Arkham City Post #12: The Demon Trials

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!

Part 11: Wonder City

It was good to see Talia: it's always comforting to have a member of my adventuring party who knows my secret identity, and with whom I could be totally open.  Plus she's easy on the eyes, know what I'm sayin' - check out that midriff - OY!  And she understood the severity of my plight as soon as she lifted my mask and looked on my grotesque, sickly complexion.  However, she would not let me past the guards unless I committed to taking up her father's crusade to cleanse the world of wasteful and destructive society, and to usher in a new world order.  It sounds a lot like what our political correct generation would call eco-terrorism, and between you and me, I wasn't too keen on the idea of becoming the next Ra's Al Ghul, despite the perk of immortality.  But my situation left me little choice but to agree to take part in the Demon Trials.

Talia led me down a long staircase, past a coterie of ninja henchwomen, into a bare room.  In the room was a table on top of which sat a gilded chalice.  I was instructed to drink, and followed through, despite my knowledge of the cup's contents.  One sip, and my mind was instantly transported to an expansive desert landscape, standing on a floating sand dune surrounded by puffy white clouds.  Oh great, I thought, another mystical journey through a psychotropic dreamscape.  Only, in contrast to the abject terror and nightmarish vibe of Scarecrow's fear gas, the Demon's Blood provided a feeling of vitality and empowerment, which I was sure was not limited to my mental state.

Ra's's ghostly form appeared and tasked me with gliding from dune to dune without touching any of the jagged mountains or sand below.  You ever have those dreams where you feel like you're not quite flying, but gliding gently, with total control?  Well the sensation was more dreamlike and incredible than anything I had ever experienced, and I've done my share of majestic gliding, in the real world, no less.  The task wasn't hard, so it didn't surprise me when, after the effects of the drug had subsided and I found myself back in that small underground room, Talia entered and offered to bring me to the "final challenge."  Who else could it have been but Ra's Al Ghul himself?

I would have been hard-pressed to face The Demon's Head in single combat had his magical draught not revitalized my body and temporarily halted the effects of my Titan infection.  As I tried no to think of what the mysterious substance was doing to my insides, the doors opened, revealing an old and sickly-looking Ra's.  It seems as though he wanted me to kill him rather than fight him.  Only then could I truly take his place at the head of the League of Assassins and usher in his new world order.  But since I wasn't interested in killing anyone EVER, much less leading an organization based on killing anyone that stands against them, I flatly refused.  Then, in a rare display of vulnerability (inspired no doubt by Talia's presence), I opened up and informed them of my mission to get a sample of Ra's's blood so Mr. Freeze could complete his cure.

I hated lying to Talia - I had to tell her that I was willing to "take a life in order to save the world" before she would let me into the Demon Trials.  And apparently she believed me.  Which actually makes me feel not so bad for telling that particular lie to Talia.  Cuz if she really knew who I am and really was my "beloved," she'd know that I was never going to decide to take a life - not anyone's - at any time - for any reason.  So either she was totally fooled into thinking that I'd change into something I'm not... or she knew I was lying, and let me go through anyway, knowing that this was the only chance I had to save my life.

Either way, I was this close to getting what I came for, when Ra's took the predictable next step: he tried to force me to kill him by attacking me.  But not before getting a full blast of rejuvenation from his Lazarus Pit.  All of a sudden, the dreamlike desert landscape hallucinations from the Demon's Blood started popping up again.  But this was no flight fantasy played out inside your mind while you're locked in a room tripping out; it was an actual battle with real, blade-wielding ninjas.  And on top of it all, Ra's Al Ghul was teleporting everywhere and occasionally transforming into a sand giant, spinning around and shooting blades everywhere, like a demented Genie from Aladdin.

But little did he know this wasn't my first rodeo (at least in terms of handling real life combat situations while hepped up on psychoactive substances - I must have beat up 15 thugs plus a Titan henchman while under the influence of Scarecrow Toxin back at the Asylum, in Intensive Treatment).  Plus, I had something now I didn't have then: the ability to blast my foe with electricity, which helped slow him down enough for me to pummel him into submission.  I got the blood sample I wanted, and also thought I would do good old Ra's a kindness and let him in on the deduction I made: using the Lazarus Pit in excess was eroding his constitution.  He knew as well as I that the only way to save himself would be to call off that damn fool crusade of his.  But we also both knew that he would never give up his mission as along as he lived - just like I would never break my one rule, even with my life potentially on the line.  I guess I can see why he wanted me for his successor after all.

Part 13: Confronting Mr. Freeze