Endless Legacy Ch. 61 (DC Comics)

A/N: Lucien and Death go to visit Gotham. For a visual of what Lady Gotham looks like, it's basically Marvel's Death but from the 2013 Deadpool game lol.

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“Come with me, please.”

It takes him only a moment more to decide, really. Sure, Lucien wanted to prove he could stand on his own two feet… but that was no reason to be an idiot about things. The personification of Gotham wasn’t something that he could handle on his own if she decided to get… testy. Lucien is reminded of his experience with Trigon, and the near-miss THAT had been. He wasn’t invincible, for all that he was technically immortal. No need to be stupid.

He can also tell that his decision pleases Death. Her eyes light up and she even smiles as she chuckles throatily.

“Oh? How fun~”

Lucien isn’t entirely sure what the Endless means by that. Nor does he get the chance to ask her. The next moment, Death snaps her fingers and the beautiful sunny forest dream they’re in changes into a nightmarish version of the same woods. Darkness blankets the area where moments before there had been sunlight. The trees are suddenly sans leaves and all look much more crooked and frightening than before. The soft grass that blanketed the ground is replaced by desolate dark earth.

All in all, not the sort of place your average person would want to be caught out in… but Death isn’t remotely perturbed by the change in scenery, so Lucien steels himself. And when she offers him her hand again, he readily takes it in his own.

“Shall we?”

“… We shall.”

They walk for a time together through those dark and terrible woods. Until finally they reach what must be their destination… a large wrought iron gate, all in black with spikes at the top. On either side of the gate are tall, metal walls with barbed wire lining them. And beyond the gate… well, Lucien has never been there himself, but he’d have to have been living under a rock even more than he already was in his first place not to recognize Arkham Asylum.

When he raises an eyebrow at Death, she just grins and shrugs.

“If I had to guess… it’s because it’s where most of her favorite people spend their time. Heroes and Villains alike.”

… Yeah, that made a terrifying amount of sense. Together, they approach the gate… and it swings open for them without issue and without complaint. Not even a creak, just complete silence. On the one hand, that felt off-theme. On the other hand, the silence was almost more unnerving than stereotypical creaking would have been.

Advancing up the path, they eventually reach the front doors of the massive building that houses Gotham’s worst crazies. Again, the doors open without a sound, allowing them entrance as they approach.

The inside of the great big building has Lucien jerking his head, however. It doesn’t look anything like he would have expected an Asylum to look. Instead, it’s… well, beautiful to put it lightly. Ostentatiously appointed, expensively decorated… outside, the place looks like Arkham Asylum. Inside, it looks like some rich man’s mansion.

“You would recognize the interior if you’d chosen to accept the invitation to the Wayne Gala all those months ago.”

Lucien blinks owlishly at that, looking at their surroundings in a new light.

“This is Bruce Wayne’s mansion?”

Death just giggles, like she knows something he doesn’t.

“Gotham loves Bruce Wayne just as much as she loves Batman. He’s the prodigal son who left and then came back.”

That… made sense, yes. Just because Bruce Wayne was a billionaire didn’t mean he was any less part of Gotham. In fact, he was an integral part of Gotham, wasn’t he? Even beyond just his financial support of Batman and his proteges, Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises were a cornerstone of Gotham City all in their own right.

“Come. She’s waiting for us in the parlor.”

Lucien swallows but allows Death to gently tug him along all the same. ‘Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly’ rings through his head, but… let’s be honest, if Lucien is the fly and Lady Gotham is the spider, then Death is the spider’s natural predator. A bird? A lizard? Err… right, it didn’t matter.

They finally arrive at the parlor and step inside, and any thoughts about what Death would be in that metaphor vanish from Lucien’s mind as he meets the eyes of Lady Gotham for the first time and stops.

“Hello, Lucien Luthor.”

Barbara Gordon’s face stares back at him, though the red head is lounging in an incredibly uncharacteristic way, with a grin on her face that he’s never seen before. Lucien might not know the real Barbara very well yet, but he still gets a sense of wrongness staring at THIS Barbara. But then, this isn’t Barbara at all, now is it?

Steeling himself, straightening his spine, Lucien nods respectfully.

“Well met, Lady Gotham. Thank you for agreeing to this meeting.”

Abruptly rising from the lounge chair, the personification of Gotham abruptly transforms from Barbara Gordon into Harley Quinn.

“Well… I couldn’t very well miss out on this chance to meet such an interesting little gnat!”

And then into Poison Ivy.

“You’ve been having fun, haven’t you?”

And then she cycles through a dozen more women in just as many seconds. Lucien recognizes some of them. Catwoman, for instance… Black Canary and Huntress as well. There’s more than one version of Batgirl too. Some, he doesn’t know whatsoever. Some might be secret identities he’s not privy to. Some-

“Gotham.”

Death’s voice abruptly cuts in and Lucien realizes his mind had begun to get overwhelmed from the rapid shifting. Not just the shifting, but something else… there was some other component to it that had been getting under his skin there for a second. But at Death’s tone, Gotham goes still… and transforms one last time into what very well might be her natural form. Either that, or she’s pulling someone from somewhere he doesn’t recognize whatsoever.

Lady Gotham’s final appearance is that of a beautiful woman in a black cloak and black dress. The dress dips deep in the front, giving an ample showing of her cleavage barely covered by crisscrossing black laces. Meanwhile, Gotham herself is pupil-less and pale… though not as pale as Death of the Endless. Her face, meanwhile, is done up in tattoos that make her visage look almost skull-like, with the tattoos flowing down her neck and across her upper chest, shoulders, and halfway down her arms.

She looks almost like a Grim Reaper. If Lucien wasn’t already intimately familiar with Death of the Endless, he might have mistaken Gotham for a version of her. The look… suits her, if he’s being honest.

Smiling at him, Gotham tilts her head to the side and rolls her shoulders.

“Is this acceptable, Death?”

From his side, Death hums for a moment before nodding.

“It is.”

Crossing her arms under her ample bosom, Lady Gotham looks at him with those pupil-less all white eyes of hers.

“Lucien Luthor. Come to parlay, have you?”

Lucien’s jaw clenches for a moment. He’s not sure why he’s surprised she already knows his purpose here, but he’s caught off guard a little bit all the same. Still, nothing for it is there?

“I suppose I have. I know I haven’t stayed within your city for long but-!”

“No. Not my city. Me. You’ve been staying… in me~”

That causes him to blink as Gotham all but purrs at what is so blatantly sexual innuendo that it almost doesn’t even feel like innuendo really. Gotham giggles at his reaction.

“No need to sugar-coat it, hon. I’ve had a lot of men inside of me. Women too. You’re just one more notch on the bed post. But do go on. Tell me why I should change my ways just because you feel a mite bad for those in my care.”

… He’s really glad that he brought Death with him at this point. Because if this is how the conversation is going with Death of the Endless at his side, he’s not sure how things would have gone with him by himself. Still, he’s come this far. He has to try, right? The only question is, what sort of tack should he take? He contemplates that for a long moment before coming up with something he hopes will work.

“You’re running them ragged, Lady Gotham.”

Those all-white eyes blink at him as he spreads his hands wide.

“I don’t disbelieve that you love Batman and the others. I know enough now to know they wouldn’t still be alive if you didn’t love them all.”

Gotham is quiet as those words hang in the air.

“… But it’s not enough. They’re only human and they’re going to wear out sooner rather than later at this rate. How long until Batman dies? Maybe someone takes his place. Maybe they don’t. But he’ll still be gone. Forever.”

Staring at him, Gotham remains silent. Is Lucien on the right track? He can only hope he is.

“I get that Gotham isn’t a nice place… that YOU aren’t a nice entity. Dark doesn’t even truly begin to cover it. But does it all have to be quite so… tragic?”

Finally, Gotham makes a noise. It’s a scoff followed by a bark of laughter. He’s amused her, apparently. Lucien isn’t sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, in the end.

“I let you heal Barbara Gordon, did I not?”

Let him. He doesn’t like the sound of that. Then again, Lucien had wondered… sure, healing was rare, but ever since Barbara had told him about the Oracle thing, he’d been wondering in the back of his mind why she was confined to a wheelchair for so long. The Justice League had access to the best medicine and healers in the world, after all.

It makes his jaw clench, hearing that Gotham had literally kept Barbara in that wheelchair in the same way it pushed Batman to keep heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman from helping him clean up the city.

“Ooh, did that make you angry with me? Did that upset you? Well, here’s something else… the Joker is one of my favorites too, you know.”

Lucien goes still at that. Funny, he’d sort of known that in the back of his mind. Someone like the Joker… could only have survived as long as he did, and escaped as many times as he had, because he had Gotham’s favor. As much as Batman, as much as Bruce Wayne… as much as any of them. The Clown Prince of Crime, they called him. And Gotham favored him just as much as she favored the good guys.

“I’m still not sure whether I’ll let that change you made to dear Harley Quinn stand or not.”

… What?

“She’s supposed to belong to the Joker, you know. What is Harley Quinn without her ‘Mistah J’? I suppose she and Ivy are shacking up now, but it just feels a little too cutesy. A little too lovey dovey. Maybe-urk!”

Blinking, Lucien looks down to find that he’s closed the distance between himself and Lady Gotham in a quick handful of strides and now has his hand wrapped around her pale, tattooed throat. Cutting off her despicable words, silencing her, he’s squeezing down hard enough to restrict her airways and keep her from talking.

… On the one hand, Lucien knows he’s overstepping massively here. On the other hand, he can’t help himself. Leaning forward, he snarls lowly.

“You won’t touch her. You won’t do anything to reverse what I did for her.”

Gotham’s lips curl into a wide grin, and despite the fact that he hasn’t let up pressure on her neck for even a second, she speaks without issue.

“Oh? Are you going to stop me? Going to choke me out? Wrap your belt around my neck, pull until I croak? Might as well fuck me while you’re at it. Bite my nipples. Tear them off if you want! Use me! Abuse me! Fucking RUIN me!”

Lucien is taken aback as Gotham gets more and more excited. He almost lets go of her neck and takes a step away from the practically squealing entity… but then he feels something from Death. Something unspoken, and yet crystal clear to Lucien. He knows Gotham doesn’t feel it. He knows she can’t tell they’re communicating.

Regardless, the impression he gets from the Endless… is that pulling back would ruin things. He pulls back and Gotham reverts to her usual disdainful self. But if he leans into it…

Lucien tightens his grip on Gotham’s throat and steps forward, until they’re chest to chest. His other hand comes up and rips off the entity’s hood, revealing her full head of raven black tresses. Grabbing a fistful, he yanks her head back rather roughly, glaring down into her eyes as he towers over her.

Funny, he’s pretty sure they were of a similar height when she’d first taken this form. But suddenly it’s like he’s got half a foot on her.

“I’ll do whatever I need to do in order to keep Harley away from that bastard. Are you going to make me?”

Gotham doesn’t miss a beat. Staring at him with smoldering yet pupil-less eyes, she grins wickedly and intones her answer in a single, husky word.

“Yes.”

Well, she’s called his bluff. And that means Lucien only has one option… it can’t be a bluff anymore. Gritting his teeth, he reaches down… and rips Gotham’s dress open. Gathering all those laces in one hand, he tears roughly and they come away just like that.

Her breasts bounce free as Gotham gasps delightedly. She wants it. She wants him to… well, to take her like this. She wants him to ravage her.

Lucien really shouldn’t be surprised that the personification of the darkest city on the damn planet has some incredibly dark kinks and fetishes. He shouldn’t be surprised that her fantasies are so twisted and disgusting. She did just tell him she loved the Joker and Harley’s relationship dynamic, after all.

Still, part of him hesitates. Is he really going to do this? Death is at his back and will help him if he chooses to go through with it. Lucien gets the impression that it’s all or nothing though. If he doesn’t give Gotham what she wants, if he doesn’t give her what she NEEDS… he can likely kiss even the slightly favored status with her goodbye. The city itself will reject his presence after that in short order, Lucien suspects.

… He was smart to bring Death with him, but it seems he’s still found himself in quite the situation all the same.