Surviving Paradise

The Gods of Men

^^I like the new WW costume!^^

--- Halal's POV ---

When we stepped out into the city, I shivered as my lungs filled with polluted, disgusting air, and collapsed, coughing loudly. "This... is not... okay. I'll need to fix that." I spat off to one side, clearing my chest.

She hummed. "I, too, despise this city's air. Let us away, to find the Batman."

"Diana. What do you want?" A shadow detached from the wall, and I stepped backwards into one, not all the way, and stepped sideways, into the shadow Dimension, (a relatively new discovery,) and came out behind him silently, masking my presence as I shifted to my giant form.

"I came to bring you our newest ally, H-"

"I would like you to call me... Rex." I said simply, and the Batman spun, a taser targeted at my chest. I mentally disabled it, and hummed when it tapped my chest, dead. "I mean no harm, Batman. Attacking me is rather unbecoming, no?"

He slowly put it away. "You surprised me." He seemed... shocked. (Dadum-Pssh.)

"Confidence is good. Arrogance is not. Some people are sneakier than you." I said simply. "But I don't want you to know my name. You know everything, from what I hear, and I'll enjoy being something you don't understand." I grinned.

"Why Rex?" He asked simply.

I shrugged. "Just 'Cause."

He nodded. "Fine. Who are you?"

"A son of Hephaestus. Demigod. I'm more of a 'maker' than a 'breaker', you know, so I'd like you to think of me as... a repair man, more or less. Not a shock troop. Not that I can't crack a few skulls, but I don't like violence, as a rule." I shrugged.

He narrowed his eyes. "Makes sense. Hephaestus is a maker of things, not a soldier or war-god. Why are you wanting to help us?"

Diana went to speak, but I interrupted. "I owe Diana's mother a few favors. She cashed in." I said simply. It was a lie, but only just. And a harmless one.

My reasons were my own, after all. Who was this man to demand answers from me? I answered to no one. That is, of course, excluding certain extremely childish cosmic entities who could (and would,) murder me with a flick of a finger, on a whim, and bring me Back in the same breath.

He narrowed his eyes further. "You're lying."

"Only just. Doesn't really matter, does it? You're not a cop, and have no authority over me, why should I answer you honestly?"

"So we can trust one another." He answered simply.

"Trust? That cowl when meeting your best friend and ally tells me all about your 'trust'. And I don't need it. I was ordered to assist Diana, and so I will, but I am not your Pawn or toy soldier. Moving on. Diana, I assume that went as you expected it to?" I raised an eyebrow.

She smiled. "About. And you're right, Batman doesn't trust anyone."

Batman glared at her. "It keeps me alive."

"I can respect that." I nodded. "Now, on to round two, huh? Let's go see your lover, Diana."

"Not yet. There are many more heroes in Gotham. I believe you're about to meet some of them." She smiled, and a red and white pair of blur's sprinted past me, one of them trying to take my hammer.

He lifted it off my belt with my help, but then crushed his hands under it when I released it. "Not wise, taking a blacksmith's hammer, boy." I said, and took it back, placing it on my belt.