Return to Society

Bludhaven, New Jersey

January, 2003

It has been around one year since my trip to Infinity Island, and unfortunately my endeavor to achieve Mushin has been a failure. This does not mean that the trip itself was a waste of time considering the fact that I secretly learned how to utilise my psionic abilities, and while I am glad for that, it certainly was not the purpose of my travels. From constantly fighting for my survival, to attempting to achieve it with meditation, none of my attempts worked. At one point, Lady Shiva started to attack me all the time, even in my sleep. Her rationale was that perhaps living in constant danger would make it easier to achieve. Unfortunately, this too was a failure. Eventually I chose to leave since I cannot simply live there until I have reached Mushin. Especially since I may never reach it. Which is why I am now entering Bludhaven on a boat.

Once the ship docks, I make my way from the deck of the ship to the docks. Looking at it now, a year later, I can tell that the girls have been busy. Not only have the docks been refurbished, but they are also extremely busy with many ships unloading cargo while others are picking up to leave. Standing around the docks acting as security are men and women dressed in three piece suits and black coats with pistols strapped to holsters on their waist or shoulders.

"Excuse me sir." comes a strong masculine voice from behind me. "Are you perhaps Ambrosius Malphas?"

Turning around I am met with the figure of an old man wearing a suit with white gloves on his hands. He stands at about five feet seven inches and has a head full of neatly combed white hair. His face is somewhat wrinkled, yet not enough to look a day over fifty years old, with steel grey eyes that seem to notice everything. What truly sets him apart from his peers of the same age is his strong build that could have only been earned through years of combat.

"Indeed I am." I reply to him. "How may I help you?"

"Ah, splendid." he answers with a smile. "I am Bernard, Madam Scathach's butler. I have been ordered by the Madam to escort you home."

"A pleasure to meet you Bernard." I say as I extend my hand for him to shake.

Once we have finished with the introductions, Bernard leads me out of the dock and into a black luxurious car that seems to be this universe's version of a Rolls Royce. Arriving at the car, he opens the back door for me to enter before proceeding to enter the driver's seat. Once inside, he starts the car and proceeds to drive away from the docks.

"Tell me about yourself Bernard."

"Well sir, there is honestly not much to tell." he replies. "I am sure that the events of my life will certainly bore you death, and I would very much like to deliver you to the Madam alive."

Chuckling at his words, I cannot help but wonder where Scathach found him

"There is no need to worry." I reassure him with a smile. "Boredom is not something that I will die from. Tell me, how did you meet Scathach."

"Very well." he answers. "I met Madam almost a year ago when I was accosted by a group of thugs. While I managed to deal with a few of them, it was only a matter of time before I would be overwhelmed. Fortunately for me, she had been passing by to survey the neighborhood when I was accosted. The rest is history."

"Interesting." I comment as I look at him through the rearview mirror. "How much would I have to pay you to work for me instead? One million dollars, Ten, or perhaps fifty?"

Hearing my question, his lips tighten and his steel grey eyes become far more menacing as he glares back at me through the mirror.

"Certainly more than you are, and will ever be, worth." he replies with a firm voice.

"Truly?" I ask him, only for him to refuse to reply. "Not even if I were to threaten to kill you" I say as I slightly increase the pressure in the room.

Instead of crumbling however, he simply seems to reaffirm his stance with a glare and gritted teeth.

"Not even if you killed me." He firmly replies.

Staring at his eyes I read his surface and emotions, and just as intended, he is somewhat afraid. Yet, no matter how much he is afraid, his loyalty to Scathach does not waver. With a smile, I return the pressure back to normal levels.

"My apologies Bernard." I tell him. "In these uncertain times, it is best to be sure of someone's loyalties."

"Of course sir, I understand." he replies somewhat frostily. "With Supermen flying becoming the norm, one may never be certain of anything. That does not mean that I should like it however."

"Naturally how you feel on something is very much up to you." I answer with a nod which he returns.

The rest of the drive is spent in silence as I watch the city pass us by. Many buildings have been torn down and are the process of being rebuilt while many others have already been finished. The streets are somewhat cleaner and there are a significantly less amount of homeless people. There are also signs of an Ophidia Industries hanging around, yet I do not remember an Ophidia Industries in the comics. Looking at the recovering city, I can easily tell that they did not bother to hold back. I would not be surprised if they used magic to accomplish at least a portion of this.

Eventually we drive out of the city and past a sign that reads 'Welcome to Avalon Hill'. Further down the road, there is a white gate with a big 'M' on its center, and past the gate, there is a castle that looks exactly like the one that we built in the Nasuverse without the moat.

"Is Avalon Hill part of Bludhaven?" I ask Bernard.

"Indeed it is sir." he responds, his voice noticeably less cold than earlier.

As the car approaches the gate it automatically opens by itself, allowing us to drive inside. Stopping in front of the door of the castle, Bernard gets out of the driver seat and opens the door for me. Exiting the vehicle I turn towards the door to see Scathach, Morgan and Azula walk out of the building wearing dresses while Mordred wears a suit.

"Father!" exclaims Mordred as she runs past the others to hug me.

"Hello to you too, little one." I greet her with a smile as I gently pat her head.

"I'm not little." she answers with a frown as she looks up at me.

"Your height would beg to differ." I reply with a raised eyebrow, causing her to pout.

"Put on a suit." orders Scathach as she gives me a kiss on the cheek. "We're going out."

"To where?" I ask as my rune suit changes from casual jeans and t-shirt to a black suit with a white button down shirt and black tie.

"Bruce Wayne's new year charity gala." answers Morgan as she and Azula kiss me before going inside of the car that is suddenly bigger and has a back seat similar to a limousine.

Without another word, Mordred and I make our way inside the car.

"Magic, or technology?" I ask as I gesture to the new seating design.

"Magic of course." answers Morgan. "Although, it certainly is not magic of the Nasuverse, as you call it."

"You know magic from this universe?" I ask her intrigued.

"I managed to find this quaint little tavern called the Oblivion Bar where all things magical frequent." answers Morgan with a smile.

"I see." I reply with a nod. "Now would someone please inform me why we are going to a Wayne gala?"

"Because a certain big shot businesswoman is invited." answers Azula as she looks at Scathach.

"I do recall seeing signs for Ophidia Industries around the city. I presume that it's your?" I ask Scathach.

"It is." she answers "It started out as a shipping company, and now we are expanding towards real estate and manufacturing."

"How far do you plan on expanding it?" I ask

"We will see after the current expansion." she replies. "How was your trip?"

"Not successful." I simply answer. "And what have you been up to?" I ask Azula. "I can guess what Morgan has been up to considering the increase in security and lack of thugs on the streets."

"The police department and mayor's office were full of corruption, and now you are looking at the new chief of police and the person the mayor secretly works for." she replies with a very satisfied smirk.

"Do you actually like the position?" I ask only to receive an indifferent shrug.

"It's only until I can fully clean the department before I 'retire'."she answers.

"I see. And what about you Mordred?" I ask her.

"Well I go to school. Some classes are boring and some of them are interesting." she replies with a shrug.

The rest of the drive is spent in light conversation with the five of us comparing stories of the past year.

Eventually we arrive at the venue in Gotham city, an interestingly designed house. The building is shaped like a squared S making it seem to have been taken from a fantasy setting.

From the outside the house looks magnificent. It has been built with wheat colored bricks and has sandstone decorations. Small, rounded windows allow enough light to enter the home and have been added to the house in a mostly asymmetric way. The two extensions extend into wooden sunscreens structures to each side. The second floor is smaller than the first, which, in combination with its placement, creates an original look. This floor has a very different style than the floor below. The roof is high and slanted to one side and is covered with dark ceramic tiles. One large chimney sits at the side of the house. Several long, thin windows let in plenty of light to the rooms below the roof. The house itself is surrounded by a modest garden, with mostly grass and a few small trees.

Thanking Bernard as we exit the car, we make our way to the entrance where Scathach hands a well dressed man her invitation card before he ushers us in.

The inside of the first floor is simply a lavishly decorated ballroom with tables and chairs to the side. Well dressed servants can be found walking around with trays of appetizers and drinks to offer to the guests.

"Hugh. This is just like the balls that used to be hosted in Camelot." complains Mordred. "I didn't like those, and I don't like this."

"I can certainly understand the sentiment." comments Morgan as she looks at some of the guests with well hidden disgust, no doubt already having a sense for their true personalities as opposed to the masks they put on for the public.

"Unfortunately not coming would have been tantamount to committing business suicide." says Scathach.

"Let us please get this over with before I decide to burn this place to the ground." ads Azula. "This is far too reminiscent of the political gala's Ozai used to host."

"Hopefully this does not turn into your typical Gotham gala that gets interrupted by some criminal." I comment as we make our way to the table reserved for our group.

As we come closer to the table, I realise that I very much recognise the owner of a certain bald head that is sitting at our table.

���Ms. Malphas!" exclaims Lex Luthor excitedly as he stands from the table and makes his way to Scathach.

Lex Luthor is a tall man standing at six feet two inches, and appears to be in good physical shape, being moderately built. I would not be surprised if he could handle himself well in a fight. He is bald, has green eyes, high cheekbones, and wears a dark purple suit that could easily be mistaken for black.

"It is Mrs. actually, and it's good to finally meet the one and only Lex Luthor." corrects Scathach as she shakes Lex Luthor's hand.

"Has someone finally managed to win your esteemed favor? From what the papers say you were a one woman show." comments Luthor as he surveys our group.

"There has never been anything to win. I have always been unavailable." answers Scathach as she places a hand on my arm.

"And you are?" asks Lex as he offers his hand for a handshake.

"Ambrosius Malphas." I answer as I shake his hand.

"Malphas, Great Prince of Hell, and Satan���s second in command. An interesting name." he comments as he studies me closely.

"One could say the same for you, Mr. Luthor. While a common name, many Alexanders have carved their names in history." I reply, earning a small smile from him.

Before he can answer, Bruce Wayne himself makes his way to us. Bruce Wayne is a six feet tall caucasian male with a dark and imposing figure, short black hair, and dark brown eyes. He wears a formal black suit with a grayish-blue tie.

"Scathach, it's good that you were able to make it. I presume that this is your husband." he says as he offers a handshake.

"Bruce. It is nice to see you, and yes this is him." she answers as she shakes his hand before he offers it to me.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Wayne." I say with a smile as I shake his hand.

"The pleasure is mine. She speaks quite highly of you." responds Bruce before he turns towards Lex and greets him with a nod. "Lex."

"Wayne." answers Luthor with a nod of his own.

As we feel the tension rise between the two men, Mordred draws everyone's attention to her.

"Can we go sit now?" she asks with a frown.

Before we can answer however, the doors slam open as a maniacal laughter fills the hall and Bruce Wayne sneaks his way to the back unseen by anyone but my group.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA, HELLO GOTHAM'S ELITES." cackles the Joker as he makes his way inside with a swagger as at least a dozen thugs armed with guns follow him.

The Joker is a tall, slender man, with chalk white skin, ruby red lips and a head of bright green hair falling down in a mop style. His most distinguishing feature, however, is his massive and wide smile that is constantly on his face, that gives him a sinister sort of appearance at all times. He wears his common purple suit with a flower on his lapel, skinny purple suit pants, and skinny purple tie. Unlike his usual appearance however, he wears a silver chain at his waist. His purple gloved hands hold a beige bag.

"You know,-" he says as he snatches a cup of champagne from a fearful waiter. "-when I heard that there was a party being thrown by the elites that I wasn't invited to, I was devastated."

As he finishes his statement, he chugs down his drink before throwing the glass to the floor, shattering it.

"I mean,-" he continues as he steals a tray of appetisers from another waiter. "-I'm one of the elites right?" he says as he tries the food before spitting it out.

"Blergh. Yuck. That is nasty. On a second thought,-" he comments as he spits out his half-shewed food. "I'm glad I'm not part of your boring stuffy group. Can you imagine what that would be like, to have no one laugh at your jokes."

"See…" he says as he waves his arms around the room as a demonstration. "None of you are laughing. Don't worry though, I have just what the doctors ordered." he comments as he reaches into his bag to bring out what looks like a bomb.

"This is for Bruce Wayne." he says as he holds the bomb up. "I heard that Brucie was hosting this charity gala and I thought, what kind of guest doesn't bring gifts. HA-"

"Shut up!" interrupts Mordred as he begins to laugh, causing everyone's eyes to widen. "You're not funny at all."

Unseen by the majority in the hall, Batman drops down from the ceiling behind the thugs and begins to quietly take them down.

"You know what I hate the most?" asks Joker as he makes his way towards us with an irritated scowl. "Being interrupted when I'm about to deliver the punchline."

Before he can even come within six feet of Mordred, Morgan steps into his personal space and punches him in the face, and in the process dislocating his jaw, breaking a few teeth, and knocking him out.

"The audacity to threaten my daughter." comments Morgan with narrowed eyes and a disdainful frown.

Silence fills the hall as the guests attempt to process the proceedings while Batman takes down the last thug and ties him up before making his way to us.

Batman wears a dark gray costume with the symbol of a bat spread over the chest, black trunks, gloves with fins on the outer side, boots and a black cape with a unique pattern at the end. He also wears a black cowl designed with bat ears at all times to hide his identity. Last, he wears a yellow utility belt to complete his Batsuit. In his suit, he seems far more imposing than Bruce, standing about one inch taller and seems bulkier. No doubt modifications made to the suit to further distance him from Bruce Wayne, similar to how my Batman did.

"That was a foolish thing to do." he tells Mordred as he kneels by the Joker to handcuff him. "Brave, but foolish."

Having said his piece, Batman picks the Joker up and quietly walks out of the hall.

With the mood of the festivities ruined, many of the guests, like Lex, opt to leave while our group remains due to Scathach's need to have a business conversation with Bruce. However, one thing constantly plagues my mind, how to best rid the world of the Joker, because he will unquestionably come back for revenge.