Sweet Victory

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.

Betad by Marethyu the Forgetful, Priapus, Beans, Old man of the mountain. Malcolm Tent, Mike God of Lore

The Guild of Gamers: The Nightmare

Chapter 11: Sweet Victory

– Barbara Gordon –

Biting her lip, she reopened Legion's site with a frown. Her life had changed in a few unpleasant ways since her abduction, not least of which was the fact that her identity had been exposed.

She wasn't safe in her civilian life anymore, and had to basically live in the Batcave or Clocktower, depending on the day at this point. Some villains had already tried to kidnap her dad to get to her, old enemies she'd made as Batgirl or criminals who were sick of Oracle countering their actions. Of course, speaking of her father, he was furious with Bruce for putting her in danger. 

They still weren't talking, and her father had punched Batman in the face over this mess. Not that it stopped Bruce from keeping an eye on her father or saving him when the Falcone family had tried to kidnap him in the hopes of blackmailing her.

Her civilian life was essentially over, leaving her with a lot of time on her hands. Switching the stream to Markus, she watched him lounging in his bed between games. It had been three months since he'd been taken, and things had changed in that hellscape.

All the 'players' had been moved into a single hub world, where they would spend their time between games. They also gained access to a 'store' where they could spend their hard-won points on various things, such as amenities to make their imprisonment more comfortable or 'upgrades' to help them in future games.

At the cost of delaying their escape, of course, but if you lost a game, you'd lose a considerable amount of your points, so it was generally seen as worth it to spend some points to help you survive. The Female Legion who was running this game had set down some new rules, one of which was that players could volunteer for games or even take the place of other players that had been picked, which led to the habit of players paying each other to take the 'worst' games. The games were announced a week in advance, so the players knew exactly what they had coming. 

Another was that if you had zero points and died, you would 'lose' the ultimate game. Legion would take these people away. Sometimes, the streams got to see the utter horror that she inflicted upon them; sometimes, they'd show up in future games in some horrific way, and other times, they just vanished, never to be seen again. Of course, Legion would kidnap someone else to join the 'fun' keeping their numbers solid. These people could be from anywhere: a British college girl, an African farmer's six-year-old daughter, or an elderly Japanese CEO. No one in the world was safe, no matter their location or standing.

Of course, having all the players mingling had some major issues. Before, they were all separate, and the chance of running into the same player in a future game seemed low (though she suspected Legion liked to put people with reasons to hate each other in games together on purpose). Now, if you lost a game and were brutally tortured because someone betrayed you or just beat you fair and square, and you arrive in the hub to find that same person… well. Tempers flared, and there were no real rules in the Hub. It wasn't uncommon for the winner of a game of Among Us or something similar to be brutally attacked in the hub by the losers, and dying in the Hub cost you points and got you punished as if you had lost a game.

One 'winner' had found herself gang-raped by the group of thugs she'd beaten, and that was just one case of the infighting among survivors. One of the upgrades you could buy was a private, secure room. It was very popular among female survivors. 

It also led to gambling points and prostitution, a micro-economy forming in that world where points were everything. You needed one million to buy the ultimate prize: freedom.

Only one person had reached it so far, getting the last hundred thousand they needed purely by gambling with other survivors over poker. She was cheating, hustling the other survivors, and if she hadn't managed to break that threshold, she would certainly have been killed multiple times by the other survivors.

Once she'd bought her freedom, she'd been freed as promised, which had led to many questions outside, in the real world. She had done some horrific things for points, murder, torture, betrayal, and much more. Was she legally culpable for her actions? It was eventually decided that she wasn't because all her actions had occurred during the games.

If, however, one of the people who had chosen to rape a fellow survivor in the Hub purely out of vengeance or because they could, managed to free themselves, they would be guilty because, despite the situation, it wasn't done under duress. It was probably the same for people who killed survivors outside of games, but how do you try someone for murder when that person was still alive?

The viewership had only gotten higher, the ultimate reality TV show where viewer votes could change everything. Every week, the viewers got to vote on a player to get a prize. Sometimes, it was a free upgrade, a get-out-of-death free card, a point influx or much more. They also got to vote on one player to get punished or given some drawback that made their games harder. They occasionally got to vote on who was playing in what game, even suggesting new games to be added.

Markus was a viewer favourite, even if a lot of the fans were thirsty women. He definitely got picked for games more than other people, but Markus was getting good, something that seemed to be frustrating the female Legion, who had begun almost hyper-focussing on him after he'd ripped her throat out. 

Markus had become something of an icon, the survivor who was only there because he'd chosen to let the rest of his party escape that first game. Their identities being exposed had actually helped because the knowledge that he'd saved Batgirl and Superman's family and lover had made him a hero to the people. Clark wasn't doing well given the exposure of his identity, his parents having had to be relocated to the Watchtower because of the sheer amount of people who'd tried to kill them. 

She tried not to think about the amount of memes based on Markus. People enjoyed making light of this hell entirely too much. Not that the memes didn't usually show Markus in a positive light; Gigachad Markus was a fucking emote on the Legion site now. She definitely tried not to think about the thirst compilations of Markus (or the fact that she knew Kara had several of them saved). 

He was currently sitting in the high seven hundred thousand range, over three-quarters of the way to freedom. Oddly enough, he rarely won the weekly prize because he'd actually told people not to vote for him. Markus was able to survive on his own, but many players were in far worse situations. 

Such as the father who killed him in that first game, trying to protect his two young daughters from this hell. He always took their places, but sometimes Legion would pick two of the family and make things difficult. He couldn't always pay another survivor to take his daughter's place because it was very expensive and delayed any of them escaping. He was actually close to being able to buy freedom for one of his daughters since he essentially had three players' funds to use.

At one point, a group of criminals from Star City kidnapped one of his daughters while he was away on a game, holding her ransom and demanding he give them a massive amount of points for her freedom. Instead, it had led to a fight where a former marine had led a police officer, a firefighter and several volunteers to rescue the girl, killing the criminals. Factions had quickly formed in the players, grouping up for safety.

Legion liked pitting faction members against each other, seeing how those tight bonds would endure when suddenly it was them or their new friends. 

Legion had also abducted Lonnie Machin to join their roster of players, which had sent a ripple through the villains of the world. Anarky was hardly the most significant villain out there, but the fact that a villain had been casually kidnapped, had his identity exposed and been forced to play Legion's sick games meant that any of them could be taken. It was the same for heroes, thanks to her having been grabbed. 

Legion simply didn't care if you were a hero, a villain or just a regular civilian. Old or young, rich or poor, battle-hardened or completely harmless, everyone and anyone could be targeted at random. 

Of course, Markus wasn't universally popular. Everyone had haters, and Markus was certainly no exception. Someone had burnt down his apartment, and after someone else was hired for GCPD's forensics team, they were brutally murdered by some Legion Copycats, apparently as a threat to show what was waiting for Markus when he escaped. As such, even now, the forensic team was literally just Markus, who obviously wasn't going to work. She'd been helping them as Oracle after arguing with her father about it for far too long. She tried not to think about the fact that the Riddler apparently approved of Markus as his replacement from some posts on MHO (that were obviously riddles).

There were talks about Markus being given a medal by the Mayor of Gotham if he escaped, no when he escaped. She still had faith; he was certainly one of the more talented and resourceful players, even with Legion seemingly going out of their way to constantly delay him. The Female Legion was a petty bitch; that much was clear.

She also had a lot of obsessive fans, disturbingly enough. Legion Copycats were on the rise worldwide. Some lunatics were even volunteering to be abducted, buying into Legion's insane worldview. The Male Legion's speech to the heroes had been viewed millions of times, and there was fucking Legion Merchandise (they'd found out Roulette was behind that, but it was all technically above board). 

The Male Legion had become a much rarer sight, which was a cause for alarm. All they had was the Female Legion's explanation that he was 'busy' with something special. While he occasionally showed up in a game, it was very infrequent. Also, his showing up was almost always a death sentence for the players. It was a new mechanic for the games: invasions. In both PvP and PvE games, there was a chance that a member of Legion's team would show up and start hunting players, sometimes one of the two Legions or others who had joined (willingly or otherwise). Dollhouse was seen as one of the easier ones to escape, but she was still dangerous (and incredibly popular due to her tiny nurse outfit); Cupid was more deadly and, of course, equally popular. Thea was seen as the worst of the non-Legion hunters; The Red Huntress was well and truly mad now, Legion's fanatical hunting dog. She was technically weaker than Cupid, but she had a truly malicious mind, excelling at the hunt. Everything Green Arrow had taught his sister had been turned against them. The worst case was one of the two Legions joining, the Female Legion would drag things out and toy with her prey, but the Male Legion was the most brutal of them all. You gained a massive point bonus if you escaped an invasion, but it was a major danger increase.

Markus looked up, checking the time as he sighed. She knew why he seemed so annoyed: It was about time for the next game to start. Markus was about to dive into hell.

– Markus Gray –

Somehow, I think the Female Legion is holding a grudge about the whole torn-out throat thing.

Ducking behind a rock for cover, I decide that it's now or never. Inputting my new favourite combination, Up, Right, Down, Down, Down, I toss the marker over the rock towards the fucking army of robots.

Where did Legion even get these abominations? I don't know, but I spent a lot of points on the 500kg bomb and by god, I'm using it. I have too many samples to die here. Malevolon Creek has cost me far too many points already, and I'm getting out of here.

The danger-close detonation makes my head spin, but I don't waste time as I make a break for it, firing my rifle towards the surviving bots. Before I arrived in this shithole, I barely knew how to use a gun, but now I strike true and hard. This is hell, but at least it's just the Creek today. 

I'll take the Creek over Cadia any day of the week, heading towards the extraction point. Pausing, my eyes widen, and I dive for cover, hearing an infamous sound in the distance. Someone is humming, the sound of a lullaby being sung in the distance. Fuck, the Huntress? On the fucking Creek?

I'm already dealing with the trees speaking Binary, but now I have to deal with this psychopath as well? Yeah, Legion is holding one hell of a grudge. At least I have a gun this time, but we've long since learnt that killing the hunters doesn't stop them; only buys us time. 

The singing is getting closer, and it's coming from in between me and the extraction point. I don't have all day; that dropship is leaving with or without me, and the Huntress knows it.

– Thea Queen (The Red Huntress) –

Watching the treeline, she hummed her song as she sent her hounds into the trees to find her prey. She liked these games, the invasions. She wasn't punished if they escaped, but that didn't mean she was going to let them leave so easily.

It was her duty to stop the survivors; every kill was a sacrifice to her master. It was her way of showing her devotion, of showing how useful she was, it gained her his affection and protected her from his displeasure.

Setting traps around the extraction point, she ignored the automatons, and they ignored her, as they always did. They weren't her prey, and she wasn't their enemy. Movement made her smile under her mask, her bow ready with its poisoned arrows. A gift from her master, the arrowheads would pierce even the armour the players would wear for this game. Her hounds had found their prey. He was already injured; he could hide, but he couldn't mask the smell of his blood. 

Biding her time, she lurked in the thick foliage and went silent as she watched and waited. She had learnt more about patience from her time here than Oliver had ever managed to teach her.

As he burst through the treeline, firing at her hounds (they'd be fine; they were as unkillable as she was), she froze. She knew that face, she knew that face, watching her master, her owner, flee from her dogs. The helmet of his armour was missing, exposing his face to her.

Was this a test? Why was he here? What was she supposed to do? But after a moment, her hesitation and confusion faded. She was sent here to kill; who the prey was didn't matter. Legion had taught her that, good or evil, children or the elderly, strangers or her own mother, she would hunt, and they would die. 

If this was a test, she already knew the answer. She would do what she was trained to do. Legion had broken her purely to remake her for this, and she wouldn't let him down even as she loosed the arrow and watched it fly. It struck true, piercing through his armour and embedding itself deep into his leg as he fell with a shout. So close to the extraction, but still so far as she whistled once and called the dogs off.

He gripped his rifle and watched as she emerged from her hiding place with a small smile on her lips. Firing at her, he was too slow as she dove to the side at the last second before she broke into a feral sprint towards him, more animalistic than human.

Prying his weapon away, she smiled down at him as he glared up at her, no recognition in his eyes. A realisation struck her, and her respect for her master grew. He'd joined his own games to prove his devotion to his beliefs; leaning down, she lifted her mask just enough to plant a rough kiss on his confused lips before she pulled back, humming once more.

Pulling out her hatchet and raising it, she paused as she saw what he was holding in his hands. 

Looking up, she giggled as she watched the bomb descend on them. That was her master; he wasn't the type to give up. Not wanting to be denied her kill, she swung the hatched down and into his neck even as the bomb landed, and they were both engulfed in the air strike he'd called down on them, some napalm-adjacent substance covering and igniting them both. She didn't scream as she burnt, humming the melody Legion had taught her as she stood there, watching her master die. 

She'd done her duty; her own death was irrelevant, and pain was a familiar friend. 

– Lois Lane –

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♦ Topic: Who is your favourite survivor

In: Boards ► Legion

Specific_Protagonist (Original Poster) (Markus Gray Fanclub)

Posted On Jan 8th 2019:

So, given that the games have now been going on for a full three months, I have a question for all viewers. Who is your favourite survivor (and why is it the Gigachad himself, Markus Gray)

(Showing page 1 of 87)

►GotHam?

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Markus is pretty based.

Shittalks Legion to her face, then rips out her throat with his teeth and isn't afraid of anything. Even Huntress is rizzed by him, and what does he do while the hot psychopath is making out with him?

Calls a fucking napalm strike on his head to kill them both.

►Anarkist

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

I'm telling you, you guys are sleeping on Anarky. Okay, he's a bit whiny at times, but you should listen to his speeches instead of memeing on him. Yeah, fine; it was surprising to find out that he was basically a brat under his mask, but still. He has a fucking point. Honestly, he should join up with Legion since they have similar beliefs.

►MissMystery (Wiki Warrior)

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

I think Sergeant Doyle deserves more love; the rescue mission for Sarah was amazing to see. Even trapped in that world, there are still people willing to do good.

I will admit that Markus is my favourite, though. He saved Oracle and Superman's families, sacrificed himself even without knowing how important they were, and has consistently been a badass hero ever since.

►DaddysPrincess (Markus Gray Fanclub)

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

He also has a massive cock, just saying

►Specific_Protagonist (Original Poster) (Markus Gray Fanclub)

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

That he does

►Deadman

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Man, Markus is going to be drowning in pussy if he ever gets out of that shithole.

Shit, he's almost there, isn't he? Sure, getting killed by the Huntress set him back, but he's been slowly but surely crawling towards the one mil he needs to escape.

►Space Zombie

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

MarkusxOracle OTP

He's gonna get that Batussy

►Lasersmile

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

If you ever type the word 'Batussy' again, I'm gonna find you and break your hands.

►Lo A Quest

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Hey, @Legion, can you come get this guy so we never have to see that word again?

User was Muted for this post.

Moderator's Note: Do not try to summon Legion. 

►Space Zombie

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Bro, don't even joke about that cause he just fucking might

►Groupies

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Nah, the OG Legion hasn't been around for a while.

...fuck, that's a bad sign, isn't it? He didn't prepare this long for destroying Star City; what the fuck is he scheming?

►UScream4IceScream (Verified Legion)

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

:3

►Tumbles

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Oh, hey terrifying psychopath, having a nice time?

Batussy aside, you're wrong btw. Markus is gonna get that Pulitzer Threesome with Vicki and Lois. He'll give them the best interview of their lives.

[GigaMarkus]

►Batfan

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Lois is literally dating Superman

►GotHam?

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Yeah, but Superman isn't the Main Man himself, Markus.

[GigaMarkus]

You can't blame Lois for wanting to thank her saviour with the oldest method *wiggles eyebrows*

Gigaman beats Superman

►TheMainMan (Verified Villain)

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Oi, dickhead. There's only one Main Man around here, and while this Mark guy has some pretty big balls, it ain't fragging him!

He's better than the big fragging boy scout, though; I bet Supes only fucks missionary position with the lights off. Bet I could make Lois forget about the boy scout in a single night

Fun streams, though. They're a good way to kill time when I'm travelling for work

►KeeperOfParallax

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

These games are truly interesting; it's almost disappointing that nobody else thought of them first. Legion is truly inspired.

►Gothamite89 (Wiki Warrior)

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Inspired? He's a fucking maniac, and the world has been getting worse since the moment he showed up. Do you know how many copycats Legion has at this point?

Not three days ago, there was a mass shooting in Sydney by a group of 'inspired' followers, and that's just one of an endless stream of crimes committed in his name.

He's spreading terror throughout the world, even when he isn't doing anything himself

►KeeperOfParallax

Replied On Jan 8th 2019:

Exactly.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 85, 86, 87

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Closing the thread, she frowned to herself. She wasn't bothered by people shipping her with Markus; she'd already seen the fanfictions about them being trapped on the island and Markus repopulating the place by breeding her, Barbara, Vicki and Martha, but people shit-talking Clark was always annoying. 

Stuck on the Watchtower, she tapped her finger against her arm as she opened up the stream and winced, seeing Markus' status being 'Being Punished'. She didn't open it; she'd seen enough already.

There was no doubt she owed him, Markus was the reason they'd escaped, and he was suffering as she sat here, safe. Admittedly, she'd had the villain attacks on her increase a dozenfold after Legion had exposed that she was dating Superman, but she was safe and alive.

Not that it had stopped Clark from trying to distance himself from her and even his parents, but they weren't letting him get away with that self-sacrificing bullshit. He couldn't blame himself for Legion's actions.

Still, it was annoying that she had lost her freedom because Legion thought it would be funny to expose all her secrets like that. The Kent farm had been bombed, her Apartment had been burnt down, and while she technically still worked for the Daily Planet, she couldn't do any of her investigations from up here. At least she got some interesting interviews while she was up here with the heroes.

When she opened Markus' profile, she winced. Last she checked, his balance was 780,356. Now, he'd lost almost twenty thousand points from one loss. Gaining points was slow, and losing them was far easier; it was a miracle that he'd fought his way so high.

Honestly, it was partially because of how good he was at Imposter games; he was officially banned from Among Us and several more because he could always work out the Imposter as soon as they killed one person. It always became the same: kill Markus first or get caught, so the crewmates would all group around Markus, making winning much harder for the Imposter. Markus earned a lot of his points in those games before Legion proved she was a sore loser and just banned him.

The Female Legion was a lot more petty than the Male Legion. With so much time on her hands, she'd been investigating Legion almost constantly. Male Legion was more controlled, he was a smug, sadistic asshole, but there was a method to his madness. Everything he did felt deliberate and targeted; it served a purpose. He was also more mysterious, keeping all his features covered and hidden away.

The only time he broke that pattern was with the video he'd sent Green Arrow of him violating Felicity and Thea. She'd watched it several times, looking for any minor detail she could use to identify the mastermind behind this madness. All he'd exposed was that he was in good shape, had black hair and some of his measurements. She wasn't convinced his hair was really black; it seemed like a silly thing for him to give away. She'd used Thea and Felicity's measurements to work out how tall Legion was, but again, she just didn't trust what little he'd shown off.

The Female Legion just didn't give a shit; she was far more careless and arrogant than her boss. Markus had been right; she was a follower and seemed to follow his lead. Was she his first Killer, the prototype for what he did to Thea? She could imagine that Legion kidnapped some girl and turned her into the abomination she was now. She had dyed hair, pink, white and brown, and mismatched eyes. She stood out and seemed proud of it. Her outfit was far more form-fitting, while Legion's outfit made it hard to tell anything about him. Hell, she sometimes lifted her mask to blow kisses or something equally stupid.

Her conspiracy board was filled with information she'd worked out about the Female Legion, right down to her clubbing habits. She'd gone to the Iceberg Lounge before she'd ever shown up as Legion. It meant they had her face, even if they hadn't been able to identify the smug girl.

Hell, she'd outright murdered people in the Lounge, seemingly for fun. It was just proof she was far more unhinged than her more scheming leader. Even more worrying were the signs that her seeming obsession with Markus didn't start after he was kidnapped.

He was in the same club; they'd danced together, and Oracle had found proof that she'd secretly followed him home, even if he went home alone and she didn't join him. He didn't leave again until the next morning, and there was no sign of her. Markus wasn't picked at random; Legion was already watching him for some reason. 

So, why was Markus worthy of her stalking? This would have only been hours before the Original Legion would kidnap Roy. Had she been considering kidnapping Markus as her target? Why had she just vanished instead of attacking him at his home? 

In her eyes, Markus was a hero. Maybe not a Superhero, but a hero all the same, and the idea of her saviour being stalked by Legion weeks in advance before his kidnapping was alarming. Was the game fixed so Markus wouldn't escape? He'd started suspiciously close to Barbara; if Legion had known Markus, then she would have known he wouldn't abandon her even if it made things much more dangerous for him.

She was missing something, and she needed to find out the truth. There was one thing she was sure of: Markus was in far more danger than she'd thought. The games were just the start, and maybe if she could work out why, then she could repay him for saving her.

– Neo – 

All good things came to an end eventually, and after several months of being her plaything, Markus had done it. Despite her refusing to make it too easy for him, the slippery bastard had gotten a little too good at the games, and Shiro said she couldn't outright cheat.

Of course, she wouldn't have cheated like that; she respected Markus too much for that. In fact, he'd become the third person she truly respected and her second favourite person in existence. Why were none of her kids this fun? 

Besides, she missed her partner in crime, and watching him play Survivor was losing its appeal. She wanted to see what new sick games he could come up with, so as he bought his freedom, she smiled widely.

Markus appeared in the room with her, and before he could even realise he wasn't alone, she stabbed him in the neck with the needle he'd given her all that time ago. Writhing around on the ground, she sat on the table and kicked her legs, watching him twitch and squirm from the agonising process of regaining his memories and powers. 

Rising to his feet, he blinked several times as his eyes changed back to the intense yellowish-red, locking onto her. They briefly blinked in surprise at her outfit, but she figured he deserved a nice sight to come back to, wearing nothing but a pair of panties with the smiley face of Legion on the front. 

"Ugh, that stung like a bitch," Markus said, stretching as he got used to having his strength back. "Heya, Neo. Had fun?"

Neo nodded happily; she should have made her own version of this years ago. It was like playing with dolls, but the dolls could scream and no matter how much they broke they just had to do it all again. Dangling their freedom in front of them led to so many fun little scenarios. Grabbing families was fun, watching husbands leave their wives to die and seeing how quickly fathers went from being willing to die for their kids to abandoning them to avoid her tender care.

"So, that's what it's like on the other side? That's what we've been doing to people?" Markus asked, mostly to himself, as she raised an eyebrow at his strange tone. "What a bunch of pussies, why are they complaining so much? That was fun. Loved the robots and giant bugs, by the way," Markus praised with a carefree grin, a hint of madness behind his eyes. "But we clearly need to step up our game; I figured it would be so much worse. Still, the knowledge of what it was like on the other side should help me make our games so much more interesting. Brilliant move with the Hub area; it's a wonderful source of chaos."

She clapped happily, her grin growing to match his. See, this was why she loved her new playmate. After everything she'd done to him, every torture and degradation, his only reaction was 'that's clearly not intense enough'.

Markus didn't turn it up to eleven, he twisted the dial so hard it broke off and could never be turned back down. 

"Thanks for covering for my absence, I can feel the dread that's spread from the idea that I'm off scheming some master plan. I'll have to come up with something suitable to prove their terror was well-placed, but it'll be best if I don't show up as Legion right after Markus gets free," Markus said, making her nod happily as she hopped off the desk. She frowned briefly as he patted her hair like she was a child, hands on her hips as she glared up at him but he just laughed. "So, ready to cause some mayhem?"

Her frown grew to a maniacal grin, and she bounced excitedly in place (looking smug as his eyes were pulled downwards), clapping her hands together. Yeah, he was back. She'd been slightly worried that she'd gone too far with some of her punishments, that she'd break him, and he wouldn't want to continue, but all this had done was encourage him. It had inspired him; he was truly just like her. Maybe she'd have to try the games herself? She wouldn't have considered it before, but seeing his devotion to his craft had inspired her. 

What would happen if she gave him complete control over her like he had given her? What games would she play, and what tortures would she suffer? Could he break her? 

She knew one thing: she needed to reward him for being the best gamer the Guild had ever recruited. Her mind flooded with ideas of how to reward him for all the entertainment he'd given her and would continue to give her.

She couldn't wait to see what he had planned next.

— Bonus Scene — Bruce Wayne (Batman)

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Batman growled, staring at the target of his ire. She smiled slightly despite not being able to hide her forlorn look. 

"I think you're a fool, but not a stupid one," Talia replied, making him blink. "Father has grown tired of your refusals to become his heir; you've disappointed him one too many times, and he has given up on you."

"For Legion? Ra's doesn't know what he's playing with. Legion isn't like any of my other villains," Batman warned, making her laugh darkly. 

"Do you think I have not argued that exact point? Father has made his choice, and he will not change his mind. I suspect he has not truly given up on you, but he knows you'll try to stop Legion from becoming the new head of the League. He'll be watching to see who wins," Talia explained, sighing as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Talia, leave Gotham. Legion isn't like anyone you've dealt with before," Batman warned, but she shook her head.

"I can't, Batman," Talia said, making him pause. Not 'beloved'? "I cannot disobey him, and he wants me to bring Legion to the League. I'm not the only one looking for him, and disobedience would be costly."

"Talia, this isn't like you. Work with me; Legion getting control of the League would be a worst-case scenario. I don't know what Ra's is up to, but nothing is worth this," Batman tried, but he could already tell from her body language that his words were falling on deaf ears.

"I can't, Bruce. There are some things I would do anything for, even give Legion the League. I truly hope you can stop him, but if nothing changes, Legion will be the new Demon Head. I do not know what madness has overtaken my father, but I cannot fight against this, not even for you," Talia said, tensing up as she saw his body language change.

He should take her in, but after a moment, he relaxed. Ra's was holding something over Talia; she'd let him find her so he'd notice this. As he relaxed, he could see the relief in her eyes as she realised that he'd worked out what she was doing. It was a race to discover what Ra's had on Talia before Talia or any other League members could find Legion.

"Good luck," Talia said, turning and leaving as he watched her go with his trademark frown. He was missing something, and that feeling was one he had become entirely too familiar with recently.