'Villain,'
The word echoed in Elfric's head, from both that strange entity that took residence in his body and his very own voice.
The word tasted awkward on his tongue.
'Doesn't this word apply to those who bring corruption and chaos to the so-called peace?' Orathan questioned.
'I don't think that that word…fits your description.'
Elfric inhaled deeply before putting his legs to work again. If he moved fast enough, he would make it to school before the first period's bell, not that he cared about that at the moment, but he had a reputation in school for being the role model.
Honestly, he didn't want to let go of that title.
It will come in handy one day, he thought.
"That word is exactly the one that fits the most," said Elfric. "The whole theme of good and evil, hero and villain, angel and devils…it's something so subjective if you think about it. To some, you might be the devil. The deliverer of evil in this world, but to others, they might see you as a savior and the one who brings them salvation. Heroes…to some, the villains to others. They might be the only thing good that's left for them."
'What you are saying is right if you are talking about personal opinions,' Orathan replied. 'Being a hero or a villain, isn't that decided by your acts, your behavior. Your motives.'
Elfric chuckled a little too loudly, gaining glances from the silent crowd around him.
"Have you ever seen a hero that doesn't kill, Mr. Demon?" said he. "The answer is no, they all kill. They kill for what they think is right, and so does the villain. They just took different paths to achieve their goal, to fill their greed."
'I have no idea what has gotten into you,' Orathan exclaimed with a scoff. 'You have chosen the wrong partner for your philosophical debate, Elfric Woods.'
"Well, I guess that someone of your expertise won't understand," Elfric giggled.
He heard the heavy sigh that escaped the Devil's mouth.
'Back to what we were talking about. What are you going to do about that Gotham?'
"I have something in mind," said Elfric. "But it's only possible if I make sure of one thing."
'And that is?'
"He doesn't know who I am," said Elfric.
For Orathan, the only way that was possible was to walk right by that Shaw man and ask him head-on if he knew who he was. Unfortunately, after staying these past couple of days with Elfric, he figured that that won't be the best thing to do.
But the nonsense that left Elfric's mouth made him completely sure that he still has a long way to figure out how his brain works.
'You can't be serious,' Orathan exclaimed. 'You want to walk right past him and wait to see if he recognizes you or not? Are you insane?'
"And here I thought that you were going to be the first one to agree to this," he chuckled slyly.
'Okay then, think for a minute,' said Orathan. 'If he did recognize you, then what in the hell are you going to do?'
"Kill him, of course," Elfric stated bluntly, not far after he heard the scoff coming from within his chest.
'And if he didn',t then you are safe to carry out whatever you are planning?'
"Precisely,"
'You never cease to amaze me with that brain of yours,'
~~~~
Shaw sat back in his leather chair, eyes fixed on the screen of his TV as the reports on Gotham Tower wouldn't cease.
He had long before ordered for his phone to be cut off and no more media for the time being. He had a hard time explaining what had happened back there because he was in the middle of something himself.
Never in his wildest dreams did he think that someone might dare to touch him, let alone set his tower on fire.
The tower that has been given to him by his father and his father's father, and all the way back to the foundation of the Gotham family.
All that legacy was now burned to ash overnight.
'That boy…he is the one who caused this.' He thought. Though he didn't have any evidence to back up his assumptions, he still had that gut feeling.
Everything started going south the moment that he started hearing that there was a summoning ritual that had gone wrong.
Crane has done a good job in hiding which demon was being summoned, as well as how the ritual has gone wrong.
He lost his son back then as well.
It wasn't something new to the Gothams; dealing with the devil meant that you were holding your soul in your hand.
There was always a high risk of failure. A high risk of losing your life. He mourned for his dead son, of course. But he knew that it was because of his recklessness.
The next thing he figured was the death of his Ash.
That caused his blood to boil in his body. Only a few days were left before he started the next phase of the experiments on them, and he died. T
"Liam, look into what the hell Crane has been doing these past days," he asked his secretary two days ago.
"Orathan, My Lord," Liam came with the reply at midnight.
He broke yet another cup of whisky; he was making a bad habit out of breaking cups when he was in rage.
"I don't want to hear another word, leave…" He regretted saying those words to Crane before he told him the name of the boy who caused all this.
Now, everyone who has ever laid their eyes on that boy… is dead.
All records, wiped clean.
The server melted into a big chunk of metal by the time they went to retrieve it.
The knock on the door brought him back to reality.
"Come in," said Shaw.
Liam walked into the study, and everything looked like it came straight out of a historical era, dimly lit by the chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
"My Lord, I have the report on what happened that day," said Liam.