7 Was it worth it?

"We're here," expressed the driver as we arrived at an unknown location. These were the only words the driver had spoken the entire time, seemingly irritated by the presence of the two in the back seat because of Johnny and Merlot's endless banter with one another.

In the beginning of the ride, they excitedly bantered back and forth about how rich they'd become after selling me at something called a Crime Convention. They said they were lucky to find someone who was their client's ideal toy. They would be playing with money while a stranger would be playing with me.

I didn't know how much people made off of selling people, but I smelled levels of delusion spewing from their mouths.

From what they discussed, the Crime Convention was a place where the Gotham Underworld and all of its crime families would commune and indulge in acts such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, weapon dealing, and any kind of debauchery one could think of.

It was held twice a year in Gotham at random locations, hosted by a nameless individual whose true identity no one was certain of.

From what I heard, earlier in the day they had sold Joseph's sister at an auction. Their client ended up being so satisfied with their "product" that he apparently directly got in contact with Johnny and Merlot, giving them a handsome bonus on top of their earnings from the actual auction, which was somewhere around 300k; definitely not enough to thrive in Gotham, but enough to live comfortably.

The Client they spoke of… He had a taste for children. Ones that looked similar to me. In their words: 'Cute ones with blue eyes; Preferably little boys.'

Hearing those words made my blood boil. I knew this client was a repeat offender, but hearing the fact made me sick to my stomach. To be frank, they made me sick to my stomach, but they would soon get what they deserve.

"Fuckin Finally! I was about to yak in there," Merlot grumbled, swinging the door open, hopping out of the van.

"We should've thrown that body out sooner. That smell's probably gonna stay in this piece of crap for weeks," he voiced, frustrated, turning around to us.

Even though they had blindfolded me, I could still sense everything around me with my sixth sense; in fact, so clearly that I basically could see them even if they ran miles away from me. So clearly that I knew we were currently in upper East Old Gotham, a few city blocks away from The Finger River. If I wanted to, I could have escaped easily… but that wasn't today's goal.

The reason for this was because prior to being abducted, I had memorized the entire geography of Gotham City in my head to the point that I knew it like the back of my hand.

On top of that, with my sixth sense, I could effortlessly see and feel the electromagnetic field that surrounded any living creature from quite a distance.

Currently, I perceived that we were in front of a seemingly abandoned building. The reason "Seemingly" was used was that just about 150 feet underground, there were people in the lower thousands mingling in a wide-open auditorium that expanded to the size of a football field.

My two abductors were clueless. While they yapped, I listened and plotted.

"Honestly, I feel ya on that. I'm surprised the chomo candy in the back didn't throw up the whole time. He was sitting right next to 'em," Johnny chuckled, referring to me. He then reached his arm to the back, yanking me by the shirt, dragging me with one arm out of the van.

"You think the guy's gonna care about the little bit of blood he's got on his pants?" Johnny asked.

"Nah. I doubt that… It'll probably turn the suck SOB on," Merlot shrugged.

During the car ride, I had to spend an entire hour laying next to the decomposing corpse. My sense of smell was many times better than the average human's so all I smelled the entire time was blood, brain matter, piss, and shit because the body ended up voiding its bowels. Experiencing this made me harden my resolve further.

Even when the dead body had slammed against mine as the driver had taken sharp turns, I remained silent and didn't say a word.

They tried to taunt me, but I refused to give them a reaction. I could tell that's what they wanted— to thrive off my fear, but I didn't have any. Just determination and conviction. My hands were zip-tied, my clothes were wet, and I was angry.

Although I never wanted to be in my situation, I felt like it was necessary to go through what I was going through. I needed to understand just how cruel this world was… And I wanted to try to mentally adapt to it. I needed to.

They laughed at what happened to Joseph's sister. They even talked about how they envied their client, wanting to be the young girl's first instead. Merlot even went into great detail in which he explained how he wanted to defile the young woman before today, but he valued the money he received from whoever I was getting sold to even more than Anna's life.

It truly made me wonder… just how often did this kind of horror story happen in Gotham… no, how often did it happen around the world?

Being exposed to cruel shit wasn't anything that I wasn't used to… but to experience it firsthand was leaps and bounds different. It made me wonder… was this the kind of thing that happened on the daily? Did it happen more because we had no heroes or powers? I had so much to think about that I was basically overstimulated and damn near paralyzed in ponderance.

I… I wanted to use my powers to stop it all. I didn't want people to suffer like how Anna did.

I… I wanted to use my powers for good and didn't want to feel like how I was feeling right now ever again.

Snatching me all the way out of the car, Johnny grabbed me by the neck like a lion to one of its cubs and dangled my body in the air like a piece of meat.

"This kid's been kinda weird, right, or is it just me?" Johnny asked.

"What do you mean?" Merlot wondered, lighting a cigarette, blowing the smoke disrespectfully in my direction.

"I mean, he hasn't talked since we picked him up. Is he even still alive?"

"Huh? Johnny, you have your entire hand around his fuckin neck. Can't you check his pulse or something?"

"You don't think I have, smartass? Why do you think I'm asking you?"

"Because you're 4 IQ points away from legally being a potato. But if you're telling me the truth and actually checked, kudos to you, big man. Look at you, proving me wrong and checking a pulse. Good job," Merlot sarcastically clapped.

"I get it. You're short. That inferiority complex manifests in weird ways, but are you gonna check the kid or not?" Johnny asked.

*tsk*

Taking one last drag of his cigarette, Johnny walked up to me, putting his fingers to the side of my neck.

After a few seconds of not feeling anything, Johnny's breathing started to irregular, a sign that he was getting nervous.

"Shit! Fuck!"

Panicking, Merlot quickly began untying my blindfold.

"I mean, he's still warm and everything. He doesn't look pale or anything, so he might just be sleeping or something."

"What in the fuck are you yapping about? Of course his skin's not pale, you fuckin mook. He's black! Use your god damn head."

Finally managing to remove my blindfold, Merlot's heart began to rapidly beat… that was until I opened my eyes, causing him to jump back.

"Holy fuck!" Merlot tripped over himself, landing on his ass.

"Haha. You said something about me being a potato earlier? You see how karma works?" Johnny smiled.

"Hey, fuck you, and fuck you too, you little shit. Those creepy-ass glowing blue eyes of his threw me off guard," Merlot got up, dusting himself off.

Grabbing my face and squeezing my cheeks together with one hand, he then whispered in my ear.

"Well, the jokes on. Say bye to your mommy and daddy forever. We got you a new daddy for you, and you're gonna hate 'em," Johnny smirked, but again, I showed no emotion.

"This kid's a robot. I don't even think he cares," voiced Johnny, finally putting me down on the ground. Rolling his eyes, Merlot turned around chuckling, grabbing two black domino masks out of the front seat of the van, tossing one to Johnny.

Taking off his skull mask, he finally revealed his face revealing an average-looking clean-shaven Italian man in his mid-30s.

Johnny then did the same, revealing his face to be that of a handsome younger man with a slit in his left eyebrow and cauliflowered right ear, a trademark in individuals who fought professionally.

'They don't care whether I see their face or not… they think they know that this is the last time we'll see each other.' I thought to myself, feeling my upper lip twitch.

They were right… but not for the reason they thought.

"I might not be the person to do it, but he's gonna show a whole lot of emotion pretty soon, just like he did with that junky kid earlier, times a thousand. Jokes on him," Merlot shrugged.

Looking up, I saw Johnny's face… he wasn't smiling. He had a look of sorrow and discomfort written all over it… I could see it, even through his half mask… but it meant nothing to me.

I could tell he wasn't 100% committed just by looking in his eyes, but I was. Him and Merlot were cut from the same cloth, and from how their conversations went, it was evident that this wasn't their first outing doing something like this. Not by a long shot. I had no sympathy to give either of the two, not even the driver.

Catching my glance, Johnny pushed me forward, causing me to fall to my knees.

"The fuck are you looking at. Fix your fuckin face and keep it pushing," Picking myself up, I did exactly as he said.

"Boy-oh-boy! Money's comin Johnny! You smell it?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Natural blue streaks going through his hair and no dye? Glowing blue eyes? We're basically selling an alien at this point. Money-Money!" Merlot chuckled.

"Man… medical bills, car, house, credit? All of that crap is completely paid off after today. After that, we'll still have enough to keep it going if our guy's pockets are deep like we think they are."

"I couldn't agree more," Johnny mumbled.

"What do you think, kid? You excited for us?" Merlot asked, slapping my face a few times playfully.

"…"

"Eh… you're so goddamn boring. At least pretend to be a little scared," he sighed, as we approached the side of the abandoned building.

"Monte, give us about 4 hours! Spin off real quick!" He yelled at the driver. Nodding, Monte made his way east.

'Monte…'

Another name was locked into my memory bank… so was his scent, and so was his energy signature.

Merlot began feeling the wall until he found a secret latch at the base. Pulling it, the wall in front of us split down the middle revealing that it was in fact a doorway that led to a narrow lustrously lit hallway.

The walls were painted in a black and white striped pattern while the floor looked like it was made of marble and had gold flakes embedded in it.

The floors were so spotless that it almost felt ominous… freshly swept, mopped, and waxed; not a dust particle in sight.

With every step we took, there was an echo down the elongated hall where at the end, a tall muscular, handlebar mustache-wearing, bald gentleman stood beside an elevator.

As we came face to face with him, he bowed his head revealing gruesome scars all over his scalp.

"Greetings once more, gentlemen." He wore a black velvet suit with a strange floral pattern on it.

"Now, before you enter, what is the—"

"The city where the Owl watches. Let us down, Jerry," Merlot rolled his eyes.

Calmly taking a pocket watch with a strange owl crest engraved on it, Jerry then pulled out a small collapsible key out, inserting it into a locking mechanism behind him.

Once he did, a tiny slot on the wall opened, revealing a lens which began to scan the man's eye with infrared rays.

It was strange, I could feel an odd, uncomfortable, and warm vibration emitting from the scanner as it did its job… it made me wonder how other waves on the EM spectrum would feel if I was exposed to them. Would they hurt? What would happen if I was hit with a microwave directly? What would happen if it had been directly attacked with gamma?

'I'll get there when I get there.' I thought as the scanner finished. As it did, the elevator doors opened once again revealing its luxurious interior.

"Caution saved the cat, Mr. Merlot. Don't forget," Jerry politely bowed once more, concealing his watch in his pocket.

All three of us then walked in while Jerry stuck to his post as the doors shut behind. Strangely enough, there were no floors to select. The elevator automatically began to descend as the two men began nodding their heads to the elevator music.

"Alright kid. After today, you won't have to worry about seeing us again… probably anything for that matter," Merlot voiced, wanting to jab at me one final time.

I didn't reply, of course. I only kept my eyes forward, feeling out the auditorium with my sixth senses

As the doors opened, I was almost overwhelmed, visually, and audibly.

It was almost like we walked into a stadium that was renovated into a department store for illegal goods. There were kiosks, stores, and all. Everything was well-lit as the people participating had nothing to hide. It was their business.

. What was most jarring was that the way we entered wasn't the only one; and for each entrance, a camera recorded for all to see, splayed on a gigantic monitor that hung from the ceiling displaying all that entered or exited.

As we popped up on the big screen, the eyes of many patrons fell upon us… me specifically. Because I could see in 360 degrees, I could feel the gazes as well as see them.

"We're around the big leagues again. Who would've thought…twice in a day," Johnny smirked.

"Yeah. All these people have their fingers in the Gotham underground pie. Soon, at the rate we're rising, we're gonna be able to get a slice soon," Merlot uttered as we began to move through crowds of people.

We strode past dozens of stations where various vendors sold all different kinds of products. Guns, blades, drugs, vehicles, exotic animals, fabrics, food of unknown origin, maps, and artifacts; And that was just what I could see out in the open. There were still people running their own stores out the building.

Whoever these people were, they had everything that a criminal would long for… Including.

For a moment, we stopped in front of a store that was labeled the pet shop. Looking from the outside in… I saw people browsing as if it was a candy store.

"You see that? That's the good ole Pet shop right there. They hold auctions for people like you," Merlot softly voiced, crouching down to make sure that I was hearing him.

Whoever the owner of the shop was, they had collared human beings in cages, young and old, bunched together in a small space with barely enough room to breathe, let alone move. Compared to the people outside of cages, they had it easy.

The ones who could move were chained to walls, battered and beaten. Some looked sick while others were void of life.

They were all alive, but they were broken.

These slaves were the ones that were branded with what looked to be a hot Iron rod… on their legs and arms, the word rental was engraved on their skin.

These were young men and women with lives on the outside… yet they were here, robbed of everything including their spirits. They came in every race, every skin color, and from every walk of life. Some probably even were trafficked over from different continents.

They didn't have it in them to hate their capturers responsible anymore. They didn't even have it in them to fear. They were broken.

I—I hated what I was seeing. I was infuriated. I wanted to transform into the biggest animal I could to kill everyone that was either responsible or allowing such things to happen.

'Be—Be patient Ken. Be patient.'

*snap*

Without realizing it, I broke the zip-tie that was binding me which made Merlot and Johnny look at me in surprise.

"The hell?"

Merlot voiced, looking at Johnny with irritation.

"What? Don't look at me. I used the new ones. Blame the guy that made 'em, not me," Johnny retorted.

*sigh*

"You got more? He doesn't like when they fight back," Merlot expressed, putting his fingers in the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Taking out 3 new zip-ties, Johnny handed them to Merlot who began to wrap them around my wrist so tightly that my skin began to warp.

"No, hopefully these cheap pieces of garbage hold 'em," he nodded.

What troubled me… what really sickened me was that I knew there were other rooms hidden behind the walls around us… rooms that I prognosticated were for individuals to abuse others.

I had super hearing… I could hear all of it, including men, women, and children screaming behind soundproofed walls while others heard classical music through the auditorium speakers.

*sigh*

'Just hold on Kenneth. Hold on. Be strong.'

"Let's go," Merlot demanded, leading us away.

While I tried my hardest to calm myself, I took note of my surroundings as best I could.

What I realized was that everything around us… to the patrons, this was their normal. Many leisurely roamed around browsing, laughing, drinking, and having the time of their lives spending money on things like weapons and weird-looking artifacts.

Some were scammers, thieves, and manipulators who were trying to find ways to capitalize on others.

Some in the auditorium wore masks just like Merlot and Johnny in order to conceal their identities and judging by some of their clothes, I understood why.

Some were more than likely using their time here to commit acts that would've normally been shunned in everyday society, and for good reason. This was a place where any and everything was allowed.

There wasn't a single direction I looked where a person where I didn't see a person snorting or injecting drugs. Some were openly doing sexual acts while others watched on in a circle. From eavesdropping on these individuals, I knew that they were either politicians, the rich, or celebrities.

Others from lower social standing had nothing to hide. For the lesser privileged groups, this was their opportunity to network and climb their way up. Or at least, that was the general consensus I came to.

It honestly astonished me that some went out of their way to purchase spots in VIP areas that were divided by red rope and luxurious furniture all for the sake of maintaining the image of being better than the rest.

While they indulged in egocentricity and debauchery, normal people gambled and gossiped. Even while still angered, I listened to the ongoing events transpiring around the world.

Tuning everything else out, I heard them whisper about a new form of online currency that was untraceable. A currency that could be used to buy all kinds of illegal goods through the dark web.

Some lacked faith in the concept, but I knew better. This was valuable information I would save in my memory vault.

"Hey. You hear that Cobblepot was here before we left?" Johnny asked as we began nearing private rooms.

"Yeah, I did. Natt told me when we were here earlier. I kinda wanna meet 'em. Everybody knows that he's one of the top dogs around here. Has been for the past 20 years," Merlot replied.

"You think he's still here? If he is, should we introduce ourselves?"

"In a crowded place like this? I don't think we'll even get the chance. But if we do, we'll have to get to 'em after we get rid of little man. Money first," Merlot stated.

"Makes sense to me," Johnny nodded.

"Anyway, he should be in room A-17," Merlot voiced. As we walked, I caught sight of just how secure the convention actually was. Security measures were the first thing I should've focused on upon stepping foot in the convention, but I was too overwhelmed.

There were armored security guards with rifles at their ready, lined up against every wall between stores while there were guards with snipers standing atop platforms that were mounted up about 50 feet in the sky.

In total, 82 guards had their eyes on each and every part of the venue while there were 24 who roamed while undercover, acting as guests.

I was able to spot them rather quickly with the help of my 6th sense. It allowed me to feel for the radio waves emitting from their walkie-talkies.

For some reason, they were focused on me of all people. The more they did, the more regular people did.

"Look at him!" A beautiful masked drunk woman in an orange dress pointed to me, grabbing the attention of her friend circle of 7.

"That child is beautiful," uttered a rich-looking raven-haired woman wearing an all-white silk dress and white silk gloves.

"You think he's gonna be sold off?" asked a man dressed in a purple tuxedo with a crow mask on.

"Probably. They might head off into one of the private rooms though. It's definitely gotta be one of those special delivery kind of deals," voiced a man licking his lips at me as I walked past him.

"God… some of the people here are really sick in the head," stated a Mohawked man in punk attire who had been listening in on them.

"Actually, this whole damn place is. This is the first and last time I'm coming here," he voiced to a vendor whom he was purchasing a rifle from.

"Yeah kid… that's what they all say. Then boom, a year passes and you're back here. You can't get deals like this anywhere else. Doesn't matter if it's guns, or whatever your poison is," voiced the redneck-looking vendor who had a thick mustache, long wavy hair, dressed in a red and black plaid shirt with brown cargo pants, and sandals with socks.

"Nah. I'm serious."

"I am too," the vendor stated, shaking his head and handing the customer his unloaded gun.

As we finally reached our destination, 4 extremely large armed guards with strangely familiar owl masks stood in front of a wall that had a plaque with A-17 engraved on it; all 4 wearing radios on their person and color-coded armbands.

Their group and ours were separated by a black velvet rope with a golden locking mechanism.

"Hey… We bought him another one for the guy," Merlot stated, rather unsure of himself. In fact, the man was full-on nervous, and so was Johnny.

A guard who stood underneath the plaque with a red patch on his arm then began communicating via radio.

"Hunters have presented prey to the nest," he voiced with a strange voice-changing device.

A few seconds of waiting for a response, the man nodded his head to the guard with a green band who opened the divider.

Merlot was about to take a step forward until all 4 guards aimed their weapons at all of us, taking us all by surprise. Ever so slightly turning my head, I realized that we had gained a rather large audience.

Everyone was staring at us in surprise and began to talk amongst themselves, questioning what was going on.

What was more surprising to me was that none of the event guards even spared us a glance.

"What-what the hell are you doing aiming those things at us? You lost ya damn mind?" Merlot angrily voiced, taking a few steps back.

"A guard with a blue badge then shook his head slowly.

"An owl eats alone to feed his hunger. Just the prey. You'll be awarded handsomely soon enough," the red-banded guard voiced.

Merlot began to sweat, looking around, noticing his situation.

"So, I'm guessing the guards I've been seeing around this place are under your employment, huh?" Merlot asked, but got no reply.

"Figures… You all better listen up. We had a deal. I bring the toys, you pay me. That's what you guys said earlier. Don't ruin what we got going on here," Merlot spat in an attempt to save face before the masses. In reality, I knew he was scared. I could tell by the way he was biting his tongue and his rising heartbeat.

"Let's go. He paid us the first time. He'll be good on his word," Johnny comforted, placing his hand on Merlot's shoulder.

*sigh*

"Shit."

Turning around, the two walked off, leaving me behind with the four men.

"Follow," the red-banded owl demanded calmly, placing the barrel of his rifle against my skull.

Turning around, the man placed his hand on the wall where a strange machine began to scan his palm. Then, just like with Jerry, an infrared beam scanned his eye, splitting the wall into two as the mechanical door began to slide open, revealing a spiral staircase lit by torches leading down.

As Red began to walk forward, I cooperatively followed until we reached the base of the building where we were greeted by two more stone doors. This time, Red began to physically push the doors open.

They looked heavy… They were made out of stone, but Red didn't even grunt, even though I knew for a fact that he was struggling. I could tell by his labored breathing pattern.

He pushed and pushed until he finally forced them open… and what was revealed to me was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

What lay before me was a dungeon lit by blue torches… A dungeon where the dead bodies of dozens of little boys and women littered the blood-soaked cobblestone floor.

Each victim had their eyeballs either gouged out or sealed shut due to bruising, just like Anna. And just like her, all of them were stripped out of their clothing, but compared to a few others, they were lucky and hadn't had their skin ripped off their bodies, revealing their intricate muscle structure.

The bodies were lined up intentionally, leading to a bald man dressed in a blood-drenched white suit. He sat calmly with his legs crossed, arrogantly lounging on a stone throne without a care in the world.

From across the room, he was staring into the windows of my soul, as if entertainment was delivered directly to his courtroom.

"Your prey, my lord," Red stated, bowing on one knee to the so-called client.

"Good. Gooood… leave us. Wire the money to their account. Tell them that I will be keeping this one as a trophy. Perhaps even an experiment or two… No need for disposal," the man in white stood up, picking up a bloody knife off the ground. Like his guards, he had the same creepy blank owl mask, but his was blood-splattered, making him appear even more intimidating to regular people.

Nodding his head, Red stood up, leaving the room. As he did, the stone doors closed behind me, leaving only the man in white and I in the room.

*step-step-step-step*

"Oh… you are a beautiful boy," he voiced as he began to close our distance.

While he did, I saw that one of the humans he skinned was still alive, crawling away without a destination in mind. He was moving on pure instinct.

"So weak. So fragile… and yet, you sense no fear. You're not like all the other boys and girls," he chuckled.

"Not-at-all."

*step-step-step-step*

"Your mask of bravery is commendable," he said with a sadistic sense of joy behind his words, stepping over a bundle of human skin.

"And I just have to say… I am thrilled to be the one to teach you the everlasting joy of pain."

As he got closer and closer, his body got larger and larger, to the point that he looked inhuman.

His hands were massive and covered in dried blood. He was physically imposing, even comparable to Croc. Judging by his size, he was so fat and wide that I knew he struggled going through door frames.

*step-step-step-step*

Stopping right before me, the man got on one knee, looking me in the eyes, but I was looking past him… absorbing what I was seeing.

How much pain did these people go through?

How long did it take them to finally die?

Some of them looked like they had been starved.

Some of them were dismembered.

All of them were undeserving of such hardships.

"Oh… your eyes. They're so beautiful," he whispered, beginning to caress my face.

"Ha… I have never been so excited in terms of getting to know someone inside and out like I am right now. Oh, my sweet-sweet pretty boy," his whole body began to shiver with excitement as he began to caress my hair.

'This person… the people here who participated in this sick convention… They don't deserve to live. This one.. he doesn't deserve to exist.'

"You're so submissive, my sweet little blueberry… I'll make sure to go nice and slow with— Kek*"

Without a second thought, I grabbed the man's throat before he could say another word. He didn't even have the time to blink. All he could do was widen his eyes in shock, dropping his knife.

Grabbing my arm, he tried to pry himself free but failed repeatedly.

*gurgle-kek*

The more he fought, the tighter my grip around his esophagus became.

In panic, the man picked up his weapon and began stabbing me in the abdomen, poking holes in my body… but I didn't move.

*slick-slick-slick*

He continuously stabbed, inflicting an extraordinary amount of pain on my stomach, but as he continued, he discovered that I wasn't bleeding, even though he clearly broke through skin.

"wHaT aRE yoU?"

"…" I didn't bother responding to him. I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore the pain as best I could and refused to falter.

As seconds passed, his eyes began to roll to the back of his head, beginning to teeter on the edge of life and death.

"P-pLeAse. dOn't— KiLL me."

Hearing him beg for his life… It made me angrier. I thought that making him suffer would provide me with a sense of relief, but I felt revolted. I didn't even want to touch the disgusting creature.

Fearing for his life, the man began to reach into his pocket, attempting to alarm his guards through his radio, but that was something I couldn't allow.

Before I could even think to reach for his arm—

*rip*

A black tentacle ripped out of the back of my denim jacket, wrapping around his arm before he could press a single button on his communicator.

*rip*

Another tentacle shot out of my back, grabbing his other arm.

I could feel my extra appendages… They felt like spare arms. Arms that I felt were more flexible, stronger, and sturdier than my normal two by many times over.

*kek*

The man started to lose strength as I continued to choke him out. His eyelids began to flutter as eyes became more bloodshot. He was getting closer and closer to death but I had no intentions of letting him go out that easily.

Suffocation was far too peaceful a death for him.. and so, I decided to let go.

*gasp*

After cycling the oxygen in his lungs, I discovered the blossoming seeds of fear ingrained in his heart. With no other way to guarantee his survival, he began to grasp at straws.

"You don't want to do this. You're a good boy. You don't know who I am… but I'm a powerful man. Everyone you know and love will suffer if you keep at it." He desperately vocalized.

"Then it's good that my friends and family are dead then… like you're about to be." I said through gritted teeth, pulling him in close with my extra arms.

"You don't understand. If you kill me, you'll only be doing yourself a disservice. You think that the people upstairs will let you go? You think that the people who run this city will let you be free after killing me? There's no place—"

*crunch-crunch*

"Aghhhh!!!!"

With a mighty squeeze, I shattered both of his arms and continued to constrict until I felt his bones turn into glass.

"UGHHAAAA!!!"

"STOP!!!" He wailed in torment.

"You wanna know whats so fucking funny?" I grumbled. But got no response aside from his grunting in pain, so I continued.

"Because you don't have any cameras in here, nobody will ever find out about what I'm about to do to you. Nobody will remember this. You'll be gone forever."

Kicking the man in his chest with all my might, he was sent flying backward with so much strength that he began to tumble a few times like a human-sized bowling ball.

I hadn't even begun to fathom how I had gained so much physical strength, but I wasn't gonna question it. Right now, it was needed.

Attempting to sit up, the man fell back to the ground, unable to push through the raging pain he was feeling in his arms. He hadn't even realized what I had actually done… That was until he looked down and noticed.

"My arms! What did you do to me?!" He said in tears, floppy limbs.

"I broke your bones."

His arms were no more than dangling pieces of meat connected to his shoulders. His bones had shattered so violently the pieces tore out of his skin and even pierced his sleeves.

"Agh!!"

He then tried to roll over on his stomach like a turtle on its back, but then quickly realized that he made a bad decision.

*crunch*

"Ughh!"

With a mighty grunt, the man managed to bear his pain, landing on his belly. Struggling, he managed to get to his knees, looking me in the eyes.

"What do you want… I'll give. Just, let me live. I have power in Gotham. I can make you a millionaire if that's what you want. My people are all over the world in every company you can think of, I'll give you connections if that's what you're after. Just—just tell me."

"I want you to die." I coldly replied, walking toward him.

Getting to his feet, the man began to run, but before he could gain distance, one of my tentacles shot forward, grabbing his leg from 20 feet away, dragging him toward me.

"You aren't leaving. Not until I make good on my word."

"No! StOOOOOP!"

*crunch*

With all my strength in my extra arm, I crushed his leg as hard as I could. This time, I squeezed so hard that his leg from the knee down was torn off, shooting blood everywhere.

"HAGGGGHH!"

Seething in pain, more and more tears flowed down the man's face.

"I'm not done with you."

"Leave me alone, you monster! Monster!" He shouted… but no one could hear him.

Slowly, I began to retract the tentacles back into my body, willingly, for the first time.

Pulling back my arm, I punched him as hard as I could, feeling the bones in his nose shattering. My strike caused him to fall back, causing him to slam his back on the ground.

I then pushed his body so that he was laying on his stomach once I began to strip off my clothes, folding them in a neat pile in a relatively clean spot. I then began to dig in his pocket while he wept on the ground with his face on the bloody floor, devolving into a crying infant, just like how I assumed he did to his victims in the past.

He then glanced upward, taking a peek at my naked body.

*boom*

Kicking the Man in the head with full force, I completely shattered his mask, revealing his severely burned face.

"Keep your eyes to the ground until I tell you otherwise, you fuckin pedophile."

My kick had rattled his brain, knocking him out for a second. When he came too, his eyes were glued to the floor.

Taking his wallet and placing it on my pile, I then destroyed his communicator, making sure no buttons were accidentally pressed and that I wasn't being recorded. I then grabbed his phone, only to realize that he had a lock on it.

"Bacon face, tell me the password to your phone right now before I stick a tentacle in a place you don't want it… and to be specific, I'm talking about your eardrum.

Flinching at the idea, the man quickly replied.

"16091814."

Unlocking his brandless high-tech phone, I then went on the internet to search for what I was looking for.

{The bullet ant has the distinction of delivering the most painful sting in the insect world, as evidenced by the Larson Sting Pain Index. Some even believe that a bullet ant sting might be the most painful sting, period. Entomologist David Larson, who created the Pain Index, experienced it firsthand and described it as "pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail embedded in your heel."}

I didn't need to read any more of my article. I had all of the information I needed.

"Now… I have 2 more questions. Answer and I'll let you live. If you lie, I'm gonna eat you. Literally."

Taking a large gulp, the man nodded his head.

"The first question is, is this phone connected to anyone? Is it tapped? You talked about the people you know earlier, do they have access to this phone?"

"N-no. It's a ghost. The best hacker in the world would take weeks to figure out how to get past its firewalls. It-it's like a supercomputer. It's brand new and has no contacts on it yet." He stuttered.

"Good. Now…" I then opened up a note-taking app on the phone and picked up his wallet to see $900 in cash and 3 different black bank cards.

"Tell me what's the pin to your bank cards."

"Which one?"

"All of them."

He then took another gulp and gave me a brief moment then told me the truth.

"For the Gotham National, the pin is 6214… for the Mercantile card, it's 3290. And for Central City, it's 5804."

"Now, give me all the passwords to your emails."

"…"

*pow*

My blow had knocked all the air out of his lungs.

"I said give them to me!"

With slight resistance, he handed it all over. I made his emails mine. I made his money mine. Soon, his life would also be.

After saving the pins, I then logged into the man's online banking accounts, charging all the pins and names to my own. I didn't even look at how much money he had, I had to finish things up quickly.

"Alright… I'm done."

"D-does this mean you'll let me go now?"

I then looked at the man with a face of disgust, infuriated that he thought he was gonna go free after all he had done.

"You know what? Yeah. I'll set you free."

He then started crying, thanking me for sparing him, something that was never gonna happen.

My body then began to shift, shrinking, and growing extra arms and legs.

Noticing he couldn't feel my presence, he began to panic, sensing that something was off.

"Hey… hey?! Where'd you go?!"

Crawling to his still bleeding stump where his leg once was, in my Hell Bullet Ant form, I pierced him with my enlarged stinger. Reflexively, my body began to inject venom into him.

"AHGGGHGAAAAA! WHAT IS THIS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!"

Then, I began to make my way up to his face rather swiftly. I pierced through his eyelid with my stinger, puncturing his eyeball and injecting more venom.

"AHHHH! GOD! PLEASE KILL ME!" He shrieked, beginning to convulse violently.

He tried rolling away from me, but I stung him again and again until he began to foam at the mouth, which took about 10 stings.

His veins started to show all over his body, changing from blue to purple. His muscles began to lock up while he began choking on his vomit.

He was dying. But I wouldn't allow that. If I did, I would have gone back on my word.

Changing from an ant to a hippopotamus, I then grew a few times larger than the man.

Opening my mouth as wide as I could, I devoured the man headfirst, completely consuming his entire body without chewing. I then ate his fragment owl mask and consumed his missing leg.

After turning human, I opened the man's wallet and stared at his driver's license… and as I did, his face began to magically disappear off of the piece of plastic as if he never existed.

'He's dead… I killed him.' I smiled… but I wasn't happy.

Why didn't I feel good on the inside after taking care of that monster? He killed possibly hundreds of people, and yet, I was still angry. Why? I then viewed the room in all totality.

There were still dead people everywhere. He still raped, tortured, and killed them. Even the person who was alive upon my arrival had died. I didn't save anything or anyone by doing what I did. And.. I began to think, maybe I felt this way because there were still other people like him upstairs—people just as bad as him.

'I'm still not done.' I thought to myself, recalling that there were still slaves that needed help.

Turning into an 18-foot silverback Hell Ape, I grabbed all of my items and rushed over to the stone doors with full force.

*Boom*

With a giant crash, the doors were knocked off their hinges, causing them to break in half, which even surprised me.

For some reason, my strength had greatly increased after facing Croc. I felt stronger, durable, and overall powerful; that went for my base form as well. I was beginning to wonder if consuming his limbs played a contribution, but I couldn't be too certain. All I knew was that the strength that I had was necessary for my current situation.

Rapidly, I climbed up the stairs, I then found the entrance which appeared to just be a wall. Getting a running start, I sprinted at full speed, lunging at the metal doors, easily knocking it down, revealing my primate form to all.

All eyes landed on my person, many faces of shock and a few of confusion including Merlot and Johnny who had food in their hands and immediately stopped eating.

"What the fuck is that thing?!" Merlot shouted while the men who were at the door aimed their guns at me, shifting their eyes to me and the door I was on top of. The reason for that was because Red's body was crushed under the weight of it.

Looking upwards, I saw that my form had been displayed on the monitor in full screen for all to see as a countless number of red beams were aimed all over my body.

*Boom*

The owl masked person with the blue band fired one of his heavy caliber rounds directly in the center of my eyebrows, causing my head to jerk back and drop my clothes out of my hand… It hurt a bit, but the thing was, the bullet didn't pierce my skin.

Slowly turning my head to him, he was caught in a stupor, as was everyone else.

Grabbing the man's entire body, I squeezed him until blood leaked from all his orifices and his body was flattened and mangled while everyone watched on.

Splat, throwing his corpse down, I looked on to see the reaction of the crowd.

Johnny and Merlot were flabbergasted.

"Run!"

With that shout, everyone began to scatter like ants in every direction while a hail of bullets rained down on my person.

Each bullet that hit me felt like being poked with a thumbtack… but still, no matter how many rounds they shot into me, I was fine.

Turning around, I grabbed Green by the leg with my tremendous amount of newfound strength and used him to beat the person wearing the yellow band until I knew for certain that they were both dead, all while still under gunfire.

I had 2 goals… get rid of my kidnappers, and free all the slaves. I wasn't leaving until both were accomplished.

Sensing Merlot and Johnny running away, I began to gallop toward them on all fours, avoiding all the people unrelated.

"What the hell!? Why is it coming after us?!" Johnny shouted.

"I don't fucking—"

Before Merlot could reply, I had already snatched him up in one hand. In the other, I grabbed Johnny.

Running out of the way of gunfire, I hid behind a statue big enough to hide my mass.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

"What do we do?" Johnny asked.

"What the fuck are we supposed to do?! We weren't allowed to bring guns here!"

There was nothing they could do. I then clasped my hands together, smooshing the two into each other.

"What is it doing? Why isn't it killing us? And why is it smiling?" Merlot shouted.

From his perspective, what he saw was a pitch-black and extremely muscular ape with blue electricity pulsating through its body.

From their perspective, each tooth in my mouth was the size of one of their limbs.

I must've looked terrifying.

Good.

Then, I slowly began to compress the two together like two pieces of bread. As they screamed in agony, my smile left my face.

*crunch-splat*

The two… my abductors… they died in my hands, turning into bone and meat paste that splattered on my fur.

'This doesn't feel right…' I thought, wiping my giant bloody hands on a white canopy.

'But… I have to see it through.'

The bullets that were hitting me were starting to hurt. If I wanted to save anyone, I needed to stop the gunfire.

The guards who were shooting me on the ground began approaching. Getting out of cover, I rushed them, grabbing them by the hand full.

Once I did, I began flinging their bodies at the snipers shooting from above. Some of their bodies exploded upon making contact with others.

Organs and limbs began scattering every which way. I kept throwing more and more guards until the firing stopped.

The guards began to flee, climbing down from ladders and running towards exits.

I had one final goal… freedom.

I then made my way around all of the areas where slaves were being abused, rented, and sold, killing all fleeing human traffickers.

After, I then transformed into a chimpanzee, entertaining all facilities, breaking people out of shackles.

Of course, because of my appearance and actions, they were mortified by me… but once they understood my motive, they ran to freedom as fast as they could.

I waited, and protected them, guiding them to clothes that were sold in the convention. Once they were fully clothed, I guided them out of the facility. I didn't know what they were gonna do once they made it to the Gotham streets, but they now once again had free will.

While still in my Hell Chimp form, I made my way to where I sensed radio signals emitted the strongest… that led me to a security room where all events of the day were monitored and recorded.

Without a second thought, I destroyed every server and piece of electronic equipment that I could find.

Afterwards… I went back to pick up my clothes, dressing up, sitting down in solitude.

"I saved everyone… I'm done." I mumbled, bringing my knees to my chest. Everything on my body hurt… but I saved everybody.

"I'm done… but why don't I feel good?" I shouted, slamming my fist on the ground.

I then started rocking back and forth, looking at all the destruction I caused.

There was blood everywhere. Priceless pieces of art were reduced to dust. Guns, food, and alcohol were scattered everywhere.

"This… this isn't right. None of this is right." I felt like crying. I had seen too much… I had been through too much… I wanted to let go, but I couldn't.

"I don't want to live like this!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and began punching the ground, not caring about the pain I felt in my hands.

"I don't… I don't wanna hurt like this… I don't want people hurting like this." I whispered, laying on the ground in a fetal position.

"I just… I just want to help… but not like this." I whispered, shaking in mixed emotions.

"Then I'll give you two choices, Ken." A low-pitched voice boomed from behind me, making me jump up in surprise.

Who was this person capable of moving so silently that I wasn't able to hear him? Who was this person capable of bypassing my sixth sense?

Stumbling, I got on my feet, astonished by the person of legend. A person who I looked up to for a majority of my life, and yet, never met. He was now towering over me standing at around 6'3 staring at me with his piercing blue eyes.

'Batman?' I thought with my jaw agape.

He looked like he was wearing gray and black armor with a bat symbol at the center of his chest. He looked like how he appeared in the Batman Arkham Origins… the only difference was that he was bigger and more physically imposing.

"W-what?" I stuttered. A little because he was intimidating, a little because he was real and in front of me, but mainly because he knew my name which I only gave to less than a handful of people.

"Your first option: Go to a place that you won't like for an unknown amount of time." He said, dangling cuffs in front of my face which made me nervous until he put them away.

"Your second option: You come with me and we have a long conversation. Which one would you prefer?"

His expression was cold. His gaze was bone-chilling. His heart and breathing were calm. He meant everything he said.