Are you afraid of the dark?

LLS

The Batman.

One of the Justice League's seven founders.

Scary, of course. Intimidating, quite the understatement. Even super-powered ones watched the Batman with caution; when it came to the strategic brains behind the Justice League's success, you know that there was more to the man than brains, technology and luck. No one survived what was commonplace to the likes of one of the largest superhero organisations without all three and more. Rumours (disproved by the resident angel, but still there nevertheless) said that the man had a deal with the devil.

One would hardly think that a man with fear as his weapon had ever felt scared of anything.

People, of course, often forget that fear is a double-edged weapon.

Which was the reason for the looks the other founders exchanged upon seeing Batman's reaction to Flash's new card-game. They were not even poker cards; just a silly children's card game...right? Not even Superman had been able to pry any answer from the Dark Knight; it was as if the Caped Crusader was too afraid to answer...but that couldn't be, Batman had spat in the face of nightmares and survived before … right?

It was during one of the rare villain pair-ups that Batman first met them.

Joker and Penguin had united (for a short while, at any rate) to steal a artefact from a deserted supposed ancient Egyptian village. What they wanted it for was beyond him; Penguin was not known to hanker after ancient Egyptian knives, and Joker had never been too picky about sharp, pointy objects to stab/cut things, human or otherwise. He'd found them in an abandoned warehouse near Gotham docks, and was about to move in when a person erupted from the shadows.

The person was rather noticeable, even in Gotham where villains came in bright neon colours and the occasional huge pyrotechnics. Hair as white as new-fallen snow, pinstriped shirt, jeans, black shoes. Very clean-cut, very normal, very innocent, until you looked at the eyes. Even through the binoculars and the complete belief in Science over Magic, Batman knew that sometimes, there was such a thing as magic, and thus there was such a thing as good and evil, and thus he had been completely justified in saying that if Hell did exist, those russet brown-red eyes the colour of old blood would embody it.

"That's my knife, penguin and clown," that boy, and there was no doubting that harsh tenor, spoke to the two villains, completely not intimidated by their presence. As if... the boy truly did not care either way for them.

"Well, well, we have a little child looking for the circus!" Joker had cackled, knives appearing in his hands as if he had just snatched them out of thin air. Penguin, probably in a sense of self-preservation, hefted his black umbrella in a battle stance. The Dark Knight felt his skin crawl at the look the boy gave them, and noticed the warehouse's shadows moving. That was absurd, shadows couldn't move by themselves...right?

Then the white-haired boy had proposed a game. A game where each could choose any two objects within the warehouse as a sword and a shield, where the winner got the knife, and the loser would sod off. The two had agreed, Joker choosing his knives and Penguin his umbrella and the hidden blade within. The two villains had smirked when the boy pulled out of his pocket...a deck of cards.

Batman had frowned when the white-haired boy had drawn two cards and declared those his weapons, prompting a fresh bout of laughter from the Clown Prince of Crime. Batman, his skin crawling even further, was about to step into the fray when the shadows moved.

Fighting down his shock, the Dark Knight watched as the cards seemed to glow with a violet light before...things came out. One was a purple flame, much like a will o' the wisp, and the other...looked like a blue-skinned bald woman, dressed much in sci-fi style (he'd learned that from Flash), carrying a doll whose teeth kept chattering, the sound hanging around the warehouse. Penguin had been terrified out of his wits by the will o' the wisp, and even Joker had momentarily lost his nerve as the boy -no, sorcerer, he told himself- introduced Dark Necrofear, as the sorcerer had said, to them.

It was the first and last time Batman had ever seen the Clown Prince scream in absolute terror as the purple-black shadows shot out, to Batman's great shock, and swallowed all three of them. Somehow, the sight made his skin goose-pimple, his hair stand on end, and his mouth dry.

Somehow, convincing himself that it never happened failed the moment the shadows disappeared, Joker and Penguin left on the floor, looks of absolute terror and gibbering madly, and the sorcerer laughing as he pocketed something. It was then that the boy-sorcerer looked up and smirked. Not in the satisfied way, but in the psychotic way that made the Joker look amateurish.

"If you loved my Dark Necrofear, you'll absolutely love Saggi, whoever you are in the shadows," the boy had cooed, flicking a card into the air. Batman was about to give chase when a clown materialised. This clown was unlike the Joker in every way; grinning madly, colourful where the Joker was white-faced, traditional clown garb in place, and head spinning a complete three-sixty as it literally looked around. Purple balls of light started to form around and the clown grinned when it spotted him.

As Batman danced and weaved in a way that would have had many superheroes with aerial capability green with envy, dodging and throwing attacks in the form of a fist, a Batarang, or a good old explosive pellet, all the while thinking what is that thing, he completely failed to notice said thing disappear to appear directly behind him. As the Bat threw himself to the ground to narrowly avoid a purple sphere which caused a miniature crater to appear upon contact with the concrete floor, the clown Saggi displayed exceptional contortionist skills and kicked and punched him at the same time. Even with his extensive mobile arsenal, Batman was about ready to throw in the towel as the clown finally had him cornered, the sorcerer laughing through it all.

"Done yet?" the boy-sorcerer commented idly as the grinning clown made ready another purple sphere. "Now..."

"Bakura, then?" a baritone voice commented out of the shadows, as another figure materialised from the shadows. "Odd. Saggi isn't one of your usual monsters. Celtic Guardian, if you please."

In the dim light of the warehouse, Batman watched as a warrior figure materialised and slashed a sword at the monster-clown, the clown abruptly stopping before fading into purple mist, the warrior figure jumping back into the shadows where, for all his night-vision, the Dark Knight could not penetrate. "Hmm, you must be the Dark Knight that this city is so famous for." the same voice commented as Batman turned to look at his saviour.

He was five foot one, including the height granted by the rather impressive bunch of purple, black and blonde bangs that made up his hair. He was wearing black leather, much like Catwoman on a cold day, and with it several belts and bands, all fitted with metal buckles. Batman felt an eyebrow rise at the choker around his neck, along with the chain from which swung an upside-down pyramid of gold gracing said neck. His face was all angles and points, save for the bright crimson eyes which seem to see everything about him.

The white-haired boy scowled. "What now, Pharaoh? Don't you have someone else's party to crash? Instead of mine?"

"You were about to kill him," the one addressed as Pharaoh motioned to Batman. "And you know that I cannot allow you to kill a fellow of the shadows, Touzoku."

There was a beat of silence, in which Batman roughly translated the white-haired boy's address as Robber-Thief. "He's a shadow wielder too?" Touzoku asked.

"He had potential." Pharaoh shrugged. "And he knows how to use the shadows. With practice, he might be able to manipulate the shadows too," he spoke, drawing a card from a holster hanging on one of the innumerable belts around his waist. "For now, we must send the two who tried to steal our target to the local police. And...preferably non-soulless, please."

Batman could feel disgust rising as Touzoku scowled. "You never give me any fun."

"Be thankful that I don't banish you immediately to the Shadow Realm after the stunt you pulled. Now, we can do this the easy way or..." Pharaoh let the sentence hang. "A compromise. Diabound can take them."

This prompted the white-haired one to shoot a surprised look at Pharaoh. "you don't usually let him near any of them. What's so special?"

"I imagine," he dryly replied, "that those of Kul Eruna would want to exact revenge upon those who would deprive the last of theirs of his inheritance."

A wide grin now adorned the white-haired sorcerer's face. "You're good at revenge, you know that? What would the people say now, if they knew that you were willingly allowing souls near Diabound?"

"You know what to do," the shorter of the two replied. "Do go. I have words better spoken alone to the Dark Knight."

As the white-haired boy vanished in a burst of purple smoke, Joker and Penguin carried by a headless suit of armour he had conjured in tow, the multi-colour-haired one turned to him. "Good evening, Dark Knight. Quite the surprise to see you here."

"Who are you?" Batman grated, assessing the threat level. Given how this Pharaoh had dismissed the thief, and how the thief could summon monsters with a flick of a card and terrify the Joker, a man with near zero self-preservation and feat instincts, Batman could honestly say that he was afraid. He was nearly out of weapons, and if this Pharaoh was anything like the other one, he wouldn't have a prayer at escape, much less winning.

"My name is Yuugi Mutou, if you truly must know, but my general address is Pharaoh," the boy cocked his head to one side as he knelt down for a closer look at him. The name suited him, in Batman's opinion; he had worked with the Amazonian princess long enough to recognise royal authority when he saw it in those crimson eyes. "And, well, I'm a Shadow mage, as is my associate, Touzoku Bakura. We are also addressed as Shadow-wielders, Dark-Gamers, judges of the shadows, the list goes on. We were supposed to retrieve Bakura's dagger but it was stolen by those two, and the rest from there you know it."

Batman growled in reply. "What happened to both of them? Joker hardly has any fear of anything..."

"They lost a Shadow Game with Bakura, and in turn paid the consequences of being faced with the horrors of the Shadows." the boy coolly replied, as if it were a normal everyday occurrence. "They were lucky; Bakura could just as easily seal their souls into lead figurines for his role-playing games. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on whose opinion, Bakura often takes the side of thieves. Although his monsters could do with being less...malevolent."

"He summoned those monsters..." Batman started.

"They are the denizens of the Shadow Realm, of which mine and Bakura's powers tap into," he finished. Somehow, looking into bright crimson eyes, Batman could truly feel fear, respect, and thus a healthy dose of authority. "As we are bound to them, so are they bound to us. Do not fear; not all monsters obey him, as not all obey me. After all, who we command depends on the cards or pieces we hold. Although it is interesting that you managed to last this long against Saggi; though the Dark Clown is one of the weakest monsters in the game, no normal human should be able to stand against a Shadow creature for so long."

"Cards?" he asked further as those crimson orbs oriented themselves on his cowl.

"That or pieces. I once took out an entire building with a chess set," Yuugi answered, smiling slightly at the memory as he stood up. "Well then, now that we have affirmed why the shadows of Gotham are so docile, I must leave now. Good night, Dark Knight, and do try to stay safe. The shadows do hate to lose a prospective wielder."

"If you're asking me to join the dark side..." batman growled as Yuugi turned to go.

"You, of all, should know that shadows, darkness, and evil are not synonymous. You yourself embody that distinction, after all." Yuugi replied, turning back to face him. "You are shadow; shades of grey, instead of stark contrast. That is why the shadows like you; you, unlike the rest of your heroes, understand the difference between shadow, darkness and evil."

Batman was silent for a moment. "This side of Gotham is...unsafe. You'll need..."

Yuugi's blank, angular features abruptly shifted into a bright smirk, not unlike that of the thief. It was enough for his skin to feel cold, despite the apparent balmy evening. "Are you afraid of the dark? Because..." and here, those crimson eyes seemed to glow... "I know what hides in it. And I don't think any of them would harm me."

For the second time that night, Batman's skin crawled as the Pharaoh disappeared in a billowing puff of purple-black mist.

It was amazing that for all of his contacts, both as Bruce Wayne and as the Caped Crusader, how little he could uncover about them.

For one thing, Diana could uncover nothing about them from her end. The Themysciran Queen, upon his innocent question, had interestingly turned abruptly pale before clamming up. Zatanna Zatara had had the same reaction, but with more whiskey involved and literally unable to talk. It was not due to any compulsion or such, as he figured out, but more of an actual fear of saying anything than actual magic. A run-in with Zatanna's contact had left quite the interesting reaction from the wizard Constantine. Hardly any of the Homo magi had any answers other than 'shadow games = danger', 'stay the hell away' and 'we don't know'.

It was thus that he found himself in the half-pleasant, half-terrifying heart of the Dreaming, standing before a higher power within the kingdom of dreams.

"Well?" Dream sighed. "What calls you to the Dreaming, Batsy?"

Batman fought down the wince that threatened to make itself known at the Joker's nickname for him. "I want...no, need, to know about the Shadow Games. Could you tell me?"

"Shadow games? How long has it been now...about...three thousand years, give or take a millennium," Dream of the Endless mused in his throne. "Let us focus; what do you know?"

"Other than that Shadow Games are dangerous, and that Shadow mages, on top of these games, can summon tough monsters to deal with them...nothing. No one connected to magic would say anything. Either they don't know, or...they're too afraid." Batman respectfully replied. "Even John Constantine reacted with fear when I mentioned it."

"Good. Constantine is wise to be afraid," the Lord of Dreams slowly pronounced. "Shadow magic is something that belongs not to my domain, nor any of my siblings save Destiny, eldest of the Endless, and even then it is a rare thing. I know of only five, no, six, no, seven, who has ever touched it...they, by all rights, who should be dead. Currently, there are only three in your world capable of wielding that. They are domain-less, though they are a part of the stories written in the Book of Destiny...that is what makes them special."

"Then why is everyone so afraid to speak of them?" Batman asked.

"Why, mortal, to speak a name is to indicate to it that you know that it is out there," the Sandman replied, amused. "Who would try to attract their attention? They are a part of magic best left to be buried amidst the shifting sands of time."

"What makes these Shadow mages special, other than a lack of domain?" the Dark Knight mused.

"They can defy Eldest Brother and Sister," Dream simply replied. "Three questions you may ask of fate, no more, no less. You have asked, and you shall received, you who walk in the shadows..."

It was then that Bruce Wayne woke up to the ceiling of his room in Wayne Manor, and resolved never to speak of it again unless otherwise needed.

It still took a while before he could completely settle back into hiding in the shadows. Knowing that prospective enemies could materialise from the very shadow was after all rather harrowing for comfort.

It was so that when an Egyptian man named Shaadi told him to find Yuugi Mutou that he knew to be extremely polite to the Gothic teen. Those who knew what hid in the dark, after all, were infinitely scarier than most others.

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