Thanks to all my reviewers, and a special thanks to my BETA Hepburn!
...
Superman and Batman sit tied together back to back when a bucket of cold water is thrown on them, waking them up. "Good morning my friends," Linyn says to them before dismissing her guards. They are in a dark, wood walled room with a dirt floor.
"Anything broken?" Superman asks his friend.
"No, you?" Batman asks.
"You are both physically fine for the moment," The Mage tells them. "Right now I need to know how to get to your Earth."
"You expect us to tell you?" Superman asks.
Linyn slinks over and places a hand on top of his head, "Not really," she answers. Her eyes begin to glow and Superman suddenly feels exposed. After a few seconds the glow goes away and she removes her hand. "Well Clark, you don't know where the portal is, but you know that Bruce does," she says.
She walks over to Batman and places her hand on his head. "I wouldn't do that," he warns, "my mind can be a dangerous place." She smirks and her eyes begin to glow. A moment later she screams in pain and begins rolling around on the floor. The guards come back in and she composes herself and gives Batman a hate filled glare. "I warned you," he says.
"Impressive for such an inferior species!" she hisses.
The Batman rolls his eyes under his cowl. "So I've been told. Tell me, as a member of a so called superior race, how long do you think the spell will last?" She looks at him confused for a second. "The one you used to make Doomsday fall in love with you?"
There is a tense silence in the room for a handful of moments, until, "Your orders my queen?" one of the guards asks nervously, pointing a spear at the bound heroes.
"Just...make sure they don't escape! I'll be back to interrogate them after I have gotten some rest," she says. As she marches out of the room she yells back, "Get comfortable while you can, when I come back I won't be so nice!"
After she leaves and the bodyguards return to their post outside, Superman says, "Not bad, how did you do it?"
"J'onn has been helping me with some memory recall techniques," he answers, while slowly cutting their bonds with a lock pick he has pulled out of his glove.
"What memory made her react like that?" Superman asks, moving his hands to give him more room.
"The time the Joker strapped me into an electric chair," he answers.
"How did you survive it?"
"It was a slowly rising current," he answers, "he hooked it up to a laugh-o-meter."
"Hah. And Doomsday?"
"He doesn't seem like the love at first sight kinda guy," he answers.
Minuets ticked by as Batman slowly saws throw the thick rope, until Superman says, "Bruce there is something I want to ask you, but I don't know if it would be...appropriate," he finally says.
"Whatever it is, it has to be better than sitting here in silence all night," Batman answers.
"Alright. Did you have sex with Lois?" he asks.
"No," he answers flatly.
"Really, I mean you two were dating?" Superman continues.
"For less than a week," he counters.
"It usually doesn't take her that long," he says.
"Clark, do you remember when you've seen me with my shirt off?" Batman asks.
" Ah...Where is this going?" Superman asks a little nervously.
"Remember that my chest, and most of my body, are covered with scars? Not something you can easily explain to a woman, especially a reporter," Bruce answers. "Why do you want to know?"
"Its just...she is a little more experienced...than I...," he weakly answers. Hearing that, the Batman starts chuckling. "What's so damn funny?!"
"The Man of Steel, worried about his performance," he answers.
"Hey, I don't have my powers when I'm in bed with her, remember? Well you should, because you are the one who made me the red light device," Clark says.
The device he is referring to is a small laser like light, that when used on him fills his cells with light the same wavelength as Krypton's sun, which removes his superpowers until he steps into yellow sunlight, or uses the yellow light switch on the device. "You said it was a great birthday present," Batman counters.
"Oh it was, is. We've...gotten a lot of use out of it," he says, "Though it makes me think that you originally made it in case you had to kill me?"
"Oh no Clark," Batman says, "I have Kryptonite in case I have to kill you."
"Well that make me feel better," he says.
"Clark, if Lois has an issue with you, trust me, she'll tell you," Batman tells his friend, as he finishes cutting through their bonds.
As they toss the cut rope away and get to their feet Superman whispers, "Me or you?"
"You," Batman answers quietly.
As his partner gets into position, Superman opens the door sticks his head out and says, "Hey guys, could you keep it down out here?" before shutting it again and taking a few steps back. A moment later two spear bearing guards burst into the room, their weapons pointed at the Man of Steel.
"How did you get free?!" One of them asks.
"Where's the dark one?" another demands.
In answer, the Batman drops down from the roof on top of them.
...
"So why aren't we a mile away from this place yet?" Superman asks, as he and Batman huddle together in a dark corner of the large wooden fort.
"Because even if we did, there is nothing stopping Mrs. Doomsday from poofing us back here," the Dark Knight answers, as he searches through his recently acquired belt.
"So you have some way of blocking us from her magic?" Superman asks.
"Something like that," he says as he finds what he has been looking for, a piece of white chalk. Looking at it, Superman raises an eyebrow.
To the Kryptonian's stunned eyes, the Batman starts to draw an elaborate symbol on the ground. "You know how to use magic!" he asks in an amazed whisper.
"No. Well...not a lot at least," he answers, "Look Zatanna taught me how to do this not too long ago. She told me to only use it in an extreme emergency and only when I was sure that she was no where near me."
Superman now looks down at the chalk symbol in a way usually reserved for ticking time bombs. "Bruce. What is it supposed to do?"
The Batman looks him in the eye and tells him, "Just be prepared to grab me and run." Next Batman puts the chalk away, takes off his glove, and makes a small cut on his hand. He drops a few drops of his red blood into the center of the symbol, while chanting something that sounds odd under his breath. Before he can do anything to stop his friend, there is a bright flash that blinds him. When sight returns to him, he sees Batman slump over unconscious and hears a loud scream from somewhere that sounds like Linyn.
Without stopping to think, Superman takes up his friend, and flees as quickly as possible.
...
Its a few hours later, and Superman is running in a direction he hopes is towards the Portal (Batman had told him where it was after the jailbreak) when he finds a shadowy spot he thinks is safe to rest. He lays the Dark Knight down on the ground, and then slumps into a sitting position.
After taking a gulp from their now refilled canteen, he empties some of the water on his partner's face, waking him up. "Now do you want to tell me what the hell that was?" he asks.
Batman coughs a bit, and then takes a swig of from the canteen, before answering. " A grounding spell. It is supposed to disrupt ambient magic in an area. Supposedly if a magic user is in the area and unprepared when it goes off, their third eye will be temporarily blinded."
"Temporarily?" Superman asks.
"A day, maybe two at the most," he answers. He reaches inside his belt and pulls out a small device that looks something like a Blackberry, "Good, you've been taking us in the right direction. We should be at the portal and back home in with about two hours of hiking," he says, raising himself up onto wobbly legs.
Kent helps steady him and asks, "And the reason why it knocked you out is?"
The Batman glares at him, "Magic always requires something of the caster. In case of a Zatanna class spell slinger, its her innate energy and will."
"And in case of completely foolish amateurs?" Kent asks.
Bruce glares at him again before answering, "Some vitality. It feels like I've been up for four days, then had to go a couple of rounds with Bane. Nothing I can't shake off. Besides I didn't see you coming up with any ideas."
Superman rolls his eyes, "Couldn't you have just taken a minute to tell me that in the first place?"
"If I had, you would have tried to stop me," he answers, "Now come on, I don't know about you but I have had enough of this place."
...
TBC. Tell me what you guys think!