TIME FOR A MASS RELEASE
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While the heroes are busy fighting Brainiac...
[Earth]
[Unknown Location – The Hidden Stronghold]
The room was silent.
The air was thick with the scent of burning incense, the flickering candlelight casting long shadows against the stone walls. Warriors in black sat kneeling, their breaths controlled, their hearts steady.
Lady Shiva stood near her stone throne.
She had waited years for this moment. Years spent gathering her assassins, and her forces, preparing in the darkness while Bruce Wayne walked the world like a god.
The Bat was untouchable now.
He was no longer the man she had once known. He had surpassed humanity and had become something far beyond mortal limits. His strength was unnatural. His mind, a weapon sharper than any blade.
Even if she unleashed a thousand assassins upon him, they would all die before their blades ever reached his skin. And with the sentinels under his control, if he wanted he could have hunted them down and killed them, yet he chose mercy despite everything.
She had lost before the battle had even begun.
And yet…
"Why do you hesitate?"
The voice was a whisper in the dark, smooth as silk, thick with amusement.
Shiva's sharp eyes snapped up. The candles flickered. The shadows in the room twisted unnaturally.
And then, from the darkness, a figure emerged.
Mephisto.
The devil himself.
Shiva tensed, her muscles coiled, ready to strike. But she did not move. Not yet. She had heard of this entity while researching the ancient history of that Earth. Legend says the devil was a being of deception, of power beyond reason.
She did not trust him.
Mephisto only smiled. His crimson robes draped over his tall, skeletal frame, his piercing eyes glowing with a sickly, unnatural light. His hands rested behind his back, a predator toying with his prey.
"You are… dissatisfied," he murmured, stepping closer. His voice echoed unnaturally, as if it came from everywhere at once. "Years of preparation… and yet, you see the truth, don't you?"
Shiva said nothing.
Mephisto chuckled. "You cannot kill him. Bruce Wayne is no longer a man. And you... Why do you think he spared you?" He whispered in her ears, "You are nothing but a speck of dust in his eyes."
Shiva's fists clenched.
"You want revenge," Mephisto continued, circling her like a vulture. "And yet, your blade will never reach him. How frustrating that must be."
Shiva exhaled through her nose. "I do not make deals with devils."
Mephisto smirked. "No?" He leaned closer. "What if I told you… I can kill him for you?"
The assassins around the room stirred. A murmur passed between them.
Shiva's eyes narrowed. "Lies."
Mephisto tsked, wagging a finger. "Oh, my dear, do you really think I came all this way just to tell falsehoods? I have seen gods die at my hands. Do you think a mortal-turned-something-else is beyond my reach?"
Shiva remained silent.
Mephisto smiled wider. "I will kill Bruce Wayne. I will drag him into the pits of my realm myself. And as a bonus…" His eyes glowed. "I will send you and your assassins back to your world. Your home. All you have to do…"
He stopped.
And then, his smile turned cruel.
"Is kill a single woman."
Silence.
Shiva studied him carefully. "Who?"
Mephisto's grin widened.
"Hela."
Shiva's brow furrowed. "Hela?" Her gaze remained sharp, unreadable. The flickering candlelight danced across her face, her mind already working through the implications of Mephisto's offer.
Hela.
A name she had never heard before. And yet, the Devil himself was standing before her, asking for her blade to end this woman's life.
She was no fool. Deals with devils always came with hidden consequences.
Her fingers curled slightly at her side, but her voice remained calm.
"If you are as powerful as the legends say," she said, her tone cold, calculating, "then why do you need me? Why not kill this Hela yourself?"
Mephisto chuckled.
A slow, deep, knowing sound.
The air around him rippled as he took a step forward. "Ah… a good question. As expected of the world's greatest assassin."
Shiva did not flinch at the flattery. She merely watched him, waiting.
Mephisto's smile never wavered. "You see, there are… rules to my existence. Constraints placed upon me by forces even I must acknowledge. I cannot simply kill whomever I wish without consequence."
He clasped his hands behind his back, pacing slightly. "My power, my influence, is bound by agreements. It is my nature. My will can only manifest through deals."
He stopped, tilting his head slightly, amusement gleaming in his crimson eyes.
"You kill Hela," he said, voice thick with temptation, "and I will grant you everything you desire. Bruce Wayne's death. Your return home. Power beyond your imagination."
Shiva's expression remained unreadable, but inside, her mind was a storm.
This was an opportunity.
And yet, she could not trust a word that slithered from Mephisto's lips.
Her instincts screamed at her. There was something missing. A deception within a deception.
She crossed her arms, her voice steady. "If you cannot break the rules, then tell me… why Hela? What is she to you?"
Mephisto's expression did not change.
But for the briefest moment—just a fraction of a second—Shiva saw something. A flicker of something dark behind his eyes.
Annoyance.
Perhaps even… fear.
Mephisto's smirk deepened, but now it was colder. "That, dear Shiva, is information beyond your deal. All you need to know is this—Hela is merely a human. Nothing more."
Shiva narrowed her eyes. "A regular human?"
Mephisto nodded. "Nothing but flesh and bone. No godly power. No cosmic weapons. Just… a woman."
The assassins in the room exchanged uneasy glances.
Shiva did not move.
She knew there was more.
But this was the Devil.
He would never reveal his full hand.
She inhaled slowly. "And what guarantee do I have that you will hold up your end of the bargain?"
Mephisto grinned, his fangs glinting in the candlelight. "My dear Shiva… I do not break my contracts."
The air felt heavy. The room itself seemed to darken, as if the shadows pressed in closer.
Shiva remained silent, calculating.
A simple kill. A human target. And in return, everything she had worked for.
And yet…
A deal with the Devil was never just a deal.
Her fingers brushed the hilt of her sword. But what choice does she have? If she says no, the devil will find a way to erase them. Besides, living in the darkness like a coward wasn't an option anymore.
Then… she spoke.
"I'll kill Hela."
The room grew impossibly silent.
Mephisto's grin widened as he slowly, almost lazily, clapped his hands. The sound echoed unnaturally, stretching longer than it should have, as if the universe itself bent to his amusement.
With a flick of his wrist, a parchment appeared out of nowhere. It was old. Probably older than the very concept of time itself. Black ink swirled across the page, shifting and twisting like living tendrils. The edges of the contract burned with faint crimson fire, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Then it is done," Mephisto purred.
The contract hovered before Lady Shiva, its words rearranging themselves into a language she could read.
Terms of Agreement:
1. The undersigned shall execute the target designated as Hela.
2. The target must be eliminated within one hour of contract activation.
If the undersigned succeeds, the following shall be granted:
1. The death of Bruce Wayne.
2. The return of the League of Shadows to their original world.
3. Power beyond imagination.
If the undersigned fails to kill the target within the allotted time, their soul and the souls of all who stand with them shall belong to Mephisto.
A single blank line rested at the bottom of the page. A signature was required.
Lady Shiva's eyes scanned the document carefully. She did not trust devils, but she knew contracts. She searched for hidden loopholes, for fine print woven between the ink. But there was nothing.
Mephisto was many things, but he did not lie in his deals. His contracts were absolute.
"You are thorough," Mephisto mused, watching her. "I admire that."
Shiva ignored him.
She reached for the dagger strapped to her thigh, drew the blade, and with a quick motion, sliced the tip of her finger. A single drop of blood welled up.
The moment her blood touched the contract...
FWOOM!
A burst of black fire erupted around the parchment. The ink glowed, sealing the deal into existence. The contract burned into nothingness, its words now imprinted upon the fabric of reality itself.
Mephisto sighed contently, inhaling the air as if he could smell her commitment. "Ahhh… there it is. The scent of inevitability."
Lady Shiva wiped the blood from her finger, her gaze unshaken. "Where is she?"
Mephisto's grin returned, sharp as a blade. "Patience, my dear. First, I will provide you with the opportunity…"
He lifted his hand.
Reality split apart.
A swirling, crimson portal opened in the center of the chamber, twisting and writhing like a living thing. On the other side...
[New York City- Orphanage]
Hela as usual was spending her time with the kids. She forgot about the reason she was sent to Earth and was just living happily without any worries. Well, that was about to change soon...