Not far from the Iceberg Lounge, a bouncer approached a sleek black Cadillac that had been parked across the street for hours. The bouncer's suspicion had finally gotten the better of him, so he wandered over to investigate, rolling his shoulders as he eyed the tinted windows.
He tapped on the glass with his knuckles.
The window slowly rolled down.
The moment it did, thick dark red smoke erupted from inside the car. It surged forward and streamed straight into the bouncer's body through his mouth and nose. The man's eyes rolled back for a moment before snapping open again, now carrying a far more calculating gleam.
"Are you in?" Roman asked casually from the driver's seat, glancing over.
"Of course I am. You really think a half-wit bouncer has the ability to stop me from possessing him?" Crowley replied dryly as he adjusted the bouncer's tie.
"Fair enough. Just get the backdoor open and then pull the car around. I won't take long," Roman replied with a confidence
"No problem. Give me ten minutes, tops," Crowley said before turning and walking back toward the club with the bouncer's body.
Roman waited by the back door in the shadows. After a bit, the door quietly clicked open.
"You have at max twenty-five minutes. I'll be in the car," Crowley said before smoke poured out of the bouncer again and streamed across the street, slipping back into his real body still seated in the Cadillac.
The moment the possession ended, the bouncer collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Roman caught the falling man, dragged him out of sight behind a dumpster, and after a few minutes emerged again wearing the bouncer's clothes. He adjusted the jacket, rolled his neck once, and slipped back inside the club.
Moving quietly through the service corridors, he eventually reached the vault door.
"Hello, my fair lady. May I have this dance?" Roman said with a crooked grin as he pressed his ear gently against the cold metal of the vault.
He started turning the dial.
Slowly.
Carefully.
He listened intently until he heard the first soft click.
Roman's grin widened.
He began spinning the dial in the opposite direction until the second click reached his ears. Then, once again going the other direction, he gently turned the dial until he heard the final click.
With a satisfied breath, he grabbed the handle and slowly spun it.
The heavy vault door opened.
Inside, he beheld piles of gold bars, stacks of money, bags of precious gems, display cases of jewelry, and several pieces of fine artwork carefully stored along the walls.
Roman was about to step forward when his ears caught something faint.
A low electrical hum.
He froze.
Then slowly reached into his coat and pulled out one of his cigars. Lighting it with a match, he took a deep drag before blowing a slow cloud of smoke into the vault.
The drifting smoke revealed red beams crisscrossed throughout the room.
"A laser-tripped alarm system. How primitive," Roman said with an amused grin.
"Ordinarily, I'd take my time figuring out how to get around it… but thanks to playing Hogwarts Legacy and a discreet trip to Flourish and Blotts, I can just do this."
Roman pulled out his wand and casually pointed it at the treasure pile.
"Reducio."
In an instant, the entire mountain of wealth shrank down to the size of a mouse.
Roman twirled the wand once between his fingers before pointing again.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
The shrunken pile of treasure slowly floated up from the floor and carefully drifted through the narrow gaps between the lasers until it hovered gently into Roman's waiting hand.
He pocketed the miniature fortune.
Then he pulled out his calling card.
A cartoonishly handsome thief winking with a cigar in his mouth.
Roman flicked it into the vault, letting it flutter down onto the empty floor before shutting the heavy door again.
With that done, he made his escape. Just in case, he cast the Disillusionment Charm over himself, his form fading like a mirage as he slipped quietly out the back door.
Moments later he climbed into the Cadillac.
Crowley didn't say a word as the engine started.
The car rolled smoothly into the street, disappearing into the Gotham night without a hitch.
---------
Elsewhere, a handsome, roguish-looking man wearing a Gotham City Police Department uniform slipped quietly out of the station unnoticed, leaving with a satisfied smile.
A few minutes later, an officer noticed the door to the evidence room was cracked open.
Frowning slightly, he pushed the door wider and stepped inside.
His jaw dropped open as he saw that the personal effects of all of Gotham City's most wanted had disappeared from their glass display cases.
Empty.
Every single one of them.
And painted upon the very back wall, gleaming faintly in the fluorescent lights, was a gold caduceus.
----------
Back in Wayne Manor, Bruce suddenly received an alert that the Gotham City Police Department had been robbed.
Bruce's expression hardened as he glanced at the notification, already rising from his seat.
"We'll continue this later. I have work to do," Bruce said in a calm but firm tone as he got up and headed toward the Batcave.
"Yeah, I'm getting a bit tired of sitting here myself. Besides, I've got a few more things I want to do," Tet said with a lazy stretch and a wide yawn.
With that, Tet and Tia got up, and in the next instant the two of them vanished as they teleported out.
------
In the desert, Ares sat casually beside a tied-up The Flash and Billy Batson while holding a defeated Hal Jordan by the collar.
"Damn, that was easy. Isn't there anyone who can fight me?" Ares said in boredom.
"If it's a fight you want, I'd be glad to give it to you," a voice called from above.
A moment later, Wonder Woman dropped from the sky, landing not far from Ares with a furious look carved across her face.
"How dare you harm my friends, God of War," Diana said coldly.
She narrowed her eyes, studying him carefully.
"You're clearly not the Ares I know. You must be from another universe," Diana said, looking Ares over with suspicion.
"How could you tell?" Ares asked with a crooked grin.
"The Ares I know would need an ongoing conflict to be able to exude the amount of power I feel coming off you," Diana replied evenly.
"Alright, I'll give you that," Ares said with a shrug. "But I gotta ask. I thought Hippolyta had you locked up. How are you here?"
"I escaped, recovered my armor, and killed my mother. I'll return to take my rightful place as ruler later," Diana said with a smirk as she held up Hippolyta's crown, raising it as she was about to place it upon her head.
Before she could, a fist slammed violently into her face.
The impact sent Diana flying across the sand and crashing hard into a nearby rock formation.
Ares slowly bent down and picked up the crown she had dropped. He carefully dusted the dirt from it with surprising gentleness, staring at it for a long moment with a strange, almost wistful expression.
Then his eyes slowly lifted toward Diana, who was climbing shakily off the ground, her nose now broken and bleeding.
"You're right. I am from another universe. And in my universe, Hippolyta and her elder sister Penthesilea were my daughters. I was looking forward to seeing my daughter again after so many centuries, and you took that from me," Ares said coldly, his massive frame trembling slightly with restrained fury.
"I thought maybe because you were her daughter you might be worth saving. But now I don't care what happens to you" Ares said as his sword appeared and he began walking toward her.
Diana rushed toward him at high speed.
Ares didn't even look impressed.
He simply swung the hilt of his blade into her spine, smashing it into her back and sending her crashing violently into the ground.
Before she could recover, Ares swung his blade.
The strike severed one of her arms.
Diana screamed in agony, collapsing into the sand.
But Ares wasn't finished.
He kicked her brutally into a rock formation, pinned her to it with his blade driven straight through her torso, and then began savagely beating her with merciless blows until she was barely conscious, her body broken and trembling on the brink of death.
Finally, he stopped.
Ares lifted his head and looked up toward the sky.
"Boss, this isn't enough for me. I need her to suffer for this," Ares pleaded with Tet.
In a sudden flash of light, a crimson key appeared before him.
Ares slowly pulled his sword out of Diana's body. With a casual snap of his fingers, all of her wounds instantly healed.
Then he snapped his fingers again, stripping Diana and her armor of all powers and enchantments.
Looking down at the key in his hand, he muttered with mild interest, "Outlast. Not bad. But I'll have you moved to something worse when I find the time."
He pressed the key against her chest.
Diana vanished in a flash of crimson light.
"Boss, this killed my mood. Send me back to Uruk," Ares said sadly.
In another flash of light, he disappeared.
------
Ares reappeared at the gates of Uruk and gave a long, tired sigh. He was about to reenter the city when another sudden flash of light erupted behind him.
He stopped.
Slowly turning around, Ares saw a beautiful young woman standing there. She had striking scarlet hair tied in a bun and brilliant golden eyes that stared calmly back at him.
"Greetings, Father. I don't know if you remember me, but it is I, your daughter, Hippolyta. I have been sent to serve as your lieutenant in this war," Hippolyta said with confidence, standing before him.
Ares stared at her for a brief moment.
Then his face split into a wide grin.
Without ceremony, he casually dropped the other Hippolyta's crown onto her head before reaching up and affectionately rubbing her head, his massive hand ruffling her hair.
"Silly girl, of course I remember you," Ares said warmly.
A moment later, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began guiding her toward the city gates, a genuine, happy smile on his face.
"Come on. It's been too long. Have a drink with your old man," Ares said with a low chuckle as the two walked into Uruk together.
(Authors Note: Sorry about the week long Hiatus I've picked back up one of my other stories and am getting chapters for it out as we speak Im having a lot of fun progressing it)