Author's Note: Me no own, please no sue. This is the third story of my little universe. The first being, "The Long Goodbye", and second; "The Language of Flowers". This is probably going to be much longer then the other two, which were really much more of a diving board and this being the first steps into deep water. Along the way, we'll see some more characters such as Wonder Woman (at least, as far as I can tell right now... stories always take thier own turns) and various other villians, side characters, and main JLU support. So, to quote Smash Mouth; We're gonna do it again!
Take your knocks
Shake them off
Duck everybody
You're gonna take them again
You are you foe
Your friend
You are the paparazzi
You are the tragedian
And the world's a craze
And the world's a faze
And the end is near
So push rewind
Just in time
Thank anybody
You're gonna do it again
-Then The Morning Comes, Smash Mouth
It was night in the mansion, and Bruce had been getting used to the extra sounds his house had been making lately. Selina had moved in ("Temporarily." she would always tell him.) While she waited for Batman to find a solution.
The cats were mostly active at night. A fact that bothered him from time to time. But, unlike dogs they wouldn't give his identity away with poorly timed displays of affection they would only show to Batman, or displays of dislike—whatever the case was.
Now, he had a large black cat on his lap with a two inch long Manx tail. The collar reading, "Shadow" as his name. Out of all the cats, this one he tolerated more then others. He sat quietly on his lap, or at the base of his chair. He would keep the others away, as if he had marked Bruce as his.
Bruce stroked Shadow idly as he read the old newspaper clippings on his computer from the 1920's;
Egyptian Tomb Unearthed!
By Steve Rigwald
The climate of the Egyptian city of Zagazig is one of extremes. In the muggy weather of this June the temperature is always located in the range of ninety to the near one-hundreds! This reporter has seen such weather, but never with quite this much humidity! It's enough to make a man pack-up and go home!
However, a new site has reportedly been found near the area! This is one that will make the history books as the Temple of the most revered of all Gods, Bastet, the Cat God!
The peoples in Ancient Egypt believed that this Cat God was one of their most powerful, being a Goddess who protected those who believed in her power. Evidently, it's not surprising that this site has been protected rather well!
Inside, numerous treasures have been found! Gold and riches beyond any man's imagination has been found in several of the lower chambers amid room who's paintings still remain bright and un-weathered! But, along with all the gold and jewels and mummified cats, are a few treasures worth noting;
The first being the Eye of Ra, one of Bastet's many symbols! This pure gold medallion was laying in an underground shrine to the goddess. It's three inch circumference is one of awe, despite the fact it's rather plain. The eye in this lovely 'Wadjet' (as the locals call such a symbol!) has a rather large piece of emerald in the center. Since Egyptians mined such a stone, it's no wonder such emeralds are scattered all over this lovely tomb! This one is unique however, as I talked to a local gemologist, Chuma Shushu, about the stone;
"Rarely with Egyptian Emeralds, are they so uniform in color and with such few flaws as I see with this one! And at 25 carats with a nice round and facet-less cabochon setting it's a museum quality piece!"
Another amazing piece was a cat statue, also found on the altar. The statue itself it rather small, only measuring about six inches in height. However, the uniqueness of this statue is the 2 carat red diamonds perched in the cat's eyes and the amazing attention to detail in such a small statue! Amazing things like the thin hair in the cat's ears are pure gold! As well as pure gold whiskers, that are almost an inch in length! The diamonds are truly a puzzle, as red diamonds are extremely rare in itself, and yet the closest diamond mine in these times was found in India! This is a truly priceless piece!
The last piece found on the floor near the shrine is the most unremarkable of the bunch; A brass sistrum (A type of ancient Egyptian tambourine) inlaid with bits of blue lapis lazuli. Carved in it are hieroglyphs that have been lost to the ages. It looks something like an Ankh shape with poles that goes across the round part of the shape. The only reason I felt to mention it was because it was one of the three items found in this room.
The room itself is uneventful. Strangely, this is the only room that it rather undecorated.
This reporter feels that between the three objects this temple holds, a world-wide curiosity will ensue over this much publicized event!
Later, another smaller article was the last to even mention the Temple;
History Stolen!
By Joseph Daes
Earlier this week, a ship carrying artifacts from the ancient Egyptian temple of Bastet in the ciy of Zagazig was deemed missing. Many suspect inopportune weather conditions rather then foul play. Maybe in the next three-thousand years, the treasures shall see the light of day once more.
Shadow jumped off his lap when he leaned over the computer. He typed in the names Selina gave him, first was the mafia boss; Rupert Thorne.
Thorne was the type to have gotten the statue probably from killing a rival member. He knew Stromwell's son was heavily into archeology and Arnold was the type to get his son anything he wanted.
He guessed the ship didn't sink those years ago... but pieces surfaced from time to time in the Gotham black market. Like the statue.
When Stromwell went into hiding, Thorne took everything Stromwell couldn't fit in a suitcase. Including his son's Egyptian collection.
It would explain how Thorne came into possession of such a valuable artifact.
Selina mentioned the name of a museum curator; Chester Fields.
Chester paid Selina quite a bit for the statue. It was now on display at the Downtown Gotham's Museum of Ancient Civilization. It was a small museum by many standards. But one that carried such specialized pieces it was often used in research papers and given accolades by professionals.
He heard rumors the museum had ties to Gotham's underground, but never had the chance to investigate it. Now, however, was that time.
First, he started with Chester. Chester was a man with no distinguishable misdeeds. He had gotten three parking tickets over the last ten years. He was single, his mother living in Star City, and he registered a miniature pincher two years ago. He got his degree at Gotham U twenty years ago and worked at the museum ever since; having worked his way up from being a tour guide.
He was a dead end.
He looked into the ownership of the museum, and things got much more interesting.
Kyle Carlson had been in ownership of the museum for the last four years; when the museum had undergone a major renovation including new artifacts, including the statue (Now titled 'The Lady of Flames'). When Bruce pulled up the driver's license photo of Kyle Carlson he gave a small smirk of satisfaction;
The picture was that of Thomas Blake.