After Raven left silence settled in the air for a few moments before Victor informed Richard "She's gonna ask you if you have a place to stay. Tell her you have a hotel room."

Blinking in confusion, the new-comer grumbled "Uh, why?"

Seriousness leaked into the other man's voice "Because they are very loud."

"What?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose Victor guided Richard through what would happen "Alright, so you take her up on the offer. Does it look like Gar's human?" with a shake of the head they agreed that, no, Gar was not human, he continued. "You'll go to their house and dinner will be tense but calm and you'll go to bed in their guest room. About an hour after that you'll wake up and you won't be able to sleep again. You'll spend the rest of the night trying to drown out the sounds."

"Sounds? Is their house haunted or something?" Richard asked, caution and no small amount of fear was in his voice.

Jinx snorted "Haunted? Maybe by rabbits!"

Now Richard was completely lost until Victor explained "They have very, very loud… sex."

The newcomer blushed a bit but nodded "Hotel room. Got it. Now what time and where do I need to meet them tomorrow?"

Thinking for several minutes Victor pulled out a card and wrote on the back "Here's my card, put the number into your phone and be here tomorrow."

Thanking him and leaving Richard had the feeling that he was back to being a first day apprentice.

He wasn't wrong.

Gotham and this city worked fundamentally differently. In Gotham such things as spirits and demons were open, everyone knew about them. Here they were a secret a select few knew about and even fewer were actually knowledgeable about.

Raven explained simply "In that way you could call Bruce a failure, the secret is out. Others take it as a step to make the city safer. A few of us, myself included, are waiting to see what happens before we decide if it was a smart move or a failure." the lady herself was in a dark purple sweater and jeans, looking as professional as Richard who skipped the jacket today.

Maybe because his pride thought she was calling him a failure, maybe it was because somebody already decided his teacher was a failure but Richard puffed up his chest and his face grew tense. The reaction was nearly instantaneous.

Somehow she moved faster than he could see and delivered a blow right into his solar plexus and he dropped to his knees gasping for breath with a hand clutching his chest. Barely sparing the man a glance she continued walking down the sidewalk until the crosswalk, where the red hand stopped her.

Nobody paid him any attention. He staggered to his feet and walked down the brightly lit sidewalk between the sky scraper to his left and the Italian café across the street. Raven had met him outside one of the downtown office buildings at 9 and they had walked the morning streets while she went over the most basic of principals.

Her lover nowhere in sight.

Hobbling over Raven spared him a single second long glare that reinforced how stupid that idea was "Quit posturing. You're here to learn, not get killed."

"Who would have done that?" he wheezed "Besides you?"

A tell-tale spark flickered in her eyes, it was one of the few signs that somebody was looking at the other plane, the other side of things that existed on Earth. Humans could only obtain the sight by either using special glasses or by a long drawn out ritual. Being one of the former Richard slipped on his sunglasses and saw Gar in all his glory standing beside Raven though his tail was wrapped only millimeters from Richard's neck. Like a noose.

Raven murmured "Gar and I are very protective of each other. He takes it further than I do so make no mistakes. Aggression towards either of us will be met with force."

"I wasn't going to even do anything!" he sputtered.

"But you were being aggressive. It's a flaw in all species. Even angels." it was the first time Richard had heard Gar speak and he was floored. His voice was what Richard thought the Devil's would sound like, only not.

On pure sound alone it was like a deep grumble that radiated irritation and severity-that was how it wasn't. But there was something that drew him in, like honey to a fly, there was something he couldn't describe that attracted him to it. A rockslide with audible seduction. A demon's tool.

Before anything could be said Gar ripped his phone out of his pocket and jabbed his thumb against it rapidly with rage written all over his face. Just as the ding of a sent text filled the air they were no longer on Earth and black filled their vision.

Richard awoke to night in a desert, stars filled the dark blue sky overhead and tan sand stretched as far as the eye could see. A sigh came seconds before Raven's voice filled his ears "First day on the job and we're brought to the Underworld. I can't tell if you're cursed or something else."

Slowly sitting up he found Raven sitting on a rock and Gar growling at the air around them. "What happened?"

Raven grit her teeth and spat "Some moron pulled the three of us into the Underworld via portal. It must be someone strong since only upper class demons could make a portal."

Shaking himself to be rid of all the sand Richard asked "Then why not have Gar make a portal out?"

"Portal physics is well documented and easily understood. I have too much power, the density would rip your flesh from your bones."

"Uh…let's not do that then."

"Wise decision." came the final answer from Gar. A few moments later Gar stood with an exhausted sigh and walked around in a circle, his tail dragging in the sand. A minute later Raven and Richard stood within a spell circle.

Before Richard had a chance to question it a faint fluttering on the air followed by a light thump of something dropping. An almost sickeningly sweet smell wafted over him and immediately his brain rebelled, the smell was fermented and stuffy-in his mind something viewed it as an apple rotting in a crypt. What he saw when he turned to look was nothing short of beautiful.

Two women and one man had appeared behind them, all of them stunningly gorgeous but the middle woman commanded his attention, so much so that after the initial glance at the others he paid them no mind.

The woman was barely taller than he was with the palest skin he had ever seen, long silken hair trailed to her waist in a thick braid. Her lips were a shade of fiery red that matched her catlike eyes, she didn't even look at him or Raven but walked past the circle as she handed the black cape she was wearing to the woman behind her. Richard, while not inexperienced, blushed heavily at her dress, the top was a very low cut black leather corset only barely high enough to keep her decent while the middle was cut away allowing the skin between her breast all the way down to the dip in her pelvic girdle to be seen, the edge of the corset was patterned with red swirls and a silver 'X' across where, if there was no corset, they would have kept her from being indecently exposed. From her hips on the side and the edges of the corset as it dipped was a dress, almost a deep rich purple of mostly transparent silk-as she moved he could see the outline of her legs or the skin itself via the long slit in either side. The final touches of this woman were high heeled boots that came up to her shapely calves and matching elbow gloves, both a deep dark red with the same tooled designs as the corset top only in black.

She smiled at Gar who glanced at her in boredom before sighing "Do you mind telling my why you stole me from my feeding?"

Now the woman was nervous, her dress was provoking nothing in him and that itself was something she feared. Her voice was sweeter than Gar's but lacked the devilish draw that his had, though the aroma grew stronger as her pointed teeth came into view with her smile "Dear Garfield, I did not mean to disturb you."

"Cut the bullshit Draculina."

The two beside Draculina jumped in front of her hissing and reaching for hidden weapons. Raven cut in "If you do that you will die. For nothing."

As the duo now shifted it's attention to Raven their master sighed lightly "She is, of course, correct. You must remember that we have very little power compared to him." Draculina turned to Raven and bowed her head slightly "Raven Roth, Daughter of Trigon and Princess of the Second Realm."

Returning the gesture, Raven introduced her to Richard as well as giving the proper greetings "Lilith Draculina, Lady Vampire and progenitor as well as Ruler of the Third Realm."

Lilith's eyes bored into Richard as she stared at him with great interest, licking her lips nearly made him step out of the circle until Gar let all the little patience out of his voice "Return us now or I can find someone else and I don't care if I have to kill you to find them."

The male vampire roared "How DARE you?! She is our lord and liege!"

"How dare I?" Gar parroted blandly "The better question is who the fuck do you think I am to be scared of some snot-nosed vamp barely old enough to remember the Babylonians and her two witless toys even younger?" almost a little angry he continued "I am not some weak demon that needs her to make a portal for me. I am Ger, born in the utter depths of Cocytus and torn from the Morning Star's very breath. I was there when the crater from the Fall was still new and none yet suffered in it. I was there before this ring you call the Underworld." Now standing tall over the trio of vampires with his shadow lengthened to miles and his voice now coming from every rock and every grain of sand he commanded their very fear "I am the only Devil to be claimed as the Black Prince's heir. The only one that could challenge Lucifer. I am the only one that traveled Dante's Road. I am Ger, King of Ice, Lord of the Lost, Root of Redemption, and Master of Mourning."

Lilith knelt so fast it looked like she fell, her head now against the sand she whispered "Forgive me, you have been gone so long that many have forgotten you or have never heard your infernal name!"

Rubbing his face Gar grunted "Whatever. Now tell me why we're here."

"A certain devil needs refuge from another devil." the female lackey muttered.

"Get Charon or Minos to do it." Gar…well it was almost spat but it was much quieter, like a whisper.

Lilith, now standing looked at the ground bashfully "It's a matter of succession." the two most powerful beings stared at each other before the weaker broke "The issue is with those who guard the wall. The twin heads died leaving two daughters, the younger was claimed as heir but the elder attacked her with several other devils forcing her to flee. We found her and I offered to ask you to assist, not realizing that I would prompt such a…powerful offence."

Letting his head fall backwards Gar let out a sigh as he gestured the three vampires forward. As they got within a few feet his tail lashed out and wrapped around all of their necks "I'm going to ask my mate and her friend to come out of the spell circle now. If I find one hair harmed from you or your ilk I will slaughter all of you and leave your remains to rot in your castle."

All three vampires hastily nodded and he let them go before gesturing to Raven and Richard to stand beside him. At some silent signal Lilith started leading them across the shifting sands. Richard leaned over to ask Raven in a hushed voice "Where are we going?"

"I would assume we're being led to the princess who is most likely in the Third Castle." she answered though it left him more confused than if she didn't answer at all.

The walk was long and utterly monotonous. It took only a ten minute silence before the female vampire moaned "Why don't we just fly there? I'm sick of walking!"

Lilith looked bemused before he waved a hand at Richard and Raven "They can't fly and leaving them isn't going to happen. Ger could, perhaps, create a platform of sand but that would alert everyone who could see it that we're traveling and that's not something that any of us want."

With a cowed "No, ma'am." the vampire went silence with her male counterpart quickly tiring, almost like he was mirroring her sentiments.

It wasn't long until the two retainers simply fell behind forcing Lilith to call a halt. All three vampires flopped down while Richard and Raven did like the break the were more used to walking than the beings who almost always flew.

Finally seeing his chance Richard asked Raven "Devils? Underworld? Can you explain? I haven't heard any of this."

Raven replied in a way that shocked him "You wouldn't have. Most people use 'demon' and 'devil' interchangeably but they aren't." quickly dragging her finger through the sand she sketched a large circle with a smaller circle inside that took up about half the area with line separating the outer ring into four sections. "The inner circle is Hell, where devils reside and was the crater left from when Lucifer fell. Devils took up residence there and started to punish sinners in the religious sense. You've read Dante's Inferno, right?"

"You mean he was right?" the human asked.

"Not on everything but for the most part…yes, he was inspired by a holy ghost as he wrote. But that's not the important part. Anyways, after a few thousand years of devils the Underworld finally recovered enough from the barren, blasted wasteland that the fiery fall had created to support certain horrors. The first of the 'demons' were those with no connection to humanity, formed in the darkest recesses of imagination. Humanity actually shaped the other realms, my father's realm is made up of demons that have a humanoid shape but nothing more, we were first created as humanity was being born-from what I gather Lucy was the start of it all."

Scribbling a zero in the Hell circle and a one and two respectively in the top sections she continued clockwise "Next were demons that took on human shape, those who were to blend in, vampires, shape shifters, djinns that sort of thing. The fourth section is the most recent-those that were human, werewolves make up a majority but they're currently ruled by a banshee who gained the title "The Mourner of Willow Hill"." Raven rolled her neck as she finished.

Richard asked "So why haven't we ever heard of devils…why haven't I ever heard of devils?"

"Devils are more than content to torture sinners or to guard their own borders. And be thankful for that." she warned.

"Why?" he asked, stunned that something like this would actually be entirely unknown to him. This was beyond huge, the power structure of the enemy was something that any of them could use!

"Because the very weakest devil could take over all of the Underworld if it wished. Demons are so much weaker that it's laughable. That's part of why Gar is so strong, he's a devil, and earlier he wasn't lying-he's the strongest besides The Devil." Now he was stunned, to have someone that far up the food chain on their side…

"Why does Gar…or Ger stay on Earth?"

His question was answered by the subject himself "Earth has lots of negativity in it and devils thrive on it. It's a binge that could sustain a lot of us. But as for why I stay…" he only pulled Raven closer to him.