Gotc: stares into space ………………………………...

Ace: Great….Who's gonna feed us now?!

Squeaky: Sque-

Ace: Don't answer that. looks at readers This is all your fault, you know that? With all the reviewing and the adding to favorites lists. Now the crazy person is so happy, she can't even function!

Squeaky: Squeak. (It could also have to do with the fact she has had to start writing after those "parent" things go to bed.)

Ace: That's not a good thing either. Eh, it still beats the basement. walks off whistling

Gotc: ………………………………...

Squeaky: Squeak! (And with our authoress still in a semi-conscious comatose state, please remember that no one here owns JL, keep the hands off Ace, and no suing for any of the aforementioned. Enjoy your chapter! Oh, and thoughts and other languages will be in italics!!!)

Rise of the Guardian: Ancient Power, Modern Age

CHAPTER 7: True Nature

Ace nearly collapsed between a pair of forgotten shipping crates. His left arm hung limply at his side, and throbbed painfully every time he moved.

"Ugh. I should have known they would have been watching Lena's place for me…"

His last encounter with the League had proved far worse than ones before. He hadn't known there had been two of them following him, until he had already gotten inside the apartment building. The hawk had dislocated his arm, as he tried to get away. He hadn't meant to throw her quite so hard into the wall, but it distracted her partner long enough to escape.

Ace grabbed his arm with his good hand, and wrenched his shoulder back into place with a pop. He groaned as his whole arm flared in pain then dulled to a nagging ache. Slowly, he leaned back against one of the steel containers, and glanced at the ground next to him. Laying by his side was a black sheath, inlaid with intricate gold runes and patterns. The hilt held a pale blue gem in its pommel, that seemed to glow in the moonlight. It was the whole reason ace had risked going back to the apartment. The blade was important to him. Without it, he felt like he was missing a piece of himself was missing.

He felt his eyelids get heavier and heavier the longer he sat. The shipyards wasn't exactly his first choice for a night's sleep, but he'd slept in worse before. He was fairly well hidden between the two massive containers, and it was still a few hours before dawn. Before he knew it, Ace was already sound asleep.

The sound of voices brought Ace back around.

"Are you sure this is where Batman said he was heading?"

"Positive, I can sense him nearby."

Ace grabbed his sword and strapped on to his back, before darting from his hiding place.

"Idiot! How could you have let them get so close?! And for the second time in one night!" He swore to himself.

He moved from one crate to another circling where he thought he heard the voices. At last he saw the familiar face of Wonder Woman, scanning the darkness for any sign of him, but the person the other voice belonged to was no were in sight.

A tingle went down Ace's spine, and he whipped around to see J'onn staring him down.

"So, Ace Cooper?" He said his face showing no emotion, "I finally get to meet you."

Ace reacted instantly, throwing a punch at the Martian. But instead of connecting with him, his fist passed right through the Manhunter.

J'onn watched the Ace's reaction as his fist met with his intangible body. Surprise was the first emotion to surface in his eyes, but it didn't stay for long. He could see a new plan already forming in Ace's eyes, and a feeling like electricity spread though J'onn's body.

"Ace! Stop! We just came to talk!" Wonder Woman called, seeing the confrontation.

Almost immediately, the feeling went away as Ace brought his hands back to his sides.

"Really? Wow, that's a first." Ace scoffed, "Since the last, what, three times I've crossed paths with you or your friends, the only talking was with your fists. So give me one good reason why I should believe that this isn't some kind of set-up now?"

"Gheni tudo marchen danhe." You'll just have to trust me.

Ace's face contorted in utter disbelief. (A/n: I'm not going to do a whole language, so when they're speaking in Atlantean, it'll be in italics. Carry on!)

"How?" He asked in a horse whisper.

"Does it matter?"

"It might if you thought that you were the last person on Earth that knew such a language existed, much less could speak it." Ace growled

Neither of them moved for several minutes before Wonder Woman pulled out the journal.

"This journal was kept by a friend of my mother's," she explained, "She wrote it in Atlantean, and translated it."

"You picked up such a difficult language awfully fast," Ace said, not lowering his guard.

"It's a gift," Wonder Woman said.

"Let me see that journal," Ace said after a moment.

"Why should I?" She said suspiciously.

"Please."

Wonder Woman sighed, but handed over the journal. J'onn watched carefully as Ace approached her and took it. He opened the worn leather binding, and brushed his hand over the yellowed pages. His eyes scanned the fading, intricate runes that danced across each page.

Wonder woman and J'onn watched as Ace's steady hand began to shake. He swallowed hard the further he read.

"Lë wete…" He said numbly.

"Did you know her?" J'onn asked.

"Know her?" Ace scoffed cynically, "She….she was my mother."

The two exchanged surprised looks, and Ace slumped against a crate behind him.

Batman crept behind the rows of crates searching for any sign of Ace, when he heard voices. Hiding amongst the shadows, he crawled closer and saw Ace, J'onn and Wonder Woman all together. Ace seemed different though, defeated almost. He was so focused on the scene in front of him, that he never noticed the pile of forgotten tools strewn across his path.

"She wasn't my real mother," Ace went on, "But….she took me in, and took care of me."

Ace flipped through a few more pages, before he closed the journal. He stared at it for a few more seconds, then looked back up at Wonder Woman and J'onn.

"Where did you get this?" He asked quietly, with no trace of the malice that had been in his voice before.

But before they could answer, a clink of metal caught Ace's attention. He was on his feet in an instant, and reached for the sword on his back. A batarang slammed into his hand, and before he could react, Batman's foot connected with his jaw. Ace never noticed the small vial work its way out of his pocket.

"I should have known, there'd be more of you waiting in the wings." Ace growled, picking himself up off of the ground.

"Batman stop!" Wonder Woman pleaded, "Ace, wait-"

"No," He snarled, "I should never have trusted you in the first place!"

This time Ace went on the offensive, and slammed hard into Batman, throwing him into one of the crates. Out of the corner of his eye, he seen J'onn's leg come at his head, and dropped to the ground. Ace spun around on his heels, and launched himself at J'onn. This time he connected with a solid punch, knocking the wind out of him. He turned to see Batman pulling several spheres from his belt, and throw them at Ace.

They exploded as they hit his chest, slamming him into the ground. But the explosion resounded in the enclosed area, sent the others flying into crates as well.

Wonder Woman winced as she connected with the steel crate. Smoke stung her eyes, and the dust in the air made it hard to breathe. A pain in her hand suddenly flared to life through all the chaos, and seemed to spread rapidly up the rest of her arm. She glanced at her hand and found a piece of broken glass sticking out of her hand. Blood seeped from the wound, but there was a fine black powder mixed in with it. She tried to look at it closer, but her arm wouldn't listen. Suddenly, the whole world began to spin. Her arm spasmed painfully, and spread to the rest of her body. The groans of the others coming to pounded against her eardrums, she could feel her blood turn to liquid fire in her veins. Even the air around her turned to ice in her lungs. She fell to the ground, convulsing as the world turned to black around her.

Ace staggered to his feet using the crate for support. The explosion still rang in his ears, pounding against his head.

"You idiot!" He yelled into the settling dust, "Didn't they ever teach you not to set off explosives in an enclosed space?! You want to kill your friends too?!"

He scanned the area and found Batman and J'onn coming to, but Wonder Woman wasn't moving. He took a few more steps, and saw she was convulsing on the ground.

"Oh no…"

He ripped open his jacket and checked his pockets frantically for the vial of Shade that was no longer there. His mind suddenly went into over drive as he raced past the other two and to Wonder Woman's side. She shook violently as he rolled her over on to her back. Her eyes were rolled back into her head and a sheen of sweat covered her features. She had stopped breathing, so Ace jabbed two fingers into the nape of her neck. Wonder Woman drew in a strangled gasp, and continued to breathe in labored pants.

Ace swore under his breath, and looked back at the other two heroes.

"Batboy! E.T! Get over here now!" Ace barked.

Batman rubbed his head, trying to get the world into focus, when something rushed past him. He tried to figure out what it was, but every time he tried to focus the world threatened to come out from under his feet. Suddenly, Ace's voice ripped through the haze. At last everything came into focus, and he saw Ace kneeling over Wonder Woman.

"What did you do to her?!" Batman roared, ready to make Ace pay for whatever he had done.

"Shut up and lower your voice, the beating of her heart feels like someone stabbing her in the chest. If you're going to yell, you may as well light some grenades in her ears!" Ace growled, "And I didn't do a thing to her! The vial of Shade in my pocket came out when you sucker-punched me, and your little pyrotechnics show threw her into it!"

"What's happening to her?" J'onn asked joining them.

"A sensory overload, Shade is designed to heighten the senses. But right now they're too strong for her body to handle, " Ace said, "This is what's been killing people, and this is how they've been dying."

"What do we do?" Batman asked

"I can make an antidote, but in the state she's in, it won't be ready in time." Ace said running a hand through his hair in frustration, "We need to take her somewhere where we can cut her off from her own senses."

"How long does she have?" J'onn asked

"Shade can kill in under twelve minutes," Ace said, "But she's stronger than most people, so it could be longer. Truth is I have no way of knowing until it's too late."

"Can't you just make the antidote here?" Batman said

"No, I have the ingredients, but I need a powerful heat source, and a syringe to inject it directly into her bloodstream."

"Fine," Batman said looking at Wonder Woman writhe in pain, "help us get her into the Javelin. I know where we can go."

Gotc: blinks Wow….I just finished what I believe to be the longest chapter in this story so far in a near comatose state!!!!

Ace: How is that different from usual?

Gotc: The chapter was longer. Hope the readers out there liked it, and really sorry for the long wait! Jinxed myself by setting deadlines….. Oh well, Thx for reading!