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Chapter 60: The Darkest Of Roses II
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The cat's rest has fallen. There were no casualties as no one was within, but it did indeed become rubbles. The crime families just had to make sure the Roses are down for good.
They still remained cautious as Carmine believes the Roses are up to something, the recent circumstances made him paranoid.
Just as it made another force paranoid, so they decided to dive back into their hole, hiding until they find it necessary to take action again.
Hell, even Batman was paranoid, way too many things were happening at the same time, and he hadn't much time to investigate things in Gotham, but he did leave things to Nightwing and Batgirl. Much to his dismay, despite Ian's disappearance, he's still receiving information through their usual medium.
It made him paranoid about what Ian could be planning. Alas, he has more important things to take care of, way more important to the point he had to band with Superman, the fallen meteors.
In contrast to everyone's expectation, Ian wasn't in Gotham nor was he anywhere close to it. He was seated in a Chinese restaurant, slowly enjoying a bowel Ramen. Chinese Ramen was something he never tried, he had tried Japanese ramen but never Chinese.
"Hmm, it's nice," Ian murmured after finishing his meal before paying the bill and heading out with a large briefcase in his hand. He was understandably disguised, knowing someone might be looking for him.
He was in New York City, specifically in a residential area located in the downtown area of the city for a specific purpose. He toured the streets of the area for a bit before finding his objective, a small unremarkable shop. It had a few strange drawings such as a hand with an eye within but nothing too catchy that might draw people in, Hokus & Polus Occult Curioso it was named.
Ian walked into the shop casually, finding it empty except for the shop owner, not very a popular place. He laid his eyes on her, the candy of the shop, adorned in a sleeveless purple Chinese dress, it had a pink hue to it.
Her hair was ebony black with a lustrous look to it, styled like a waterfall braid. It was fluffy falling all over her flawless fair skin.
Ian smiled and walked up to her table before taking a seat on her opposite side and eyeing her pale green eyes, in fact, her eyes almost had a white tint to them.
"Ian Rose, a former crime lord in Gotham, perhaps in the future I can regain my position? Who knows." He had a sweet smile on his face, almost as if he was picturing a bright future or a fun one.
Her eyes seized him up from top to bottom with an emotionless look. It seemed as if no matter what he did, they'll still remain just as emotionless and detached.
She had her head resting on her hand at first but that changed as she started positioning her tarot cards in a specific way.
Ian let out a sigh, "How far I've fallen. It's definitely the devil's fault. The son of a bitch wants to collect my soul quickly. I wanted to do a full revamp of Cat's rest anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. It's more fun anyway."
"Do you truly believe that?" The woman before him questioned emotionlessly.
"The last part, yes. The first part, no. I've made sure to include a term where the devil can't interfere to make my death any sooner or make any action that may lead to my death." Ian shrugged his shoulders while letting out a chuckle of amusement, he really fucked Beelzebub over.
"I see... You can call me Madame Xanadu. You can refer to me as Madame, that should be better."
Ian nodded as he made himself comfortable in his seat while crossing his legs and eyeing the objects in the parlous, from books, and different objects to black jars, everything within looked strangely appealing.
"I see greed in your eyes." Madame Xanadu murmured, still arranging the tarot cards.
"How can I not? Everything in here looks like it could fit right in my collection, anything in here for sale by any chance?" He naturally responded with anticipation.
Xanadu lifted her still emotionless eyes, gazing at him for a second before shaking her head, "No. Tell me what you want only if you can pay the price."
"Well, I heard you're a fortune-teller. Can you see my future?" Ian questioned with apparent curiosity.
"Give me your hand." She ordered and Ian obeyed. She took his hand into hers and started trailing her fingers alongside it while observing it as if seeing something other than skin.
That only went on for about ten seconds before she let go of his hand with a frown on her face. Her eyes had a hint of wonder and puzzlement in them but she shook her head and didn't prey on his strangeness for now.
She started collecting all the tarot cards before shuffling them. She then started placing the cards in their previous position from top to bottom without looking at the face of the cards.
Once she was done, she flipped all the cards and started observing each one of them. She then spoke in her usual emotionless tone, "You don't have a future... You'll die in less than two weeks."
Ian raised his brow in... Well, not surprise, "Oh... Ok. Anyway, what I am really here for is your services. I want to get something but it can't be found. I think there some magic bullshit barrier thingy protecting it."
Xanadu gave him a bizarre look before speaking, "I don't do that. I can not help my clients directly."
Ian let out a chuckle, "You see, you'll be helping me indirectly. Just get me inside and we're done. I will get the thing myself."
"That's not how it works."
"No, it's how it works. It's an indirect help. You just throw me in there and that's it."
"And I am telling you that I can't do that."
"Ok, just listen. How about this, just destroy the barrier or something out of curiosity to see what's inside, and I, a random traveler will be there to rip the benefits. You'll be unintentionally helping me."
"..." Xanadu just stared at him in wonder for quite a while, her mouth opened and closed, seemingly trying to say something, "I'll tell you the solution, that's the furthest I can go."
"Tch." Ian clicked his tongue in annoyance, "As long as whatever you say has a 100% success rate, or if you want to lead me to someone that might help, I don't want them to go back on their word and take what's mine."
Xanadu remained silent for a while. His worries weren't unfounded as from the tone of his words, she can deduce that what he wanted might be a bit too powerful.
"I'll accept your request and help to the limits of what I can do. Tell me the location."
And Ian did tell her, and he wasn't worried she would betray him. The rules hold her chained, just as she can't directly help him, she shouldn't be able to betray him while the deal is ongoing, so that may change later.
She then started doing her own thing and it took her a while to finish arranging the new set of tarot cards, "It should be easy to do as long as you persuade someone, but first, pay the price."
Ian lifted his briefcase from the ground and placed it on the table. Xanadu eyed it strangely as she opened it, and what she found made her speechless.
She usually asks for relatively low fees but what's before her should be more than 3 million dollars. She remained silent for a bit before waving her hand to her left side, "Go inside, and good luck."
Ian turned his attention to what looked like a portal opening up right next to him though before going inside, he asked, "How about joining my team? I want to build a versatile unit that can support each other."
"No."
"Ok." Ian shrugged his shoulders and went into the portal, finding another eye candy already waiting for him.
"Xanadu sent you?" She questioned with her left hand on her waist, seizing him up. She was strangely attired in a top hat, a black tuxedo jacket with a white top underneath and a white bow-tie around her neck, with black fishnet tights and black, knee-high high-heeled boots.
It's safe to say that her clothes made her even more captivating than she already is. Her fishnet showed her enticing ample creamy thighs, a sight to behold especially since that's his weakness.
Just as she stared at him from top to bottom while probing him with her magical means, he eyed her from top to bottom for a second before nodding at her.
"Huh Troublesome," Zatanna let out a sigh, "Well, I guess she owes me another one. Also, why does magic i..." She wanted to say something, but she stopped, seeing a letter flying her way from the portal, and only then did the portal close.
She read through the letter before eyeing Ian again, "The only thing I will do is to destroy the barrier and the rest is up to you. If you can do it, then good for you, if not, I will take it myself. Also, if I sense whatever the object is to be too vile and powerful, I shall take it... This is not a negotiation."
Ian stroked his chin, contemplating her words for a second before glancing at her eyes, "Sure."
Zatanna got to work instantly as she waved her hand before her, "Latrop!"
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