You stayed near the back of the crowd. You knew Raven was among them so staying at the rear while she was swept away by the rest was the best call in your book.

The butler escorted everyone back to the top of the stairs in the main lobby, everyone moving in almost practiced unison. 'Rich people hive mind?'

Then, he brought everyone to a small hall that had numerous expensive wooden doors on either side of it, with no doorknobs. Which in turn led to most of the crowd being confused.

As if sensing this, the butler turned around and gestured towards the doors.

"Now for those who wandered and tried to get in, I'm sure you found that these doors wouldn't open no matter what you did"

A few members of the crowd chuckled, mainly at the few that had flustered looks on their faces.

"No need to feel embarrassed. These aren't even real doors after all"

A few members of the crowd murmured in confusion, but the butler paid them no mind. Instead, he traced his finger alongside the left side of one of the doors. He let out a smile when it seemed he found what he was looking for.

He pushed into the wall, or more specifically, into a button that was in the wall. The doors slid open, revealing an interior of an elevator.

The crowd let out a collective sigh of amazement, before all separating into small groups that each went up a respective elevator.

You avoided the stampede of people rushing into the elevators, until you were the only one left that had yet to go up.

"Excuse me sir, but why are you still down here?" the butler from before asked in a questioning tone.

Instead of replying, you took out the coin that was given to you earlier.

The man took it, stared at it for a few seconds while being lost in space, then suddenly snapped out of it a bit flustered.

"I-I'm so sorry sir I didn't realize you were one of the VIPs, please follow me this way"

He gestured towards one of the elevators that had just returned, seeming a little nervous as he did so.

Without saying a word you walked into it, the butler following behind.

There were a total of 15 buttons. But instead of clicking on any of them, he instead clicked on one that said "Emergency".

You didn't question it, and instead of a beeping sound or the elevator shutting down, it began to go up.

Hugo walked towards a pair of closed doors. The space around him getting colder and colder with every step.

"I see"

Strange made no visible response to the drop in temperature, not even when a chill ran through his body, one he didn't react to whatsoever.

"They've even made you apart of it, Victor" He murmured under his breath.

The doctor opened the doors, the freezing air hitting him all at once, but he continued into the room as if he was unaffected.

Besides the temperature, there were only a few unique things in the room.
A table.
A few of the table's contents.
A chair.
A chair reminiscent of a throne.
And the man sitting on that throne.

"Doctor"

His voice didn't sound human. Although, that could be attributed to the fact he barely was one anymore.

"Victor"
"Please, take a seat"

Walking into the center of the room, Hugo sat down down on the chair opposite of the Lord, his emotionless look matching that of the thing in front of him.

Looking once again at what was on the table now that he had a better view, the one thing that stood out was a hot cup of coffee.

"Coffee? Really?"

"I thought you might've wanted something warm, the temperature is a little uncomfortable for most"

"I appreciate it. No drink for you?"

"I have a built in IV into the suit, my meals are automated. Though, you already knew that"

"Yes, yes I did"

"And yet you still asked"

"I was just thinking it would help break the ice, seeing as our positions seemed to have switched"

"Yes, I'm the one looking down on you now"

There was no spitefulness in his tone, no triumph, just an empty space where emotion should've been. He stared at Hugo with red lights being where his eyes should've been, he looked almost alien.

"That's how you viewed it?"

"Yes. After your daily sessions in the Asylum, how else was one supposed to interpret the way you viewed me? You already knew I wasn't insane, that everything I did was of my own volition, yet you continued to assault my mind to satisfy your own curiosity. That, now that, is looking down on me and my intelligence"

"How can you be so prideful, yet so ready to throw away that same pride at a moments notice for your goals?"

"Don't. Bring. Her. Into. This."

For the first time in this entire conversation, Freeze showed something other than talking with an empty tone. He still spoke with little emotion, but a hint of rage could be heard in his undertone.
A threat.

"No need to worry Victor, I wasn't talking about her after all. I was talking about how someone like you has become a Lord. It's just so out of character for you that I was quite surprised when I first saw you, or rather felt the cold coming from the room"

Hugo wrapped two hands around the mug, and slowly took a sip, not even letting out a sigh as he set it back down.

"Someone like you working with others in a situation like this.........what did they promise you Victor?"

"It's not what they promised me doctor, it's what I know I can achieve"

"And what is th"-

"Stop trying to provoke me. You already know what I want to achieve. The one thing I want in this world"

"Still, for you to stoop this low, it's quite pathetic"

"For you to remain in the shadows during the aftermath of the Joker's death is even more pathetic considering it's you, don't you think?"

Hugo took another sip from his drink, while Freeze remained unmoving, like he had been since the moment Strange walked into the room.

"If you despise me this much, why is it you I'm meeting?"

Now that they had exchanged "pleasantries", Hugo finally asked the real reason he was invited here in the first place.

To personally meet with a Lord like he had been promised, there was no way it was just to exchange information or was a trap to kill him. There was something else.
Although, Hugo didn't let you know this.

"I volunteered"

"Now why would you do that?"

"Because I'm positive I'm the only one that can convince you of our proposition"

"And what would that be?"

"Why, it's to become a Lord of course"

The elevator door chimed open, and you were greeted to a very, almost circularly lavish hallway. The butler guided you to one of the doors in said hallway and opened it for you.

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"
"Impressed?"

You didn't respond, and instead remained with an impressed expression on your face. Somehow, the interior of your VIP section looked even more classy than the place's lounge.

There was a table that had multiple desserts on it, as well as a multitude of furniture. Directly opposing where you just came in from was a glass wall that overlooked a podium, as well as numerous chairs.

"One way glass?" You asked curiously.
"Of course. People seeing even a glimpse of our VIPs would be bad business would it not?"

You nodded a little distractedly, your eyes glaring at the numerous snacks on one of the tables.

'I didn't get to try any because of Raven, but now, I can finally have something other than those horrible rations the Asylum has'

You were almost on the verge of tears from the happiness you were feeling, but you stopped yourself from breaking down in front of the butler.

"Will the gentleman from earlier be joining you in the same spot?"
"Yes"
"Very well, I shall wait by the elevators for the next batch of participants to arrive and escort him up towards this room. Also, your briefcase from earlier will be brought up when the auction begins, since I do believe you lost it?"

'When Rose grabbed me I think I dropped it. That has our life savings in there.....I TOLD THEM NOT TO TRUST ME WITH THAT. Oh well, at least the staff here are responsible'

You nodded again, wanting more than anything for him to get out of the room because of what you wanted to do. Which, after a few more seconds, he did.

You instantly helped yourself to the sweets at the table, stuffing your mouth full as if this were your last meal. Although to be fair with the bounty that was on your head, there was a chance of that being the case.

You heard the faint sound of a tiny ching, which was followed by faint footsteps and then by the opening of your door.

Static was met with the site of you with your face stuffed with sweets, as well as a surprised look on your face as you stared wide-eyed at him.

Taking a few seconds, you managed to gulp down the food in your mouth, before taking a breath of air and then speaking.

"..................Hello there"

Static looked at you with an unimpressed face, before doing a 180 as he leaped towards the table and also began to scarf down the food in a similar manner, throwing his briefcase to the side in the process.

"So- mhm...much better- oh wow- than hospital....food"

He managed to say in between bites, visible tears welling up in his eyes.

No words were exchanged as both you and him transformed into literal human vacuum cleaners with the speed of which you guys ate, an unspoken, mutual understanding was clear between the two of you.

After a few minutes, there was barely anything left. In fact, it looked like a natural disaster had made it's way through the table.

"We shall never speak of this"
"Agreed" Static responded without hesitation.

That was all you two said before sitting down on one the couches in the room, stoic expressions on your guys's face.

"Never tell Doc either"

It got silent after that, an awkward silence that was different than the silence in the Happy Place. You knew why it was like this, but you'd rather stall for as long as you could.

"Y/N"

'Welp, there goes that plan'
"Yes?"

"You said you met the Titans"-

There was once again a faint ding followed by footsteps coming to your door. Only this time, a briefcase was slipped into the room.

"Why is that there?"

"I may or may not have lost it"

Static looked at you completely shocked. "That's basically all of our money"

"Think of it as a possible charity for the first person who found it if it wasn't us"-

"Wait"

Static interrupted you, no longer wanting to listen to your excuses.

"Why would they give us the briefcase back?"
"Well, the butler guy said he'd give us our briefcase back when the......when the........oh shit it's starting"
"What's star"-

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the auction will be beginning in just a few moments! Please prepare yourselves for the event to officially start!" A voice echoed in the room, which caused the both of you to stare at the speakers that were implanted into the room's corners, ones you didn't even notice until now.

You and Static both looked at each other, before you panically scrambled to get the briefcase and Static nearly tripped grabbing his.

You both retrieved what you wanted and sat down next to each other on one of five luxurious chairs directly in front of the glass wall, where you had a full view of everything below you.

There was a mini table connected to each chair, one that had two things on it.
A button, as well as a small electronic device.

After taking in your new spot, you looked from your spot over the event. The distance between you and the bottom story wasn't that far, and you could see a podium as well as little stage perfectly clear.

On said podium, was a man who you didn't recognize. The man then spoke.

"As you all know, the 9th Circle's Outskirts hasn't been the most habitable place, so to make up for it your benevolent Lords have decided to give you all the chance to obtain something truly great!!!"

The way he spoke and acted reminded you of Zatanna. A showman. Although he wasn't at her level, less of a showman and more of a conman in your opinion.

"So I ask you all, are you ready for the Black Zone's first ever event to get underwaaaaaaay?!!!"
"YEEEESSSSS!!"

The crowd roared back at the man, who smiled gleefully at the response. These were all powerful people, but they knew their place. Acting excited would be better than acting bored at an event hosted by the Lords, anything to not insult them.

"How can they act so pumped up?" Static asked to no one in particular, his voice straining a little as a slightly frustrated look crossed his face.
You didn't respond to him.

"Now, we want our first item to be memorable no? And, what better way to make it memorable, than to choose this as our first prize!"

A butler holding a suitcase handed it to the auctioneer, who took it. Each one of his movements holding a bit of practiced excitement.

"Now, this item won't hold any practical value. But, it'll be something to prepare you guys for what's to come! Think of it as a prologue to the rest of our selection!"

The audience looked confused, but either the man didn't notice or did notice and just didn't care.

He dramatically opened the case, and a screen popped up from the device on your table that showed a close up of the suitcase and it's contents.

Your eyes went a little wide, as visible shock could be seen on your face.
'They went with that?!'

Most of the crowd were taken aback as the first item to bid on came into view.

It was a gun. A simple pistol.
But I wasn't just any gun. It was a pistol that had a pole attached to the muzzle.
One that had a tiny flag attached to it that said BANG.

"That's right ladies and gentlemen, the first item we're auctioning today is a very famous object used by him, the one who's death has made all of this possible"

"I give you all, the Joker's bang gun!"

A wave of uneasiness spread across the crowd at the mention of the clown's name, a life of living in fear of him would do that to you.

You on the other hand felt a sense of.....anger? 'It doesn't belong to them'

You felt slightly upset, but you quelled those emotions. You didn't have the right to be mad about this stuff. Jack gave you his hat, but that was the Joker's gun. You didn't have a right to it anymore than anyone else in this room did.

Speaking of everyone else in this room, all of them had yet to place a bid. Instead, they all just nervously stared at each other.

It seemed no one wanted to make the first call, and a feeling of pressure began to mount on everyone's shoulder as a consequence to this.

"500 thousand"

Static spit out a sip from a glass of water he got from one of the tables and began to cough and choke.

You on the other hand, realized just how out of depth you were in this situation.

'I forgot most of Gotham's richest would also be here'

Then, like a dam breaking, bids came pouring in like a flood.

"550 thousand"
"600 thousand"
"900 thousand"

These were just some of the many calls the auctioneer had to make as he struggled to keep up with the signs being held up.

"4-....4 million"

That call made everyone in the room freeze, as silence overcame the previously bustling room.

Slowly, everyone looked to where the auctioneer's eyes were glued on. Your eyes following them as well.

Projected on the glass of one of the VIP rooms for everyone to see was the image of the number 4 million, clear to eyes of the onlookers.

The sudden bump in cost with no buildup caused all of the others to feel dissuaded in continuing the bid. Not to mention it was only the first item so losing it all here wouldn't be the smartest move.

"Can I get anything higher than that?!!!"

The auctioneer yelled out in a voice that made it clear he was trying to convince others to take it further. Sadly, no one else did.

"Going once?"
No response.
"Going twice-....5 million!"

On a different VIP room's one way glass, the image of 5 million popped up, as if to directly challenge the previous bidder.

"Wow what a twist! But c- 6 million!"

On the screen/glass that once said 4 million, it now said 6 million.

The amount of money continued to increase, and with each bump up in cost, you felt a piece of you die on the inside.

'I risked my life and almost died only for us to end up with less than 2 mill........this is truly a cold world. Comic books and their godamn need to give everyone infinite wealth'

For a split second, the pure jealousy you felt caused you for just a moment to once again think of this world as a comic one, but you quickly reverted back to your normal self.

"8 million! Going once? Going twiiiiicccee???? Sold!!!!"

The winner was the previous 4 million bidder who had to double their expenses in order to win.

"A reminder that all items will be given after the event so that we ensure nobody here ups and leaves without paying. After all, we all live in Gotham am I right?!!"

There was an obvious que in his tone that the audience was supposed to laugh, and laugh they did. They knew that if given the chance, they probably would've taken the item and ran if they knew they had a sure-fire way to do so without getting caught.

"Anyways, now that the prologue is over, let's get to the juicy stuff shall we?"

The auction had now officially begun.