(Davian's P.O.V)

I woke up.

That's an understatement.

I woke up in a throne room.

My first view was of dozens of Phantoms dressed in ostentatious and opulent garments, dancing around in the ball room.

I looked around me.

I sat on a throne, my left hand wrapped around Chesha Neko. The Zanpakuto was in the form of the Spirit King's scythe.

The other notable thing was my hand. Instead of skin and flesh, it was nothing but pale white bones. The fingers ended in sharp points.

Apart from that nothin else was amiss. I wasn't in my spirit king form, I touched my face and felt the skin there.

Weird.

I tried to get up from the throne but long chains wrapped around my mid section, tying me to it.

The phantoms in the ball area kept on waltzing to a tune no one else could hear except for them.

They moved along each other, in faceless forms. I swept my gaze around and raised my eyebrows.

There were other thrones besides mine. The thrones were constructed around the chamber. On each one, sat a figure. They were even less distinguishable than the phantoms dancing before us.

So I looked up.

And I saw it. Saw her.

A black butterfly, gently flapping it's wings in the middle of the room. It gave one mighty flap and a black wind swept out, the Phantoms disappeared and I woke up.

What a weird dream.

"You're up. Finally."

Chase spoke up.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, rubbing my eyes.

"How long was I out for?"

"It's the next day. You've been asleep for more than 20 hours."

Chase surprised me.

"20 hours! How long was I in that place for?"

I exclaimed, habitually running a hand across Chesha Neko. Good, weapon still there.

"I'm guessing by your statement that something happened?"

Chase prompted, making me sigh, before Tellin him about my dream.

"One thing we can infer from this, is that you have caught the eye of a few... interesting parties."

Chase said after I was done.

"None of it felt malicious."

I explained, tearing into some jerky.

"If anything, I felt...like I belonged. That said, it is worrying, I don't think any kind of attention from cosmic entities is good."

"You're right. Beings like those would only be interested in you if you were useful to their own agendas. I fear, we need to lay low for a while. And prepare as well."

Chase advised.

"Well, guess I have no choice. I've been thinking about it but now I have the answer, I need to leave Gotham."

I sighed.

"I don't want to put anyone else at risk because some crazy magician or monster decides to..."

"What's the real reason?"

Chase saw through my bullshit.

I tightened my hands on the handle of the sword.

"When I freed the souls trapped within Trigon...I could feel each soul's unique signature. All 17,002 of them. Batman's soul was missing. I felt Hal Jordan move on...but not him. Bruce is still alive."

I ground my teeth.

"If I stay in Gotham any longer, I am going to fly over to Wayne Manor and kill him. I want to destroy him. His ideals, his home... everything that makes Bruce Wayne Batman...I want to burn it all to the ground and make him watch as I tear down his legacy!..."

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I stopped.

Then a long breath escaped my lips.

"Why don't you?"

Chase questioned, more serious than I had ever heard before.

Raven had only come to know of him closer to her death but... he'd watched our interactions.

Raven had allowed me to forget all the fucked up things I'd done. She understood you couldn't come from the darkness without staining your hands...yet she never judged.

Chase liked her for that and in his own words, he was grateful that she had been kicking my ass in our spars.

I guess...it wasn't too surprising he was affected too. His next words proved I was right.

"You know I would support you fully. You could want to burn this whole world down and I would be right there with you until the very end. So why don't you want revenge? You're more than a man, Davian. You cannot stick to the same rules as everyone else. Do what you want as long as you leave the innocent alone."

I was shocked. Stunned even.

"You're right."

I told him as I stood to my feet.

"But I can't kill him. Doing so would be bothersome because the good guys wouldn't stop coming for me."

"When they do, you fight back. It's as simple as that."

Chase countered.

It was, wasn't it. I looked down at my hands. It wasn't as if I was weak anymore. Permit me to be prideful, but I dealt with an enemy even they couldn't handle.

The real question was, Could I do it? Could I kill Batman and choose a side in this stupid war between heroes and villains?

I would stop being gray. And I would go the cliche' route. The villain route. At least in the eyes of everybody. I wasn't afraid of the stigma bit it would make things harder for me in the long run.

On the flip side, Batman would get what was coming to him. I would avenge Raven's death.

Chase' idea wasn't completely terrible. Morally wrong? Yes. Bad? Maybe but...

No. I couldn't do it.

Killing him would do more than just satisfy me, it would also stain Raven's sacrifice.

She went out as a hero. She finally chose a side. I can't taint her legacy like that.

"I can't. I can't kill him."

I sighed in defeat, hands falling to my side.

"Who said anything about Killing him?"

My Zanpakuto spirit asked, then he continued before I could reply,

"A man like Batman would not fear death. The ones who would be affected by it, would be his loved ones. However...attack his ideals and you have a willful man with no creed to live by. No purpose."

I sank onto the chair, rubbing my chin in thought.

"His ideals?"

I muttered as my brain worked in overdrive.

Then right there...the answer came to me.

"Holy shit..."

I exclaimed.

Chase perked up.

"You thought of something?"

I smiled, steepling my hands together under my chin.

"There is one way...and it's the best way to make him suffer without choosing a side."

Oh man...this...this would hurt him far more than simply Killing him.

"Well, don't keep me waiting. Share with the rest of the class."

Chase became impatient

"It's to do with Arkham Asylum. There is one rule that Batman operates with. No killing. The rest of the League has adopted the same rule. Mostly out of necessity methinks, not because they think Killing is wrong but because the world will look at them differently."

I paused while playing with the red gemstone in my hand.

"The only ones who believe in that rule are mostly Batman and Superman. A few more like Canary maybe but the rest..."

I shook my head while chuckling.

"Green Lantern was in the army, the Hawk people are Thanagarian warriors, Wonder Woman is an Amazon, Green Arrow used to be a violent Vigilante...all of them have taken a life or two."

"I still don't understand what you're getting at."

Chase replied.

"Come on, it's so obvious! If I want to really make him pay, the answer lies with his Rogue gallery!"

A few seconds later...

"Oh."

Realization dawned on my Zanpakuto.

"I am impressed. This...this will change things."

And I could hear it in his tone too. He really was impressed.

I mean, the idea was flawless and simple.

Batman's actions had led to me losing my friend. So I would do the same. But with a twist.

Instead of his friends, I was going to kill every single one of Batman's villains. And I would start with the prince of Crime.

"And the best part? The people will be on my side. After all, I'm the one who dealt with the genocidal, psychotic maniacs. Permanently. He on the other hand will be a protector with no one to protect against. A symbol of fear with no one left to be afraid of him."

I got off the chair, walking towards the large trunk on the metal rack. The one that contained most of Raven's goodies.

"It's almost poetic."

I told Chase while searching for the lock. I didn't find any. However, there was a small slot in the middle of the lid. I looked at the gemstone in my hand before placing it in the slot.

There was a click and the trunk opened. Nice.

I lifted the lid, revealing a neat arrangement of spell books and tomes.

"To do this without being stopped, I'll need more power. Batman's Rogue gallery is not known for fire power but, they are ruthless and unpredictable."

And it was varied. You had guys like Killer Croc who were clearly superhuman then others like the Condiment King, who was basically harmless and just comedic relief.

"I need to be stronger. Stronger to the point that none of their tricks matter."

I explained, grabbing a large book with the symbol of the sun on the front of the cover and the moon at the back.

"You can't learn magic. You tried."

Chase reminded me.

"I know. But you told me that I could move on to higher Kido right? I can't remember a lot from Bleach so that means I'll have to come up with some more of my own. I can use these tomes and spells as a reference/basis for what I want, creating more original Kido spells like Akai Inazuma."

I knew it was a long shot but...I was willing to give it a try.

"Fine. It's your choice. However, you need to know how to fight with a sword. The right way."

He added a compromise.

"You're right. Zanjutsu is my weakest skill. Against a true master like Wonder Woman, I would lose 9 times out of 10. Maybe 6 out of 10, if I used the Shikai. I was lucky she was possessed and the spirit inside her didn't know how to use her power."

"I have an idea. That tiger guy owes you a favor right? You saved his life. Why not ask him to train you for some time? It's not like the villains are going anywhere anytime soon. Especially with Batman's no Killing rule. That will also allow you to gather information about their whereabouts and powers while preparing."

Chase advised.

Immediately, a smile wormed it's way onto my face.

"Yeah. That could work. That could work perfectly."

Bronze Tiger owed me a favor. And getting trained by someone like him would allow me to face off again pretty much...anyone.