InsaneJournal

Diana had not expected to see anyone dressed quite like this woman on this particular planet. She herself had chosen something form-fitting but casual, showing off muscular legs and arms. But this woman appeared to belong someplace entirely darker. She thought she might just get along with Bruce, at least.

She stepped up to the beachfront bar, taking the stool next to the woman and ordering a Brandy of some sort. “Good morning.”

Maze wasn’t quite certain what to make of her current predicament. On the one hand, she was really into her bounty hunting job on Earth. She wanted to get back to that. But on the other, this planet was right up her alley in terms of pleasure. And Lucifer was here, so all seemed to be right for the moment. But Linda, Chloe and Trixie were not here. She didn’t like that. She missed her humans, but she most likely would never admit to it.

She sat at the bar, back resting against it and elbows propped against it as she watched the people around her. She was dressed in all black, her top being a bit revealing in the cleavage department. Though Maze perked up when the beautiful stranger approached. She gave her a smile.

“Hello tall, dark and beautiful.” Never let it be said that Maze let an opportunity to flirt pass her by.

“Saying hello to yourself?” Diana countered, taking her glass as it was offered to her. She turned on the stool, crossing her legs and leaning against the bar. “I’m Diana. And something tells me you do not belong here any more than I do.”

Maze got a twinkle in her eye at the response. “I like you, human.” Sometimes it took time for Maze to warm up to someone. Others, it didn’t take very long at all. “I’m Mazikeen. And no, I definitely don’t belong here. That said, I love this place, but definitely not where I belong.” Which was kind of hitting on an issue. Maze had been searching for where she fit in in the world, and she was still kind of searching for that. And now she was here in the future and in space. That complicated matters further.

The smile Diana gave Maze was positively cheeky. “I’m not human, though I’ve fought for them many times. Risa reminds me in some ways of my home. An island called Themyscira, home of the Amazons. A paradise on Earth, and yet one place I may never return. I doubt I belong there anyway.”

The not human part got Maze’s attention, and she looked Diana over a bit more carefully. Interesting. “Well, Amazon, then. Sounds sexy. You must be handy with weapons. I’m a demon from Hell. I followed Lucifer to Earth and now I’m kind of stuck there because he doesn’t want to go back to Hell.” Maze tilted her head a bit. “Do you know Lucifer here?”

“Ah, I see.” Diana nodded, accepting that as easily as one might accept a declaration that the sky was blue. “We’ve met. I punched him once. He wanted to see if I was strong enough to hurt him. Not the first god I’ve met. Or hit.”

If this were Earth, Maze would be questioning how Diana could accept that she was a demon so quickly. But considering where they were, and the fact that Diana knew Lucifer, she didn’t bother. “Did you hurt him? Or was he happy to have his immortality remain intact?”

“I think I hurt him.” Most days, Diana didn’t particularly like hurting people, even if they deserved it, but it had seemed to surprise Lucifer, which meant she might have enjoyed that part. “Winded him, at least. He didn’t want to try a punch to the face.”

She glanced around, then reached over and lifted up a heavy statue one-handed, then set it back down.

“Of course not the face, he doesn’t like his pretty face getting bruised if he can help it.” Maze had bruised and bloodied Lucifer up not that long ago. They’d had one hell of a throwdown fight with each other when she’d thought he was going to abandon her and go back to Heaven with his brother and mother.

Though when she watched Diana lift the statue up one handed, her eyebrows shot up. “Damn, you’re strong. I like that. So what are you, exactly? Beyond the whole Amazon thing because the Amazons I know of didn’t have super-strength like that.”

“The Amazons of my world are very strong, but not as strong as I am,” Diana replied. “The story I like best is that I was forged from clay and given life by Zeus. I am a demigod.”

It was mostly true, and the version she liked best. Zeus was her father, but no one had ever said how.

“Zeus, huh? That’s quite the parental heritage there.” Maze looked Diana up and down again, a smile on her face. “You definitely look like a demigod.” More like a goddess, really, but Maze would go with the demigod instead.

“Not my favorite part of my heritage. I am an Amazon, through and through, even if it explains why I so often felt apart from my sisters.” That she also felt apart from humanity was another story, for another time.

“I can relate. It’s not easy being a demon among humans. Or angels, for that matter. I was the one left out sometimes.” Not so long ago, Maze had believed Lucifer, the one constant in her life, was going to abandon her.

“I am very sorry about that,” Diana replied. She was genuinely sincere, kindness in her voice and behind her eyes. It didn’t matter to her that Maze was a demon. What mattered was action, and she didn’t know her enough to judge yet.

Maze didn’t do the touchy-feely emotions like this well, so she just shrugged a shoulder. “I just had to find my own way. I’m a bounty hunter now. Or, well, back on Earth. I thought that was really fun.” As much as Maze liked to torture and kill when she could, she really liked getting the monetary reward for bounties. She tended to use it to get new shoes and clothes.

“Normal work would probably be too boring for you. Back on my Earth, I was an antiquities dealer. I worked at the Louvre. My night job was much more exciting, once I realized I was actually needed.” She would have preferred to stay in the shadows but...Wait, where did that memory come from?

“That sounds like a cool day job, but you’re right, most normal work is too boring for me. I managed Lucifer’s club, and that was fine, but I was ultimately dissatisfied with it. I was one of Hell’s most skilled torturers, and there I was handling the books like some normal person.” Maze said as she took a long sip of her drink. “A bounty hunter is more exciting, and I enjoy the thrill of the chase. Plus I like the money I get paid for bringing the bounties in.”

Diana raised her eyebrows, “Did you torture your bounties?”

“I brought them in in one piece.” Maze responded. Then she shifted her eyes and shifted in her seat. “Well alright so the last one I brought in had gotten shot, but I didn’t shoot him! I beat him up a bit because he ran away from me, but there was someone else after him trying to kill him. I kept him alive, with some help from a friend.”

“I’m sure you tried your very best,” Diana replied, folding her arms. She could imagine having a similar conversation with Bruce on one of his more brooding days.

“I did what I could. I don’t have much experience in patching humans up.” Luckily Linda had been able to give her some pointers on how to get the bullet out. Which made Maze suddenly miss the good doctor, which was something she didn’t like feeling. She took another drink. “So, how long have you been here? Taken from your world, I mean, not how long you’ve been on this planet.”

“Several months, now. The ship was visiting Earth when I arrived on board. I did not have any time to see how Paris or New York might have changed, and I’ve found no record of Gotham or Metropolis.” That had been the strangest thing. Both cities were ubiquitous in her world, or different reasons.

“Is that a typical amount of time people spend here? Lucifer told me that he’d been here before, then went back to Earth, and came back again. He also told me I’d been here before, but I don’t remember it.” Maze didn’t like not knowing something. She had a very good memory. Of course, a demon who had been alive for millennia needed to have a good memory.

“Some people claim to be here nearly a year,” Diana said. “But there’s a definite turnover among the travellers. Some last days or weeks. Others months. There’s no telling when or if we might be pulled away.”

She set her drink down, “One thing I have noticed, is that sometimes someone leaves, only to return and they do not always remember that they were here. You’re not the first.”

Maze turned that information over in her head. “Well that’s kind of shitty, not being able to tell how long you might be here.” She glanced around at the other people that were enjoying themselves. “Well, getting dumped on this planet is definitely a better introduction than simply being stuck on a ship. So how long does the ship stay on a planet?” Mostly Maze just wanted to know how much longer she had to soak up this wonderful atmosphere before having to get back on the ship and not have her feet on solid ground for a prolonged period of time.

“A few weeks, from my understanding,” Diana answered. It seemed to be a long time, but not all that long at the same time. Once they were on the ship and gone, that was it. There was no going back, probably not for a very long time. “So enjoy it while you can, I don’t imagine when we will come here again.”

“Believe me, I’ll definitely enjoy it,” Maze responded with an easy smile. “This place looks to be more fun than Earth typically is. It seems to be less uptight, anyway.” Maze felt like she could let loose on the pleasure side of things here. That was something she could definitely get into.

“There are pluses and minuses to that. Life is more rigid on the ship. It should be interesting.” Diana smiled back. “Trying to watch you adjust.”

“I’ll probably be crawling up the walls out of boredom. Can’t exactly do any bounty hunting while on a ship.” Maze wasn’t looking forward to that. She needed to find something that could occupy her on the ship. But at least for the time being, she could indulge on this planet.

“There are no one who deserves to be hunted,” Diana pointed out. There were surely some people who weren’t exactly good, but they’d committed no crimes here that she was aware of. “So you might have that problem anyway. You’ll have to find something else to do.”

“Great, more attempts at soul-searching. Which is ironic because I don’t have a soul, but you know what I mean.” Maze said. “I don’t really have skills that translate to mundane jobs. And I doubt the ship needs a club manager to keep the books in order.”

“There are no books. Money doesn’t really exist.” There was trade and credits, but from what Diana observed, want and need had been eliminated, and even greed was greatly reduced. “This universe is far from perfect, but it is as far ahead of the 21st century as the 21st was ahead of the 19th, if not more so.”

“Oh good, even less for me to choose from to keep myself occupied. I’m assuming robots and such are a thing these days?” It really sounded like Maze’s days on the ship would be filled with drinking and trying to keep Lucifer in line as best as she could, and nothing else.

Diana shook her head, “Robots, yes, but there are actual bartenders and cooks on board. Real food seems to taste better than the replicators, but that might just be a bias. Our brains acting up.”

“As long as it tastes good, I don’t really care where the food comes from.” Maze said, stretching her back a little. “But this life is going to take some adjustment, and I’m not one to take change easily.”

“Look at it this way,” Diana suggested, as she got up to go. “There are far worse ways for the world to change. Maybe you should make the best of it.”

“That I understand. I’m from Hell, after all.” Maze responded with a smile, obviously proud of that fact. It was living life like a human that she didn’t know how to handle well. “But don’t worry, I’m going to indulge here while I can,” she responded with a wink as she watched Diana go. She turned her gaze back to the people around her, someone catching her eye and she got up to go start making the best of the situation.