The inner council of the Justice League were seated around the table in their meeting room everyone was there with the sole exception of Batman. Sheyaru Hol was in attendance also. She had recently earned her place on the inner council back after almost single handedly saving every member of the league as well as the Earth's very existence almost with great risk to her both her own people and herself. They were seated there about to consider a matter of great importance. The ring shaped table had seats all around it and in the exact center was a holographic projector that showed very high resolution 2D and 3D images or full motion video as needed. Right now the display was off since it wasn't currently needed the meeting came to order swiftly and Superman read through the normal parts of the meeting until he got to the part of the meeting dealing with new business. That was when things began to get strange.
"All right here we have the newest piece of business and for this we'll need to call in two experts as before we go any further." Superman's voice indicated the seriousness of the situation and everyone including both John and Flash who had seemed to be quite bored straightened up paying close attention. With a tap on the console in front of him and a whispered word the two experts needed for consultation were summoned and entered a few minutes later with only the hiss of the doors hydraulic systems punctuating their entrance. A soft murmur went around the room when it was revealed that the two experts were none other than Zatanna and Dr. Fate. Two of the strongest magical members of the Justice League the fact that these individuals were needed for consultation before Superman would even tell the rest of the inner council what was going on did not bode well for the situation. Princess Diana of Themyscira known throughout the world as Wonder Woman felt a flicker of something akin to dread anticipation flutter down her spine as she waited for her friend Kal-El of Krypton to resume his briefing on the new situation they were about to find themselves in.
Nodding to both of the consulting experts Superman continued the briefing knowing that at least some of the league would be very surprised and unhappy to hear of this new situation and the complications it would bring with it. "Recently a pair of archaeologists working on a dig in ancient Egypt discovered a scroll that at first seemed to them to be some sort of fake or somebodies poor attempt at a joke." His expression indicated quite obviously that whatever was going on with this scroll it most certainly was not a joke of any kind. "However," continued the man of steel his face and voice indicating a seriousness that brought more than a slight flicker of alarm to more than one person in the room. "After both radium and carbon dating the scroll and the ink on it indications are that it in fact more than four thousand years old." That started murmurs both from Sheyaru Hol and from Flash. Superman shushed the murmurs with a wave of his hand and clearing his through continued obviously nervous or uncomfortable with at least part of the information he was trying to impart.
"In fact all indications are that the scroll is in fact at least a thousand years older than either the pyramids or the sphinx and in fact may be more than seven thousand years old ." Superman continued over the raised eyebrows of Diana and J'onn J'onnz and over the whispers of shock from the Green Lantern John Stewart, the Flash, Aquaman, Green Arrow, his cousin Kara, and even Zatanna herself. Only Dr. Fate didn't seem to be honestly shocked by the probably age of the scroll though he did seem to be upset or worried about something else from the way he was fidgeting. "The scroll quite clearly mentions the justice league in both English and in several other languages including the most basic form of Ancient Egyptian as well as what some experts believe to be the language of ancient Sumeria as well as another language that when compared to our archives here seems to be an ancient form of the Martian Language.
That got J'onn J'onnz immediate attention as well it might have since he was the only member of his species left alive and since his people had not visited Earth since more than a thousand years before their demise at the hands of a merciless enemy. Superman seemed even more nervous as he continued speaking and was glancing both at Sheyaru as well as Diana and then at Dr. Fate. "The scroll shows cities and names several of them as having something to do with the prophecy it foretells it names Metropolis, New York, Gotham, and Washington D.C. as well as Jump city on the west coast all by name." That got more than one startled look but not nearly as much as his next statement. "The prophecy foretells the arrival on Earth of some kinds of artifacts and that after their arrival the female warriors of the planet will be involved in some kind of contest."
"Contest?" Diana of Themyscira's voice was quiet and yet very interested. Superman gave her a sheepish look and she looked at him calm, quiet, and confident as well she should be. Especially since very, very, few women in the entire world could even possibly hope to keep up with much less match her in any sort of physical or mental contest. It was not surprising that she felt no pressure at the mention of any kind of contest even if it involved every other woman capable of competing on the entire planet.
Superman's voice was soft and it was obvious that he was both embarrassed and at least somewhat upset at the words he was now speaking. "The scrolls says that the women who bear arms in the world shall compete amongst themselves. . ." He paused and took a deep gulp of air his face going red in embarrassment and some kind of shame as he finished the statement. "For the right to wed he who shall control the power of the stones forever and for whom the knowledge of what shall happen shall be as clear as the reading of pages from a great book." "For nothing shall remain hidden to him unless he chooses to allow it to remain so." His look stated he was upset at having to implicate either of his female friends in any way and that he was already hoping this prophecy no matter how ancient or accurate it had already been proven would turn out to be nothing more than chance, luck and some educated guesses. His tone was apologetic as he finished speaking. "I'll now turn the rest of the meeting over to our experts who can further fill us in now that they have had the opportunity to examine the scroll itself.
Dr. Fate spoke his voice soft and calm yet filled with an urgency that easily clarified just how major this situation actually was. "What we have determined after having examined the scroll is that it does indeed appear to be some kind of prophecy." "It appears to have been written more than six thousand years ago." He paused for a second as if choosing his words very carefully and then continued. "In fact we have reason to believe that it may have originally been written more than sixteen thousand years ago." That brought nearly every one at the table to exclaim in shock since no known human society of such antiquity had been discovered anywhere in the world. Undisturbed Fate continued speaking as if the incredulity of that statement was but a minor thing when compared to the information the scroll itself contained. "The scroll itself seems to indicate that it is in fact only a partial copy of the original prophecy that was recorded many centuries possibly even several thousands of years before."
Zatanna broke in continuing as Fate attempted to find the words to continue. "In fact the entire prophecy seems to have been written down in a series of sections or separate prophecies that only really become clear when all of them are put together. Where the rest of these prophecies are or how many of them there are is unclear at this point. If any of them even survived but what little we have been able to uncover and decode. Zatanna paused seeming to suddenly be very nervous before she spoke once more. "Seems to be very disturbing. . ."
Dr. Fate picked up where Zatanna trailed off his usually calm voice growing slightly more animated and far more intense as he continued speaking. "The prophecy or what we have of it indicates that three objects will fall to Earth." "That these three items individually shall be strange oddities nothing more, but together they shall be infinitely more dangerous than any other magical items that have ever been on this planet." "Once the three items are brought together their combined strengths shall release a power a thousand times stronger than a million stars going supernova." "These items shall then imbue this great power upon a single person." "The man into whose presence the three were brought and who brought them together." "This power shall grant the one unto whom it is given the ability to know the entirety of all knowledge on any subject he wishes to know." "He shall be able, at a glance, to tell the past, present, and future of any object, device, animal, plant, or person, upon whom he rests either his concentration or his gaze."
"What do the three objects look like do we have any idea?" Asked Flash his voice nervous and excited in an eager yet spooked kind of way.
Dr. Fate looked at him for a moment then answered him even as Superman brought up the holographic display and activated it bringing up an artist rendering of the three objects in question. "Yes, we know approximately what the three objects are and what they look like." "They are three dark colored stones each shot through with streaks of white and silver."
"They shall fall to Earth somewhere near the cities mentioned in the prophecy." "They shall each be roughly the size of a small animal such as a half-grown cat or a small young dog." It was apparent to all of them that the drawings were very rough but they did show general shape and size. "The shape is given in the scroll though not the exact dimensions of the stones." "Each stone represents one third of their combined power and each stone is marked with a different symbol."
"A spindle such as is used to spin threads, a golden rule such as is used to measure the length of a thread, and a golden knife such as is used to cut such threads." The words of Diana were clear and precise though there was a sort of growing panic in her voice as she spoke. Everyone turned to stare at Diana as the import of her words penetrated their consciousness. None however were staring at her as hard as Dr. Fate and Zatanna. "I. . .I've seen them. . ." Diana's voice now had a tone to it now that indicated she feared what she knew now that the situation became clear.
"When, Where, How. . ." Dr. Fates voice was both very excited and very, very afraid as he continued to ask questions as his mind raced with the possible repercussions of this new information.
Diana gulped and chewed at her tongue trying to bring some moisture to her suddenly desert dry mouth. It took her three tries to get the words out. "Six months ago. . ." She gulped and took another deep breath still chewing on her tongue. "In. . . In Gotham, a-a-at the cave." She paused and took a very deep breath then continued in a dull tone as shock over the import her what she now knew set in. "B-Batman had them, he had d managed to get his hands on all three of them." "He was investigating them and he brought them together to see if there were any similarities other than their basic appearance." She shook in growing fear even as she continued to speak her voice going whisper quite and dead as last falls leaves. "He brought the three stones within a foot of each other and suddenly they started to glow with a soft golden glow." She turned her eyes towards Superman the sheer terror in her eyes the deadly cold knowledge that something awful had happened without any of them realizing it. "They joined themselves together and bonded so that they were one single stone." "Then they rose up into the air and began to spin and glow brilliant white."
She shook as if she was a tree in a hurricanes wind while she continued to speak. "Then they filled the entire area around them with a white spherical glow." She looked at first Dr. Fate then Zatanna then finally back to Superman her voice finally growing in strength but none of the shock or horror leaving it. "The white light seemed to grow stronger and stronger and then suddenly it shot out from the space surrounding the stones and slammed into him. . ." She cast a miserable look at her fellow Justice League members before she whispered a final clarifying piece of information. "Into Batman."
She shook her head in a useless denial as she relayed the last of the information about the incident as she remembered it. "He checked himself after the energy dissipated, he used all the caves diagnostic systems and the sensors to check himself out." "Both those in the laboratories and the ones in the medical bay to check himself over." "He even called in his family doctor, there were absolutely no indications of any kind of abnormality in his system." She looked as stricken as if she had just been told one of her family died as she continued and completed her report. "He figured that since there was no indication of any changes to his system or any drugs in his blood that whatever the object was designed to do it hadn't worked." Suddenly she fell silent as her mind dredged up memory after memory of the changes that Batman and those around him had gone through during the last six months.
How suddenly he had invented a new costume, one that was more a suit of armor than anything else. One that amplified his strength exponentially, that greatly increased his senses and that even allowed him to fly, phase through solid objects and become invisible as well as providing chameleon-like camouflage even when it wasn't invisible. One that had systems on board that allowed him to precisely control his inertia, and mass as well as how much or how little gravity affected him. One that even superman would be hard pressed to defeat him while he was wearing.
Or how he had suddenly and inexplicably come up with the exact formula for a chemical compound that enabled him to restore Barbara Gordon's spine and which had since been placed into testing so that one day it could be used to restore all sorts of neural damage to the spinal chord, nervous system and possibly even to brain tissue. While and another chemical formula that Batman had developed when correctly produced and applied had increased her father's recovery by an almost unbelievable amount. Restoring former police commissioner Jim Gordon to better health than he had known since he was half his current age.
Or the almost causal way in which he had increased the efficiency of the hydrogen power generator that powered the bat cave by more than four hundred percent. Or how he suddenly came up with specialized and specially designed and custom built combat suits. One each for Barbara, Cassandra, Tim, Richard, and even Azrael. Suits that dramatically increased and expanded their individual capabilities and amplified their already considerable and finely honed skills.
Or how the recently rebuilt bat-cave computer was now many, many more times faster than either the Justice League watchtower computers or the computer systems that Superman had in his Fortress of Solitude. It was also she suddenly suspected now many thousands of times more powerful than any other computer in the solar system or possibly just possibly anywhere else, ever.
Coming to an undeniable and unavoidable conclusion her entire body shuddered as the evidence presented by her own memory proved too much for her to ignore. Suddenly she leaped to her feet pushing her chair back roughly till it hit the chamber wall behind her with a clang. Suddenly rising up into the air she turned and flew towards the doors coming to a hovering stop directly in front of them. Hitting the door release button with her palm she waited but a moment for the doors to open. Even as Superman called her name and rose from the table to try and follow her. She flew through the open doorway and down the hall as fast as she was capable. The only thought in her mind to get to the watchtower's teleporter platform, and from there to get to the bat cave immediately.
She was unaware of Superman's voice echoing over the watchtower's communications system, alerting the rest of the watchtower's residents to attempt to stop her from leaving. She was aware of only one thing the need to get to Batman's side as fast as possible. No matter what was going on or what had happened, she knew she had to reach his side. If these stones had given him some sort of powers then he might be in terrible danger and not even realize it. No matter what happened she knew she had to find a way to save him, she had to find a way to save and protect the man she loved.