Chapter 131: Bonus Bonus Chapter

Once Arias left the Gotham Heights school, he immediately went to Markovic tower where he was met with an angry Mercy as he approached his office.

"A daughter?! You and Lex really are the same." She vented; visibly bothered by Arias's latest… acquisition.

Arias though, approached her with a smile and held her by the waist before speaking arrogantly. "Someone sounds jealous. Don't worry, she's just a means to an end, and here I thought you began to understand me."

Mercy struggled in Arias's hold while frowning at him. "What's there to understand, you both have a thing for fathering children from some unknown women."

Her words only caused Arias to smile, her stubbornness and anger as entertaining as ever. To shut her up, he forced his lips onto hers.

She struggled still but her tongue worked around his with quite some effort, contradicting the actions of her body.

Once he pulled away, Arias wore a smug grin on his face. She saw this and immediately got irritated and pushed him away.

"I'm glad you took my advice, you taste so much sweeter minty." Arias mocked, whilst Mercy just took a seat and didn't want to look his way. "Just fuck off!"

Arias shrugged his shoulders at the comment. "As charming as ever. By the way, could you look into a child by the name of Rachel Roth? I'd do it myself but why bother when I have such a capable and sexy assistant?"

His tone carried some sarcasm which made his compliments come across as mocking instead. Still, Mercy took what she could get and didn't protest. "Whatever."

Arias's smile faded and he walked into his office with another thought in mind.

After some time, Slade came to his office, visibly bothered by something. "Whoever the league sent to watch you, she's good. She's more alert now so catching her is beyond tricky." He reported while leaning against the wall.

Arias didn't really care for the matter, it wasn't like his life was in any great danger, he just disliked the idea of someone monitoring his movements.

"I'm sure you'll figure out something, but if she continues to be an annoyance, I'll catch her myself so don't bother too much with that. Besides, I have another matter I need your help with." Arias replied while turning his gaze away from his computer.

Hearing his help was needed, Slade leaned forward with an intrigued expression, curious as to what Arias was plotting now. "I'm a man of many talents, so what do you need me to do… or kill" he replied with a slight smile, still happy over the death of Amanda Waller.

Arias leaned back into his chair and explained his encounter with Raven briefly before getting to the point. "That encounter made me realize that Gotham Heights will be lacking teachers in the… occult department if you will. I wanted to ask if you know anyone capable in that area. The looser their morals the better."

Slade approached Arias's desk while pondering the question. "Let's see. I know a few but every single one of them is… let's say strange."

"The most notorious is a Circe, a demigod, I only heard about her from Vandal Savage but I hear she has some association with that princess you're harboring so you're better off asking her."

"The second is probably Morgana le fey, I also haven't met her myself and she's very reclusive. I've only heard of her from rumors but if she's as powerful as they say, she may be what you're looking for."

"And last but not least, Tala. Very…. Uhm quirky. She popped up not too long ago and has been looking for weird stuff in the underworld since. The more ancient and mythical the better. Surprisingly she resorts to petty crime to get by so you could suede her with money. Ironically she was also on Waller's radar for recruitment, her location should be on those files I retrieved."

Arias soaked in the information and nodded accordingly. "Get the location and observe her for now, build me a profile I can work with." He instructed and Slade just smiled and nodded.

"Consider it done."

…

Meanwhile, back in Washington D.C, a plot was brewing.

Inside the Oval Office, the President and Superman were engaged in a private meeting. The focus of the conversation being… Luthor's death.

"It just doesn't add up. No matter how many times I look over the evidence, it leads me to believe that Luthor was killed." A frowning Superman revealed as he stared down the president with his arms crossed.

President Ross just sighed and shook his head. "Look Clark, it's already clear to me that foul play was involved. But this is Luthor we're talking about. Whoever did it, did the world a favor if you ask me."

Clark's frown became more apparent upon hearing those words. "Luthor or not, the crash took the lives of many. Whoever did this is clearly powerful, and whose to say it will be his or hers last time pulling a stunt like this."

Ross could see that Clark was unwilling to let the matter go so he didn't push further. "Fine. Investigate as you will but like I said, Luthor had a lot of enemies, it's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack."

Clark began to hover off the ground, his expression showing determination. "Then I'll start with his most recent enemy. Arias Markovic."

Hearing that name, President Ross showed a very visible frown.

"I won't stop you but heed my warning. No matter how you look at it, Arias Markovic is a brilliant and well loved figure. If he were older I'd be worried about a possible presidential contender. Luthor clearly failed to act against him for reasons beyond me, and I suspect his arrest was also his doing."

Clark paused while looking at Ross with a narrowed gaze. "That just makes him more likely to be the one behind it."

Ross could only sigh. "It does. But it also means he's someone who managed to get rid of Luthor while incurring no losses. Are you really prepared to make someone like that your enemy?"

Those words caused Clark to wonder for a moment but his mind seemed set.

"I am."