In this story, we follow a man named Franklin Blaze who is a normal citizen in gotham city that lives with his parents. After learning that his parents have a terminal illness, he wishes that he could find a way to help them. Then that night, the de...
Gotham City. To the outside world, it may appear to be a bustling metropolis. But anyone who is a citizen in the city will say that it is not as it seems. Gotham is one of the most crime filled cities on the planet. Mostly consisting of crime lords and supervillains like Black Mask or The Joker. But here is also the one who fights back against the crime, Gotham's one and only dark knight, aka The Batman. The citizens see him as their savior but there are others who think that his methods are ineffective. You see, Batman's one main code is that he will never kill the criminals he faces. At first, criminals were afraid of Batman but after some time, they know that he won't kill them so they just continue to commit more crimes. Sure, bruises, cuts, and occasionally some broken bones are a given, but death is nonexistent when it comes to Batman so the criminals don't fear him. But let's go back to before Batman ever existed.
Despite all the crimes that happen, Gotham is the place where Franklin Blaze calls home. Franklin lives in one of the many apartment complexes that Gotham has scattered around its city borders. He lives with his parents, Joseph and Dania Blaze. Joseph works as a contractor while Dania works as a nurse at the Gotham City Memorial Hospital. Franklin meanwhile works part time at the local grocery store as a cashier. Although he still does motorcycle races as a hobby. He always loved riding his motorcycle since it is his way to relieve stress from school and any drama that happens at home. Recently however, Franklin has noticed changes in his parent's behavior. They seemed to be more exhausted, more sleepy. While Franklin chalked this up as just being overworked, he had his suspicions that something else was going on.
One night, Franklin went to bed earlier than usual after an exhausting motorcycle race at the Gotham racetrack. It was hard for him to sleep though since this time, it felt like something was watching him. Suddenly his lamp light shuts off, rendering the bedroom completely covered in darkness. After a short moment, the lamp turns back down and Franklin finds a man in the middle of the room looking at him. The man appeared to be an older man with gray hair. He appeared to be wearing some kind of black trench coat with a dark brown button shirt underneath. He also seemed to be holding a white cane in his left hand. Franklin will soon learn that this man is a devil named Mephisto.
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Franklin suddenly jumps out of the bed and faces the strange man.
"Hello, Franklin Blaze." Mephisto greets.
"Ho... how do you know my name, stranger?" Franklin asks.
"Well that's a story for another time. My name is Mephisto and I'm here for you." Mephisto says.
"I don't get it. Why me of all people?" Franklin asks.
"Because you seem to be in quite the situation, Blaze. Sick parents with terminal illnesses can be a pain for anyone." Mephisto says.
"Parents? Terminal illnesses?" Franklin asks.
He then turns towards his open doorway to see his father on the recliner and his mother on the couch, both in heavy blankets with garbage cans and tissue boxes scattered around them. Franklin then realizes what the man meant.
"Stage 4 cancer. Both receiving it from their workplaces. Such a shame that the places they loved working at have given them this... horrible tragedy." Mephisto explains.
"Why tell me all this? Warn me of the inevitable?" Franklin asks.
"Ah questions, questions. It's always questions with you people. I'm not here to warn you. I'm here to make a deal." Mephisto says.
"A deal?" Franklin asks.
"Yes indeed. A deal where I can cure your parents of their cancer. You and them can have a better future. A future of love. A future... of life." Mephisto offers as he walks around Franklin in circles before stopping in front of him.
"That sounds great and all, but something tells me that you are asking me for something." Franklin says.
"Smart kid. But what I'm asking for is nothing big. It's something smaller, less... important. What I'm asking from you Blaze..." Mephisto says before getting closer to whisper in his right ear. "is your soul." Mephisto says before taking a step back.
"My soul? What's that supposed to mean?" Franklin asks.
Mephisto then grabs what appears to be some kind of contract from his back.
"I think you'll find everything you need to know here." Mephisto says, giving Franklin the contract.
Franklin then looks through the contract and ends up pressing his left thumb against a sharp piece of metal that was on top of the contract and blood comes out of the thumb and lands where a signature would go, Franklin winces in pain as that happens.
"Oh, that will do just fine." Mephisto says as he takes the contract out of Franklin's hands.
Unknowingly to Franklin, Mephisto's eyes start turning into a bright, glowing fireish orange before Franklin becomes lightheaded and falls unconscious onto the bed. Mephisto then smiles as he looks towards the unconscious 16 year old.
"I think you'll find this deal to be well worth it in the end." Mephisto says before becoming a thick, black smoke and disappears.
Morning hits and Franklin wakes with a severe headache. Memories of the night before flash into his mind as he tries to get out of bed.
"Was all that a dream?" Franklin wonders.
He then feels a sting on his left thumb and when he looks at it, he finds a fresh cut across the thumb. That's when Franklin realizes that it wasn't a dream. He then walks towards the door which was now closed.
"Mom? Dad? Are you awake?" Franklin asks as he opens the door.
What he ends up seeing on the other side is anything but pleasant to find. Both his parents were where Franklin saw them laying in the night before but had been brutally murdered. Their eyes were stabbed out, bleeding cuts were all over their bodies, and they looked as though their bodies had been drained of their blood which was all over the floor, being soaked up by the rugs that were underneath them. After seeing their bodies, Franklin falls onto his knees and while holding his hands in front of his mouth, breaks down and cries. After a short while, he runs out of the apartment, hops onto his motorcycle and quickly rides off.
It must've been hours of riding since by then, it was late afternoon and Franklin was hundreds of miles away from Gotham City, riding through a dirt road in an open field. He then fails to notice a mud puddle in the middle of the road and after riding through it, the motorcycle suddenly loses traction and flips, sending Franklin into the air and crashing. Laying on the ground, unable to move due to having the wind knocked out of him, and it leaves him vulnerable. Then Mephisto appears again and stands over him.
"We had a deal, Blaze. And deals are something that you just can't run away from." Mephisto says.
Franklin is in too much pain to move or speak.
"I've held up my end of the deal, although I suppose that my definition of curing someone is different than yours. But all that doesn't matter. Now... I'm here to send you a message. When you see me again, it will mean that I require your help. And you won't be able to resist even if you try, since I now have your soul." Mephisto says before walking away from Franklin who just lays there on the ground in pain.
After what felt like forever, Franklin finally manages to get back onto his feet and stands the motorcycle back onto its wheels and he then sits onto the motorcycle. He then remembers what Mephisto had said.
"What have I gotten myself into?" Franklin says to himself before turning his motorcycle back on and continues his journey to who knows where.
