In a broad and somewhat dim room, drops of moisture were condensing on the stone walls. Hundreds of candles, of varying heights, were fixed on these walls, casting a vast array of shadows that interwove on the floor from the drapes that hung from the towering ceiling.
A gigantic conference table sat at the center of the room. At that moment, several masked individuals were sitting on both sides of the table, looking at an image projected on a screen.
This was the meeting room of the Court of Owls.
The Court of Owls is a mysterious organization in DC comics. It has been active in Gotham since the city's early existence. In some comic versions, it is depicted as an organization maintained by Gotham City's founders or their descendants, acting as the Dark King of Gotham City.
And of course, there are more comic versions which place even more complicated conspiracies on this organization. For instance, the Court of Owls in Gotham City actually belongs to the world-class Owl Parliament, which is an organization under the control of the Dark God, Barbados.
Regardless, this organization has existed in Gotham for a long time and has been manipulating the city from the shadows.
The members of the Court of Owls would gather together only to further plots related to Gotham, and this occasion was no exception.
However, their original objective had changed, or rather, it changed entirely when they saw a massive black beast emerge from the monitoring device attached to their Talon Belt.
The speed and the impact of this change surpassed everyone's expectations.
In the period when Gotham City was undergoing these changes, the Court of Owls was not entirely indifferent. The problem was, like any council-style organization, deciding on an issue required a series of discussions, meetings, and member's votes. They needed to investigate, gather evidence, analyze and finally vote based on the recent changes in Gotham.
Indeed, this damned evil organization is extremely meticulous. Their case handling efficiency was much higher than the Gotham Police Department's.
After a period, the Court of Owls finally discovered the main force behind these changes in Gotham from the subtle clues they had gathered.
The Court of Owls was not particularly concerned about these changes in Gotham. After all, the city has not been moving in a better direction. No one was trying to save it from the roots. In contrast, these changes brought considerable benefits to the city which was in line with the interests of the Court of Owls.
The unacceptable factor for them was the presence of someone lurking in the darkest corners, controlling and affecting this city more precisely than them. Once such people emerge, the Court of Owls must eliminate them.
Therefore, the Talons targeted their subject, the seemingly ordinary university professor, Shiller Rodriguez.
Everything was initially going smoothly. The Court of Owls thought they could continue with their usual strategy of nipping threats in the bud. However, everything started to change when the black monster appeared.
It wasn't surprising for the Court of Owls to install surveillance equipment on their Talons. After all, they are an organization that monitors the entire city. But what they didn't anticipate was the upcoming spectacle that would shatter everyone's beliefs and change the purpose of this meeting at its core.
Shiller, still tangled up with Venom Bat, found the situation quite challenging. Battles between these Symbionts weren't like the titanic punch-ups he had seen in the movies.
As symbiotic organisms, their fights were often at a microscopic level, essentially gulping down each other's symbiotic factors. This was like transitioning from single combat to a full-scale battle.
Shiller knew how to fight this kind of battle, but he was dealing with a mad Dark Bat. The Venom Bat didn't care about its loss of symbiotic factors and just kept on attacking ferociously, intending to bite off more from the Grey Mist.
There was no point in considering tactics or defending against this kind of frenzied enemy. It would only result in more significant losses. And so, Shiller had to attack relentlessly. The two Symbionts began feasting on each other fearlessly.
This battle didn't have any sparks or sounds. Everything seemed enshrouded in a mysterious and silent atmosphere. The tangible started disappearing into the intangible amidst this insane mutual devouring. The pulling and tugging of sludge and mist made it look more like a battle between light and shadows, with an underlying unnoticeable screaming, chaotic, and blindingly mad fight.
But the Court of Owls was not ordinary. They indeed possessed some dark powers that the average person didn't.
Therefore, while witnessing this silent yet clamoring battle, the Court of Owls, which had never encountered a symbiotic being before, could only interpret it as a manifestation of a higher level of mysticism within their understanding of the world.
This invisible battle allowed them to connect it more easily to the sources of some dark powers. Unlike ordinary people, the Court of Owls were aware that this world wasn't as simple and peaceful as it seemed. They knew that more significant and darker forces were peering into every action from the depths of the cosmos.