Ch 17

[Batman Pov]

A young brunette girl appeared in Bruce's line of sight. 

"Get ready, something is coming!" Bruce screamed.

"We know!" They all screamed back at him.

"Batman for some reason none of my powers are really working here. I am essentially a normal human." Superman said.

"As am I." Wonder Woman said

"Me too, I can't use any of my abilities." Martian Manhunter said

"Looks like I'm taking the lead," Batman said

They all got in fighting positions, with Batman in front. However the young girl merely kept walking, they heard an innocent giggle as the girl slowly approached.

What they saw mortified them. The young brunette was bleeding from her eyes and her throat was slashed. The girl couldn't have been more than 5-6 years old. She slowly approached Batman and smiled. A disgusting black liquid oozed from her gums. She let out a giggle, it sounded pure and innocent despite her appearance. She reached out to Batman, and Batman slowly lowered his hands from his fighting stance. She wrapped her hand in his and gently pulled him. Nudging him to follow her.

"Keep your guard up. Let's see what she wants," Batman said.

Bruce was wary and on guard as he looked around at the mountain of corpses.

"It's disgusting here," Bruce thought.

"What sort of nonsense is going on inside Will's mind this is a horrible place. Even just being here is painful." Manhunter said.

"I'm not sure, but there is something horrible here. Something truly evil living inside the boy." Wonder Woman said

As they walked forward Bruce noticed it was getting more and more painful to merely exist in this hideous place. The air seemed toxic and burned, the gravity was so strong it caused your legs to shake, the feeling of overwhelming dread permeated the air, and the air smelled of rot and iron. It was a hideous place he thought to himself, he hoped they wouldn't be stuck here for long. We should have taken the boy's words more seriously. 

The five of them traversed through the canyon of corpses and trudged through the river of blood. Superman's knees were shaking, he was having a hard time holding on the closer they got to the black throne. "Superman, are you okay, do you need help?" Batman asked.

"No I'm fine Batman, it feels like I'm under a red sun here. It's painful, so painful." Superman said

"You have to push through it, we are almost to the mountain," Batman said. 

"I know, it's just getting worse the closer we get." 

"What about you Manhunter and Wonder Woman? Do you think you can make it" Batman asked

Diana was sweating, each breath she took looked pained. "I should be good to continue. I hope we can leave this disgusting place soon." She said 

"Agreed, what sort of place is this to cause this much pain from purely existing in the realm? It feels like I am near a hot fire." Martian Manhunter said 

They continued to follow the young girl, who skipped along humming a sinister tune. Eventually, they made it to the mountain of corpses, with the pitch-black throne atop it. 

"Kekekeke" they heard the most hideous demonic laugh Bruce had ever heard coming from the top of the mountain.

They began to climb it, but as they got closer to the throne, it became harder and harder, much faster. Suddenly, the four of them collapsed onto the ground, unable to take even another step. The gravity and hideous pressure had become too much for them to handle. 

"My god, you can't even make it this far huh? I've been making it easier for you. The boy usually gets the full force of this place. Maybe he's better than I thought." The demon said, laughing 

Suddenly the space around them froze and each one of them was lifted up off the ground. The four of them slowly levitated off the ground and flew up to the peak of the mountain. 

When they reached the foot of the throne the four of them were dropped from the sky. Each member of the Justice League tried to pick themselves off the ground. They stood on wobbly legs and what they saw shocked them. It was Will sitting there chained to the throne, long black horns on his head and bright red eyes with those strange black crosses staring back at them. He had the most evil smile they had ever seen. Black tribal tattoos covered his face and body, and his aura was pure evil. His eyes were unfeeling, murderous, and cold. 

"Hehehe welcome, we don't get many visitors here. It's nice to meet you all. Even though each one of you is even more pathetic than the boy. The boy survived here for much longer and under much harsher conditions. I had to help make the pressure bearable, but you couldn't even take this much." Each word he said pierced into Bruce's soul, it grated against his ears and filled him with dread. 

"Will, let us go, we won't come back here." Wonder Woman said

"Mmmmmmmm, no." The demon replied nonchalantly. 

"Now you, I have a bone to pick with you, Bruce." The demon said.

"You have been making the boy pathetic, if it weren't for your bullshit rules, I'd have already had him slaughtering his enemies like the true demon he is. Stay the fuck out of my way." The demon growled as the pressure around Batman increased. Batman was forced to his knees, he ground his teeth in pain. It hurt, it hurt far worse than when Bane snapped his back. This was the worst pain he had experienced up to this point. 

"He wants so badly to make you happy and to protect the wards under your care. It's fucking disgusting. What does a demon need rules or friends for anyways. The boy is so pathetic, so weak, he needs me, needs my help. It's fucking embarrassing we have to share the same body as he is now." The demon said.

"What do you know? Let us go, now." Batman growled out. 

"I know everything. I suppose I could let you go, but if I do, would the woman be offered up? I'm in need of a slave. The boy would certainly enjoy what I'd do to her." He said as he stared at Wonder Woman as if she wasn't even a person.

Wonder Woman looked furious when he said that. 

"Come now, doll face, it gets lonely in here. Me and the boy could enjoy you as much as we want. Kekeke." The demon said, licking his lips with his pitch-black tongue.

"No need for a response from you, I'm speaking to the men now. Your keepers." He said, laughing at her.

She looked humiliated and angry when he said that.

"No man is my keeper demon; I suggest you watch your mouth." She said pridefully.

"Really, it seems to me like the blue and black one tells you what to do. The one in black is weaker than you, and you still aren't in charge. How pathetic." The demon said.

Suddenly, the pressure around Wonder Woman increased tenfold, and she collapsed to the ground. The pressure increased around her, and she grit her teeth in pain. 

"Prostrate yourself before me, and I might make it stop. I can make it much worse. All you have to do is degrade yourself before me." The demon said with a sadistic smile on its face. The demon's words grated on Bruce's ears. Wonder Woman held her head high and refused to go down, no matter how much pressure the demon applied to her. Batman and Superman seemed furious, each word he spoke made them angrier and angrier. Martian Manhunter was the only one who seemed calm.

"Guys, stop, don't let him get to you. He's trying to rile us up." J'onn said.

The demon rolled his eyes, and Martian Manhunter was slammed into the floor face-first immediately. He tried to get back up, and blood began oozing from his eyes and mouth. 

"Do not speak about me, you green freak. Your kind is even more pathetic than the humans. All full of empathy and compassion, constantly peering into the minds of others. If it were up to me, I'd burn your useless world to the ground. So much power and yet you use it for all the wrong reasons, same with you blue man." The demon said laughing at the Martians' expense.

"What do you know about the right and wrong reasons? It seems like all you crave is death and destruction." Superman said

"The right and wrong reasons are whatever I want them to be, as the strongest. I promise you won't be mouthing off when I have the boy enslave your sister Kara or whatever the little sluts name is." the demon growled and forced Superman onto his knees along with everyone else.

"He doesn't know; he knows some things but not all. I'm sure he doesn't even know what Manhunter or any of our weaknesses are. He doesn't know who we are except for me. He's trying to get under our skin." Bruce thought to himself.

"Now that we've dealt with that, back to you, Bruce." The demon said 

"You've stunted the boy's growth long enough; do you even understand what he's up against? You saw a glimpse of the boy's elder brother from around ten years ago. Can you imagine how powerful he has become in that time? Huh, can you?" The demon screamed at Batman, when he did everyone's, ears began to bleed. Each one of their eardrums ruptured in the demon's realm. Despite this, they could all hear as if nothing happened. Each one of them refused to cry out in pain, in order to not give this thing with the boy's face the satisfaction. They merely grunted.

Suddenly Bruce's vision went black, and he saw the boy from before with yellow eyes. Strange tattoos and scars all over the boy's body. All he was doing was standing there on what looked to be some sort of demonic beach. The water was pitch black, and the sands were stained with blood. Suddenly behind the boy, out of the sea rose a massive 10,000 foot tall red dragon with seven heads, each head had a blasphemous name written on it. It radiated more power than any of them had encountered thus far. Batman wondered if he and the League could defeat that thing at full power; it was beyond anything he had seen before. "The boy's brother is the beast, he has told you this repeatedly, what do you not understand, Batman? The boy's brother must be defeated before it's too late. He will come for Will because of the markings on his back. Will is the seventh head of the dragon. Let him ascend to demon-hood and take his rightful place as the ruler of all." Said a voice echoing in their ears. Suddenly, Bruce's vision returned, and he was face-to-face with the demon once again. 

"There is no way your pathetic Justice League can stand up to this level of power." Said the demon.

"If there is a threat to our world, the Justice League will fight to the end." Said Wonder Woman.

"This is the boy's fate; you cannot stop it." The demon said mockingly.

"Nothing is set in stone; Anyone can redeem themselves. Anyone can change." Superman said.

"I suppose it isn't exactly set in stone; many have come before him with the mark. Many, that were far more evil than Will and far stronger. Some readily accepted me. Some didn't. All were killed before they could fully grow up." The demon sighed, then let out a vicious smirk.

"Though I suppose none of them were like Will, who wants to be good. It has to be that mother of his who got that foolish notion in his head. Though as things are every day that passes, he becomes one step closer to becoming… yours truly." The demon chuckled.

"Will is nothing like you," Batman said angrily. 

Suddenly, a voice appeared behind the four of them. "Shut the fuck up you don't know what you are talking about." The voice screamed.

Will appeared behind the four of them, standing as tall as he could with his 5'9" height.

"You are so full of fucking shit, let them go now!" He said dangerously, eyes glowing bright red staring into the demon's own. 

The demon chuckled, "Well, look who decided to join the party. How did you get in? I didn't open the door for you." 

"No shit, I snuck in behind them. I figured you'd do something stupid like this." Will said angrily

"Stupid? Look at what I got us, a good piece of ass. I know you like her. Come on, have a taste." the demon said sinisterly.

"Anyways, now that I know what's up, it's made me all the more certain of what I need to do. That's become a force of good in this world. I ain't rocking out with no demon shit. Also, another thing I'm not playing with you anymore, stop being so fucking rapey women and men included do not deserve to be treated that way. I'm not touching her and you sure as shit won't either. I'll find some way to rid myself of you one of these days, for sure. Now let them go." Will said angrily as he folded his arms across his chest. 

"If I say no, what will you do, huh? Kill me? I'm the one in control here, not you." The demon said.

Will was filled with a righteous fury unlike any he had ever felt before. "If you don't, and if you lay a single fucking hand on her." He said as he pointed to Wonder Woman, "Then when I leave here, and I will leave here, I will instantly kill myself as soon as I wake up." 

"You're bluffing." The demon said seriously.

"I know you can read my thoughts; I think you know I'm serious." Will said calmly in a serious tone.

The demon gulped, "If I still disagree? What do I get in return here? I'm giving up a nice piece of ass for your sake. There isn't much here that's very nice to look at." He said

Will snorted, "I wonder why that is? If you agree to this, and let them out now: one, we both won't die, and two I'll remove a single chain from you. Only one."

"Will, don't do it! Don't let this thing out." Bruce screamed

"The world needs you more than me, Batman. It needs all of you more than me. If this is the price, I must pay, then so be it." Will said calmly, resolve etched into his face.

"Deal." The demon said 

"Remember what I will do if you go back on your word," Will said. Then he turned to Batman and the rest of them.

"Never come back here. All of you don't come back," Will said.

Then he walked up to the demon. 

"Tell me what to do." Will said

"Cut your hand and pour your blood over the chain. Then simply break it, that's all." The demon said

"Fine," Will replied. 

Bruce watched on as Will used his hand to slash into his other one. Red blood dripped down from the palm of his right hand. Will reached up and smashed the chain that held the demon's left hand above his head to the black iron throne.

Then suddenly all of them were sucked out, the last thing they heard was a horrendously evil maniacal laugh that echoed through their heads. It was not a mere chuckle, it was pure hysterical laughter. 

Suddenly, Bruce woke up on the floor of the interrogation room drenched with sweat.