Chapter 166: Various Plots Part 1

Following the deal between the two, Arias didn't immediately contact Barbara and inform her of this. Instead he chose to wait for Batman to approach her and see her reaction.

A big part of him still had doubts regarding her. Her desire to help Arias only existed due to his facade of creating a better and safer Gotham. But what would happen when his true nature came to light?

Because of this, she was kept in the dark about a lot but given a false sense of position via trust. This so called "trust" came in the form of the access she was granted to the Leviathan network and Arias's assignment to her to uncover double agents within his academies.

To her, these were likely signs of his trust in her but in reality, they were simply objects to keep her naive mind fooled and busy.

As smart as she was, she was blinded by her naivety and desire to be useful. Making it far too easy for Arias to exploit.

…

The same day of the conversation, in a location unknown, Vandal Savage's figure could be seen pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, his expression firm and serious.

Before him was a large but blank screen that soon flashed on and revealed the figure of someone the world came to know and fear…. Darkseid.

His blood red eyes looked devoid of any emotion and his grey rocky skin gave him an even more intimidating appearance than Vandal Savage.

They exchanged no formalities and Darkseid simply spoke directly. "I see you've successfully managed to control your meta-human population, though you haven't sent over the agreed upon quota of children. Is there a problem?"

Vandal Savage frowned at the tone Darkseid took with him, making him seem like a subordinate, so he he answered back with even greater confidence, not moved or fearful of him.

"No problem at all. The deal was simple, you provide useful Apokoliptian technology and I provide you useful test subjects, but you yourself are yet to send us any real weaponry," Vandal Savage argued, keeping his head high and tone serious.

Darkseid though looked very much bothered by this answer, his expression growing stiffer. "You forget who between us has the greater power. I had agreed to a truce until you succeeded in conquering earth, don't think it will last if you forget your place."

The threats of Darkseid were very real but even then, Vandal Savage simply wore a smirk and shook his head.

"Didn't you already try to break out agreement? Only to be foiled spectacularly by the Justice league. Do you really think you'd manage when even I and my organization fought back?" Vandal revealed, confident in his analysis before continuing,

"The only reason I haven't voided our deal is due to our joint enemy in the league. But with the way things are progressing, your help is more of a burden now. I had called hoping you'd be willing to give more but since this isn't the case, consider our deal void from now on." Vandal declared as the smirk on his face grew wider whilst Darkseid had a very apparent frown appear.

Though he didn't lash out in anger, his voice displayed the anger he felt as he warned Vandal Savage. "Hmph, I have more than enough agents in your world. With or without your cooperation, the league will fall… and you will follow."

Following those threatening words, the large screen flashed and went off, leaving Vandal Savage to absorb the words fully.

His once full smile faded slightly and his mind began to think.

'Without a sufficient point of entry into this world, Darkseid won't be coming back soon. His agents should be working towards retrieving the few father boxes that weren't destroyed by the league… what a pointless endeavor.' He thought to himself before turning away from his screen and walking away.

…

Meanwhile, in one of the many lively halls of the of the Ark academy, Barbara Gordon was standing in front of her opened locker, its structure very advanced and neat, much like the rest of the institute.

The young girl though bore a frown and sighed, 'dammit, Barbara, so much for solving this problem in week. Argh, Mr. Markovic isn't gonna trust me again if I don't bring a fully detailed list-'

Her many thoughts were soon interrupted when she felt the presence of someone nearing her locker. This caused her to sigh inwardly.

Because of her position as the face of the Ark academies, she got a lot of attention for it. In the beginning, everyone wanted to befriend her and acted all nice towards her.

But this quickly became annoying and she refused most invitations or anything remotely close to friendship, feeling they just wanted to get close to her due to her position.

The same case happened with Terra and thus the two were actually beginning to become friends. But with her still in Markovia, Barbara was left with no one.

Other students now rarely approached her and some even felt she was stuck up and arrogant. Some though still bothered her from time to time, thus her thinking this was one of those instances.

She closed her locker door to meet the person near her, only to find a young boy looking up at her with a mischievous smirk. "Hey!"

His tone was energetic and caused Barbara to tilt her head slightly at him before asking, "Aren't you supposed to be in the junior section? Are you lost or something?"

The boy immediately shook his head and responded confidently. "What gave you that idea? I was actually looking for you because I noticed you came around our section of the school but when I asked around, I found out you were asking teachers about other students and their performances so far, so I figured you were there as a scout and I came to sign up!"

Barbara was worried at the beginning but once the boy finished speaking, she just laughed and shook her head. "There is no sign up. I think you have the wrong idea, you'd better get back to your section, break period is coming to an end."

After saying that, Barbara was ready to turn and leave when the boy stopped her and pleaded. "Wait, wait. Okay is there like a club I can join or something? I don't really fit in with the others… you're the only one I could look for,"he said while showing a somewhat downcast expression.

Barbara sighed and decided to entertain the boy's request. "Only standard clubs are available right now but I'll see what I can do about opening a club for students who still feel out of place, okay? No promises though. What's your name by the way?"

The boy grinned ecstatically and introduced himself proudly. "Yes! Oh, the names Billy Batson! Thanks!"

Without waiting for Barbara to respond, the boy ran away and his figure soon disappeared into the crowd.

Barbara could only sigh and shake her head. "Great, even more work to do… dammit, maybe I am too nice sometimes."