*Hello, Wonderbat fans! Thank you for reading so far, I hope you're satisfied with the progress! I'm starting to love this fic more and more. Happy reading!*

CHAPTER NINE – DRESSING UP AND BREAKING IN

Bruce marveled at the sight projected on the huge screen of the Monitoring Hall. Zatanna, behind her camera, showed them Doctor Fate, containing a shapeless, vibrating energy ball within one of his golden magic shields.

"I know it doesn't look like what you'd expect a soul to look like-"

"How did you expect them to look like?"Shayera asked, grinning.

"Well, maybe like the movies, you know? Human-shaped and all." The witch gave them a hearty smile. "Anyhow, this is a resounding success. We were spot-on the places and Diana was quick in responding, so we were lucky too."

"What are you going to do with it?" Batman asked, seeing how Fate was merely keeping the so-called soul inside his orb.

"We'll put it in a specially designed talisman. I hope it's going to work because, you know, we found the techniques in some ancient textbooks so it isn't exactly…too trustworthy. No one's done this in a millennia. But if it doesn't work, don't worry, we'll keep it contained till we can craft a better keeping device. We have plenty of skillful wizards here to help."

"So!" Flash exclaimed. "What do we do next?! Oh, man, I'm thrilled!"

"We keep gathering as many souls as we can." Martian Manhunter said. "And the wizards will try to find an effective way to use them. The rest of us, be alert of any movement from Hades."

"Vague." Flash said. "But whatever! I'm off!" And just like that, he stormed off.

"We do need to come up with a more concise plan." Batman said.

"Let us brainstorm and sleep over it." Superman proposed. "And we can have a summit tomorrow, figure out our course of action from now on. Hades is our top priority."

"I'll set up the summit and notify the rest." Martian Manhunter said. "Till then, Zatanna thank you for work and keep it up."

Zatanna, through the camera, gave them a military greeting, waved goodbye and turned their connection off.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"If I was Hades out of the Underworld, what would I do?" Nightwing wondered, feeling the regular cold breeze of Gotham city on his cheeks. Down beneath them, Gotham's busiest avenue was crowded as always, with the noises of horns, shouts and screeching tires reaching their ears.

"He has been too inert." Batman said. "That's the worrying part."

"Calm before the storm and such, eh?"

Batman shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, let's look at it from the very basics. Hades, yes, a God. But what does he do, besides being immortal?"

"And commanding the souls of the dead, you mean?" He raised an eyebrow.

"He may be commanding them, but to command them, he has to reach them first. From what I take, having also studied that incident with Hippolyta some years ago, he can do this when the Gates are open. Otherwise, like we learned, the souls are safely sealed inside and there's no communication possible."

"We did communicate today."

"Yes, but it was intentional. And I don't think Diana would intentionally send Hades a couple of souls like, hey, have some for Father's Day. Plus Hades can't come and go to fetch some, or he wouldn't have gone into such immense trouble just to get out. So it must be something else."

"He can't come and go, that's certain. But he is the God of the Underworld. Diana may be the Guardian for now, but he remains the supreme ruler. Therefore, he must have some aces up his sleeves. We do not know the full extent of his powers."

"What about the other Olympians?"

"Long gone and forgotten, won't even bother with the world. Zeus just owed Hades an old favor. Other than that, no good."

"Well we do know he is sensitive to magic. And we have some great wizards on our side."

"Will he be sensitive to magic forever? He knows his weaknesses, I doubt he'll stay vulnerable for long."

"There you have it then!" Nightwing said with a positive grin. "If I was Hades out of the Underworld, with the whole Justice League trying to catch me and with a plan for, let's say, world dominance –it always is world dominance, is it not nowadays?- I would first look for a way to combat my weaknesses. Protect myself."

Batman nodded. "That's a start. He is hiding, obviously. So from that, we can deduct that he is still somewhat afraid. But what is he brewing…"

"Stick to our first step, Bats. How would he cover his weakness? This is crucial! It will come down to a fight sooner or later, so we'd better be prepared."

"Well, if I was Hades out of the Underworld," Batman said, mimicking Nightwing, "and supposing my powers were superhuman strength and durability," Nightwing started counting with his fingers, "breathing fire, teleportation, mystical transformation to a demonic being, and of course, the dead, what would I use to shield myself?"

"Okay, so, strength and durability aren't helping with magic, if you're vulnerable. So I wouldn't invest on that."

"Agreed. You'd have to be extremely agile with teleportation to be able to avoid let's say, all magical attacks coming towards you-"

"And it's extremely uncomfortable and risky. So it's a no-go too."

"His real form doesn't seem to be more resilient to magic. It's just the looks that change, there goes another no-go-"

"And that leaves us with the dead…"

Batman sighed and inhaled the crispy air deeply. "Yes. But how can he gather such power? He can't even perform his usual acts without some souls which are, for now, sealed down there. There must be something…"

OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana had really hoped her trick had worked. Otherwise, all the uneasiness she was feeling, and the state of contained panic that she had put Haros into was of no use.

See, squeezing her brain to find a solution to grant her teammates' request had come up empty, but the solution was apparently right underneath her nose. How could she forget the emphasis Haros had put into quickly sorting the souls of the newcomers before they become unstable and flee? So it was obvious.

She had agreed to let just one soul go, and wait for a new message, on whether it had worked or not, since Haros was right; if the League couldn't get the soul through this, then they would be unleashing terrifying powers, curses more like, upon the living for no reason. She had dutifully sorted the rest of the waiting souls and then she, also, waited.

Somewhere between her training sessions with the souls, which were finally starting to show some results, she had stumbled upon Hades' old armor suit pieces around the alchemy hall. Thinking she may come up with something new to try out, she decided to take a closer look.

The humongous black armor torso, she remembered, he wore it all the time –at least when she last saw him, so it wasn't among those she found. His spiky shoulder patches, of course, were a necessary accessory so those weren't there as well. A second pair or brassards was the first thing she got in her hands.

They were, naturally, black with small silver inscriptions on both ends. Their material was a metal but nothing like the ones they forged their own ones back in Themyscira. This one felt different and she could feel it at the tip of her fingers. It felt like it was buzzing. The inscriptions roughly translated to something along the lines of 'he who guards commands, he who commands guards'. A tribute to Hades' powers, she figured, and moved on. The leather straps on the inner side were of the finest quality, made to have a firm grip on the forearm and never fall. She marveled at the admirable craftsmanship and thought it was actually quite a shame they were too big for her.

"Hephaestus' work, obviously." Haros' otherworldly voice sounded from behind her.

"Mm, that's what I thought too. Amazing craft, weird metal."

"Well, you would find that all materials processed by godly hands tend to become…weird."

"So there's magic engraved, you say?" Stupid question she thought after having it asked. She could feel the magic herself.

"Hades would never reduce himself to something less suiting of his godly stature. He might be a prisoner, or an exile, if you may, but he remains a God nonetheless."

"I guess…"

"Try them on."

Diana arched her eyebrow. "I could probably fit my calf in here, not my forearm. Or both of my forearms maybe."

"Princess, princess… still stuck to your earthly logic. Try them on, I insist."

Diana placed the brassard on her forearm and tried to tie the leather straps, thought its cylinder was obviously too big. Not even a second after her attempt to bring the first pair of straps together, the brassard, on its own, closed up on her hand, assuming its right size and the straps were tied up strongly, as if pulled by an invisible hand.

Diana smiled at Haros. "Well, well… would you look at that." She placed the second one as well and looked at how her reflection on the metal stared back at her.

"One would expect you would have gotten used to godly things by now, Princess. I am…disappointed."

"Oh, please, we both now you're far from disappointed, concerning my progress around here. Now, would you care to tell me whether these brassards have any other special abilities I should know of?"

"Mm, it's been millennia since Lord Hades last put them on, he was always fonder of his spikier ones. I don't recall anything remarkable about them. Hephaestus had made them specifically for him, saying that the armor would suit his power but they never proved to be anything more than good, trusty, sturdy brassards."

"Either way, I like them, so I might as well keep them on. Is there another piece of the armor Hephaestus made, left here?"

"The whole if it. As I mentioned before, Hades preferred his newer armor."

"How come? This one is very nice, if I may say so myself."

"His other armor," Haros explained, "was made by one of Ares' own blacksmiths. Much more fit for attacks, with the spikes and the qualities of the metal used. You see, that metal was enchanted to burn the enemies that touched it and, as a whole, the armor was made to make its wearer withstand pain better, and therefore fight longer."

"I see, then, why Hades would choose that. But this doesn't seem too ordinary either." Diana said, stroking her new brassards and putting on the calf leggings that she found among the things, which, like the brassards, cupped her legs perfectly. "There must be more to it than just…adjustable size."

"The armor doesn't make the warrior, Princess. It's merely a shell. What matters, is the wearer."

"Agreed, but still… Anyway! Where's the torso of it? I'd like to have the full set. I'd like a change of outfit."

"The last time Hades scrambled things around here, I believe the torso ended up somewhere behind the throne."

And indeed, there it was. Somewhere behind the massive volume of the throne, Diana located the two halves of the torso. The metal was the same, but the engravings were what made it stand out.

On its front, an owl was engraved in such a way, that though someone could see it, it integrated perfectly into the metal and the shape. The head, with the pair of big, round eyes where right above the sternum. The rest of the engravings were its wings, with feathers reaching up, to the shoulders, and down, in the shape of the abdominal muscles.

"Formidable." She mumbled.

"Nothing less from Hephaestus. Come on, try it on. I'd very much like to see how it looks on you."

Diana half-smiled and placed the armor piece over her head. The openings were more than wide but as it slid down her neck, she, like with the brassards, witnessed it shifting to fit her. The head of the owl was beneath her neck. A pair of 'wings' stretched up over her collarbones and essentially connected the back part with the front. The rest of the feathers went down her body, caressing its shape perfectly. She watched as it formed a skirt of long strides of black metal, with tiny linear engravings, much like the tail of an owl.

"Hoot-hoot." She said laughing. "This is nice! Magic or not, it's pretty."

"Certainly. The engravings do look different, but very nice nonetheless. It suits you."

"Thank you."

Diana thought for a second, that this was all maybe too black for her taste. But she didn't mind. She liked it enough and laughed at her belated 'goth' phase-a term she had picked up from the movies she had been watching up on Earth. A small voice inside her head told her that it suits her better now. And with that, it meant the ongoing string of changes she had witnessed on herself and was pointless to deny. But that was an issue to ponder on another time, as Haros seemed to demonstrate the throne to her.

"What are you pointing at, Haros?"

"Why, this is something that has escaped our attention so far. Take a good look at your throne, Princess."

"Hades' throne."

"Is it, really?"

And Diana knew exactly what it meant. She remembered very well how the throne looked when she first saw it. She had detested it. It was dark, tall, with spiky projections all over, in a shapeless manner that seemed to loom over everyone close to it. But it wasn't like that anymore.

For once, it was much shorter than it used to, though still big nonetheless. The millions of pointy projections were, some of them, united into bigger ones, closely resembling swords. Shapes that looked like vines were wrapped around them and the throne seemed to expand sideways, as the 'vines' kept going outwards, more like trying to embrace the space around.

"This…this is supposed to represent me?!" Diana marveled, recalling how Haros had said that this also adjusts to whomever uses it.

"I find it rather suiting as well. You're having an impact around here."

And Diana smiled at that, and then wiped the smile of her face. She was experiencing a huge conflict of emotions within her; she didn't want to make an impact there. She wanted to leave, she wanted Hades back and fast. She knew herself. Or did she not? Why was she feeling…happy about it? What was she even fighting for? Was her purpose of doing what her 'duties' were the same as it was when she first came and hated everything? What if she-

"No!" She said and shook her head in anger. Huffing, she ran to Acheron. She knew the waters would calm her down.

The earthling in her head told her that swimming and armor do not go together. But she wasn't an earthling anymore, and this wasn't Earth. This was her turf now.

Sure as that, she took a deep dive into the dark waters. They were cool and warm at the same time, but soothing nonetheless, soothing as ever. And the small engravings of her armor, where the wings were, felt like soft, silk strings caressing her skin. Reality felt warped down there. And though it was water, she breathed, and she breathed not air, but that water. And it felt like cleanse.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

A normal, ordinary case of museum burglary would hardly ever catch any Leaguer's attention. They had more urgent, planet-safety-regarding issues to think about, and this wouldn't have been an exception, if it wasn't for the poor guard whose turn was to be on the nightshift.

Luckily, the new incident filter that Nightwing had installed for worldwide monitoring of criminal activity had worked. He had adjusted some of the algorithms in order to catch anything that would hint towards Hades and a police report of a Washington museum guard's testament over a burglary, with the note of 'possibly mentally disturbed', had been 'caught'.

And so the guard, to his utter surprise, was met by Batman, Zatanna and Green Lantern, who were more than willing to listen to his report of the events, although the police officers had looked at him as if he was crazy.

Apparently, a man, who the guard identified from a sketch the Leaguers made of Hades, had somehow gotten into the closed museum and casually marched towards one of the halls. The guard described him as huge and extremely intimidating. In his own words, 'that bastard was wearing armor! Like, a real armor!' When he tried to tackle him, the 'burglar' had pushed him aside like swatting a fly and the guard saw his eyes were glistening red, and from his hand claws emerged as he, in a voice 'right from the pits of hell, I don't know how else to describe it', warned him to stay down.

The man admitted of being scared out of his wits, but it was his job and so after a few moments he got up, after having called the police, got up to face him again. The burglar had broken a glass case and had taken out many of the exhibits. The guard sneaked up on him and jumped on the intruder in order to push him aside, only to cry out in pain, as the side that came in touch with his armor was burnt. Truly, he showed them his arm, wrapped in gauzes with ointment. The burglar didn't mind him the least bit and before he could do anything else to stop him, 'he vanished, like, out of thin air, he seriously vanished!".

"What did he take?" Zatanna asked, as Green Lantern inspected the room with a ray of his ring for any further clues.

The guard shrugged. "I don't know, I'm new here and I'm not really interested in antiquities, just need to have a salary, you know? All I remember is that there were some tiny jade vases maybe and some jewelry from some ancient queen or something? Our director of antiquities will keep a record of what was stolen, and we will send it you right away, Miss."

Green Lantern approached them with a small paper in hand. "I found this in the case." The paper wrote 'Dear visitors, exhibits 71a,c, 73a,b, 74a and 75 have been sent to be presented at the 'Musée du Saint-Luc' in Valloireux of France. Please make sure to visit Hall C, to admire the great exhibits they sent us in return.'

"Yeah, museums do it all the time." The guard said. "Exhibit exchanges."

The Leaguers looked at each other in understanding.

"Thank you for your help." Zatanna said. "If you remember anything else, inform the police and we'll know."

The guard nodded and soon they were on the way to leave. By the entrance, they met a tall middle-aged lady, who greeted them. "Hello, members of the Justice League, I am Rose Gustin, director of antiquities. It's a horrible thing to have antiquities stolen, but, really, why do you wish to be involved in this?"

"We believe the case is linked to one of our ongoing chases." Green Lantern said vaguely. "So any information you can give us will be valuable."

"As soon as I have fully noted what is missing, I will let you know. But I do not understand this. Those exhibits weren't nearly as precious and expensive as the ones we present in other halls, and, trust me, I know my craft, they wouldn't really present any particular interest for collectorsin the smuggling market. Why them?"

"We believe the burglar had other motives, maybe he needs to use those exhibits for something." Zatanna said.

Rose appeared confused. "Use them… How?"

"We will figure that out," Batman said, "when you send us the full list and maybe some information on the exhibits too. And on the ones you exchanged for them."

"Oh, yes, for sure, I will send you everything we have on our archives and some personal commentary on them. Anything you may need."

"Thank you ma'am." Green Lantern said. "Now, we'll be on our way."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"Surely enough he'll strike again." Flash said. "I doubt he would bother to read the current news of the museum. He just found out where the items normally are and hit. When he got there, he took what he found, but half of the items were given, so it's only reasonable he'll try to take the rest of them too."

"He is pushing his contract limits, though…" Shayera said. "He is not attacking, but he is provoking. Strolling into a museum, breaking cases, stealing."

"He's clever." Batman said. "He is not attacking, he's still defending. That is why he didn't bother with any of the guards."

"Yes, the claws thing was just a bluff." Superman said. "The guard wouldn't possibly know that he can't attack. But for how long is he going to keep doing this?"

"Until he gets what he needs. And he must be stopped." Batman said.

"It's safe to think he will strike the Saint-Luc museum." Shayera went on. "And soon. Guys like Hades don't wait."

"He had waited till now." Flash said.

"For some reason. Now that he knows where what he needs is, why wait? And I'm guessing it's going to be at night again. He is smart, but it's pushing it too far doing it with many humans around."

"Agreed." Batman said.

"We have another three hours before the museum closes." Martian Manhunter said. "Should I tell them that one of us will be taking the night shift?"

"For sure." Superman said. "We cannot take any chances. And preferably a magician should go, too."

"They're all busy with the soul thingy." Flash said. "Besides learning this new sorcery, someone needs to keep the soul we have received at bay until they can do something better with it."

"It's fine, we can handle it for now." Green Lantern said. "We will use the magic amulets Doctor Fate left for such cases, to restrain Hades and call for the wizards to arrive at the scene if anything happens."

"I guess we can do that." Flash said. "I volunteer to go tonight."

"I can take tomorrow night." Martian Manhunter said. "After we've examined the stolen item list, which will probably arrive tonight."

"I'll be in standby for assistance." Shayera said. "Can't really pass as a human with these on!" She pointed at her wings.

"Alright." Green Lantern said, crossing his arms. "Let's get ready for action."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

When Diana resurfaced from the water, feeling completely rejuvenated, she saw three Haros boats waiting around her.

"Yes, Haros?" She said, flying up above, emerging out of the water, obviously not wet.

"I have some messages for you."

Diana took a look at the soul passengers. They were bearing the same clothes with the inscriptions from her friends. All three wrote 'It has been received, keep it up, thank you.'

Diana smiled and sat on one of the boats. "Keep rowing, I'll just a short look at them."

"As you wish." Haros said and the boats began their eerie trip on Acheron.

Diana took a good look at the first pair of glassy soul eyes, wishing to find a small glimpse of her friends in the poor being's memories.

*A/N: There it goes, I promise more exciting stuff comes up on the next chapter, I didn't want to make this too long, but everything has its significance! I've already begun writing it, it's vacations now, so it should be up sooner, I hope. Also, no beta, so forgive any mistakes. Thank you all so much for sticking around, please leave me a comment if you wish to say anything!*