Stones and Glass Houses (Book 1)

🕷Extra (25) The Hidden Clue

Ra's al Ghul POV-

In Infinity Island, located somewhere in the Caribbean Sea, the man many knew as 'Head of the Demon', was lounging on his desk, paperwork forgotten as he beheld the large TV on the other side of his private office.

There was a girl on American news, the daughter of Anthony Stark, the famous billionaire and superhero. The girl looked ordinary, nothing quite extraordinary to the commentators on the news.

It took Ra's al Ghul a merely minute to tell that girl was an assassin. 

At first he mistook her for a woman he'd once seen on a visit to the Red Room, an instructor for the young Russian girls training under Ivan's rule.

As someone who turned back the clock on youth quite often, he would not be surprised something similar had happened to the woman, but Ra's was the only person with access to the lazarus pit. 

That meant, that the teenage on screen was her daughter, the little red headed girl from the Red Room many years ago. When Ra's al Ghul had been invited, he'd witnessed the star pupils perform as a common display of power between enemy guilds.

If his assumptions were correct, then that was the little Russian girl who'd killed fifteen teenage assassins with a simple dagger and the expectations of her instructors breathing down her neck.

It was an interesting development for sure.

Even more so was the letter delivered to him the same evening. It was an elegant invitation even  when its contents were anything but chivalrous. 

This was an invitation to join a cause to destroy those who stopped assassin's rise to the top, a very crafty letter inviting Ra's al Ghul to attain alien technology to kill the heroes of the world.

Normally, he'd ignore such childish request from people who thought they could get everything by sheer force of will. Ra's al Ghul had been alive long enough to recognize those with foolish dreams. 

This letter was very different though....

No one aside from his daughter and a handful of servants knew the demon was alive and well, and this letter was addressed to him personally. Not only that, but there were detailed manuscripts of money available for the cause.

Millions of dollars worth.

In return for his services, Ra's al Ghul was promised all decadent civilizations he wished to reform under his rule and philosophies. Whoever wrote this knew the purpose of the League well to offer such a reward.

After sending out a few scouts to allied assassin guilds, the man realized he wasn't the only one with the offer to join, but each guild was offered a personalized prize they too found hard to decline. There were even rumors that enemy guilds like the Red Room and the Dragon's Eye had received their own offers.

It would be foolish not to join now that many had pledged allegiance, and if the goal was to get to heroes and kill them, perhaps it would give Ra's al Ghul the chance to check up on his grandson, finally returning him to where he belonged.

The man settled back on his plush velvet chair, staring up at the TV with the daughter of Iron Man on display. 

Perhaps many changes would come out of this war, and there were certainly many rewards to be reaped from it. Only those like that girl and her father would suffer the price. 

Ra's al Ghul did not exactly want heroes to fall, he'd rather they fight the dangerous things like aliens and monsters for him...but he also knew that if the League was to expand and rebuild, it had to do so quickly while the world was still changing.

He quickly sent back a reply, uncaring who it was that sent the letter as log as their deal was agreed upon and honored. 

But Ra's al Ghul HAD sent out one more request along with his terms and conditions.

If heroes were to fall, then perhaps the first to die should would be the detective and his family because if they were removed from Damian's life, that would leave  the teen no choice but to get rid of that ridiculous fantasy of family and return where he belongs. 

But also....that boy needed some tests of strength as well...

Ra's respected Bruce's skills, abilities, the ability to work hard to reach his goals, plus they both had the common belief that the world needed to change for the better. But thats where the two collided in disagreement.

The demon knew the only way to achieve such a dream was though worldwide genocide and install his heir as the head, working and modeling the world in the shadows.

The detective on the other hand had a strong sense of protecting the innocent and the weak.

That was their main point of contention.

Despite the respect between the two, their clashing views were enough for Ra's to know that he and his family had to die.

Even with Talia and Damian standing between them, Talia would push back her affection for Bruce to support her father.

Even though Ra's hadn't seen Damian in a while, the man knew that while the teen held his mother and grandfather in high regards, he was on a wrong path, following his father's footsteps....

That needed to stop.

The mystery individual calling himself Cobalus had granted him control over the famed Joker for such a mission not long after, and since, the demon had been using it to test the strength of the detective and his family, as well as Damian.

Talia was unaware of course, as was anyone else other than Cobalus and the Joker, who gladly took to his job if it meant getting rid of the Batman or at least wounding him severely enough.

Things were changing, he could tell, and perhaps this time around, Ra's al Ghul would finally get everything he wanted....