4 Going Live

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise it isn't mine.

Betad by morde24, Atrius, Hermes, Priapus, Marethyu, Old man of the mountain, TheDonFluffles, and SkyCaptain502

The Guild of Gamers: The Nightmare

Chapter 04: Going Live

— Carmine Falcone —

"I didn't have anything to do with it, you dumb bast-"

The words were cut off as one of his men punched Otis in the stomach as he glared at the supervillain coldly.

"My men get eaten by a bunch of fucking rats, and you think I'm gonna buy that?" Carmine scoffed.

The supervillain glared at him through a bloodied eye, having withstood a considerable amount of beatings so far, but didn't speak.

Otis, or Ratcatcher, had been in Blackgate. Still, everyone knew that being locked up hadn't made Ratcatcher any less powerful since his rats could slip into the prison, delivering messages and smuggling goods.

Having him grabbed from his cell hadn't even been hard- a few bribes later and the villain was handed over to his men and brought to him.

Still, the fact that after hours of torture Ratcatcher still insisted that he was innocent gave him pause.

He'd never heard of anyone else in Gotham controlling rats, but still...

Nodding to one of his men, he walked away with a fierce scowl even as a gunshot rang out.

The bar hadn't been that important. Sure it was a front and a regular meeting place for the higher ups in his crime family, but it wasn't anything special.

The fact that seven of his men were torn apart by fucking rats was an insult he couldn't let stand. He'd considered telling his men to start killing any rats they saw but then he looked up how many rats were in Gotham, and really wished he hadn't.

The estimate he saw claimed there were around two million, which made him very uncomfortable, considering what a few thousand had managed to do. Not that he'd let anyone see his fear.

He'd made an example of Ratcatcher, which would send a clear message that he shouldn't be fucked with, but if the attacks continued?

Well, he'd heard Ratcatcher had a daughter who took up the family trade, and there couldn't be that many Rat controlling villains.

…right?

— Markus Gray —

I thought long and hard about who I wanted to kill, and eventually I came to a decision.

It's a tough decision after all, not something to do on a whim. Obviously countless heroes were ruled out immediately simply because they're out of my league.

Neo won't help me fight, so I have to kidnap them through my own skills and while she's agreed to teleport us to wherever our target is, I have to do the heavy lifting once we're there.

So it needs to be someone I can viably take down, and once we got to my place I did some research.

I considered Stargirl, Courtney Whitmore because if I recall correctly, her powers come from her belt and staff. If I can separate her from them, she's just a teenage girl (admittedly one with some combat training and experience), but I decided against it.

I don't know enough about her, I only know as much as I do because she got my attention when I was younger, purely because she's hot.

And she is very hot, from the pictures I found of her. She has a very active social media presence, both as Stargirl and as Courtney Whitmore, she has what I'm calling 'comic book' looks, because regular people, even hot blonde cheerleaders, shouldn't look that attractive.

I know her step-dad is a member of the Justice League, and while I fully expect to have their attention by this time tomorrow… I know fuck all about him. Some research shows he's got a mech-suit but what his capabilities are, I don't know. I just don't know enough to target her while he'll be sleeping in the next room.

Sure, I could probably run if it goes to shit, all I have to do is break line of sight, but that probably isn't good enough when he might be able to see through walls, and it definitely wouldn't impress Neo.

So Stargirl is definitely on my list, but that's for the future.

Then I considered Green Arrow, because while I do like Oliver Queen, he's both weak enough to be viable and important enough to cause a lot of fear.

Star City isn't anywhere near as bad as Gotham for crime, but they still have more than their fair share, and much like Gotham, they have their own protector, the Emerald Archer.

Several things made me reconsider this, starting with the fact that tabloids have reported Oliver has frequently been seen in the company of a very leggy blonde, identified as Dinah Laurel Lance.

I could try and ambush Green Arrow, but Green Arrow and Black Canary? Normally I'd be happy to hear screams but that's one cry I'd like to avoid. I'll need to invest in a very good gag if I want to target her.

Also, the Green Arrow has blood on his hands here, as when he started out he killed quite a few criminals, corrupt businessmen and politicians in his war against corruption.

I've already realised that this world is a mixture of a few different DC universes. It looks like Shiro picked and chose his favourite versions of each character and worked them in.

He was also presumed dead for years, and was found surviving on an island so I already know which Ollie I'm dealing with. I did like Arrow. It was a good show even if the ones that followed weren't as good. It's obviously a mixture between Arrow and another Green Arrows, maybe Justice League Unlimited or the comic books.

God I hope it's not the comic books, DC power scaling scares me.

But then a thought struck me, and I knew exactly who I wanted to target.

I don't want to try and take on Green Arrow just yet, but I'm up for a… test run, and thankfully Ollie has three mini-me's for a practice run.

Red Arrow is his current sidekick, who I am sure is Thea Queen. Artemis has been spotted several times patrolling Star City in his company, though oddly enough Artemis Crook is a student at Gotham Academy. Finally, Arsenal (formerly Speedy) has recently gone solo after some major disagreement with Green Arrow.

Wouldn't it be tragic if his former sidekick got brutally murdered after trying to make it on his own? Wouldn't it eat Ollie up inside?

Arsenal has no real support anymore as far as I've been able to tell, always being seen on his own, and while he's definitely talented…

He'd beat my ass in a fair fight, but in the words of Captain Jack, that's not much incentive for me to fight fairly, is it?

Sure, Arsenal's death isn't going to spread the fear that Green Arrow's death would- he's the definition of small-time- but we all have to start somewhere.

Plus, completing Neo's 'quest' is more important than spreading fear right now, because I can do that anytime.

I have plans within plans for that, I just need to work out how to actually achieve them.

But nevertheless, with our target selected Neo easily teleported us to Star City (which also has the benefit of giving me a point I can travel back to when it's time to pay Deadshot's family a visit), to find Roy Harper.

Thankfully, Neo did actually teleport us to an alleyway near his 'hideout', and the stars are aligned because like all my favourite victims he's asleep.

It's almost 4am at this point, and given that he's sleeping in half his outfit, I'm guessing he's just got off patrol.

I can't deny I'm a little nervous. He's my first 'hero' since he can't be classed as a sidekick anymore, now that he has gone solo.

My nerves are proven correct as I go about my usual strategy for drugging my victim, tossing the bottle onto the bed next to him as a cloud of pinkish mist engulfs him.

None of my previous victims had managed to even wake up, but Roy sits up immediately as he goes alert, his eyes widening as he covers his nose and mouth, spotting me standing in the corner of his room.

Fortunately I had the foresight to move his bow out of the room, but he manages to get out of his bed, coughing slightly as he breathes in my latest concoction.

He stumbles slightly as he rushes me, disoriented by the fumes he's breathed in, and that's probably what saves me as he drops into what is obviously a well practised martial arts stance and immediately attempts to punch me in the face, barely missing as I duck quickly.

The raised knee doesn't miss, and as I duck he simply knees me in the face instead, knocking me back. Heh, didn't see that coming.

I've never learnt how to fight properly, aside from playing some fighting games, but I do have one advantage over him as he quite easily grabs my arm as I rise, flipping me over, disarming me as he plucks the knife from my hand as I'm still mid-flip, slamming me into the hard floor before he puts me in a tight hold, one I have no idea how to break.

I was never going to be able to beat him in a fight like this, even drugged as he fights off the effects of my sedative, but again… I never planned to fight fairly.

He can beat me, but can he beat my horde? Star City doesn't have quite as many rats as Gotham, but gathering a nice few thousand didn't even take half an hour.

His eyes widen as he hears the sound of many scurrying feet approaching, and despite the unfortunate position he has me in, he has no real choice but to let me go as the swarm approaches, because he knows he doesn't want to be on the floor when they reach us.

But as he tries to let go, to move away and towards the window to try and escape my horde, I make my move.

I have no idea how to do any of his fancy holds, so I simply grab onto his legs to stop him from moving, it looks ridiculous but all I need to do is delay him, and he's still under the effects of my concoction.

It wasn't strong enough to knock him out, but he's still sluggish, and combined with me latching onto him, it's enough to slow him down long enough for my rats to start to swarm him.

They don't bite him too much this time- I don't want to kill him just yet after all- but it's enough to make moving difficult as we are both drowned in a sea of angry rodents.

This would probably have freaked me out, if I didn't practise this move repeatedly, burying myself in a sea of diseased, dirty rodents.

Apparently Gamers are disease resistant, or Neo lied to me because she thought it was funny to watch me freak out as I jumped into a giant rat swarm.

I don't mind, it was a learning experience to understand what my victims will go through, at least, at a lesser level since my rats don't bite me.

…you aren't disease resistant.

Damnit Neo, give me a second

[The Vermin Lord]

You have the ability to control all rats within your range, sensing their presence, commanding them telepathically, sharing their senses and even possessing them. In addition, you are completely immune to disease.

Creatures: Rats

Range: 100 Miles

Huh, thanks.

This is why letting Neo out is never a good idea, her pranks can get out of hand.

Eh, honestly I don't blame her. It was a pretty funny prank.

…you're an odd guy, Markus.

As Roy flails, trying to pull himself out the swarm, I simply grab another bottle and toss it at him.

I need to learn how to fight and hit the gym, because just about anyone could kick my ass as I am now.

I've succeeded so far because I have had the element of surprise and have never actually fought anyone, but my potentially-broken nose shows how any actual fight between me and anyone half-trained would go.

Still under the influence of the first dose, he continues to struggle and try to fight off the effects as I watch patiently.

I'll also need to get my hands on some better materials so I can produce a stronger sedative. My current one works well enough for regular people but I should have expected heroes to be able to resist it. I imagine the less 'normal' ones wouldn't even notice it.

The rats are rapidly collapsing as they unwittingly breathe in the gas, but so is Roy, which makes me smile triumphantly despite the pain in my nose, tilting my head as he glares at me, falling to the floor.

Waiting for the gas to disperse, I have the rats that didn't fall asleep carry away their sleeping brethren.

'Not bad. You kinda got your ass kicked though.'

Turning around, I chuckle seeing Neo sat on Roy's dresser, watching me in amusement.

"Of course. If I was trying to kill him it would have been simpler but taking people who are much better fighters than me alive was always going to be a problem," I reply with a casual shrug, picking up Roy with a grunt of effort.

I really do need to get into shape, but in my defence, I was a programming student before all this. I spent most of my time behind a desk.

'You don't seem to care that he broke your nose.'

"Well, considering what we're going to do to him, I think we can call it even," I say with a chuckle as she approaches, tilting her head before she grabs my now crooked nose and brutally forces back into shape, making me grunt in pain.

As she moves away, I feel it and pause as I realise that while it hurts, a lot, I can't feel the break anymore.

"Huh, nice trick," I say with a chuckle. "Thanks."

Getting a thumbs up, I smile as I open a portal, Neo hopping to her feet and following me into it and into my dungeon.

Right, one 'hero' nice and kidnapped… now how the fuck do you torture someone?

'Don't worry, I'll give you a hand this time. You did the hard part, now comes the fun part!'

"I thought the fun part was looting his hideout," I admit, making her blink as she looks back at the portal.

'Okay, fair enough. That's fun too, maybe we can hunt him with his own bows later!'

Huh, not a bad idea. I do have a giant forest just outside.

But first things first, I need our guest strapped to that rather spiky rack. Honestly, the medieval guys were onto something, because the rack is just the anti-manlet device, we had the solution to short people all along.

'Oi!'

"Short guys, short girls are hot," I correct, making Neo beam as I strip Roy, pausing as I remove his underwear. I hope for his sake he's a grower, because he's not a shower.

Neo's giggling almost makes me feel sorry for Roy as I clasp his wrists and ankles into the rack, but it's certainly not enough to change my mind at this point.

"So, which of us is going to watch him while the other loots his place?" I ask, making Neo freeze.

'Rock, paper, scissors?'

"Works for me," I say. You can't go wrong with good old rock.

As she throws out paper, it occurs to me that she's been reading my mind this entire time, her impish smile making me sigh.

"Okay, I should have seen that coming," I say with a chuckle, making her giggle as she heads back through the portal.

— Roy Harper (Arsenal) —

Waking up, he immediately went to jump up, the clanging of chains and the cold metal tightly wrapped around his wrists and ankles telling him of the seriousness of his situation, as he looked around desperately. Was he strapped to a fucking medieval rack?

It didn't take him long to see the grinning mask of his abductor, calmly chatting to an attractive woman with pink and brown hair.

"Ah, our guest has finally woken up. I should probably make a counter to my sedative, it wouldn't be that hard," the masked man said to himself, rubbing his chin under his mask.

The girl just shrugged with a grin as she stared at him, making Roy very aware of his nudity. He also noticed exactly where he was.

He hadn't seen a torture dungeon in person before, but the various weapons and other torture devices around the room made him extremely nervous about his immediate future.

…Was that a camera?

"Who the fuck are you?" Roy asked, making the masked man chuckle.

"Who I am is a man in a mask. If I wanted you to know my identity I wouldn't have bothered with this mask, would I?" the masked man asked sarcastically before pausing. "But you can call me Legion, my lovely assistant and camerawoman here is Neo."

Legion. He'd heard that name. He kept his ear to the ground and word of Legion killing someone live on tv had spread fast.

"Legion, you're from Gotham, what do you want with-" Roy started, hoping to buy time.

He might not be on good terms with Oliver at the moment, but his former mentor was still his best bet for rescue since the shackles around his wrists and ankles weren't going to be easy to undo.

"You're in a dungeon filled with implements of pain, strapped to a rack, I'm sure you can work out what I want to do to you," Legion replied cheerfully. "Or did you mean why did I go for you? If so, that's simple. You're weak enough to be a good starting point. I considered going after a real hero like Green Arrow but I decided to start small with his… mini-me," Legion said slowly, amusement in his tone. "It was either you, Red Arrow or Artemis, and you seemed like the easiest target."

As he glared at the mocking villain, his 'assistant' giggling to herself, Legion tilted his head.

"You seem offended, don't fret too much, your pride is only the first thing we'll be hurting," Legion said with a satisfied smile.

"What did Green Arrow do to you? Let me guess he beat your ass and threw you in prison?" Roy asked scornfully, making Legion laugh again.

"Oh certainly not, he's never met me and probably barely even knows I exist. He's done nothing to me. I hold no grudge and I'm not on some vengeful crusade," Legion admitted, making him pause.

Then why…

"As for why Ollie…" Legion started, making his blood run cold. "Well, it's because he's an easy target. At the end of the day, in a world of living gods like Superman, some rich playboy with a bow and arrow is never going to amount to much. His less talented, worse-equipped side-kicks are even more irrelevant, Speedy," Legion said mockingly, throwing his old nickname in his face.

"You're wrong-"

"Maybe, maybe he'll bust down the door and rescue you any second now," Legion said, pausing as he tilted his head again, seemingly listening out. "But somehow I doubt it."

Moving towards the rack, Legion looked at his body for a moment before he looked back up, his expression hidden behind the grinning mask.

"But enough chatter, it's time to start the fun. I'm afraid this is my first time, so I hope you'll be patient with me," Legion said slowly, his voice teasing as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a straight razor. "But look on the bright side, they say you always remember your first time, and as irrelevant and forgettable as you may be to the rest of the world, you'll always hold a special place in my heart."

He'd have replied to Legion's mocking words, if it wasn't for the feeling of the blade pressing against his shoulder, slowly and deliberately being dragged across his flesh in a diagonal slice as he clenched his teeth, not willing to give him the satisfaction of screaming.

"Don't worry, my adorable assistant is going to make sure I don't kill you by accident, she's something of an… expert at this," Legion said, making 'Neo' wave at him mockingly. "If we kill you, it'll be very deliberate."

"Fuck you."

It was short, simple and accurately represented his feelings towards the two psychos who had grabbed him, even as he hissed in pain from the razor slicing into his arm.

God he hoped Ollie was looking for him, somehow, some way, because he wasn't seeing a way to get out of being Legion's practice dummy, watching as Neo occasionally silently corrected his cuts.

He really didn't like the look of the other tools that they'd lined up on a table behind the camera, he could guess what the metal bat and hammer were for but what were they planning to use the garden shears for?

— Markus Gray —

I'll admit, I technically killed Roy several times as I cut something a little too important, or made a cut a little too deep but that's what Neo is here for as she heals the fatal wounds with a thought.

Roy is afraid, he tries to hide it behind a tough act, but as the cuts just keep coming I can feel his fear growing, every minute making his hope for a rescue die a little more.

There's something sweet about his fear, and it took me a moment to realise what it is, it's the taste of dying hope.

It's a delicious taste, and one I intend to experience more.

Moving away from him to switch blades, Neo moves in as we switch, and given the way she was menacingly snapping the shears she brought, I decide it's best I stay out of the way for a moment.

Look, I've found that I actually rather enjoy this, pain and fear are a wonderful mix, but some things are too much even for me as I feel a sharp spike in his terror, followed by some weak pleadings.

He tries not to scream, 'tries' being the operative word in that sentence, as eventually the pain gets through to him when I drive a drill into his kneecap, but none of his screams come close to the one that follows while I blatantly don't turn around.

And also close my legs a bit, my own manhood shrinking in fear at the sobbing I hear.

It's definitely effective, but I don't think I'll be employing that particular method myself as I turn back around hesitantly, watching as Neo grins with a small sealed plastic bag in her hands, a grisly trophy inside it.

"Do I want to know what you're planning to do with those?" I ask, making her pause, before shrugging.

'Probably not.'

"Then I'm not even going to ask, he's not going to bleed out, right?" I ask, making her scoff.

'What am I, an amateur? He… is absolutely going to bleed out, give me a second.'

Clicking her fingers, the… wound between his legs seems to forcibly close, which just seems even more painful as he groans in pain.

'There, he'll live.'

"You know, I'm not sure there's anything I can do to him that'll surpass that," I admit, making her shrug.

"P-please, stop this. I-I didn't do anything to you," Roy says quietly, his voice hoarse from the screaming.

'That's quitter talk.'

"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not done. We've got plenty of other tools to try out, I've never actually used a whip before so I do wanna see how that works, but I think that's going to be the crowning moment of our little game," I admit, making her beam at me.

'Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to one-up me!'

"I suppose so, now… wanna start stretching the rack again?"

'Oh, absolutely, his bones made some funny noises last time.'

— Shiro Eis —

…should he be worried that Neo somehow found a kindred spirit?

Nah, it'd be fine.

"You know, there's something… special about your Gamers," Kuro admitted, making him scoff.

"I do know how to pick 'em, now stop delaying and make your last pathetic move," Shiro said, giving his eternal rival (and best friend) a victorious stare.

"As you wish… you got any sixes?" Kuro asked, making him pause before he scowled, passing over a six of hearts. "Heh, nice. Got any… nines?"

"Go fish," Shiro said, making Kuro scowl.

As old and powerful as they were, they could still entertain themselves with the simple things. It was good that Neo was occupied, since they had Monopoly lined up next and that always got… bloody.

At least it wasn't Mario Party. That had been officially banned from the Founders' game nights after the… incident.

Which he still insisted wasn't his fault.

— Roy Harper (Arsenal) —

He had no idea how long he'd been subjected to the duo's torture, Legion eagerly experimenting with every tool he could get his hands on.

He should be dead, he knew enough about his injuries to recognise that, but the devil wouldn't let him die.

Legion scared him, but he was obviously new to this. Neo terrified him because she was, as Legion said, an expert at inflicting pain and shame alike. She never spoke, though Legion would hold entire conversations with her as if she was responding.

She found it funny to arouse him, because his body would attempt to respond and it would only cause him agonising pain.

To his shame, he broke. Legion asked him questions and he answered in the desperate hope to stop the pain. Legion clearly already knew the answers, like when he asked about Green and Red Arrow's real identities, but with the camera recording he broke.

It did stop the pain, very briefly, then they started again as Legion got to test out different types of whips, his back torn to shreds as Legion used him as his test dummy.

He'd decided on the bullwhip eventually, one with a metal tip no less, apparently it made him feel like Indiana Jones, whoever that was.

But after a while, they had another conversation out of earshot, that is to say the one ear he still had, and the next thing he knew he was being drugged again.

Waking up in the middle of a forest clearing, he looked around desperately, not seeing his tormentors anywhere in the unfamiliar forest.

Finding a note pinned to a tree with an arrow, he hobbled over to it, trying not to put any weight on one of his legs thanks to the damage Legion had done to it with the bat.

'You've been a wonderful guest, so we've decided to give you a chance to live up to your name, Speedy. All you have to do is find your way out of the forest and you're free to go. We won't pursue you any further. You have a ten minute head start before we start the hunt, good luck!'

At the bottom, Legion had drawn a crude cartoonish version of himself giving him the thumbs up.

Knowing he didn't have time to waste, he looked around, seeing nothing but trees as far as the eye could see in every direction, picking a direction at random and setting off as fast as his hobbled legs could take him.

Which wasn't very fast, and as the painful minutes passed, with him seemingly making no distance as he just saw more and more trees, he considered that he might be heading further into the forest.

He hadn't even seen a single animal so far, which struck him as odd but he didn't have time to worry about that.

It was too late to turn around now, especially as the ten minute mark passed and he heard a horn blow in the distance behind him.

The hunt was on, and it encouraged him to move faster, pushing his broken body to its limits. The sound of movement in the distance, heading his way, made him start to panic. The sound got louder, and as an arrow hit a tree he was moving past, he looked over his shoulder to see Legion wearing a red Robin Hood outfit holding his bow.

"This is pretty hard," Legion admitted, making Neo giggle, also wearing a pink and white Robin Hood outfit as she took a shot.

In his state, he stood no chance of dodging as the arrow struck him, sticking into his shoulder as he stumbled forwards, barely avoiding falling to the floor.

"Nice shot," Legion praised, taking another shot himself. Legion was obviously an amateur, and the arrow struck the ground a few feet away from him as he kept moving, trying to put the trees between him and his hunters. "Run, rabbit, run!"

Another arrow shot past him as he desperately stumbled through the forest, seeing no end to the rows of trees.

He was only alive because they didn't feel like killing him yet, that much was obvious. Neo was a worryingly good shot as every arrow she decided to shoot would strike him in a non-lethal spot, and Legion was apparently a fast learner as Neo helpfully corrected his stance.

Legion's first accurate shot hit him in his one 'good' leg, as good as it could be after so much torture, and finally he fell to the floor, his strength exhausted.

Turning to face them, he could see them slowly walking after him, joking between themselves without a care in the world.

"You were a good playmate, Roy, but I'm afraid playtime is over now," Legion said mockingly as they reached him.

"P-please, don't-" he started, his pride long gone as he laid on his back, staring up at his captors.

"Neo, would you like to do the honours?" Legion asked, making Neo bounce happily on the spot, moving forwards.

Giving him a sweet smile, she pulled out another arrow, notching it as she aimed down at him.

"P-plea-"

— Markus Gray —

Watching Neo put an arrow between Roy's eyes without any hesitation as the hero started to beg for his life, I chuckle.

We set up cameras all over this forest, the entire hunt was caught on film. I'll edit it all together later. I actually know a thing or two about video editing since I streamed and had a pretty successful YouTube channel in my past life.

It was just a hobby, but the knowledge should come in useful.

'Ah, that was fun. It's been a while since I played around with weaklings like this, I kinda forgot how much fun it could be.'

"Well, wanna go grab someone else and start the game again? I don't think going for another hero is a good idea, but there's plenty of civilians no one would miss." I say, making her blink, before she beams at me.

'Same again?'

"Hm, do you know if it's possible to change the outside of my home? It could be pretty fun to throw someone into something like a cave system and make them try to escape it," I ask, making her rub her chin.

'If it's not possible, I'll poke Shiro until he agrees.'

Dude, really? Setting my wife on me for an upgrade? That's just not fair.

Eh, you're keeping her busy and entertained so I can hang out with the boys, so I guess you've earned it. Give me a second, I think I can do one better than just modifying your surroundings.

Skill Added

[Map Creation]

You have the ability to create small demi-planes inside your pocket dimension, designing them to match your requirements.

Oh, I can definitely use this. I've already got a few ideas of 'maps' I can make. Picking up Roy's body, we head back to my house (which I'm decidedly not surprised now has a giant freezer for body storage), before I activate my new power.

'We should make a labyrinth! Or maybe an abandoned hospital!'

"Both good ideas, there doesn't seem to be a limit on how many I can make after all," I agree, making Neo nod excitedly before she pauses.

'I know just the thing to help get the creative juices flowing!'

As I watch Neo head to the liquor cabinet, I chuckle to myself as she starts pulling out a lot of alcohol.

I'm sure this can only end well, but I'm having too much fun to worry about the future now.

— Shiro Eis —

"I place a card in face-down defence position, and end my turn," Kuro D said, making Gray narrow his eyes.

"I swear to me, if that's another Marshmallon I'm going to hurt you," Gray grumbled, their budding argument interrupted as Neo appeared in the room, swaying slightly.

…how did she even manage to get drunk, she was immune to basically everything.

Stupid question, she got drunk the same way he did, by suppressing her resistances.

"No, Neo. I already know what you want and I'm not supposed to help the new gamers," Shiro answered the moment she went to 'speak'.

Obviously he'd fixed her voice aeons ago, but she preferred to not talk anyway.

He'd already seen what Markus and Neo had drunkenly come up with, and he'd admit it did look funny and he'd probably steal the idea to use for the guild, but-

'Please, please, please, please, it'll be really funny.'

Giving him the puppy dog eyes, he sighed as he placed a card face down, giving Kuro a suspicious look as his opponent smiled innocently.

"No means no," Shiro said sternly, making literally everyone in the room snort.

"Oh, since when?" Kuro asked, making him pause before he shrugged.

"Okay, poor choice of words but you know what I-"

Moving up to him, Neo whispered in his ear so quietly even he had to strain to hear her, his eyebrows rising slightly.

"Seriously?" Shiro asked, making Neo nod with a smug grin. "…fine, but after this game. I've nearly won anyway."

Ignoring Kuro mimicking the sound of a whip and Gray's subtle snort, he turned back to the game.

Like Isis didn't have Kuro wrapped around her little finger.

"I end my turn."

"Cool, I activate my trap card, Bad Reaction to Simochi," Kuro said, waiting to see if he'd block it.

He'd already used a lot of his cancelling cards to stop Kuro's other bullshit, so he had to let this go through.

"And then I activate Giftcard, Giftcard and Giftcard. You take 9000 damage, I win," Kuro said smugly, making him growl.

"Fuck you and burn your deck, if you guys let me play meta-"

"Meta is boring, now go do what your mistress wants," Kuro taunted, making him narrow his eyes.

They could mock him now, but they wouldn't be laughing when he got back. They were playing Civ next and he was going to completely demolish them.

"Fine, come on Neo, this shouldn't take me long to set up," Shiro sighed, tossing his pillow at Kuro.

Fortunately, tech was his speciality and this wouldn't take him any time at all to set up.

— Bruce Wayne (Batman) —

Legion was only getting more bold with his attacks, but this was beyond anything he'd done before.

Legion had somehow set up a website from which he could live-stream his crimes, and he'd quickly realised that the server it hosted on apparently didn't exist.

He'd immediately tried to hack the site, now he'd have to get Lucius to replace the Batcomputer after it caught fire then exploded.

It had started simply enough, with Legion announcing his new site on MHO, much to people's shock and horror as he posted a video of Arsenal being tortured and hunted for sport as a demonstration on the type of content they would be posting.

Green Arrow was distraught and furious, and the entire League was disgusted and enraged at Legion's actions. He knew a council meeting would be called soon but he honestly had very little to give them.

Some people asked why the mods didn't delete the thread, and they were right to wonder. Some people wondered if the mods were worried about Legion's retribution, or if he was holding people captive, but the simple truth was that they couldn't delete the thread or ban Legion's account.

The first time someone tried, they got a message from an account called 'You'll Scream for Ice Cream', with their full name, picture and location, right down to what room they were in.

Now the buttons to ban or delete his account simply weren't there.

Then he'd announced his first livestream, where four lucky players would get a chance to fight for their lives.

He'd kidnapped four people, two from Gotham and two from Star City, which added fuel to the growing theory that Legion was a group, not a single villain, and placed them in what appeared to be a large abandoned prison filled with hidden cameras.

The rules of this 'game' were simple, the four players needed to complete several 'objectives' to escape, in this case it was simply finding enough keys to open the exit, though Legion claimed they'd change the objective frequently to keep it fresh.

The catch? The keys were placed in frankly sadistic locations. One was in a pool filled with broken needles, for example.

They also had a time limit and an opponent. Legion stalked the halls, hunting the 'survivors', though it was obvious that he wasn't particularly trying too hard to kill them.

And to make matters worse, Legion had decided to allow audience participation, with the viewers getting to vote on various things.

They could vote to give the survivors help and make things easier or to hinder them and make the game harder. It turned out people voting anonymously on the internet could be very cruel indeed. One of the captives, Alexis Kaye, a student from Gotham University, had been captured early on and the viewers were allowed to vote on her fate.

'Minor punishment' had won, and they'd voted to have her stripped naked live on camera for the rest of the game.

Another survivor had been captured, an older male from Star City named Christopher Richards, and major punishment had won, with them voting to amputate one of his arms.

Legion made 'character profiles' for his victims, so the viewers would know who they were, their occupations and what family they had waiting for them.

Anytime a survivor was captured, the already massive and growing audience would get to vote on their fate, with the punishments and even executions being live-streamed as well.

The live chat showed how bad people could be, cheering as the survivors failed their tasks or were chased by Legion. Sure, plenty of people were calling Legion a monster but they were drowned out in a sea of enthusiastic viewers who seemed to thrive in having the power of life and death in their hands.

It was a problem because the 'good' viewers had quickly stopped watching, but that meant they'd miss the votes, while those who found this sick twisted game entertaining would still be there to vote.

So far, any attempt to hack the stream or 'cheat' the votes had resulted in utter failure and usually the destruction of the computer being used as devastating viruses flooded it.

Even his extremely advanced Batcomputer had fallen prey to them, and Barbara had reported that her computer had quite literally melted when she tried, causing a house fire that was extremely dangerous for her due to her disability.

The viewer count was only growing, and he could do nothing about this sick game Legion was forcing people to play. He had no idea where Legion kept taking his victims. Studying the environment they were in had not helped, with him finding no identifying features in the prison.

He found himself feeling utterly useless, forced to sit around and watch as Legion forced the people he had sworn to protect to play his sick games from the sidelines.

He didn't like it at all.

— Alexis Kaye —

She'd always had a boring life, as boring as living in Gotham could be anyway, and she'd always wished that something, anything, to happen that would add some excitement to it.

The saying 'be careful what you wished for' made so much more sense now, as she found herself back in her university dorm room, naked and bloodied.

Gotham's newest villain, the masked man only known as Legion, had targeted her, apparently on pure chance, dragging her away in the night to take part in a sadistic game, streamed for the whole world to watch.

She'd been slashed at by Legion himself, stripped naked in front of an audience of tens of thousands, tortured after she was captured again, Legion's blades cutting into her skin over and over again, but…

She'd won.

She'd gathered the five keys needed to escape the prison. Admittedly she'd taken three of them from the corpse of another survivor who'd been caught one too many times. She'd found one hanging from a rope at the top of some extremely precarious scaffolding that she'd managed to climb, and another was in a room that was completely pitch black, broken glass all over the floor.

Of the four players, only she had survived in the end. She had survived, naked and bloodied, pain and shame flooding her body in equal measures.

The entire world had seen her cry as her clothes were torn away, they'd heard her scream and beg as Legion cut into her, but she'd survived.

And it felt so damn good.

Even with the pain, she felt better than she ever had before. Nothing in her life compared to the feeling of joy and success as Legion told her she'd done it, she was free to go.

Her life, that she'd been so apathetic towards, seemed so much brighter now.

Despite the countless cuts on her body, she moved towards her computer and turned it on, not bothering to get dressed as she started to research.

She should have called the police, gone to the hospital, told someone she'd been let go, instead she painfully sat down in her chair.

Legion, her torturer. She needed to know more about him.

— Markus Gray —

"…we might have gotten a little carried away," I admit, making Neo shrug.

'It was fun though. You have good ideas.'

Yeah, I just stole the idea from Dead by Daylight to be honest, but it's an effective way of gathering fear from not just the participants but the viewers after Neo convinced Shiro to help set the site up.

I might have to recruit some killers and automate the games a little if I hold them regularly, grabbing people from all over the world to force them to take part. It'll be a constant supply of terror. Last night was lucrative.

[Chains of Pain]

You can summon portals from which you can project hooked and spiked chains to bind and pierce your victims.

[The Blight Lord]

You have gained the knowledge of how to design and craft diseases, viruses and other blights. Make Papa Nurgle proud.

[Mr Nice Guy]

You have a passive aura that tells people that you are a 'nice guy', preventing them from finding you suspicious or seeing you as a threat unless you attack them or act too suspiciously.

[Agent 47]

If you are wearing a uniform of any type, you will be able to blend in wherever that uniform would be applicable. In addition, you will gain the skills associated with that outfit, and the knowledge of how you should act to not break your cover.

I don't want anyone to think they're safe, no matter their race, gender, age or status: anyone could be the next participant.

'Plus, we wouldn't want people to think that you're a racist or sexist deranged serial killer.'

"Of course not, I'm an equal opportunity psychopath. Suffering is best shared with everyone," I say seriously, before we both burst into laughter. "I must say, it's been fun, Neo."

'Definitely. You more than lived up to my expectations and gave me a few ideas of my own. That said, Shiro will cry if I'm away too long- well that or he'll make a robot clone of me again.'

"And we wouldn't want that. It's been a genuine pleasure, Neo, I'm sure we can play again another time," I say, making her give me a grin and a wave as she disappears.

…Shiro is one lucky bastard.

Correct, nice going keeping her entertained. Most people don't survive having her attention that long.

Why? She's easy enough to keep happy, all she wants is to play, you just need to provide her with enough toys.

Heh, true.

After Roy, we ended up grabbing about a dozen more people from Star City to play with, no-one as special as Roy, and I didn't go for Deadshot's family since I figured their chance of surviving around Neo was… slim.

You're not wrong there.

But at some point during our drinking and playing, I came up with the idea of making it a real game, thanks for the help by the way.

Eh, let's just say Neo promised something that makes a little admin interference worth it and leave it at that.

Understood, feel free to send Neo here to play anytime you want her busy.

Heh, careful there kid, I just might take you up on that.

I'm counting on it. Good luck by the way, because I'm pretty sure Neo was getting seriously horny during the torture.

Yup, she just showed up with that look in her eyes. Have fun, kid… because I sure as fuck will.

Heh.

Before I go, I figure I owe you a small favour for wifesitting Neo during game night, any ideas what you want to make it even?

Hmm…

Actually, there is something you could do.

I see what you're thinking, that's actually a lot smaller than what I was expecting for you to ask for, so sure. If that's what you want I can do that. Hell, I can do one better.

Well, while I'm stealing ideas from games and movies I've watched, I might as well steal from shows as well.

True, why make what you can steal?

Words to live by.

— A Few Days Later —

Arriving at my destination, I smile as I adjust my tie.

"Ah, hello, can I help you?" the older woman at the front desk asks, making me smile calmly.

"Hello, my name is Markus Gray. I'm here for my job interview," I say with a happy smile.

"Ah, you're rather early, Mr. Gray, but I'll tell Commissioner Gordon that you're here," the GCPD receptionist says with a smile.

Meet Markus Gray, the hopeful new forensic scientist for GCPD. It turns out GCPD is kinda desperate when it comes to recruitment because I only applied two days ago, and they've already asked me to come in for an interview.

Shiro made sure I knew how to actually do the job, and that I'd have the paperwork to prove I definitely studied forensics in university.

Hey, it worked for Dexter Morgan.

— Bonus Scene — Oliver Queen (Green Arrow)

Death was an unfortunate reality of the hero business. As carefree as he acted he knew that.

This wasn't death, this wasn't Roy catching a bullet on a patrol or dying in battle with a villain, this was something much, much worse.

"You should stop watching tha-" Dinah started, cutting off as he glared at her, before sighing. It wasn't her fault.

He hadn't parted on good terms with Roy, but he still cared for his former sidekick a great deal, and seeing what those… lunatics had done to him drove him to an emotion beyond fury.

Thea had been sick after she watched it, and her confidence in becoming a hero had been severely shaken as she saw what could have been her fate.

He had no idea why Legion, a villain from Gotham, had targeted Roy, but he intended to find out.

The League didn't approve of killing, he'd already been under scrutiny for his actions after he'd returned to Star City from Lian Yu, but their disapproval meant nothing to him right now.

Legion would pay for this, painfully and slowly.

"I know," Oliver finally said, closing the video he'd watched a dozen times, watching for anything he could use to find Legion. "Legion is going to suffer for this."

"I know, and I'll help if you'll have me," Dinah said, making him smile softly despite the rage and pain in his chest.

He'd let Roy go off alone, he'd thought Roy was ready… Now all he felt was guilt and pain.

"I'll take anything I can get," Oliver said gratefully, glaring hatefully at the picture of Legion's grinning mask.

Legion was living on borrowed time.