The silence between the three of them was deafening, and it was only broken when the Question leaned against a table and said “Hey don’t look at me.James shrugged and said “Well can’t say I was expecting visitors, so I don’t have any refreshments available to you. Batman was already here when I arrived.”

James shrugged and said “Well can’t say I was expecting visitors, so I don’t have any refreshments available to you. So what can I do for you?”

“I’ll let Batman go first since you can probably guess what I am here about.” The Question said taking a seat.

“You were at the attack that took place at the meeting between the Lucky Hand Gang and the Ibanescus.” Batman said.

“That is correct, but that isn’t much of a secret given you literally saw me there. If you are mad that I did not do anything to help you in that fight, I assumed you had it under control and interfering would have messed up your plans.” James said.

Batman narrowed his eyes and said “There was a trail of broken men up to the roof.”

Grimacing James said “Yes, well I had to get through them. They weren’t exactly in the state to argue with.”

“Their guns were bent and tore apart. Clearly indicative of superhuman strength. On the roof was the body of a man whose head was crushed.” 

“Yeah that was fucked up.” James said, frowning. “Are you accusing me of doing that? I didn’t, he was already dead by the time I arrived at the roof. In fact I was even planning on contacting the League because of who did it.”

“If not you, then who?” Batman said moving right in front of James.

“When I got to the roof, I found one of the gangsters had already been killed by a man. That man was attempting to kill others, and I engaged him in combat. However, he was powerful, and I nearly got my ass handed to me. Thankfully something scared him off and when he left I did as well.” James said.

“Describe this man.” Batman demanded.

“I can’t give you a physical description other than he was a tall man probably six feet. His face was covered. He didn’t mention his name, but I suspect based on his actions and words that he may in fact be a god. Most likely Ares if I had to guess. But that is just based on the evidence that I have available to me. The League probably could tell more, or Wonder Woman might know for certain.”

Batman didn’t respond for a moment and then said in a skeptical voice “You managed to fight Ares unassisted?

“Yes, but I did not say I was winning that fight.” James said defensively. “Plus I got the impression, he wasn’t using his full power for some reason. Maybe to avoid drawing attention to himself. In fact the only reason he displayed as much as he did was because I pissed him off. Luckily for me he was scared off before he could kill me.”

“How was he scared off?” Batman said.

“A Goddess interrupted him from attacking me. I could only assume that he didn’t want to engage further and risk upsetting whatever plans he has in motion for Gotham.” 

“Was this Goddess the same one that Zatanna told me about on the Thirteenth Floor?” Batman asked. “Could Ares be after her?”

“No, it was the Goddess Heqt. As for being the reason why Ares is here, I can only guess he’s behind this sudden push for a gang war in Gotham. Why here?” James shrugged. “Don’t know, maybe he has a grudge against you, Batman.”

The Question looked up from a machine part he had been messing with and asked “Why would Ares have an issue with Batman? I mean the JLI has worked together to stop Ares before, so why would he single you out Batman?”

Batman didn’t respond, and James said “I have no idea. Maybe he’s jealous about Batman’s relationship with Wonder Woman.”

Perhaps this annoyed Batman and he snarled “What are you doing in my city?”

“What else would a person do? I’m living day to day just doing my job and helping out people. Last I checked, Gotham is in America, it’s a free nation.”

“You know what I meant. You’re untrained, reckless.” Batman said, getting right into James' face.

“Oh you’re upset that I’m acting as a hero in your city. Yeah I admit my training is lacking, but that’s because I just started doing this. And before you accuse me of doing this on some kind of whim, no I did think this out. Plus I don’t need your permission, you are not the lord of Gotham.” James said right back into Batman’s face.

“You are not taking this seriously. Gotham is a cesspool of crime. This is a war between us and them and you are just playing hero. People will die because of your folly.”

Frowning James said “This is not a war. There are people who need help and people who make bad choices. Some also bad people want to harm others, but this isn’t a war. A war implies this can be won or lost, this is just a cause. I’m just here to help.”

“Like you ‘helped’ the Riddler?” Batman growled. “You were on Luthor’s yacht when a sub exploded near it. Only one person’s remains were in that yacht, The Riddler. A few days later you were also involved in a car chase and battle. Trouble seems to travel around you.”

“If you are accusing me of murdering the Riddler, I didn’t. He was the one who brought the explosives with the intention of blowing up the Yacht. He in the end was the one who pushed the button to blow the explosives. I even warned him not to do what he had been planning, that it would result in his death. All I did was move the bombs, so the people on the yacht wouldn’t be killed. So he was the one to kill himself.”

“You moved the bombs onto his sub?” Batman's voice was a scathing tone as he glared into James’ face.

“Yeah I did.” James said.

“You knew he would blow them. You had a hand in his death. That is not what we do here. We bring them to justice. We don’t take it into our own hands.” 

“I think that is an admirable goal to have. I agree, I think the Riddler got off light, I would have liked to see him brought to Justice for everything he has done. However, what I did wasn’t about justice or some higher ideal. It was about forcing a man to face the consequence of his own actions. I even gave him the chance to survive by telling him he would die if he did what he was planning. For whatever reason he chose to ignore my warning and killed himself. I think he escaped justice, the only consolation I have is that he won’t harm anyone else.” James said.

Batman grasped onto James’ Jacket and lifted him up a little and said “Who gave you the right to decide who lives and dies?”

“When the Riddler decided to kill every innocent person on that Yacht. When he beat his daughter so badly that she nearly died. Every day he became more and more of a monster and the Justice system did nothing to stop him. They threw him into Arkham knowing that he would escape like he always did. I know people can redeem themselves. But I know they can become monsters that will devour the good in the world. Everyone has to come to a reckoning for their actions, good or bad. I just made sure that The Riddler faced his consequences sooner.”

“When will you face the consequences for your actions?” Batman growled. 

“I don’t know. When will you face the consequence of letting the Joker paralyze The Oracle, or for letting him kill the second Robin? Yeah I’m not as morally good as you Batman, I will always put the safety of my friends and family ahead of the well being of scum that would do them harm. I am not a murderer, but I will kill to protect them if I have to. I understand that is a line you won’t cross and that is perfectly fine with me. But I’m not you.”

The glare from under Batman's cowl turned cold and rigid and James could sense that Batman really wanted to hit him. In fact, in several future paths that James could see, Batman struck him several times. Instead, Batman let James go and shoved James aside as he went to the door. Not looking back the caped crusader said “I will be keeping a close eye on you. Zatanna should be contacting you soon about that mystical place.”

With that Batman left the Base and the air in the room rose. The Question coughed and said “Don’t mind him, he’s always grumpy about something.”

“I don’t mind.” James shook his head. “Batman holds himself to a standard that should be impossible, yet he still manages to achieve it. The problem is that he attempts to hold others to that standard as well. He forgets his humanity at those times which makes him a bit of an ass.”

“Paranoia can do that to a man.” The Question said.

“I understand why he is like that. He can’t afford to let himself fail, so he has to anticipate everything which comes across as paranoia.”

“They do say he has a plan for everything.” The Question nodded.

“Well not everything, unfortunately. So what brings you here today? Did you manage to find anything in regards to the killer?”

“Yes, I managed to come across the names of two individuals who worked on the original Heartbreaker case. A police officer by the name of Clancy O’hara, and a Private Detective Lawrance Lance. Unfortunately Mr. Lance passed away not too long ago. However, his daughter may know something, so I will be heading out of the city to meet with her.”

James thought for a moment about the comics he had read and said “Isn’t Clancy O’hara a Police Chief?”

“Yes, he’s currently in the East End precinct. So while I’m talking with the daughter I would appreciate it if you talked to the Chief.”

James scratched his head and asked “Why didn’t you ask Batman? I’m sure he has connections to the GCPD. Why would O’hara even talk to me about the murders?”

“Maybe you can appeal to his sense of duty.” The Question shrugged and said “You are in the big leagues now. You’ll have to figure out a way. By the way have you managed to come up with a name?”

“A tentative one for now. Leviath.” James said.

“Leviath? Short for Leviathan I assume. A great beast referenced in the bible, usually with evil connotations. Odd choice for a hero to take.”

“A friend suggested it to me.” James said.

“I see. Have you read the Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson?”

Caught off guard by this random question James frowned and thought for a moment and said “I think I only read the first book. The rest of it got just too weird and strange for me to read. I only read the first part because it had an interesting story of a shark inside of a sewer.”

“It is a strange book to the point that it makes one assume the authors were on acid. I read it for it’s take on conspiracies. Though I found it’s absurdist post-modern tone to be a little overwhelming at times. The entire trilogy is an exploration of Discordianism. What is interesting is at the end of the series they encountered a Leviathan.”

“I see. What exactly is Discordianism?” James asked.

“A pseudo-satirical religion. Basically, they believe that order and disorder of the world are simply illusions to the human brain. Or in other words we are constructing the reality in our heads but it is not the actual reality. They worship Eris or Discordia. It was created in the 1960s.”

“Do you believe in it?” James asked.

“No. While the Goddess may exist, the philosophy of this religion is complete garbage. There is absolute evil in this world. The failing of Discordianism is that all concepts are man-made. That is an egotistical and demonstrably false statement.”

“Okay, I’m not sure what point you are trying to make to me?”

“Maybe there is no point. Just be careful with your life Mr. Leviath.” The Question headed towards the exit.

“Before you head out, there is something you should know Question.” James said. “I know you have a history with Lady Shiva. So just letting you know that she was in the city last night.”

“Your wellspring of knowledge consistently surprises me. Thank you for the warning. I’ll keep an eye out for her.”

With that James watched the faceless man walk out, and James began to search the base to see if Batman left behind anything.

ElKriJa

The stockpile of Chapters I have is out, so the updates will not be daily anymore.