Chapter 165: A Void Deal

After the events that transpired in Markovia, the next stage of Arias's plan began.

In this stage, Arias did nothing but remain unresponsive to the events happening around the world, same as the light.

What the light did do however, was funnel money towards Human Supremacy organization which was rapidly growing.

An entire week past with Arias making no major moves, just observing and learning from the changes his actions caused.

The biggest event of that week though was the announcement that Terra was next in line to take the throne of Markovia.

However, given her age, her uncle, Fredrick Delamb would step up as acting Regent until she was seen as ready.

Arias so no point in rushing Terra to the throne, it would only cause more suspicion to linger on her. But if another ruler stepped up and the events slowly became forgotten, what was there to say?

People only really ever cared for hot news and once it went cold, it mattered very little. Fredrick Delamb was also the pawn of the light, and not Arias alone, so by making him the leader instead of Terra, it gave the impression that he wasn't trying to monopolize power.

With so much going on, Arias was no longer a headline come the third day of that week, proving that people were really only interested in what was hot.

And with the attention now on the anti-meta group, the world and the league had a new focus. And while they did this, Arias could slowly shift the balance of power in the world while looking like the good guy.

Finally, on the last day of the week, while roaming around the grounds of his estate, Arias received a call he had been expecting much earlier.

"Hello?" He answered nonchantly, as if the caller had disturbed something important.

[ It's me, Bruce.] Answered a low sounding Batman on the other side.

A smile crept up on Arias's face as he proceeded to ask. "Oh? You were the last person I was expecting to call me Bruce, it must be really important," he replied, his voice carrying a hint of mockery and displeasure.

There was no need to act friendly with Bruce, doing so would only ruin the image he worked so hard to build.

None the wiser, Bruce replied. [ I know we don't see eye to eye but right now we have a common enemy.]

"The Human Supremacy Group." Arias finished, saying the name in rough and angry tone, selling his image even further.

[ Yes. Whether you admit it or not, I know you consider them a threat. I've noticed the security around Gotham has increased exponentially, especially around schools, residential areas and the harbors, I know this was all done by you.] He revealed, as if stating something that would surprise Arias.

But it didn't. With the rise of the Human Supremacy group, it was only natural for Arias to better the security around his institutions as they housed meta humans… but he took it a step further and had the security within and around Gotham as a whole bolstered.

And unless one dug deep as to where the funds for that came from, they would think it was just the city protecting them and not Arias.

Why do this and not gain better public opinion? Because he was playing the role of the misunderstood victim. Arias already had a cult following of supporters so making his reputation better wasn't a priority.

Instead, he moved funds secretly and knew that Gotham's caped crusader would find out eventually. And after he did, wouldn't his impression of Arias change?

Sure, unlike Batman, he killed his enemies. But the fact remained that he still did what he was doing for a better city.

Batman wasn't blind and could clearly see this. His way of doing this had barely made Gotham safer, whereas Arias made it one of the safest cities in the world.

If Arias truly was the villain the government made him out to be, he would have long killed Superman and even Bruce himself. He had the means and intelligence to carry this out, but he didn't.

Still, Arias remained unmoved by Batman's words. "So? I want my people safe while I learn more about this organization. They won't be a threat for long."

[ We want the same thing, to bring down them down before they have a chance to grow even bigger and expand. I propose your team works covertly with the league to uncover and take out the groups depos and stations.]

Arias fell silent for a moment as if pondering Bruce's words carefully. After some seconds passed, Arias sighed as resigning himself to the circumstances. "You make a compelling point Bruce. But I have two conditions."

[ I'm listening.] Bruce cautiously replied, worried as to what those conditions might be.

"The first should be obvious, I will not spare these individuals and allow them the comfort of arrest, where they can escape in time and continue what they were doing." Arias strongly stated, immediately making his stance on the matter clear.

Batman also went silent briefly as if weighing his options, before finally answering. [ And the second?]

Arias smiled at Bruce's indirect way of agreeing, but when push comes to shove, it seemed he had very few options.

Then again, despite how cruel Gotham was before Arias came, it wasn't everyday you saw a group that executes children live.

"The second is I want you to continue mentoring Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. She's not going to abandon the idea of fighting crime despite her talents in other areas. I'd prefer she learns from someone with experience than venture out on her own and get herself killed." Arias revealed, with a tone hinting care towards the young girl.

He didn't really need her to be trained by Batman but after noticing the team of juniors present in the league during the Markovia incident, he felt the need to plant an agent of his own.

There was no surety it would have any gains but the chance's definitely were higher. Best of all, Batman taking the initiative to approach him was a clear sign that his facade fooled even him, at least for now.

This time it was Batman who went silent for a moment before giving his answer.

[ We have a deal.]

With the deal done, Arias wore a slight smile, thankful for the easy benefits Batman had just provided.

A/N: I know you guys missed me, I was on a short break as I experienced an author break through, for all my works really. Anyway, let's see if it shows in the coming chapters, Oh and I'll post two today to incite a power stone rush or bonus chain, depends on you and those stones… basically give 'em.