 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 of Diamonds, before flinging them at him, the cards turning to 2x3 and spinning around him like a tornado, glowing with demon energy and lifting him into the air, causing him to bounce around like the ball in a pinball game whenever he hit one of the cards, leaving him with dozens of cuts, before the cards stopped spinning, raised high into the air above him and slammed him back down and knocking him out.
End Music
I panted a bit, but then looked to my grandparents. "So, I'll see to it the heroes and I get the job done as soon as possible." I told them.
"See to it that you do, my champion." Ignis told me.
"Know you have our support, Sai. Both as your gods and your grandparents." Arokai added.
I nodded at this as I left the council room, earning applause from my cousins that weren't unconscious like Perun. Although, even if he was, I doubt I would've gotten applause from him. "Perhaps we misjudged you." Wonder Woman said as they followed me out.
I sighed at this. "Somehow I knew you wouldn't leave when you were supposed to. As for you misjudging me, I feel like you've done that several times, so what exactly was this time about?" I asked.
"You were willing to fight your own family, without your powers, for the sake of the human world." Superman said approvingly.
"Yeah, well, if I didn't, the secret of demons would be out." I said.
"I feel like it's already out, buddy. The demon blood story's been over the news for like a month." Green Arrow said.
I facepalmed when I realized he was right, before trying to correct myself. "Well, with armies of demons marching around, my family's cover would definitely be blown at some point." I tried again.
"You can defend all you want, but you know deep down, you did it for our world." Superman said.
"Yeah, well... maybe. Anyway, let's test out those new armor and weapons of yours and let YOU GUYS beat the shit out of some demons." I said, returning us all to the human world.