NOONAN'S SLEAZY BAR #72

Gotham Downtown

The Cauldron

'This should be the place...' I mused, standing in front of a shabby-looking bar at the corner with NOONAN'S SLEAZY BAR written in a faded black color above its entrance.

'Sounds like a charming place...' I grinned under my helmet, shaking my head as I walked to the entrance, already hearing murmuring from the interior as I reached the door and opened it.

The bar's interior was as shabby as its exterior and was empty save for Selina in her Catwoman costume and three unfamiliar faces I didn't recognize.

The three strangers were men, two of which looked very seedy and thuggish in casual streetwear mixed with military jackets, and the third was a refined man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, rocking short brown hair with a white patch in the middle.

Everyone stopped talking when I walked in, and I noticed the seedy-looking duo subtly reaching for their sides, where they probably had their weapons.

I ignored the two shady men and nodded at Selina as I walked toward her while keeping the two men in my line of sight.

"Relax, boys. He's the guy I've been telling you about," Selina said, grinning as she turned to the two men reaching for their weapons. They relaxed, but their hands remained close to their sides.

"He's here to help, aren't you, Mr. Wraith?" Selina added, her grin widening and turning to tease as she regarded me with one of the most obnoxious expressions I've ever seen despite the mask covering half of her face.

"Don't. Call me that," I blankly replied, frowning at the name under my mask, regretting my actions of spooking so many thugs every time I went on patrol, prompting them to give me such an edgy-sounding name.

"As for why I'm here... it depends on what you need me for and how much you're willing to pay," I added, shrugging and turning to the two thuggish men who needed the help to according to Selina's words.

"Well, I'm sure Tommy and Natt here will be more than happy to explain the situation to you..." Selina said while gesturing at the two men, and they shared a look before spending the next ten minutes explaining the situation in great detail.

...

"So... let me get this straight..." I remarked, surveying the bar and alternating my gaze between Selina and the three men present, and my expression couldn't be weirder. Luckily, I was wearing my riot gear, and no one could see it.

"There's a bunch of gun demons in hell, the Arkannone, and they are after you, a street-level killer for hire..." I remarked as I turned to Tommy Monaghan, who was the said demons' target.

"... Because they want to recruit you as their agent after you destroyed an entire crime family...?" I blankly added, holding back a chuckle at the ridiculousness of the situation. Gun demons? As in gunslinging demonic creatures from hell?

Like, what the fuck? Why the fuck? How the fuck? So many fucking questions!

"More or less..." Tommy replied, frowning, and my empathy picked up some discomfort and annoyance when I called him a street-level killer for hire.

"And the Arkannone sent a supposedly unkillable demon, the Mawzir, after you?" I asked, making a mental note of his discomfort at what I called him.

'Was it the killer for hire part or street level part that bothered him more...?'

"It's the second time the demon came after me. I killed it the first time, but it came back stronger than before," Tommy replied, nodding his head and hiding his discomfort.

"We couldn't beat it when it came back the second time, but I managed to glimpse into its mind..." Tommy added, gesturing towards the dark-skinned man who was standing beside him.

"I saw Catwoman's image in the demon's head and caught something about a burglary..." Tommy concluded as he turned to Catwoman, and she smiled as she took over the explanation.

"Someone had anonymously hired me to steal an antique rifle recently, the Ace of Winchester's, from Gotham's Museum of Antiquities," Catwoman explained as she took a photo of the stolen rifle showing it to me.

"Right, so you went for Jason Blood, the world's leading expert on demonology... pleasure, by the way," I said as I turned to the refined-looking man, and he nodded and smiled at me.

"And you two somehow kidnapped him from the airport...?" I added, and my tone was genuinely confused as I alternated my gaze between the supposed ancient sorcerer and the two seedy-looking thugs, much to the former's amusement.

Tommy Monaghan and Natt The Hat (a stupid name, by the way) didn't seem so amused as they frowned, clearly bemused by my constant disregard. Not that I cared, mind you.

I wasn't interested in making friends with the two thugs and had no problems making that as apparent as possible. One of them (Tommy, since the demon was after him) probably had a comic series in his name, and the current events are a part of it.

That's why I didn't want to make friends with them because he'd likely be dealing with demons and hell regularly, and I wanted no part of that, no more than the part I was about to play, anyway.

Jason Blood was even worse since he had a literal prince of hell bound to his soul and had been dealing with magic and demonic bullshitry for centuries.

He didn't tell me as much himself, but I knew about him from reading the comics.

As for why I was being disrespectful to the two thugs and respectful to Jason Blood, despite both parties having a connection to demons and hell?

It's because the latter was actually capable and very knowledgeable, and it wouldn't hurt to play nice and make a connection with him now in case I needed his help later. In other words, it was all strictly business.

"I was having a bad day," Jason Blood remarked as if that would explain why two common thugs could kidnap him, and I didn't bother to question it, merely shrugging my shoulders.

"In any case, the Ace of Winchesters is one of the few weapons capable of permanently killing demons..." Jason added, gesturing to the side. "It was created by an occultist who was part of the texas rangers from halo-steel and hades-gems, bound in the ivory of saints," he added, and again I didn't bother to question the logic behind his words.

"The demon, the Mawzir, hired Catwoman to steal it so it wouldn't fall in Tommy Monaghan's hands..." he added, sighing in annoyance as he leaned into his chair.

"The demon most likely sent the rifle to hell already, and I mean that in a literal sense," the demonologist explained, shaking his head. "Normally, I'd have Etrigan retrieve the rifle, but he's currently preoccupied and isn't responding to my calls," he concluded with a helpless sigh.

"I suppose weirder things have happened in this world," I remarked with a scoff, shrugging my shoulders, and Selina immediately sent me a grin that said, I know, right?

"So... what do you need of me?" I asked after a second's pause seeing no one else had anything to add to the story. "I'll tell you right now if anyone asks me to go to hell, they better be ready to go there themselves, figuratively," I added, firmly shaking my head as I turned to the two killers for hire.

"Then it's a good thing no one needs to go to hell, figuratively or otherwise," Jason replied with a chuckle, carelessly shrugging his shoulders.

"Etrigan will take care of the Arkannone and retrieve the Ace of Winchesters once he concludes his business in hell," he added, lightly spreading his arms apart as he turned to Tommy Monaghan.

"The Mawzir is currently in Gotham, and it took over a crime organization recently," Tommy Monaghan explained after nodding at Jason and turning to me.

"We need to hold back the demon and its henchmen until Etrigan is free to take care of things in hell," Tommy calmly added, causing me to frown under my mask as I turned back to Jason Blood.

Etrigan might be unavailable, but Jason Blood was a centuries old magic user, and should be more than powerful enough to take care of a stray demon and a bunch of thugs, or buy enough time, at least, if the demon is really unkillable.

"As I've said, bad day. I'm currently unable to conjure any magic," Jason remarked, shrugging his shoulders, and I sighed as I went quiet and began debating the pros and cons.

I didn't hesitate for long, though.

"250k and the rifle," I calmly remarked, stating my price as I turned to Tommy Monaghan and frowned as I felt a tendril reaching toward my brain from his direction.

'Is he...?' My frown turned into a scowl as I realized what he was trying to do and promptly snapped, thanking my lucky stars that my brain seems to have evolved a mental defense mechanism along the way.

I didn't know about it before and didn't risk testing it for obvious reasons, but it made sense as my Mind attribute represented and improved all aspects of my brain, including its defenses.

"Motherfucker!" I exclaimed, speeding towards the killer for hire as I gripped his head and bashed it against the bar. "Try that again; and the demon will be the last of your worries!" I added as I took out Ebony and put it to his head.

...

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