"… Let's back up a moment, shall we?"
Grail pouts at Lucien when he does not immediately agree to her offer. Hippolyta, meanwhile, has the gall to look perturbed that he doesn't immediately shoot Grail down either. Well, the former Amazon Queen can back off because Lucien is more than a little caught up in everything else Grail had just said a moment ago.
Turning to the woman who had sworn him a life debt, Lucien frowns.
"What is she even talking about? What 'sacred mission' is she claiming you've abandoned?"
Hippolyta opens her mouth… and then closes it, her lips thinning out as her nostrils flare. She glares at Grail as though personally offended by the other woman.
"… She doesn't know what she's talking about. Her mother has clearly filled her head with nonsense."
Grail scoffs at that, while Lucien just narrows his eyes.
"And if I were to ask her to tell me more about this nonsense? What would she say?"
"Ooh! Ooh! Do it! Ask me, please ask me!"
Hippolyta's face scrunches up… before her shoulders slump in resignation and she sighs.
"… She likely speaks of the old Amazon Code. It… only parts of it are still followed. Others… would be folly at this point in time."
Of course, Darkseid's Daughter spits on the ground again at that.
"Folly my ass! You've all just become too lazy and too weak to bother!"
Lucien is still very much aware of everyone outside of the cell watching through the observation window. Frankly, if they and Hippolyta weren't present, then he might have given Grail's offer deeper thought. Especially because he thought she was actually being genuine with it, crazy as that sounded.
Hippolyta, on the other hand, does not seem to recall they have an audience as she steps closer to Grail, growling angrily.
"We have other responsibilities that we must attend to! Other duties! We do not have the time nor the will to conquer mankind! That does not make us lazy! That does not make us weak!"
This was the second time that Hippolyta had mentioned conquest. To be fair, given who Grail's father was and how she'd shown up on Earth, it did feel a little bit appropriate. Except, at the same time… Grail kept denying it.
"The code does not tell you to conquer anyways! The code tells you to SAVE mankind!"
What?
"Mankind has proven time and time again that they are unworthy of saving!"
Excuse him? Lucien blinks at Hippolyta's outburst. Hippolyta in turn seems to draw back as she realizes what she's said. Grail, meanwhile, flashes a cheeky, toothy grin.
"And there it is. The truth comes out. Unworthy. Contemptible. Hopeless. You simply… can't be bothered."
"That… that's not what I said."
"Isn't it?"
Alright… with a growl, Lucien claps his hands together. Not enough to create a shockwave, but still louder than any normal human can create. Certainly loud enough to get both of their attention.
"Enough. One of you is going to explain exactly what you're so fiercely debating. What 'code' are we even talking about here?"
Hippolyta grimaces while Grail grins all the wider.
"I'd be happy to tell you it, Lucien Luthor! Ahem!"
As the Daughter of Darkseid clears her throat however, the former Amazon Queen snarls.
"No! No, I will say it. You will stay silent."
Grail scowls, but only one of the women in this room came to Earth and just murdered a bunch of people unprovoked. Keeping that in mind, Lucien sides with Hippolyta.
"Hippolyta will tell me."
… But not without a caveat.
"And if you think she has gotten anything incorrect, YOU will correct her."
That appeases Grail, who sits back in the restraints they all know cannot truly hold her and waits. Hippolyta looks like she's bitten into a lemon but nevertheless takes a deep breath and begins to speak.
"The formal Amazon Code is as follows; Let all who read these words know: we are a nation of women, dedicated to our sisters, to our gods, and to peace that is humankind's right. Granted life by Gaea, the goddesses and the souls of women past, we have been gifted with the mission to unite the people of our world with love and compassion. Man has corrupted many of the laws our gods have set forth. So, in their wisdom, the goddesses did create a race of female warriors dedicated to the ideals of uniting all people, all sexes, all races, all creeds. No longer will man rule alone, for now woman stands as an equal to temper his aggression with compassion, lend reason to his rages, and overcome hatred with love. We are the Amazons, and we have come to save mankind."
… Impressive lung capacity, Lucien can't help but thinking. That was certainly a fucking mouthful and he could easily imagine how parts of it got lost over the centuries… who had time to remember all of that? Still, his own memory is pretty much perfect so now that he's heard it once, it's easy enough to go over it in his head.
Before he actually says anything though, he looks to Grail, curious to see if she will try to claim Hippolyta has lied. But the Daughter of Darkseid just looks slightly annoyed.
"Tch… she's told it true. That is indeed the sacred mission that my mother told me all my life. It is our people's duty to unite the peoples of this world together and prepare for my father's eventual coming. A duty that the Amazons have been remiss in executing."
"You don't know what you speak of. All initial overtures towards Man's World ended in tragedy and heartbreak. Only in the modern day have we made any progress… all thanks to my daughter and her proteges. If Diana had not revealed herself in their 'World War', if she had not provided an example of feminine power for these past several decades, the women of Man's World would still be oppressed and downtrodden, even now!"
That was… hm, admittedly, Lucien didn't know how true that was because there wasn't a world where Wonder Woman hadn't been around for decades for him to compare it too. And sure, there was no denying that Wonder Woman was a role model for women everywhere, someone that everyone of the female persuasion could look up to.
"So what you're telling me is that you made excuses for why you failed time and time again and now seek to claim your daughter's successes for our people, as if she didn't only prove the depths of your failure."
Ouch. Harsh. Grail's cutting words make Hippolyta bristle all over again as she snarls and takes another step forward. But of course, Darkseid's Daughter is not exactly intimidated. After all, Hippolyta isn't strong enough to hurt her.
"You are an ignorant child with a mother who has clearly taken complete leave of her senses if she thought producing cursed spawn with the Dark God would somehow help in any way."
Oh, but she still had words of her own to spar with and Grail… couldn't take it as well as she could dish it out apparently. With a roar, the Daughter of Darkseid finally rips herself free of her restraints. As she comes up out of the chair, however, Lucien is already there, hand on her neck, slamming her back down again.
"Behave."
Grail freezes for a moment… before smiling up at him. Lucien can feel her arousal through his touch.
"For you? Happily, Master."
"Do NOT call me that. I am not your Master."
"You could be. You could be my liege, if you so choose. I would gladly be your woman. I would submit to you in every way. Just say the word. Just accept my vow and I will be yours."
Hippolyta scoffs from the sidelines.
"As though he would ever do such a thing of a broken creature such as yourself."
Alright that was… Lucien takes his free hand and points to Hippolyta.
"I've heard enough out of you. Stand back and stay quiet, do you hear me? At least this one is letting me CHOOSE whether to accept her into my service or not."
The former Amazon Queen and current pain in Lucien's ass flinches at that, but to her credit she finally seems to remember she's not actually a fucking Queen anymore and has basically forcibly made herself his servant. So thankfully, she steps back and bows her head in acceptance, falling silent.
Grail watches this with glittering red eyes before grinning rather ferally.
"That's right. You already have me at your mercy. You can do whatever you want to me anyways… so why not take me as your property? You won me in battle, I'm willing… all you have to do is claim me."
Lucien sighs, feeling Grail's arousal spiking at the thought of being subordinate to him. No, not just subordinate… she got particularly aroused at the idea of becoming his 'property'. For fuck's sake, was every woman with even an ounce of power some sort of fetishistic freak?
… Better question, why was he even still surprised at this point?
"We don't do that here."
Grail furrows her brow at that.
"Do what? Own slaves? Of course you do. There are millions upon millions of slaves on your world."
That… was a fair point. Lucien can actually feel the shuffling going on outside of the observation window as none of the Justice League members watching can actually be too outraged at the factual comment she just made. Still…
"I don't do that then. I do not take slaves. I do not treat other intelligent people as property. I have been… informed that keeping the former Amazon Queen at my side and giving her something to do is better than leaving her adrift after she abdicated her throne, but I do not own her and I do not want to own her. Nor do I want to own you."
Grail hums as she considers this for a moment. She doesn't let it show on her face, but Lucien can feel her disappointment through their current skin contact. It doesn't last long though before she wiggles a bit and gives him a grin.
"Well, what about children? I am quite fertile, Lucien Luthor. Breed me and let us produce a child capable of destroying my father. Or a dozen children if it pleases you, I am not picky."
So they were back to that again. Was that really why Grail came to Earth? To find a man strong enough to make babies with? It seemed so… ridiculous. And yet, it was seemingly what her own mother had done. She'd arranged to be impregnated by Darkseid for the express purpose of creating a child to raise against Darkseid.
In that regard, Grail was simply following in her mother's footsteps… though Lucien felt like there was still more to it than that. He just didn't quite know what…
At the same time though, it wasn't like he had a cell that could hold her. In the end, he was the only individual who could take her in a fight without injury. Anyone else would need serious backup, even the likes of Superman or Wonder Woman.
Hm… now there was an idea.
"Grail. Do you consider yourself a woman of honor?"
He's not foolish enough to ask if she considers herself an Amazon. Despite her frequent use of 'our people', Lucien really didn't believe that Grail saw herself as one of them. She wouldn't have been so willing to massacre dozens of them if she did.
Grail's eyes flash and she smiles a wicked smile.
"Of course. What is a warrior without their honor?"
Hippolyta scoffs at that, clearly not believing a word of it… but a simple look from Lucien causes her to stiffen up and duck her head again. Turning back to Grail, Lucien continues to hold her by the neck.
"Then here's what we're going to do. You will swear an oath to me. Not of servitude or slavery, but of pacifism."
Grail narrows her eyes but remains silent as he continues to explain.
"You will swear to me, here and now, in the name of your mother, that you will refrain from killing another innocent soul while you remain in my custody. You will swear to never raise your hand against anyone unless they attack you first. You will swear to avoid the use of your Omega Beams at all costs for as long as you remain in my custody… on pain of death."
There's a long pause as Grail digests his words. But finally, she grins.
"You drive a hard bargain, Lucien Luthor. I love that. But swearing on my mother is not the certainty you think it is. Instead, I will swear on something that actually matters to me."
Then, him still holding her by the throat, Grail gives her oath in full.
"I swear on my desire to see Darkseid dead that I will not kill another innocent while in your custody. I swear I will not raise my hand in violence towards anyone or anything unless I am attacked first. And I swear not to use my Omega Beams for as long as I remain in your custody… or I will submit myself to execution at your hands immediately."
Well… good enough for his needs. Lucien lets go of Grail's neck and steps back.
"Get up then. Consider yourself paroled, though if you stray too far from me or anyone who I assign to watch over you, that parole will be violated and there will be consequences."
Grail rises to her feet, looking surprised but pleased by his decision. Hippolyta, meanwhile, looks surprised but horrified. Lucien doesn't pay the former Amazon Queen much mind though as he makes his way towards the door to the cell. After all, Hippolyta owes him a life debt or whatever.
… The members of the Justice League all standing just outside, on the other hand, do not. Time to face the music.