After giving Liz a rundown of recent events leaving out of course his sexual escapades, she had leaned against a wall and frowned. “So you were ‘saved’ by the Huntress. Who also bugged your phone?”

James nodded “Yeah. I managed to block that bug. Every so often I send a message using it to throw Huntress off. I’m certain she thinks I’m a fool of some sort.”

“Be careful James.” Liz gestured for him to follow her to her workspace. “You’re playing with fire with her. She may be a reformed from her murdering past, but she still has a hardon for gangs. Even if you are just acquainted with the Ibanescu family, she won’t hold back. Plus if she finds out you are playing her she will devote more time to watching you.”

“I know.” James said, taking a look at her latest project. It was still in the process of being painted but looked to be a man laying upon an altar with a woman crying against the stone. “Kinda dark.” He gestured to the painting.

“Yeah. I’ve been having nightmares recently about this scene. I’m in some kind of church, and a man is dead laying upon the altar and a woman is crying over his body. It ends with someone entering the church behind me and the women turning and staring at them with fear and anger.”

“Yikes. So you felt compelled to put it down onto a painting?” James said, taking a closer look at them. Something seemed odd about these two figures. The church they were in looked to be more of a temple with ancient greek influences. “What are you going to call it?”

“I got the feeling to call it ‘The Death of Hades.’ Not sure why though.”

Frowning James stood. “If the nightmares don’t get better, let me know.”

Liz snorted and said “You have a way to help with dreams?”

“No. But I know of someone who can.” James said. “Changing the subject, what do you think about me taking up being a superhero?”

Liz picked up a brush and did a few strokes on the canvas before she responded. “I think you can do it, even if I wouldn’t recommend it.” She stopped and looked at James “I’ve reformed, but I’m not interested in putting my life on the line without reason, and I don’t like you doing so either.”

“I understand, but I can’t stand by and let people get hurt when I can do something about it.” James said.

Sighing she continued to paint and said “Just… be careful James. It can be addicting running around in that world and it can change you. Please don’t lose sight of yourself and become something I don’t recognize.”

“I will be careful, but if you think I’m becoming a jackass please don’t hesitate to tell me off.” James said.

She nodded and asked “So did you decide on a name for yourself?”

“No, I was hoping you could help me with that.”

“Great. You know all the good superhero names are pretty much already taken. So did you come up with a theme?” Liz asked.

Thinking back to what Jason told him of what he had seen James said “Well if I had a theme it would be something related to giant snake things and the abyss.”

Liz frowned and said “Did you get your powers from snakes?”

“No.” James said.

“Huh fine whatever.” She set her brush down and went deep into thought. She snapped her fingers and said “I’ve got it. What do you think about Leviath?”

“Leviath?” James asked, confused. 

“It’s a shortened form of Leviathan. You wanted a snake and abyss, so that’s perfect. The full name is to baggage heavy, but by shortening it I think you can make it your own. Plus it has an edge to it that I like.”

James frowned and said “Wasn’t Leviathan an evil sea serpent?”

“Yes and No. Depends on how you interpret the sections where it appears in. What it is however is formidable. Granted your not giant so it doesn’t fully fit but I think it will work.”

Looking within he prodded his gut seeing if they liked the name that Liz suggested. It shrugged not really impressed with the name, but it was okay with him using it for now.” James sighed and said “I guess I can use that name.”

“Hey, it's just a first draft.” Liz said. “I’ll think about it more. Did you bring your costume with you?”

“Yes.” James took a moment and sent a tendril into his suit to cause it to shift into his costume. Within seconds he was standing in his costume in front of her. To finish the look, he took out his mask and placed it onto his face.

“You decided to go with a suit?” Liz asked, appraising him.

Nodding James said “I don’t know how superheroes wear those tights but that ain’t me.”

“You had to get used to it. When you are dealing with moving around a lot, having your clothes, get stuck somewhere wasn’t an option.” Liz said. “I would have loved seeing you in spandex. Why did you decide to go with a gray color scheme and not like black?”

“Contrary to most people's belief, it is in fact easier to hide in the shadows and night with gray colored clothing.”

She went over to her desk and grabbed a sketchpad and a pencil and began to quickly draw out a sketch. “Interesting, but we also have to give you some impact. Especially since you have that disturbing mask. Makes me think your head is being surrounded by tentacles.” She shuddered.

For several moments she just sketched until she was satisfied with the finished product. It was of him wearing a similar suit, except this version was far more intimidating. Using different colors of gray she had made it appear that it was as if he was wearing a set of misty clothes which had strange forms moving about within.

“I think it will have more impact in real life. Do you think you can try to copy it?” Liz asked.

He nodded and focused on his clothes. Several tendrils came out and helped him in attempting to match her design. Liz would occasionally offer suggestions until he had finished. Using a nearby mirror James was startled to see how his clothes looked to be shifting in the light. It was as if tentacles were moving about his clothes obscured by a thick mist. It produced a very eerie effect.

“This is great.” Liz spoke. “This should frighten any crook and unsettle everyone else.”

“Thank you for helping me with this.” James said. “I know you don’t want me gallivanting around, but I’m grateful for your help with this.”

Liz coughed and said “Well it’s the least I could do. You helped me, so I should help you. We are friends right?”

“Yes.” James smiled.

“So let's talk about your first superhero mission. You said you are looking into this serial killer right?”

“Yeah, I think I should do something about it. Which reminds me don’t go into that area at night. I know you can protect yourself, but I’m not sure that this killer is totally human. I don’t want you to risk your life to visit the base or me.” James said.

Liz nodded looking at him. “I promise to only go there if you accompany me. Just make sue you let me help you okay?”

“I will. Speaking of help, I actually do need some help getting information.”

“Okay. What do you need?” Liz said.

“Two things I need to help solve these murders are a map of the tunnels in that section of Gotham, both the sewer and utility tunnels. I also need a map of the current murders.”

Liz wrote it down on the sketchpad and said “Those shouldn’t be too hard to get. Though I have to warn you some of the tunnels were never mapped correctly. I did a job once where a map said one thing and I came out on the wrong street.”

“That's fine. I’m just looking for any kind of pattern to help me predict where the killer will strike next. The area is just too large for me to cover by myself without any lead.”

“Do you really think this Question is right about this being related to those old Heartbreaker killings?”

“Hard to say. I am sure he is onto something, though guessing what is hard because of his huge leaps of logic. The man sees connections where no one else would even dream of.” James said.

“Did you need anything else?” She asked.

“It’s less important, but could you give me a report on the goddesses Jiutan Xuannu and Heqt?”

She frowned this time and said “I can, but are you sure that it is a wise idea to be messing around with an imprisoned goddess? Even if we find out she is good, that means someone more powerful than her locked her away and might be unhappy if we release her.” 

Sighing he said “I understand the risk and I won’t risk opening it unless I have strong backup. But if she was wrongfully imprisoned, then I got to release her. Being unable to see anyone or interact with others is a harsh punishment. I went through something similar, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life.”

While he did not have the full memories of his trip through the void, what he did have was filled with loneliness that tore at his psyche. The void had been a prison without bars with him drifting alone from his family and friends with only abominations for company. There was no way he could stand by if this goddess was wrongfully imprisoned.

Liz saw he was being serious and nodded “Just listen to what the experts say. I don’t know anything about this mystical crap, but if they tell you not to open it please don’t. So you also want to look into this orb you found from that chest?”

Taking the orb in question from his pocket, he handed it over to Liz. She held it up to the light and said “Pretty. Some kind of gemstone, but I don’t know what. Do you think it’s magical?”

“Not sure. I haven’t sensed anything magical about it but maybe you have to speak something to activate it.”

“You think it’s a good idea to be carrying it around with you?”

“Probably not. But I think it’s better in my protection, until I ascertain its actual use or find someone better suited to own it. If it turns out to be nothing, I’ll just send it back to Egypt for their museums to hold onto.”

“Alright. Oh and be careful with that new gun of yours. I wouldn’t want you to get arrested for carrying it.”

“I will. Now there is one last thing that is not related to superhero business that I want your help on. It’s about Mrs. Dabbs son.”

“That old lady that lives on the second floor that you told me about who gives you cookies?” Liz asked.

James nodded and said “With things starting to heat up in Gotham with the gang war I don’t think it’s safe for her to be living in a gang building. I think it's a good idea to let him know that his mother is in possible danger. However, all I know is that he is somewhere in Star City.”

“Okay, I have a few contacts in Star City, I’ll ask them if they can find him. But I can’t promise anything.”

“That’s fine. Thank you.” James said.

James spoke with her for several more minutes before he got a call from Francine. “Sorry I gotta take this.” James said and stepped away and answered the phone “Hey Francine what’s Up?”

“Hey James, I got the results for that black goop you brought me. Can you come over?”

“Sure. I will be over.” James hung up and said “Francine called, she finished looking into the goop I gave her.” 

“Alright. I’ll look into the things you asked for and get back to you later.” Liz said.

“Thanks Liz. How about I take you out for dinner when you get done with your exams?”

“Sure. I’ll be free next Friday night.” Liz said.

“Alright. I’ll take you out then.” James said. “I’ll see you then.”

Taking the subway he made his way quickly over to Francine's lab. Upon reaching the Lab he knocked on the door. To his surprise Rebecca opened the door instead of her mother. “Oh hey Rebecca, how are you? It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you.”

“I know. It’s good to see you again before I leave. I’ve been pretty busy. Are you okay, did you get sunburnt?”

“Just a little. Leave?” James asked.

“Yeah, I’m going to be heading out of the city for a bit. I’ll tell you later. Come inside.”

James followed Rebecca inside and found Francine bent over a microscope looking at something while making notes. She looked up when they entered and said “Good you are here.”

“So what did you manage to find?” James said.

“Well it’s one of the foulest things I’ve looked at. There was some human DNA inside of all that muck, in fact there was DNA from several people. All from women though it was hard to tell from all the degradation. The goo is basically just a mass of rotting flesh, if this came from a person, they are either dead or carrying something dead.”

James frowned and said “Is there anything else you can tell me about it?”

“When I say it’s rotting, it’s not actually rotting normally. What I mean is that it’s not being broken down by bacteria or fungi, rather it’s breaking itself down yet not at the same time. This is the stuff of nightmares. Hell, I saw it destroy bacteria that got onto it.”

“That doesn’t sound very good.” James said.

“No. Thankfully it didn’t seem to increase in volume. I made the call to destroy it. This lab is not a secure enough facility to keep a biohazard like that. If you find whatever had that, be sure to burn it.” Francine said seriously.

“Of course.” James said.

Francine smiled and said “Moving on. I managed to find out some more information about you and your last sample.