Chapter 2

So, they left.

He was approached by one of his villains, in Joker 's case , he was in the middle of a commotion of police officers, several people watching, witnesses who could be of some use, the aforementioned clown challenged him, provoked him, at that moment, he was cornering him in front of everyone.

It seemed like a deliberate trap, so that he would be seen by everyone, the man, surrounded by a pile of police officers and witnesses who were caught as his victims in the crossfire, it was never him, he was the victim, wasn't he, laughing in his face, in the middle of a pile of bodies, all around, right in the center of the commotion.

Then he stopped him, provoked him, laughing like the maniac he was, he looked at that man, grabbing him by the collar, he was going to shake him, break him, punch him, but he stopped, looked at him, everyone expected him to come, but he thought...

What was the point of going back in time, to do the same thing again? He had a great lesson, a great learning experience, a milestone in his life.

Nothing beats a good night's sleep, free from despair.

Then he looked at him and said, in a different way.

Then he said.

"It's time for someone to learn that they're not the center of the world, nor the center of attention, and that not everything happens as we wish. You simply have to learn a lesson," Tsuki said.

"Is that really what it would be like, Batsy?" Joker challenged him.

Then he let go of him, straightened his collar, and said.

"I'm not playing this game anymore, play it alone." Then he left, leaving everyone stunned.

"I'm going to have a few drinks with a bunch of women for company," Tsuki said, leaving the room.

- What...? – They all said at the same time.

So, Tsuki headed towards a bar, hidden from human eyes, as well as gossips, paparazzi and reporters on duty, he went to drink, for everyone to see and hear.

At that moment, while disguising himself, Tsuki thought that no one would recognize him, so he wouldn't be approached or cornered, but he was wrong.

As far as he knew, they were projected as holograms, and were seen on all televisions, only the backs of their bodies were visible.

The Presence appeared above them, accompanied by others, such as Lucifer and Neron, and the others who appeared beside them at the bar where Tsuki Miki was drinking; he looked around.

Their images appeared like reflections in the water, above the clouds and the buildings of Gotham City, Golden Valley, Central City, Star City, and all the other superhero cities.

Astro-Star appeared above the skies and buildings of Golden Valley and tried unsuccessfully to punch The Presence in the face, but passed right through him.

"We didn't come here to fight," said Lucifer. "But to propose a deal," said the angel of the morning.

"We are messengers and gamblers," Trigon said.

"Damn it, I already said no," Tsuki said.

"At least listen to us," Lucifer said.

"Your union with the king of darkness could be beneficial," Lucifer said.

"It's beneficial, and besides, I know they didn't come just for that," Tsuki said.

"We are here to announce to all heroes a way to make money that will be worth its weight in gold," said The Presence. "You bet with us, then we try to convince you of the relationship," each of them said.

"We propose this to all heroes; they are not obligated to do it if they don't want to," said Trigon.

"What do you think we would do about it?" Astro-Star asked. "Do you think we're going to do something for you?" the Man of Steel questioned.

"You won't be forced, but if you do," Trigon said, "you will receive 700 billion dollars and 30 gold bars."

"You know, we won't leave him alone," he heard them say.

"Two centuries before the current events, innocent heroes from each of the cities, without being forced to do so, must, if they wish, kill seven innocent people within two weeks," Trigon said.

"Villains don't count; you can kill of your own free will or not," Trigon said. "Without being forced," Trigon added.

Above the clouds, a golden sky appeared, and an immense pointed tower floated, with a box of dollars floating on its tip. Opening the box, the heroes revealed the gold bars and dollars, before returning the box.

"You kill if you want to," said Trigon. "You don't have to," said the demon.

"Within two weeks, you must decide whether or not to kill," Trigon said.

"The tower is protected, and those who try will not be able to leave for at least two weeks; they will regret it," said another creature.

"While the other heroes are busy thinking about the mess of their lives, we keep them distracted. You can think more carefully about how to accept a relationship with the king of darkness," Lucifer said.

"There's no real choice there," Tsuki said.

Then, when the demons and the gods began to manipulate the population.

It was announced in the news, it circulated on the internet, it was broadcast on all television networks, and nothing else was talked about for two centuries before the current events, for days on end until the end of the week.

Everyone saw and heard the story, everyone there felt the pressure and the power...

Yes, they only mentioned the heroes who could kill.

Astro-Star looked towards the sky, and saw around him the black tower with the gold at its tip on top of it.

"It can't be," said Astro-Star.

"Who would kill for money? A hero wouldn't do that," one of them said.

Astro-Star called a meeting in the watchtower later that same afternoon.

The heroes gathered in the watchtower, and if that wasn't enough, Luther organized a march and a press conference about the danger of Astro-Star, which not even a Boy Scout could ignore for such a large sum of money.

Astro-Star saw Tsuki Miki's chair being occupied by another Dark-Dragon.

"What would he gain by giving us money to kill?" another person asked.

"See how low we've sunk?" Raven tried to say.

"He could see us becoming corrupted, and with that, he would have innocent souls being led to the abyss of fear," Raven said.

The Dark-Dragon looked at everyone and said, "Corrupt," he said, "at best."

"Why didn't he choose a villain?" Zatanna asked.

"Do you really think we'll make money by killing an innocent person?" Constantine asked.

"If they said anyone could kill, then someone would have killed right there in the first hour," Zatanna said.

"It's much better to see a hero become corrupt and kill than a villain. He's already corrupted, and they kill for money. Anyone could see that there would be no fun in having no rules," said Dark-Dragon.

"So," said Green Arrow. "The fun part is seeing who gives in first."

Astro-Star flew towards the bat cave. Tsuki Miki had already returned to the mansion; he was feeling weak. The alcohol and the pressure hadn't agreed with him. If he had trouble containing Astro-Star at his best, collapsing weak on the cave floor didn't seem like a good situation.

Damn, how could they pressure him into having a relationship with a dark god, the king of space vampires?

Tsuki Miki ignored the Warriors' calls, he turned off the computers, the cell phones, everything, he stayed in the dark, thinking of a backup plan, in case they literally wanted to kill him, but he was thinking about Astro-Star.

He alternated between using listening devices and trackers on each of his allies. Tsuki Miki supposedly spent her time drinking; he actually took a laptop and followed their movements with cameras scattered throughout the cities, tracking the steps of each hero in each city.