Beastlier than Any Beast (Ra's al Ghul)

[Deleted]

"Er nennt's Vernunft und braucht's allein,

Nur tierischer als jedes Tier zu sein."



He calls it Reason—thus his power's increased,

To be far beastlier than any beast.



Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -- Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil



The Dini Plaza retrofit had been subtle and by Lex Luthor's standards very haphazard, requiring adaptation where he would have preferred to build anew. Old wiring, old materials and almost a century of architectural compromises had made the place full of character, interesting history, intriguing background and enough holes and problems to make the retrofit almost a full time matter. He'd not been focused on the retrofit, except in passing with momentary spot checks and personal sweeps, and already he'd known that using local talent for a lot of the construction had led to many corners being cut and backdoors left open.



While this was acceptable for Gotham standards, and really to be expected, Lex Luthor really needed more out of a Gotham Headquarters. Then again, this might just be a temporary retrofit with the development of the Arkham City project, surrounding Dini Plaza altogether. It's possible that he'd need to retrofit or buy a block in Gotham West, and start from scratch. A major investment, to say the least, but if Gotham projects continued as they were, it might be worthwhile. Then again, it would be a money loss just to satisfy Lex Luthor's own sense of personal irritation. Either way, it was more than enough, he'd have to ship in his own construction crews to do more of the Dini Plaza retrofit. He'd already purchased the place outright, and the city was attempting to buy it back at an insulting lowball offer. Luthor found that amusing to say the least, and in some ways that almost made him want to just keep the building anyway. 

It required some minor changes, the building would have to be mostly abandoned anyway, although it wouldn't be too hard to just put drone security into the bottom floors and keep the upper ones in use. He'd have to consider it as part of the retrofit. He'd be sad to see the Swan Lounge closed, but he could always just reopen it in Gotham West, wherever LexCorp's new headquarters were located. 

The elevator came down from the helicopter pad as Lex looked over the reports on his personal LexTab 4, the holographic display and the haptic feedback was improving quite a bit in the new model, and frankly he imagined that it would be a successful launch when LexCorp home products division introduced for home purchase in two months. Already the LexTab 3 was an industry leader even with just the standard haptic feedback and touchscreen options, the higher processing power of the device had made it clearly superior to the Wayne model, and of course Ultragen's own "UltraScreen" was hardly anything comparable. The KordLess 2 was making headway in the more niche markets, and it's distributed memory systems and the miniaturization technology through it's partnership with Palmer Technologies made it quite the contender, if it could get more of a foothold in the market and once it got past some of the obvious problems that the tablet had with technology integration. Plus of course the proprietary first generation LexCorp holographic displays made LexMark technologies more of a market dominant force. Really, it was flash over substance, but then again most people liked flash over substance, and it was certainly innovative, and the devices looked nice, all sleek and clean lines and white and black and golds. It looked futuristic, simple and it was sturdy as all hell, which was a nice selling point. Already Planet Tech had reviewed the prototype and found it to be amazing and there was quite the growing buzz. 

Lex Luthor made a mental note to give a visit to Ted Kord, try to pick his brain. He was actually quite fond of the young man and was privately happy to see him make a success of himself even if in some markets he was a direct competitor to LexCorp. It was business, and while Lex Luthor intended to continue to dominate the home electronics market, it was still not the largest moneymaker for LexCorp, although it was quickly starting to make up a dominant share of Quarter Three profits. Plus it had the benefit of making the average citizen all the more interested in THE FUTURE, which was good for everyone, honestly. 

Now if he could just get the force field technologies miniaturized and reliable, he could use that for real 3D haptic feedback and REALLY innovate the home electronics market. . . and frankly, every other market as well. But that was forthcoming and a breakthrough was likely due soon, if the IAC predictions were accurate. 

But that changed nothing with the Dini Plaza Retrofit, even as it changed directions midway through with the Arkham City announcement. The hallways still looked just as lovely and art deco as ever, the carpets remained old and worn, although the electronics underneath them and along the walls were becoming more advanced. LexCorp Security patrolled the halls still. The LexCorps, they called themselves. Lex found that amusing in its own way, one saluted him as he walked down the hallway. Stylized palm leaves recessed in the lighting, Lex's footfalls were muffled by the carpet

Lex's personal suite was at the end of the hallway behind gloriously carved wooden doors, although he tended to use it as an office more than not. He rarely slept anyway. That's when the nightmares came and there was little time for sleep anyway. He'd scattered the LexPods throughout the city by this point already, various shell companies had purchased buildings and real estate, and while Dini Plaza was well suited as the center of operations for LexCorp Gotham, (well, until recently) it was hardly the sort of place that Lex Luthor felt most comfortable. It was the sort of place one would expect a Lex Luthor to reside, but Lex was nothing if not a private individual, and as always, the center of his empire was in Metropolis.

The suite was well apportioned, if minimal, white walls with simple sigils and random sculptures, marble floors with sleek carpets. The furniture was simplistic, but old fashioned for Luthor's taste. This was the way the future was, lost dreams and dusty memories. A hope for a sleek and industrial future that never was. Luthor had retrofitted the room somewhat, but it was nowhere near complete. Too many gaps in security, too many limits to the computer systems and scanners. He'd barely been able to get the shielding in place for vital systems to stop a Kryptonian scan, and the flash electrical systems in the walls would be able to stop the Martian from visiting. As for the rest? He was expecting a visit from the Batman before too long, along with the vigilantes thorough search of his files and documents and weapons. 

Lex Luthor opened the door and walked a step or two in waiting for the lights to come on, they were set to recognize him and turn on automatically, that was one of the earliest things he'd set up. They didn't, however. The room remained in darkness with the only illumination coming through the semi-open window. Eyes narrowed as he sighed and put he LexTab to his side, a figure stood near the window. Yes, it was time for a visit, wasn't it. The silhouette by the window was recognizable, as was the figure he realized was just behind him at the door. Large with a smell of spice and a faint smokey scent.

Ah. . . Ubu. Of course.

Lex Luthor walked casually forward, ignoring the giant mountain of a man behind him. In the end, Ubu was probably the least dangerous person in the room. "I was wondering when we'd have the chance to talk again. You really do have a flair for the dramatic." 

He made his way towards the wetbar in the corner of the room, the figure would speak when prepared, but then again The Master of Assassins liked to maintain his own control of the conversation. Lex Luthor remembered that from younger days, when he was less than he was now, when his head was full and he'd been under the power of the man before him. It was interesting how time could change things. 

"Your fingerprints are really everywhere, if you know what to look for. The subtlety of the plot, how sudden everything has changed, the hidden iron underneath the soft surface of politics. Every easy path turned to a redirection, every open door blocked by invisible power, you've been very thorough in your infiltration. Thorough, but then you'd have to be. Wayne would have put more effort to stop it otherwise, although I wonder how much he cares about the situation anyway. He's done so little to stop me after all." He smiles and then pours himself a glass and then one for the Demon's Head. He let his hand settle on the glass, letting the ring on his finger check for poisons, just in case. "Yes, I had a feeling when I first heard about things, I'd find out later that you had a hand in it all. The young lady you've had following me into Washington as well, I hope she found what she was looking for in the briefcase. I was impressed with how quickly she was able to liberate it from federal custody. Top secret clearance, a full government escort and the personal attention of Director Waller. None of that even slowed down the young lady, she has my compliments. It's so rare to find competence, and it should be valued wherever it's found." The drink was clean. He let go of the glass and let it sit on the counter.

"I can't imagine anyone else putting so much attention on Gotham City. I wonder, is it because of your history with the Bat, or is it just because the city is in need of" He offers the drink to his guest. After all, it would be rude to do anything else "a change?"

[Deleted]

The City was quiet tonight, all ten million voices whispering amongst themselves like the approaching autumn wind which slowly waved goodbye to the stifling summer heat. Soon the leaves on the trees that stood guard in Dini Plaza would loose their winsome vibrancy and fade from a vibrant shamrock to a burnt out auburn then they would cease to be at all, flotsams in the breeze. Even the most beautiful of creations will wither eventually, as their lifeless forms persuade you that they were never anything other than their current state of absence. But through hardship and patient hiatus, life will prevail from the grasp of winter and embody new found passion. As has always been, and all ways will be. Suffering defines Humanity, and as Ra's stood with his palms folded together behind his black suit jacket, looking down upon the Earth below him, he wondered if Summer would have the same glorious notions without Winter's cold embrace to contrast with. Without his actions, how could there be any hope for the eventual bliss of spring?

Looking up to his own reflection, Ra's looked into his encompassing gaze but it was like nothing was their to behold. An endless depth of ink and sorrow. He could not see whites of his eyes nor the vessels that flowed through them. They were depths of oblivion holding a thousand souls yet there were none to be seen. As each season passed he was with and he was without, less than he was the previous day both in spirit and form. But the strings had yet to slip from his fingers just yet, there was time left for his work to be done. With the opening of the door streaks of light shot out into the shadowed minimalistic apartment, illuminating the lack of homely items. The crunching of carpet under shoe was as loud to Ra's as was Lex Luthor's words. Continuing to remain absent of acknowledgment, he waited until the time for pleasantries to pass, if he wanted a drink he would have gone to Cobblepot's watered down den.

The drama was everything, through it the League could maintain their illusion of omnipresence, that no door would remain locked to them, even if it was a million dollar lock. However such strategy would fall short of the mark with a man like Luthor, it was clear that fear tactics would serve little purpose as he was intelligent enough to accept a situation without coercion. Ra's remained locked in the same position that Lex found him in, his face arched away from the light yet in the reflection of the glass he could see all that occurred in the room. "Poison would have been my last choice." The deft clinking of glasses, the swirl of the alcohol and the pause as he made sure that it wouldn't be his last drink, the perks of a life carried out in shadows and silence. Only now did he turn from the window, his milky complexion contrasting the completely black suit which he chose to wore. Half of his form was shrouded in the darkness that came from the apartment while his other half was illuminated by the distant advertisement boards from afar, the hue of the headlights from the crawling traffic.

As he was offered the glass he shook his head lightly, holding out a hand to gesture that he would not partake. Alcohol was an addiction he could do without. Of course Ra's bowed his head lightly as Luthor seemingly complimented his recent work in Gotham, it was the expected formality. And his plans were worthy of admiration so he did allow himself a moment of quiet celebration, though the same gaunt expression continued to sit upon his face. "When Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, the establishment at the time disregarded his theory as an front to God's work, that the very thought of change was blasphemy. No one was willing to accept the random cruelty of nature over the structured plan that God had intended. A century and a half later Darwin's theory is as factual as heliocentrism." For a moment he paused, turning back to Gotham City, watching the dim tail light of a helicopter flicker in the night sky above Wayne Tower. "Now that they know of their true origins, it's time that Humanity was shown their eventual future. Evolution is not cruel or malignant; it is however unavoidable."

[Deleted]

The Demons head had not partaken of Alcohol, nor did Luthor particularly expect him to. He placed the glass aside, next to the master of assassins as he put his own glass aside next to him. There was symbolism here, an important message beyond words, while bread had not been broken, there was the offer of hospitality, given freely and with open sharing. The Demon had attempted to display power over Luthor, the hidden message of his presence was that he and his people were omnipresent, surpassing and bypassing Luthor's security, infiltrating his people, not only present in Luthor's inner sanctum, but accepting Luthor as a supplicant. The message was very clearly given, there is no place we cannot reach, there is no place we lack mastery of. Luthor was to be a guest in his own home, a subject in his own sanctum. Luthor heard the message clearly, and had offered his own in response with a simple poured glass, with a first word. Ra's al Ghul was here as a guest, to be offered the kindness of drink and food as any honored guest would be, and here at the pleasure of Lex Luthor, who as host was at the service of his guest, but not out of fear but out of appropriate manners. 

Luthor knew that Dini Plaza was no inner sanctum for him, it never was. Luthor's inner sanctum existed in one place only, ironically constructed with the aid and assistance of the very man who stood before him. Luthor knew that in that place that no one could ever really invade, despite the fact that many had tried, including his once mentor before him. Luthor was far too stubborn for that, and he had the passion and single minded will that tended to push away that sort of invasion. With work, maybe there'd be technological support one day to assist with it, although that would require a lot more research. 

"I appreciate your esteem, to make poison a last option for me. You've always been pragmatic, and while I know you're not here to try to kill me, I've learned long ago to take nothing for granted. After all, misdirection and theatricality are powerful tools, and often the only defense against them is to be . . . thorough." It was hard to mislead the eye that looked everywhere and systematically cataloged everything, and even harder to outplan the mind that redefined the game with every action. Still, if any man could use the old ways to outmaneuver a modern world, it was Ra's al Ghul. 

In the tortured chess metaphors of his youth, the world was full of pawns who were moved en masse to change the shape of the battle, knights who charged into battle with targeted and expert precision, rooks who bashed through lines of defense to dominate a battle and bishops who came at the side to shape the wills of men, and those operatives who could be all or anything to anyone. When Lex Luthor was in Nanda Parbat there were those who stated that Ra's al Ghul was the King, held back and protected,yet central to all, but Lex Luthor knew differently. The metaphor was pointless, the simplification an illusion for a lesser mind, for Ra's al Ghul was no carved piece to be played on a board, but the hand that moved all around him. There were so few players in the world, who could define the shape of history, and Ra's al Ghul was one of the most dominant for the majority of modern history. Only one other figure could be said to be more influential, and he had the advantage of time if not intellect. 

Ra's al Ghul was a beacon of a transformed past, and Lex Luthor found much to learn from the man, through example if through nothing else. If he disagreed with the Master's methodology it was only because he found it burdened with prolonged history and excessive ritual. These were things that played with the minds of lesser men, and bound them in tradition and religion. Lex Luthor's only religion was himself, and while he was unimpressed with the visage of the dark god, he found himself respectful of the man before him, if only as one of the few in the world Luthor could consider equal. He knew in the end, that in any action worth taking on the grand scale, Ra's al Ghul would always need to be reckoned with. Lex Luthor realized this when the myths reached him at age 16, still in college. Lex Luthor knew this when he wandered the desert, and Lex Luthor realized it with a more mature understanding when he walked out of the desert and away from the tutelage of the man before him in his early 20s, with the eye of making his own mark in the world. 

"If there's one reality that I am aware of, it is that the minds of the masses are never able to really understand the world around them. The human mind is capable of great leaps of infinite understanding, but often the minds of the masses are mired in inertia. It is the tragedy, I suppose, of the species that a genius is rarely understood in its own time. But you know that from experience. It's why you try to act as shepherd to the species. " 

He approached Ra's al Ghul, walking towards the window to look out over the ugly city. A firm hand placed on his arm, attempting to force the shoulder downwards, the tall figure of Ubu stared down at Lex Luthor. Lex was not to approach the Master without clearance, the tribesman pressed with firm certainty with vicelike fingers into the nerves of Lex's shoulder, it would be incapacitated with just an extra inch of pressure, and the twist served to try to buckle Lex's knee. Just a small addition of pressure would make Lex kneel before the Master. 

Lex raised an eyebrow, staring up at Ubu, pursing his lips. Ubu shook his head solemnly, he would kill as soon as see his master disrespected by any who would stand as equal.

"Really now?" Luthor drolled, disgust evident in his voice. He carefully and delicately moved his hand towards the hand on his shoulder only to have it intercepted by a meaty palm that could crush his head. Ubu's hands were large, and could tear a body limb from limb with sheer strength alone. His hands could move through walls as easily as they tore paper, his muscles could lift cars, his faith could move mountains, and his training could allow that raw impossible force to be focused with laser precision. Ubu was a killer among killers, an assassin of assassins, trained from Birth to protect one that wore death as a mantle.

Ubu grabbed Luthor's hand, squeezing it so as to incapacitate any strike that might come. He pressed into the intersection of the joints to deform and twist Luthor's hand from the weakest part of the grip. What would come next would be simple, the finger broken, Luthor thrown off balance and made to kneel with perfect application of almost inhuman pressure. Ubu did not, however, finish the gesture, nor was Luthor made to kneel. Before he could finish the motion which would break Luthor's hand and push him to the ground as a warning, Ubu froze, eyes widening for a moment as he swallowed, as his muscles failed to listen to the message from his brain. His eyes were locked forward, trembling.

Luthor slowly pried his hand free from Ubu's grip, with an almost casual ease. He left the ring , freshly activated by the glass and supercharged from the battery underneath the wet bar, clutched between Ubu's middle finger and thumb, where he had grabbed it when seeking to incapacitate Luthor at the joint. Ubu trembled slightly as a single tear went down his cheek from the unblinking eye as he focused very hard on breathing, which appeared to be all he could do at this point. Luthor again, casually pried the fingers from his shoulder, then stepped forward next to Ra's to look out the window. The entire interaction took only a few moments, leaving Ubu a statue of rigor behind him, alive, but very much paralyzed. 

The city was ugly, there was no doubt about that. No question of it, Gothic and old and run down with millions of people grinding against eachother. It was not an efficient city by any means, nor were the lives of these people at all fulfilled or complete. Not like HIS city, not like his Metropolis. 

"The legacy of Darwin, although I am certain he would be the first to deny it, although unlike you I've never had the pleasure of meeting him, is not in his theories of the origins of the species. I believe the modern legacy of Darwin exists in the philosophic truth of Science itself. In the end, the inescapable fact of science is that it is amoral. Science is based on the search for fact, for truth. It is left to the individual man to decide the application of the facts. When one's worldview comes in conflict with the cold equations, as the worldviews of many in the face of Darwin did, then there is but one stark choice. Adapt the worldview to incorporate fact, to evolve. Or to remain unable to adapt and die in the face of others who can adapt. One cannot change the cold equations that make up the world, only use them to change the world." 

He looks out at the city again, in the distance smoke rose from factories and the darkness and shadows spread over the Gothic Industrial Nightmare "I see your handiwork here, I saw it the first day I set foot in Gotham. I knew at the edges of these shadows, your eyes were on the city. I knew with each . . . horror, your fingers were dipped into the very ethos of the citizens. I see it clearly with each plodding footstep of every citizen, every skulking figure in the shadow, every dark face, every moment of despair. The city was dark before, I'm certain, but it's almost a parody of itself, some days. The despair is too great. The pain too harsh. The shadows too deep. The madness too great." He considers the city before him as if it were some skulking beast.

"Despite everything, you're no scientist, although you do appreciate science, and you might even style yourself a scientist on occasion. I think that deep inside you're still the Alchemist. I see that philosophy at work here. You're putrefying the city, before it's purification. You're bringing out the baser elements that were always here, debasing the city, and bringing it to something putrid. Something so rotten on the surface, that no rot can exist within. And then you cleanse it. . . you purify the filth to leave only the pure behind. That's what you tried to tell me, all those years ago, although I didn't really understand it then. I made the mistake then, of assuming you were a scientist, trying to teach me some sort of obscure and ancient secret. I didn't understand what you were really trying to tell me."

He thinks for a moment. "I was young, though. Not quite as subtle. I've had to face my own cold equations in the years since then." He looks at Ra's al Ghul and then says "You don't want to admit it, but you're still an optimist, despite everything. . . I actually admire that."

[Deleted]

Luthor's well placed words of admiration stirred little in the man this form of compliment was what he expected from all that he met. Not that this wrapped him in a shield of pride, Ra's just understood that when men like Lex Luthor paid their respects to him it was because they were 'geniuses' in that they understood not only their own merits but still managed to accept the brilliance of others which allowed for future alliances to be founded. Yet even as Ubu attempted to restrain their guest from moving any closer to his Master, Ra's showed no complaint as the two tousled with one another for a few moments. Ubu is what he is, a brute imprinted with a firm sense of loyalty but a thug none the less. It just so happened that now and then the League had use for such a man, much like they had need for visionaries like the man who had just immobilised the Demon Head's most valued bodyguard. An impressive trick no doubt, but Ra's partially held Luthor's fighting skills in both high regards and with disgust. He found that the man was far too reliant on technology, but when one is not naturally skilled in the realms of martial arts it pays to turn your other areas expertise.

"I am a realist at least and a utopianist at most. In the world that we will forge in fire all peoples will be united, every race, every faith, every creed will find unity and common ambition. Only those who prove their worth will be allowed enter our Heaven on Earth. The rest will be swiped away and if nine hundred and ninety-nine must perish for every one who thrives, let it be so." Never compromise, never broker a deal with your heart when your mind begs otherwise. Giving Lex a brief side glance as he moved next to him, Ra's looked down on the streets below that he spoke of, eyeing the movement made by the vehicles that touched bumper to bumper. As he watched them rush to their graves, he wondered how many emperors of fortune and how many decadent politicians have lived and died and no record of them remains, as they only sought to gain dominions and riches in order that their fame might be ever-lasting. Their paths were ones with only a single end

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. We will be conquer not mankind but the evils which beset it on all side, overseeing greatest social change in history." Pausing for a moment, Ra's raised out his hand to the glass before him, touching it softly with the tips of his fingers as he seemingly reached out to that previously unattainable glory which he had only but dreamed of. For the first time in their existence Humanity was forming into a global community, one massive conglomerate that spanned the Globe. This was not unity, it was a sham, it was the mutual understanding that commerce is far more effective when everyone wears the same logo on their sweat shop manufactured t-shirt. Modern men would throw aside the value of alchemy, laughing off the ancient practise as simple lies but the Head of the Demon knew that their notions of truth held as much weight as breath in the wind. Men fear what they do not understand.

When a man of science forms an alliance with a believer in age old alchemy, suddenly those myths of yester year did not seem as impossible as they once did, at least not in their original sense. In his youth Ra's' head was often found deep with whatever text that he could find, if knowledge was power then he desired to be a God. But there are no Gods, only the words of men. There was one area of myth that enchanted his innocent passion, and that was the allure of the Philosopher's Stone. We was no fool, he knew that in an actual sense gold could never be created from base elements but perhaps that result is only bound to chemistry. "With patience and opportunity anything can be achieved. Watch as I turn this City  into gold."

[Deleted]

Luthor's relationship with the League and their assassins over the years had always been questionable, and he'd always found that League assassins considered him to be frivolous, weak, dishonorable, over reliant on his "toys" as any weak westerner would be. He'd yet to have a single interaction with any member of the League where they did not demean his skills in combat, or his lack of humility. If you were without your toys, you would be harmless. If you weren't dependent on your crutches, I would kill you as easily as I would a baby. They died all the same, mind you. He was 17 when he killed his first Assassin, before he'd received any training at all. This was part of the regimen when he'd first met Ra's, his way of proving himself perhaps. Sudden ambushes, assaults in his sleep, sadistic masters come to rob his makeshift lab and leave him harmless. They were always surprised when they died, some cursed at him with their last breath but they were the lucky ones. Lex had studied them, improved his skills, and by the end no one cursed him after he'd disabled them. Lex Luthor was a horrible fighter, in all honesty. He had no feel for the martial arts, although he'd learned the basic forms and could often defend himself. He was not the Detective, the Detective had taken to training with the drive of a man with only vengeance in his heart and nothing to prove to the world. Lex Luthor was no fighter: he was a killer. In the end that made him all the more dangerous.

In those days, young and impressionable, in that hidden city of rock, Lex and Ra's had reached an accord after Lex had killed one of those sadistic "trainers" with a spoon and horse dung utilizing some of the unique qualities of the rock walls of Nanda Parbat. After that time Ra's had worked with him personally, and never bothered with sadistic or pointless exercises to try to teach him humility. Humility was a lesson that Lex Luthor had never bothered to learn, although with prolonged time and effort he had learned respect, which in some ways was more than enough. Assassins would still mock Lex Luthor's dependence on his toys, on his preference towards using new and advanced weaponries rather than bodymeat and toothpicks and remnants of sharp metal. Lex Luthor would remain one of the most dangerous men on the planet as his naysayers were left behind by a world they couldn't comprehend. He eyed his counterpart through the corner of his eye, considering his face in the reflection of the window without looking at him directly. Ra’s was different than his followers. Something to be said about the difference between the master and the student. In the end, the master must always go their own way and become the trail blazer. To move beyond the dreams of prior generations to redefine the world with their gumption and their

“I’ve always been a supporter of the meritocracy, although I suppose I could be considered a Utopianist too. I see a terrible future for humanity, I see a species that is little more than a speck of dust in the vast infinity of the cosmos. It’s easy to forget the scale of everything when you’re walking in the crowds, in the despair. This city can strangle you, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the weight of people. The breath, the smell, the sheer mass of people crammed together into one place.”

He purses his lips and lets the scene in front of him sort of sink in. He liked being high up, LexCorp Tower was the highest building in Metropolis, and he spent a significant amount of time flying over the city in helicopters and planes, just looking down at the city below. Some would say it’s because he liked to feel so much larger than the people, to look down and see them all like ants, petty and forgettable, like an indistinguishable mass, like fluid dynamics, to reduce the actions of humanity down to a simple physics equation, and feel like a giant in comparison. This was a half truth, Lex Luthor did not look down at the city and feel himself a giant. Lex Luthor looked over a mass of humanity and the mass of the universe it faced, and felt very small indeed. But then again, Lex Luthor was never one to back down from an infinite challenge, indeed, they were often the only challenges worthy of the human race.

Ra’s had performed similar calculations in his own way, as Lex had, but had come to a vastly different conclusion. It was understandable, perhaps if Lex were capable of greater empathy he’d even feel compassion for Ra’s for his obvious miscalculations, after all, it was based on a much smaller universe based on renaissance assumptions built on medieval foundations. When Ra’s was at his peak, a single landmass was a universe in itself, the heavens little more than a backdrop to the great drama that was the human struggle. In the petri dish that was the Earth, humanity had overgrown, spread out, dominated, decimated and digested the agar that was the natural state of the Earth. A simple single variable equation, where X = Humanity, and Y = Creation, as X increased, Y must necessarily decrease to feed X. Soon Humanity would choke itself in its own waste, trapped in the agar of its birth, incapable of better utilization of resources or transformation.

Lex Luthor knew the equation was significantly more complicated than that. The coming of the Alien had proven that fact. Ra’s spoke of culling, he always did. To prune the weakened humanity to shape it for a stronger future with a more manageable remainder. Lex hated to waste resources, and in the end he understood the vital importance of human resources.

Lex Luthor took his own glass up and looked down at the city before him, but then up at the sky as well. The sky was vast and humanity was needed, but Ra’s was right about one thing. They were unprepared as they were now. Lex Luthor drank a sip of his own drink. “A fait accomplit, then. A destruction of the social order . . . another culling.” There'd been many cullings, Lex knew. A test for civilizations that few had passed, the great vintier pruning the weak and twisted so that the pure might flourish. The Black Death, the great genocides, the plagues, some said the coming of the hordes, so many civilizations put to death, if the legends were to be believed, by this one man. Lex Luthor pursed his lips and then put the glass back down, twisting it slightly in his fingers. He considered again as he looked out at the population. Was this the hill he wanted to die on? Ra’s was focused on Gotham, he had his driven plan, and would put everything he had into it. Lex was certain he could stop the League of Assassins from whatever plan they had for this city. He could reshape and stop this inevitable boulder before it reached its ultimate goal. . . 

But it wasn’t his city, nor was it Ra’s city, as much as the two of them might operate so freely and with such extend and brazenness. It was Wayne’s city, still. His family had built it, and he owned it, and underneath everything he could see the hand and eyes and mind of Wayne on every edge of Gotham. Lex Luthor stared across Gotham at the height of the tower in the distance with Wayne’s name inscribed on the side. The very shadows of the city seemed to mirror that dark deep place that Wayne tried to keep hidden away with a cheery facade. Lex had seen that deep darkness every time he’d spoken with Wayne. The obsession that drove the man that he thought he hid so well with that damned mask he always wore. As if a man as dominant as Wayne in Gotham could succeed with sheer luck and inertia. As if Wayne Corp could be as dominant or as cunning a competitor to LexCorp with an idiot at the helm. No, there was a deep darkness to Wayne, and in some ways spending time in Gotham helped Lex to see it clearer, because as easy as it would be to blame Ra’s for the shadows of Gotham, the Demon’s head simply exacerbated them, he threw them into sharp relief. But the shape and shadows mirrored Wayne, cracking through a facade that might as well not be there at all.

Lex wondered what a man with clear eyes would learn of him from seeing Metropolis. But the truth remained, despite everything, Lex Luthor was no prince of Gotham, and while he had wanted to expand here, it was for very specific goals. He knew that for LexCorp Gotham to thrive or Lex Luthor to become a Prince of Gotham, either Wayne would have to misstep or Lex would have to invest more than he wanted.

Could Lex Luthor Save Gotham?

Obviously yes, but at what cost? At what price? Was it a price worth paying when there were so many other battles in this war. A war for Gotham would be protracted and fought from a disadvantage for Lex Luthor. Against the might and will of Ra’s al Ghul, against the inertia of choices, Lex Luthor could only fight by pushing with full might of his entire power against the brunt of the rolling boulder of inevitability like the Alien charging at the mountain, brute strength against brute strength until all sides were reduced to rubble. Arkham City would come without heroic effort. Would it be better to plant his seeds now, and prepare for the inevitable, the aftermath? Would it be better to go with things as they sat and profit from it in the end? Was it worth it to let these people die so that he could use those resources to save so many others?

Could Lex Luthor save Gotham?

Yes, obviously . . . 

But at what cost?

Lex Luthor looked again at Ra’s al Ghul, and seemed to come to some sort of decision.

“I've been thinking. . . about the Alien, but then again my mind rarely strays from it. I wonder, sometimes, what it’s world was like before its destruction. It’s spoken so little of it, except to say that it was destroyed, that it was advanced, and that he was its last scion. We know, now, that was a lie, with the coming of the other one. But I wonder, whether or not it’s destruction was accelerated by the arrogance of its people. Whether they were as flawed as humanity was. Whether they were weak, and whether that weakness either caused the destruction of the planet, or even worse if in their weakness they just failed to stop it.” He shook his head and looked out. “The Alien sets itself up as such a paragon, a perfect moral being. It calls itself the Superman, even.” He laughs for a moment “The Superman. And they say I’m arrogant.” His face twists with a moment of anger as he squeezes the glass, irritated but then letting the flash of irritation pass with a simple breath, exhalation. Ra's had taught him such a calming technique once. He'd put it to good use in the years since.

Ra’s had called him the uncontrolled inferno once. It was a name that stuck among some who knew him still from that time. Hariq. The Uncontrolled Flame. Some saw it as a joke regarding his hair, back when he had it, but Ra’s had a deeper meaning behind it when he was given that name. Ra’s had seen something in Lex. Perhaps it was how he saw Lex’s personality, his uncontrollable power and his desire to strangle the Gods with his bare hands. Perhaps he saw something in Lex’s destiny. Honestly, Lex Luthor couldn’t say why he had the name, it rarely came up anymore except among old companions who knew him when he was young and flame haired.

“The answer to our Fermi paradox, and the reinforcer of our Fermi paradox, proof of the great filter. The Alien from a destroyed world. I wonder, sometimes if humanity is doomed to follow a similar path. Whether or not that great filter comes for all life, to destroy it. To purge it, wean it until nothing remains except entropy, and that cold shadow of space. An advanced civilization of supposed superior morality, if the Alien is to be taken as its exemplar. Destroyed. I worry about his effect on the world. I worry that he offers false hope, a crutch. People grow dependent on him, they grow weak. Soon . . . we’ll face our own great filter. It’s inevitable, the signs are there, we are small in the face of an uncaring and malignant cosmos, and with every passing day, the filter comes closer. I wonder sometimes, whether that filter will come from the sky. . . I wonder, sometimes, whether you’ll be our great filter. The one that prunes human civilization into it’s own destruction while trying to save it. I wonder also if you'll end up saving us all in the end. I honestly don't know.”

[Deleted]

"No, not just another culling. This will be the final solution to our decades of strife and failure. For longer than I care to admit we have played the long game, watching Humanity stack itself on a self proclaimed throne of matches while we ready our matches." Most people would wince at the term 'culling' but to Ra's is fit the bill exactly, there was no need to deny what he had planned for the people of this forsaken City. Only cowards run from the true but he embraced the judgement that he alone had passed on every man, woman and child who squatted in the streets and huddled under their shelters. Like the unflinching gaze of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, the League of Assassins has watched and they have waited for the perfect opportunity so that their actions would be more than a simple flash in the pan. And what they have seen has sickened their moral hearts, reaffirming their reverent ideals concerning their questionable actions. If there was ever a great motivator for why they were needed to maintain the balance of justice, it would be Gotham City.

Sentimental fools have often quipped that certain cities have a heartbeat, a certain vibe and personality woven through the brick and mortar. But this was no City of Love, no City of Light, this was a town of Sin with all the characteristics of a sinner who showed no remorse for their debauched ways. Even through the tinted bullet proof glass that he stood behind now there was a sense of immediate danger, that at any moment the streets would revolt in a maelstrom of anarchic violence. On this night alone Ra's wondered how many acts of rape, murder, burglary and arson had been reported so far, how many lives ruined under the cover of darkness. His moment of reflection was interrupted by the mentioning of the Alien, or at least the most prominent E.T to have appeared so far, the God with a red cape. Ra's knew of Luthor's fascination with Superman, once before they had spoke of the reality shattering appearance of beings such as him yet what amazed Ra's was Humanity's general lack of concern. Not only should an Alien break the rusted shackles of religion from minds of Men but the fact that they sought no deterrent against him truly worried him.

"You will learn that technology does not make the man, Luthor. Our childish dreams of a shining future only dull the reality of life." Turning away from the window for the first time, Ra's al Ghul carefully paced over to the set of chairs that sat surrounding a small coffee table ,which was probably more expensive than the average new car, before he lowered himself down onto one of them. With an open palm he offered Lex a chair opposite them. He could only gaze into the abyss for so long. "When I was a younger man, perhaps only two hundred and fifty years old, I had the honour of meeting Sir Francis Bacon at one of the first public readings of his book; New Atlantis. Understandably I have backed many pieces of propaganda such as his works with the aim of spreading our utopian ideals through more subtle means. Four hundred years ago, could you imagine the future that we believed would be achieved by the turn of the millennia? True, advances have been made but only in terms of bouts of warfare and finance. Men drowns themselves in unattainable futures, they always have done. We are the only ones who will actually bring about our dream worlds."

Pressing his fingers to his lips in silence Ra's considered where he was leading the conversation as he chose to explain to Lex that the future is never what we expect or what we want. "Humanity will never achieve greatness under the circumstances which it currently resides, how can it? We have traded the lies of the established churches with a new opium, an addiction to heroes, a love of the impossible. People would rather run from their problems and expects Super Humans to solve their worries. We will not save the World, we will force the World to adapt and evolve into something glorious and thus it will have saved itself." Change doesn't come from sudden realisation in the middle of the night, true evolution comes from nature forcing you at gun point to grow or die. "We are evolution."

[Deleted]

"A final solution, while I know my experience is nowhere as extensive as yours, final solutions rarely seem to work the way they're planned to." He finishes his drink placing the glass back on the counter.  Lex called it a culling because that's exactly what it was. A trimming of the branches to strengthen the remaining. He recalled a simpler time with a simpler lecture. 

"You must prune the vines, mon ami. Cut away the extra bits. You see, a given vine in a given season can only produce a certain quantity of fruit, and it does so based on how much leaf area there is. If you limit the number of shoots and leaves, you make a better and more maximum crop. All of the energy of the vine is put into just the best of the fruit. If you do not do this, the vine eats itself, grows out of control, sour grapes, bad wine. You prune to invest in the future, make the sugar compete for best grapes, rather than have the grapes compete for the sugars." Yes, a culling, a pruning. A simple equation for an agronomist, but then again one that had given Lex Luthor pause multiple times. He hated the waste of resources. 

It was a filthy little city, though. Ground up and dying in a self strangulating desperate gasp. Lex considered the man next to him, really put his thoughts and minds to the Demon's head. Ra's al Ghul was a man so wrapped in symbolism and gravitas and presence it was hard to see the man underneath. This was a common defense among Ra's apprentices and those who utilized his techniques and his training. The Bat was no different in a lot of ways, wrapping himself up in symbolism and legend until the Man was subsumed by the Bat. In similar ways, the Man had been subsumed by the Demon, to the point where it was almost impossible for any to see past the legend and the image to the truth underneath. For all the age, wisdom, gravitas and acting, Ra's al Ghul was a man. A human being, though one removed from the experience through perspective and expediency, to the point he could even contemplate a casual massacre. But still a human being. If Lex Luthor were sentimental or less of a man he might seek to appeal or reach that figure underneath the mask. But why would he? What would the point of it be? The ignorance and stupidity of both the Demon and the Bat was the assumption that a legend was anything at all, other than a form of mass delusion. It was said that a bullet could not stop an idea, and that was true. But in the end, an idea was only as strong as the people who bore them, implemented them, championed them. 

The Demon and the Bat, men all the same, investing their own personal power, genius and resources into the creation of a legend that was beyond that of humanity. This was a city fallen into self destruction, with two powerful men seeking to reshape it according to their own mythos. The Bat sought to reshape the city through rumor, whisper and fear into falling under some sense of control, with the implanted self censors of fear guiding a cowed populace into some form of hope, the evil scared into goodness, the good preserved should they maintain a righteous path. The Demon sought to reshape the city through certainty, through the path of strength through adversity. Through the death and sacrifice a city would rise again, either as a warning to others or as a stronger and more cohesive whole. Despite the activity and actions and politics and implementations, this was memetic warfare between two very distinct adversaries, and in the back of his mind, Lex Luthor had the feeling that it was personal, and more importantly, their conflict had little if anything to do with him. 

But even so, the Demon's Head understood power, he understood weakness and strength, and he understood that Lex Luthor was someone to be ignored at peril, despite the fact he never bothered to try to evoke any legend other than his own. It was in deeds that the world was changed, and Lex Luthor never felt the need to manipulate symbolism, fears or hopes or the predisposed prejudices of people to make his name. Lex Luthor had other battles to fight and other methods at his disposal, and the world would adapt and catch up, or be left behind, and when the world did adapt, Lex Luthor would be three steps ahead into creating a new world to be reacted to.

"I was told once, by one who would know, a mutual acquaintance I'm certain. . . that humanity is little changed from the time it left the caves. That while the external trappings of the human condition change, the core nature of what makes a man remains identical to the beast that left the cave. I sought him out, as I'm sure you're aware. . . when we parted ways in the desert. Me, naked and alone, left to the whims of the elements. Your daughter laughed at my condition, you know, asked how I would survive without the toys. Unarmed and untempered in the face of the cold and uncaring elements, tracked by your killers." He smiled a bit to himself "That was always the thing that the two of you never understood, though. I'm never unarmed, you see. I'm never truly without resources, because I have intellect, and the world is my workshop." He shook his head as he stared out into the city. 

"I sought out the Ancient one. The one mentioned in your texts. The timeless immortal, and I found him in unusual circumstances, you know. He spoke of you. If I could understand him I'd say possibly out of fondness, although he was enigmatic even compared to yourself. A beast. Beastlier than any beast. In many ways, vicious, ruthless, a beast with the perspective of time. he told me. . . that the humanity he knew from his time on Earth never changed. And that was the great tragedy of man. He said that men are constantly chasing ideals of utopia, when the only truth was that of survival, the will to power. That the weak will ever seek heroes and men of will to guide them. I took the idea to heart, I suppose. It's odd, though, one could say he might have been the most human of anyone I've ever met. . . but in some ways he was almost the most alien. He was not as generous a teacher as you, but then again. . . in many ways he was almost more of a beast than a man." He shook his head as he let his hands fall by his side. 

"We are a weak race, Ra's al Ghul, and you are correct. Humanity cannot survive as it is now. Soft and exposed to a cold and uncaring universe. Naked and alone and left to the whims of the elements. Despite all the changes we've made, the challenges put before it, both by you and by the cold and uncaring universe, despite the armors and weapons and ways we've managed to cheat our fate. . . I wonder if humanity is capable of changing. The Ancient never seemed to think so. He was certain that we would simply become more sophisticated in lying to ourselves and cheating our fate through tricks, tools and lies. Perhaps he was right, and perhaps that's the only path of survival, to spit in the eye of fate and to take back our birthright from a universe that would see us destroyed. You're right, humanity cannot thrive as it is now, we've been shown the inevitable truths of that. Perhaps this time you'll find that core of strength you always seek in the purity of humanity. Maybe this will lead to that utopia."

He shrugs as he says "Perhaps that's where we've always disagreed. You've always believed more in the ability of humanity to find inner strength, to grow through overcoming the challenges that face it. To reach within and to transmute itself into something nobler than it is. Maybe the lessons of the ancient taught me despair, perhaps it was a lesson I learned long before those fateful tutoring sessions. I've always cheated. Even those lessons of hardship you tried to teach me. . . I cheated my way through every single one, blatantly and daringly. As if to dare you or the league to force me to do otherwise, perhaps it was an adolescent form of rebellion. Perhaps it was just Pride, I've been told I embody that sin greater than most, although the accomplished always seem prideful when they honestly display their powers. When your killers came for me they always mocked me as they lay dying, for fighting like a weakling. I suppose I had a bad attitude regarding taking the path anyone else left for me. . . they always ask the same question. What will I do on the day I'm forced to fight unarmed. When my toys are taken away and I'm left with only my soul against the spectre of death. What will I do when the machines are broken and I'm out of tricks. Despite my training, I've never really tested that mettle deep inside when I've had other options. I've never fought fair when I've had a choice in the matter. Perhaps that's cheating, perhaps it's intelligence, hard to say." He shrugged at that and stroked his chin.

"There's something to be said about me being alive still, though. Although I'm certain I've never learned the lessons you wanted me to learn then. Not like the Bat. He is one of yours, isn't he? I recognize the style of his aspect and avatar. The misdirection, the symbolism, the work from the shadows, the pitting himself personally against a challenge with nothing but inner strength and gumption. His way of using a symbol to try to shape his city, his people. No, I recognize your hand in his training. I did listen to your lessons, you see. I paid close attention to them all, misdirection and legend, darkness and light, strength of will and cunning."

He smiled a bit to himself. It made sense, honestly. Everything, the investment, the plans, the choices, the little things that didn't add up. The motivation behind it seemed much clearer. Lex Luthor knew Ra's al Ghul with more than passing familiarity, and had never let the stories distract from the fact that underneath it all, he was a man. This wasn't some odd idealistic crusade, this was personal. Lex Luthor could respect that. He understood personal vendetta, to sacrifice and to take extra steps and development to drive the knife into one particular person. Lex Luthor understood the urge and the need to sacrifice personally to go that extra mile to find and go after the one exceptional person. This was the ideal urge of the Demon's Head, the Utopian vision of a stronger humanity, yes. . . but why Gotham? Why in this way? It was personal, even if the Demon's Head would kill rather than admit it.

"Yes, definitely one of yours, obviously a better student than I. He actually utilizes your lessons more directly, rather than in those indirect ways than I do. Honestly, I doubt you could ever respect a man turning his own name into a symbol and a myth. . . but a Bat? To transform oneself into the night and to wield rumor and fear as a scalpel? That's the art of the Demon remade on a smaller scale." He stopped and then thought for a moment, an odd realization "Although he doesn't kill. That's interesting. Perhaps he seeks to absolve himself of the guilt and the hard choices that come from seeking change. Perhaps it's his own weight to bear. Otherwise, though. . . a perfect apprentice. Independent, wealthy, a master of misdirection and means, of theatricality and legend." He looked at Ra's for a moment, looking at the structure of his face.

He sighed as he stared over the city, throwing up his hands "I won't stop it, despite my own concerns over the entire project, I won't interfere with it. I know better than to interfere or stand in the way when you've something in mind, and in the end." And this was the truth to the matter "Gotham is not my city, although I'd love to try the challenge of transforming it and redeeming it. And perhaps I will if need arises." He definitely would, he could already predict the outcomes of this endeavor. Even should the Demon's Head succeed beyond his wildest dreams, the city would need to be rebuilt, and Lex Luthor was a master of rebuilding cities now. He'd done it multiple times with Metropolis by this point, and he was growing extremely adept at it. He'd have to lay the groundwork now, but it was already mostly in place. He'd take what he could from the endeavor, and then be there as a savior to restore the city. And from that? Who knows, opportunities arise always.

"I'll ask this though, as a personal question. Out of respect for an intellectual equal. . .  are you attempting to transform Gotham or something more specific? Is this about the 'Glorious Purpose' or a wayward apprentice who you'd see returned to the fold? Or is it a combination of both?" He smiled and then shook his head "It's not my concern either way. I know better than to pry into personal matters, and despite our history. . . I've nothing but respect and regard for you as a man, even more than you as a legend." 

[Deleted]

Ra's al Ghul sat and he listened to the stream of conversation that was being fed to him by this man gifted with not only wealth but the knowledge and sense of how to use it in an honourable manner. And while doing so his lips never moved, his expression never altered and his body was void of any noticeable movements even to the extent that his chest rarely moved to breath, even drawing breath seemed like a phenomenon that the Head of the Demon had long since mastered so that minutes could pass before he swallowed down more oxygen. But his eyes behind the stillness that they enchanted the beholder with were fuelled with flames of interest and partial delight, born from an unspoken admiration of the Man who was the Boy that travelled the World to meet him. Luthor's constant referral to his toys was a practical tactic for a Man with only modest physical strengths but although it meant that he would be supported by a crutch it didn't remove the fact that a crutch was required.

"Technology will always change, that is the way of the World. However never believe that you will be at the spearhead of progress in this field, even Lexcorp can't rule the World forever. No doubt a reliance on your toys has helped you thus far but one day you will find that your enemy might have advanced beyond your own means and when that day comes you will find that you have always been alone. Trust in your body, in your arms and your chest, learn that no electronic weapon can defeat the Human spirit or mind. Break your addiction to external aid, trust only in yourself." For hundreds of years Ra's had achieved levels of near perfection in terms of both his mental and physical strength, to the extent that he firmly believed that if someone could defeat him then they truly deserved to, as they would have readied themselves to such an extent to prove with worthiness. 

Upon the mention of the Detective a hundred adjectives screamed out from all corners of his imagination, ranging from hauntings of treachery and foolishness to acknowledgements of great drive and determination. The Batman was all of his greatest fears and hopes commingled into one being, a man fuelled only by a desire to inflict justice upon a broken World but tempered by a fear of the greatness that could be achieved if he reserved his morality. The Dark Knight was a creature based upon the concept of fear, one Man's terror inflicted upon those who deserved it for the greater good of his beloved City. The only fault with this is that Batman lacks the teeth behind his bark, as he will never devote himself to removing the criminal element from Gotham, instead he only strives to keep it at bay. For if there was no crime there would be no need for Batman, a prospect Ra's was more than willing to accept.   

"Humanity does not need a masked fool to show them that it is possible to fight crime, if anything he is little more than a sedative for a terminally ill patient, staving off pain for only the briefest of moments. No longer will Mankind look to the sky for help from aliens or Bats, for too long people have been lost in a dream world state, running from the reality which they have created. But I expect that soon Gotham will be shown the truth." Fire will cleanse all and from the ash they will ascend to heavens that were once only figments of the dreams that Men so tenderly hold onto. "You ask why I focus on Gotham? Like an artist I will work this crude piece of ore until it is something beautiful and worth remembering. For years this cess pit has only been mentioned in the tabloid exposes on corrupt politicians and late night news broadcasts covering the rising stain of crime which has the rest of America turning a blind eye. I will break away the dregs until nothing is left but perfection."

Gotham was more than bricks and mortars, it was the symbol of Western society, a City known only for the indulgences of its people and the terror inflicted by its growing unconventional crime lords. People don't go on holiday to Gotham, it is never discussed in polite conversation, it is that child who the parents have instructed you never to talk to out of fear of what such a relationship could bring about. "But its one thing to wish for a better tomorrow and another to bring it about so tell me, how will we save Gotham?"

[Deleted]

Lex Luthor's eyes looked over the streets out the window, taking in the details subconsciously, the information channeled and placed into that little memory network that ran through his mind. Indeed, a rage from fear played over the synapses of his brain, cortisol and epinephrine burst through his body as he felt his fingers twitch, his eyes flare before he remembered the lessons he'd learned in that desert. Yes, there was an emotional reaction to Ra's statements, because they touched on the edge of some last remnant of fear brought from knowledge. Lex Luthor was an odd individual, and one that Ra's al Ghul would know better than most. And why not? The Master had known him when he was a barely formed boy. The raw girders and foundations with which he formed his later power were laid bare before Ra's, for he knew the boy before the edifice was truly constructed. What was a monolith to the world now, Ra's had seen when it was merely a foundation.

The boy had already been partly shaped by circumstance and the touch of the hidden yet mysterious Thaddeus Sivana, another adventurer from another time. Thaddeus Sivana, the man who dared the thunder with his toys, who had bound Adam'usud, the God of Khandaq, until of course the God-king of Khandaq had been freed of late. The boy Luthor was clearly the apprentice of the good doctor when he'd come to Ra's, but the League of Assassins had tempered the hot steel to add strength. The unusual alloy of such odd and convoluted pure metals had formed something unique in Lex Luthor. Something unsuitable to the needs of the League of Assassins, but something of a curiosity and a unique factor nonetheless. He had been called the Unbound Inferno among those who knew him in the League. Hariq. The uncontrolled flame. It had been a joke once, about his fiery hair and his burning personality. It was emphasized with laughter on the day he left the presence of the League of Assassins by the daughter of the demon, over the charred remains of ten assassins, who had learned a fateful lesson in the forgotten temple of alddawdat alssuda', the temple of the Dark Worm, that even naked, exposed and alone, Lex Luthor was never unarmed, arrogant in his lessons, but having listened and learned from them all, even as he discarded several.

But the foundation poked through the elan and the training and the edifice at times, and there were times that those who paid close attention could see it. Lex Luthor was a boy who responded to fear with only rage. This was a power, but in some ways it might be considered a weakness if the boy hadn't been so deadly. There was that flash of rage that was controlled with a second of breathing, the benefits of a Classical Education perhaps. Luthor had taken to Giordano Bruno well, and he found a kindred philosophy in stoicism, and had always taken well to the mental disciplines, even as he forced himself through the physical ones, with success. His Stubbornness never let him fail a challenge, even if he never seemed to appreciate the spirit of the thing. Ra's had never been able to teach Luthor that, never had to let the boy face the "unwinnable scenario." The boy had an uncomfortable and infuriating ability to find an alternative solution in almost every case, often with catastrophic results. 

The words that came now from Lex's mouth were subdued, though, almost subvocal, but Ra's heard them all the same and the emotional strain that came from them. Because Luthor knew that Ra's was right, more right than even Ra's understood, and that's why he pushed harder "Some day may come? That day has come and gone. The enemy is already ahead of me, Ra's, and I have always been alone in the face of it."

He exhales as he stares at the window "Theatricality and misdirection is not a unique purview of your people. I've never been at the bleeding edge of progress, and if anyone believes I am it's because they lack the perspective to understand the real contest we're in. I'm the smartest of primitives desperately trying to catch up, and I don't have enough time. There's limits to the arms and the chest, and no amount of human will alone in the face of the enemies we will face. The enemies we already face. The day will come where I fall behind, no, that day came and we were all found wanting. We need force multipliers, and time is not on my side." He seems frustrated by that regard. A problem that the boy couldn't solve? A problem that perhaps only he could see. Luthor had seen the cold equations, seen the inevitable path the Earth was progressing under and towards, he could see the underlying despair that was the doomed fate of the human race. But then again, Luthor was an odd alloy, and he had a foundation built on fire. Impossibilities only drove the man further. He exhaled as that strange demon that possessed the back of his mind was put back in its box. 

"But you are correct, a man in a mask telling stories without sacrifice can't save humanity. And this city is well putrified for your purification. Your focus on Gotham isn't surprising or confusing. I suppose it's inevitable that you come here, just as it's inevitable that there would be those to stop you." He sighs as he shapes his head "Yes, there's too much complacency, too much chaff, and Gotham is a putrid cesspit that desperately needs improvement. It's a challenge, a puzzle, I admit. A testament to the excesses of human darkness that I would love the opportunity to tear into. A dull and idle mental exercise and a challenge of funding and application of resources. Perhaps with time there'd be an easy path towards Gotham's salvation, although perhaps the rot and pattern is set so deep that the city needs a historical arsonist. You have your plans, but humanity has ever only combined when externalities threaten the whole. I wonder whether in the end those sacrificed here will be better needed elsewhere. My City is cleaned, I know this. It took decades, it took sacrifice and it took investment. But there's something darker in the human spirit in Gotham. It reminds me of a thought exercise I have, on occasion. Imagine a world where there has been only evil, forever evil, a world where there is no steward, and all people know are violence, shame and greed. I wonder, in such a world, if it is even possible for a unique individual to arise, who could see the possibility of a different world. Would extremism and selfishness be the rule of law because the world could know nothing else. I wonder, if perhaps, we are too trapped in our own preconceptions of what is possible, that we ignore what is necessary." 

He shook his head as he stared out. "If we're lucky, war is coming Ra's al Ghul. If we're lucky, we'll need able bodies and keen minds to persevere. I understand the nature of sacrifice." He gets a dark shadow over his face, remembering something again. "I understand sacrifice all too well. I've sacrificed much to be where I am, and in the end more will be necessary." He turns away from the window and starts to walk inside "You've your plans, and you've your goals. Perhaps the shock will be enough to grow others from complacency. Then again, times do change, and I wonder how long until the old ways are inadequate." 

[Deleted]

"There can be no achievement without sacrifice, as for a species we define ourselves from the misery and torment which we endure with only the glimmer of hope to guide us onto greater things. Batman is not saving the people of Gotham so much as he is saving himself as he is robbing them of the opportunity for strife and subsequent advancement. While he swoops down from the shadows to rescue them night after night they loose the pain which makes them what they are which in turn steals their ability for self improvement. First we must break the mould before we start anew." In nature an animal must evolve or it will be washed away into extinction and currently Humanity stands upon the breach of its next great epoch. For too long Man has waddled about the Earth like an infant, squabbling and leaving mess in its wake but now a sudden shift must turn this child into an Adult.

There of course was the temptation to leave Gotham to an all encompassing inferno of chaos in the wake of the League's decisive blow, leave the worthless beggars to the hellish imagining which they have created through their wasteful decadent ways. But no from the ashes of the old World there would be born the makings of an Eden without the drain of Gotham's symbolic corruption as people will accept that the horrors that was wrought by Ra's and his followers was only a natural conclusion to what was an insulting way of life, that eventually a greater force would emerge to steer the course back to a just calling.

"Remember that pawns can have minds of their own, that at times they will not move in the manner which you sought for but in the end no game can be won without them. The same can be said for our problems with Gotham, there will be disturbances and occasionally individuals will strive for more independence but it will be our hands moving them across the board to our ends. Take the innovative new design for the desolate section of Eastern Gotham, currently being renovated to provide adequate security for a City free of crime. Politicians, Doctors, Police Officers, even vigilantes all working towards their own objectives which will see our ambitions come to fruition. How goes construction of Arkham Playground?" This would not be the first move that the League had orchestrated against Gotham, merely the latest attempt to truly solve the situation. Failure wore the face of underestimation the previous time as Ra's did not anticipate such a movement against the FBI crackdown which he had a hand in bringing about through operatives imbedded deep within the United States Government, all working to see that vigilantes and villains alike were severely dealt with. However with out popular support there could be no true victory as people must place the cause in their heart so that they truly realise the good to come from it.

This operation would rely more heavily upon the power of the people, a more bottom up attempt which would feed lower level echelons of society the belief that they are the driving force behind this change. By showing them that crime is such a threatening and rising problem it is only right that a solution is also brought forward; a radical overhaul of the outdated prison service which has notoriously allowed for many an escape without any hope of rehabilitation. Through Arkham City people will be rewarded with a sense of brutal retribution, filling them with an addiction to the benefits of hard justice without the interference of caped crusaders voicing unnecessary pleas for sickening morality.

 

[Deleted]

Luthor raised a finger and said "Yes! You do understand. It's why I've never really understood the idea of the . . . superhero. The final man, the crutch for humanity. It's one of the reasons I so despise the Alien, and one of the reasons that I see myself as an alternative to the Bat, although I doubt anyone would see us on the same continuity, but you and I know better. When I tower above my city, I do so with the understanding and the comfort of knowing that I stand there only do to the sacrifices that I and millions have made to put me there. They stand with me, filling my towers, struggling to build a better future. Working in a world that appreciates their labors, that rewards them, that helps them to live their dreams, but one that doesn't just grant it to them. Superman gives his gifts too freely and others grow weak in dependence. Say what you will, but at least in my city crime is well organized, progress is well managed. I'd put a Metropolitan citizen against any Gothamite happily, and know that they are stronger of will, keener in spirit and experienced in the face of extremity. There was a massive explosion in Metropolis, an outside context event, beyond any understanding of science, magic or experience. Not even two days had passed before the city not only returned to productiveness and activity, but they'd found ways to adapt with minimal strain. Not to take too much pride in my civic compatriots, but that takes a certain strength of will that I dare you to see in Gotham. In Gotham, a man in clown makeup makes a threat and the city is shut down. A massive gas attack, pandemonium! In Metropolis, citizens dissolve in horrific and nightmarish ways, and they don't even take the next day off of work. Your people have seen even more outlandish and amazing things and are more the match for them. Every single one. I do like to keep an optimistic look on our species, Ra's al Ghul. . . but oh what wonders the human race is capable of." 


He exhales after his lovely speech of Metropolis. There is an oddity of Lex Luthor. It is said that the man loved himself and was incapable of loving anything else, but that wasn't true. He had a deep admiration and love for his city. And it was his city, though Superman flew over it and patrolled it and adopted it. And there was something to be said for the strength and resilience of the Metropolitan. The city had been destroyed even with its Alien Protector, its citizens forced to face targeted destruction again and again. It's crime, while pervasive, was well managed by the well supported iron fist of Bruno Mannheim, who brooked little competition and kept its criminal organizations well organized and its crime levels stable according to predetermined and acceptable rates. Metropolis had rebuilt itself many times, and indeed often tore itself down and rebuilt itself simply out of a desire to maintain itself as a city of the future. A strange utopia, although it was not 50 years ago that the Suicide Slums had been as bad as anything in Crime Alley. Where it was filled with slumlords and drug dealers and criminals. It still had its dark sides, but even so. The Metropolitan citizen had found themselves almost blasé in the face of apocalyptic situations. 

Still Lex Luthor smiled at Ra's statements as he calmed down "I never forget that people have minds of their own, oh great Master of the Mountain. People always act under the assumption that I play people like I play chess. I never do. People are predictable, they act according to their self interests. Construction is continuing onward, although I've had little to do with it. My own preparations are nearly complete, however. I'll stay myself from trying to interfere with your plans, and I'll make sure my people are out before whatever final solution you have cooked up is concluded. Out of respect, of course."  He hadn't had much to do with the FBI crackdown, that was before he'd stepped up his interests in Gotham, frankly, and it would have done little to slow him down anyway. Lex Luthor had more than his share of government contacts and support, even among those who knew and despised the man next to him now. Among those of high enough clearance to know of the existence of the League of Assassins, and of the existence of the legendary Ra's al Ghul, he was a terrorist of the highest degree, although his existence was an issue hotly debated among intelligence analysts, who thought that it was a title passed down among hidden individuals, or that it was a legend among other terrorist cells. Waller knew. But then again Waller had other concerns for the most part, despite her quiet attempts to create stopgap measures against League of Assassin infiltration of the security apparatus. Her attempts had not been laughable, but they had not necessarily been successful either. Then again, no one could truly say how infiltrated the security apparatus of the United States Government was. Ra's wasn't telling where his men were, and Waller wasn't telling how large and Byzantine the structure actually was. When two paranoid would be world dominators came into a shadow war, it was impossible for anyone to know the extent of the damage until long after hostilities had ended. 

Lex Luthor was much more intelligent and paranoid than Amanda Waller, though. He knew exactly how infiltrated his own organization had become. How insecure his own security apparatus had become. He didn't care, it didn't matter. Lex Luthor kept his secrets soundly apart from the League of Assassins. It was easy when the real secrets only existed in his own head, and even if the League found out about technology he was developing and plans he had, they wouldn't understand it anyway. It would take an intellect like Lex Luthor to understand Lex Luthor, even when all the pieces of the puzzle were available in plain sight. He'd always been of the belief that the only way to be strong against the established and the powerful was to become the outside context problem. There weren't systems in place that could do much to adapt to Lex Luthor, let alone stop him or control him. Even the Physical God that was the Man of Steel could only react and attempt to use Earth Cracking power to try to reign the man in. Ra's was a man of the old school, a master of misdirection, and there were many secrets he still held. Lex's only hope against a man like that was to make sure that the world of tomorrow made such secrets irrelevant. 

Still, perhaps a future built by Gotham's citizens is exactly what they needed. It was an odd and roundabout way of goin through with the plan, but even Lex Luthor could approve and understand the motivations. Apocalyptic change strengthened those who had to survive and face it. And while Lex Luthor had no desire to see the people of Gotham destroyed, they did need a shock to complacency to be prepared to face the real overwhelming challenges to come. Perhaps the Old Man in the Mountain's plan was a way to do it. Either way, stopping him would mean full war between the two, and it would be costly and frankly pointless in the end, weakening Lex Luthor just before the next part of Project CANDID. 

[Deleted]

"Metropolis is nothing more than a City under siege as is Gotham, both under the boot of an individual who strives to break the natural way of things. That Superman gives hope where there should be none, as does the Dark Knight. Such disregard for order and self reliance will only have future negative ramifications as rarely do heroes seek long term solutions to problems they can they beat up and forget now." Freedom in all its forms is a lie spread by the powerful to dull the senses of the weak and these Gods among men are no different in their abuse of the myth that is free will. Every time that Alien catches a faling vehicle, or the Batman stops an armed robbery they do so without the proper thought to what will be born from their actions. As of course every action has an equal and opposite reaction, it is blindness to assume that by changing the destinies of so many doomed victims that society will not become something far more volatile as the down trodden assume that if a man with a red cape can change their established fate then why can they not do it for themselves? Such pandemonium as the walls of order fall shakes Ra's al Ghul to the bone as the nightmare of chaos sources a new found wave of certainty in his actions. The League is the vigil of light against the darkness of the wild.

"The difference is that Gotham has clearly become lustful when it comes to the allure of crime. The danger, the uncertainty posed by the will of a madman, the sheer chaotic freedom that can be awarded every time one of the various scum factions rise up to bring disorder to the streets. Though you'll never hear them admit it, Gotham was always lost, from the first vile act of repute to this very day it stood no chance for moral improvement. It is in their nature to enjoy the terror forced upon them by the likes of the Clown, they strive for it, why else would they fail to take the necessary steps to stop it for good?" Every brick, every inch of tarmac and every soul was soaked with the blood of the innocent. If all it takes for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing then Gotham is drowning in a hell of its own making and the Batman is the captain attempting to wrestle control from the unstoppable clutch of the black depths below.

From the expansive glass plated that stood between the two of them and the cold Gotham night which battered the window with its cold embrace, he could see the stretch of land,: a grubby expanse of ruinous tenements and collapsed domiciles all waiting for opportunity to snatch it up and something beautiful will be born from the ash.  From nothing will come something, something grand and awesome in its design, a true wonder of the modern world that will mark the end of the criminal class as we know it. The thought spread excitement through his body though you wouldn't be able to tell from his cold disposition. "The World will look on in splendour and fear as every soul accepts that their age is at an end. From Arkham City, a new tomorrow will be born where men like you will have the wind beneath your feet and no shackles to tether you down." Ra's stood up from the table, formally tightening his now loose jacket before grasping the black buttons and weaving them through the holes in the coat.

[Deleted]

"Yes, the inevitable Servus Contingency to the Dominus Scenario, the unfortunate sister of the adaptive qualities of the human mind. Adaptable to any situation, but only towards an end of survival. The human mind can normalize so many things, it is a strength and a weakness. A man can fly, and suddenly it is commonplace. A savior comes from the heavens, and suddenly it is normalized, a master comes to make a man a slave, and the slave spends their energies justifying the righteousness of their servitude, rather than take up arms to end it. What a piece of work is Man."  He sneers at the idea of it, a sardonic underlying tone of hatred and rage, there was an emotion here at work. Perhaps a generalization and justification for the pains of life, but Lex Luthor spoke as a man who had seen the world clearly and found it lacking. Perhaps once Ra's al Ghul would have had a similar revelation. Perhaps it was such a revelation that lead to such a work so long ago. Perhaps centuries from now it would be a life extended Lex Luthor standing in such a place with such conclusions. The frivolity of youth, to still feel such disappointment rather than acceptance of inevitability. 

He sighed, however, as he listened to Ra's al Ghul, staring down at the city below. Inevitability, one never was disappointed in underestimating the actions of the general population. Lex Luthor wanted every man and woman to be a hero, a master of their own destiny, to go forth and wrest control of the universe away from uncaring fate, but he knew better. The true players in the world were few and far between, and what they lacked was something that no man could give, but what each could take from themselves. Perhaps in hardship 90% would die, crushed beneath the weight of fate. . . but oh that remainder. Oh that 10% of survivors, heroes, able to shape the world, having their mettle tested and made the ultimate human. If it wasn't such a  waste of necessary resources, perhaps Lex Luthor could understand and even fall into the luxury of such a path. To have 700 million actualized individuals, would hey not be more of a match for the universe than 7 billion slaves?

The answer, of course, was no. There was a gravity to numbers, and even if individually the deluded human was negligible in the grand state of things, accumulation had a magic all its own. Third options would eventually be necessary, but as long as the League was focused on its eugenic mastery in Gotham, it perhaps would be distracted from other such actions within the world. Besides, thought the justifying human, Lex Luthor, they might even be right. How Ironic to justify such an atrocity with self serving statements. But . . . I am just a man.

"We'll see what such a future will bring, then. The die is cast." 

[Deleted]

There was little more that could be discussed, few points remained to be debated over and it was evident that both parties understood the responsibility and desires of one another perfectly. Luthor wanted order in Gotham, as does the League, even if their methods of achieving it are polarised. However their designs complement one another well as it is the intent of Ra's al Ghul to clear the slate, to remove the dead weight through extermination of the unwanted criminal classes. Once his purge had taken effect of the City, Luthor's stage would come into effect and the new Gotham would be built under his wise guidance. One hand destroys the old, the other one rebuilds anew. Without Luthor to pick up the pieces, Ra's' plan would force Gotham into an unproductive chaos. And without the League, Lex Luthor's advancements would never truly be accepted.

The metaphor of the die frustrated him, it assumed that their chances of success were down to mere luck and chance and that they had an equal chance of failure as they do success. "As you well know, this City is infested with vigilantes who offer quick false remedies to fatal illnesses. We should assume that they will be investigating the Arkham project to the best of their negligible abilities, no doubt fearing that soon there will be no need for their type of hero any more." Moving towards the elevator, clicking his heels slightly off the marble floor beneath his feet, Ra's pressed the button and began the wait for its arrival. 

"In the coming weeks we will cleave the way for Arkham City's construction by forcing the people of Gotham to accept it in their hearts. As it currently stands it will be constructed but a vast majority of people show very little vocal support for it being implemented. We have plans to disestablish Mr. Cobblepot's criminal hold in the City, or at the very least fuel a conflict which will persuade people that such drastic measures are required to keep the peace. Furthermore Crane is working on a new enhancement for my Men which will require field tests soon, hopefully it can be used to give a further edge in the face of mounting troubles from the Dark Knight."

With a chime signal the lift arrived, the silver doors slowly sliding open to invite people into its cramped interior. Once again Ra's turned to look back over his shoulder at the man who he had spent the briefest of time with. A minute with Luthor was worth an hour with any of other being for he understood the answers to questions never before asked, a true marvel of intelligence and moral decency. As crude a contrast it is, it could be argued that he is what Wayne could have been if he had truly applied himself to saving Humanity rather than fulfilling his own twisted brand of justice. Only time would tell if Ra's' gambit of instilling trust in the young entrepreneur would pay off. Without another word he moved into the elevator, the doors shutting swiftly behind him and away he went.