Mark Shaw's speech

"We are gathered here today for the Tournament of 100." The masked man gazed down on them. "I am the Manhunter. A hero. A public defender. A man seeking the truth. A man who fights the great evils controlling this world. But you may better know me as the leader of Leviathan."

There were murmurs. The anti-capitalist man was known in Gotham for his resonating speeches. He called for the downfall of Lex Luthor, a man the people of Gotham detested.

"W-why are we here?" a woman yelled. "Why us? I-I have a baby to take care of!"

"Yeah! What she said!"

"Let us out!"

"Mark fuckin' Shaw, my ass! We don't care if you're the president!"

They started heckling at him. Throwing curses and insults until their throats went dry. Aaron was surprised by the sudden courage but thought it was quite foolish. He could see the build-up of an invisible power enveloping the evil lady.

"Silence." The weight of the air increased from the pressure. She swung her blade and a titanic shriek penetrated their ears. A slash of pressurised magic that nearly threw the hundred Gothamites back. It was a sharp, intense moment lasting over two seconds. Yet those two seconds were all that were needed to regain their submission.

"If you do not pipe down, you will face the wrath of Angel Breaker," the lady declared, her white eyes glowing with mystical energy. Aaron squinted. She was high above and she likely couldn't tell him apart from the others. But he could.

'That name. Angel Breaker.'

She was the one who fought Poison Ivy, Harley, and the Robins.

'So this is the infamous Angel Breaker,' Aaron thought. 'Trained by women like Black Canary and amped by a magical sword. Of course. She's strong.'

In the corner of his mind, he added that she was smoking hot.

Then there was Mark Shaw, the leader of Leviathan. His armour contained no weak points, probably because it was insanely high-tech. Perhaps it was made with the help of aliens or some genius from the future. Regardless, the two were threats a powerless human like him couldn't handle. If he was closer, there was a small possibility he could pinpoint a weak spot. However, unless they willed it, they would stay on that platform.

So he listened to what they had to say.

"The Tournament of 100 is simple," Mark Shaw continued, hands behind him. He acted as though they hadn't been taunting him seconds ago. "It is a selection for the Chosen One. We have searched all over the world for the Chosen One. The One is among you. We are certain."

Everybody except Aaron exchanged puzzled glances. He maintained a steady eye on Mark Shaw and Angel Breaker. He saw an evil smirk spread across Angel Breaker's delicious lips.

"I was once no one. A meaningless girl with no future or destiny. Then I was found and trained by the Coda Sisterhood, led by an otherworldly warrior called Zealot. She held a great blade. This blade." Angel Breaker raised the blade and a godly light fell down upon them. The deathly dark steel was crossed through the middle with a horrific scarlet energy. All of them could feel the impending doom.

Beside him, Noah gulped like a cartoon character. The air suddenly thickened and their throats became dry.

"The blade spoke to me." She did not yell nor did she raise her voice. The words carried through the ears of the hundred regardless. "Forged on another world, its purpose unknown, Zealot carried the blade for thousands of years, just so that it could reach me. Me, who the blade said would fight in a great war. Me, who the blade said would need to face a great threat. Alone."

Angel Breaker lowered the saber and almost let it touch the ground. Aaron was afraid that if she had, the world would split.

"I was told to train with Earth's greatest sisters in preparation for this. Unfortunately…" Exasperation entered her. "...some of my sisters would not comply. I was left unprepared and the blade knew it." A breath. A pause. The audience was on the edge, waiting for her words. "Then the blade whispered again. It told of the Chosen One. The brother or sister who would save the world."

'There it is again.'

The Chosen One. The big headache everybody was searching for.

"My brothers in Leviathan told me they also heard of such a prophecy. Of a Chosen One who will feel Element X and gain ultimate power. Power to stop the oncoming threat," Angel Breaker proclaimed. "The Chosen One is here. I can sense it."

A terrible feeling settled in the pits of his stomach. It was as if each word was urging him on to an obvious, premeditated conclusion.

"What lies at your feet," Mark Shaw began, "is natural, uncorrupted Dionesium. Superior to the Lazarus Pit or the small batches of miracle water scattered throughout the world. This is perhaps the only untainted source of it in the world–here, underneath Gotham. As long as you stand in these waters, you will not die. You will be rehabilitated over and over again. We do not wish to hurt you. I do not want to hurt you. Unfortunately, this is only the way to make certain of the Chosen One; through ****."

Temporary immortality? Once again, the kidnapped people fell into a hush.

"Angel Breaker shall beckon each of you one-by-one. If you are indeed the Chosen One, the Angel Breaker shall not hurt you. If you are not the one, then your corpse will fall and be revived." Mark Shaw spoke with unexpected sorrow. It threw Aaron off. He was empathetic but not empathetic enough to release him.

A mystery was afoot.

"W-what does that mean?" Todd whispered in his ear. Aaron shrugged.

Beside them, Henry froze and a strange red aura surrounded him. His eyes bulged out and he was lifted into the air. He couldn't move his arms as they were glued tightly to his side. He rose and rose and rose, mouthing for help. Nobody could do anything as Angel Breaker's sword pulled him close to her.

"H-Henry!? Henry!" Todd wanted to leap after him but Noah was quick to shut his reaching hand down. It was the correct decision as they would soon find out in the next five seconds.

"You are not the one," Angel Breaker said coldly. There was a flesh of red. Aaron went wide-eyed and gasps echoed through the cavern.

Henry and his head fell into the pool of liquid with a thud.

The shrieks soon came afterwards.

"Oh my god–!"

"Let me out! I'm not the one! Let me out! OUT!"

Then the fear. It spread like wildfire. Everybody backed away from the corpse and the rolling head. Angel Breaker had beheaded him like it was nothing. She had stopped the life of a human being without any regard to–

"W-what happened to me…?"

The crowd suddenly held their breath. The head of the dead man spoke. No, somehow, it had attached itself to the body. Miraculously, like a zombie, Henry stood. His eyes were red yet his brain was fully intact. He groaned and held his head in pain.

"I told you, did I not?" Mark Shaw said. "You are effectively immortal as long as you fall within the pool of Dionesium. We are not monsters. We simply wish to find the Chosen One. Now then, onto the next individual."

'So…so this is the Tournament of 100…?' Aaron winced as he witnessed another quick beheading. It was brutal. Watching the blood mix in with the liquid on the ground, fusing with it to revive the fallen corpse, it was…a lot to take in. His brain didn't properly register what it was seeing. His heart went numb. He had seen a dead body before in the streets of Gotham. But this…this was different.

"Not you–!" SLASH! "Not you–!" SLASH! "Not you–"

Where Mark Shaw exuded sympathy towards the victims, Angel Breaker shredded and spoke with so little concern she might as well been having a picnic. It was chilling.

Dead bodies dropped like flies.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth victims were killed and resurrected in the blink of an eye. It felt so fucking inhumane. Aaron wanted to just beat the living fuck out of these villains for causing such terror and panic. He had never felt so uncomfortable as the people beside him panicked and gasped and frightfully backed away. Unfortunately, their little platform was too high up for him.

It felt like the final stage of a long, villainous plan. They were picked apart like dots in a crowd, like meaningless, valueless entities.

Lesser than humans. That was what the hundred and four Gothamites were.

A wet liquid leaked from his fists. Blood. His fingers dug deep enough to pierce his skin.

It was all for naught. He could do nothing. He stood and watched as the world around him died.

Aaron shifted his feet.

No…something shifted his feet. He glanced down. The ground–it was shaking. The gruesome sight ahead was numbing the senses of the others but not Aaron. The tremors slighted the soles of his feet. It was there.

'What's going on–'

From behind, there was a thunderous crack. All at once, the Gothamites whipped their heads back. Then–

BOOM!

The red barrier…it was gone. The guards who had been cockily standing in charge of it were thrown into the crowd.

An approaching clack roused their ears. It was a walking cane accompanied by quacking laughter.

"Well, well, well," the male voice began, shrill and loud. "I finally found ya…Mark Shaw."