Batman was already at the cave when the rest of the League members arrived. They had sent the Young Justice team out on a mission, and had lost communication with them early on. Almost immediately after they lost communication, a message was sent to the cave computer. The message was only addressed to six leaguers, the six mentors of the Young Justice team. Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Flash and Martian Manhunter.
"Everyone ready?" asked Batman.
The other leaguers nodded and Batman opened the message. It was coordinates leading to an undisclosed location, the six of them were instructed to arrive at this location at 10pm exactly. Just the six. No cops. No other leaguers. Or else. They obviously knew it was a trap, but there was no question that the message had come from whoever had taken the team. It was obviously connected. They had no idea what kind of danger their sidekicks were in, so they had no choice but to follow the instructions.
At 10pm exactly, all six leaguers arrived at the location. They were standing outside of an abandoned rec center on the outskirts of town. They entered the building and there were six giant screens surrounding them. Once they were all in, the screens flashed and on each screen was one of the six sidekicks, gagged with their hands chained above their heads. They were only shown for a moment and then the screens changed to reveal members of The Light.
"Welcome, leaguers," said Vandal Savage. "Hopefully we've got your attention."
"What is the meaning of this?" asked Aquaman.
"We're getting to that," said Klarion. "Geez, someone's impatient."
"We have a trial set up for you," explained Vandal. "A competition of sorts. Here's what's going to happen. You are all going to fight each other. You will be fighting one on one with every leaguer who is standing before you. This is a fair game. No weapons, no gadgets, no superpowers, just mano a mano. The winner at the end will have the opportunity to save their partner. The others will not be so lucky. If you lose, your partner will be dropped to their death. Below them is something deadly, so don't try to scheme your way out of this. We have cameras everywhere, we will know."
"So you better bring your best," said Klarion.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Flash.
"We're sick of your interference," replied Vandal. "Perhaps this will teach you to keep yourselves and your children from meddling in our affairs. Up first is Aquaman and Superman."
The leaguers didn't want to fight each other, but they didn't really seem to have a choice. A door slid open and Superman and Aquaman stepped through. All of the other leaguers waited patiently, they couldn't see what was happening in the other room, but they had heard everything. Superman had won the first round. Each trail lasted five minutes. Batman and the Flash were next. Bruce and Barry both entered the room. They were in the middle of a giant arena. They faced each other
"Flash, listen," said Batman. "I have a plan, but if this is going to work then we both need to-,"
Batman was interrupted as a fist went into his face, Batman could feel blood trickling down his face. He looked at Barry with shock.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Batman
"I'm sorry Batman," said Flash. "But Wally is family, I can't let him die."
"You're lecturing me about family," said Batman.
"Wally is blood," said Flash.
Batman lowered his eyes into his famous bat glare that was now pointed directly at the Flash.
"What did you just say?" asked Batman.
Before Flash could even answer, Batman had already charged at him. This fight had lasted longer than the other ones, it was an intense one so The Light had let it carry on as much as it needed to. By the end of the fight both heroes were battered and bloody. Flash still had fight left in him. He started swinging at Batman with all his force. Batman was easily able to dodge all of them. Batman grabbed the Flash and had him in a choke hold.
"Barry, yield, right now," whispered Batman. "I don't want to knock you out, but I will."
The Flash was struggling, he tried to loosen Batman's grip, but it was no use.
"Do it, NOW!" said Batman.
"Ok. I'm done!" shouted Flash. "I'm done."
Batman let him go and Flash dropped to the floor, gasping for air. Both of them walked through the door and joined the rest of the leaguers. Time passed slow as the trials continued. Each leaguer eventually fighting every other. Batman had shockingly won all of his trials. Vandal savage popped up onto the screen once more.
"Congratulations, Batman," said Vandal. "You are the ultimate victor."
"So what happens now?" asked Batman.
"Now, you have a very important choice to make," replied Vandal.
"What?" asked Batman.
"Step through and we will tell you," said Vandal.
A different door opened and Vandal gestured for Batman to step through. Batman hesitated, figuring it might be a trap, but he walked through. The door closed behind him and he was now face to face with all the members of The Light.
"If you're thinking about trying something detective, don't," said Ras Al Ghul. "The lives of six children are in your hands after all."
"You said I had a choice to make," said Batman.
"Yes, of course," said Vandal. "When we said the winner would have the chance to save their partner, we weren't lying, you do. You can take Robin and leave, no questions asked."
"But the other five will die no doubt," replied Batman.
"Most likely," replied Savage.
"And my second option?" asked Batman.
"Your second option," explained Savage, "is to choose which five of the children you wish to save."
"So save one or save five?" asked Batman.
"Precisely," replied Vandal. "So, what's it going to be Batman?"
Batman looked at the members of The Light fiercely, the six sidekicks flashed across the screens once more, enticing him to choose quickly.
"I'll choose five," said Batman.
"Excellent," said Savage. "The other leaguers have been informed of your decision."
"But they won't see who you pick," continued Klarion. "We want there to be some element of surprise."
The other leaguers watched from outside the room as the screens shut off and Batman made his decision.
***OK so I'm just putting this disclaimer here because I know that a lot of people won't agree with how the trials ended. Yes, I know that there are leaguers who are stronger than others and who, in theory, should've easily won in hand to hand combat against another certain hero. I understand that. I am in no way stating that the results of the fights in this story are how the fights would've actually turned out had they been real. They had to turnout the way they did for the story to be able to progress the way that I wanted it to. I know you will all have different opinions on who should've won in the end, but for the sake of my story, this is how I needed it to go. So please, don't hate based on who won the trials, I know that in reality it would've turned out differently. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. *** -FF12