AN: A Thanks to Ben A on noticing my blooper with Captain Marvel. I was writing another part with Captain Atom and mixed them up. So many captains, I swear.
4.
Watchtower
April 29
10:26 UTC
"And these are bins they keep the beads in for the costumes. I was amazed at the sheer number of the plastic orbs in which to buy and create a skin revealing costume out of but Kara refused to let me count them. And these are feathers made to decorate head dresses to wear for their parades, especially the one called 'Carnival'. And these are-"
For nearly the past half hour, a number of the League, black ops, and Titan teams had been sitting around a conference table in the orbiting base. Koriand'r had brought a number of memory cards she had filled up with pictures and short movies when she and Kara had visited Brazil during their exploration of their new home planet. Of course, the orange skinned woman had to describe what every picture was, including the ones where she accidentally pressed the shutter switch and got a few close ups of her eye or the glamor charm she wore to look more human.
"And these are cows. I really liked the one named Mumford. And Silkie liked the milk she made. He did not want to let go of her utters."
Several of those gathered around the table were silently wishing they were somewhere else. Kaldur wanted to get back to speaking with Lilith for more information on the cult she was taken prisoner by, Artemis wished she had a few more hours of sleep and that Wally was in her place instead of at work, Zatanna was trying her best to look professional throughout the Tameran's trip down memory lane, and Conner was constantly being nudged by M'gann to wake back up from being bored to sleep.
"And this is a famous statue of a man atop a mountain said to have done great things. He's a big deal." As Koriand'r swiped the picture of the statue of Jesus to the side to bring up the next shot of a side street where the two were eating food from street venders, Dick practically jumped out of his chair next to Batman.
"Wait, stop right there, Kori." Grabbing a scan of one of the pendants Wally and Artemis found, the sunglasses wearing young man quickly compared it to what he saw on screen. "That's it."
Looking next to him, Dick was about to point out the matching symbol when he saw Batman already looking at it on a separate holocomputer. "As I suspected. The scan of the pendant is the same as a ritualistic cult formed from the Babylonian times."
"Should have known you would have the answer already," Dick said.
Ignoring the muttered comment, Batman continued. "I had to make sure this was not a group of individuals copying this Cult."
"How bad," Conner asked.
"Reportedly, the Illuminate separated from them due to their ritual sacrifices, which made the Spanish Inquisition comparable to child's play."
"So what exactly are we dealing with here?" Barry, the Flash, asked.
Standing, Batman had the photo from Koriand'r's memory card enlarge to show the same design on the pendant better. "This symbol belongs to the Cult of Blood, later known as the Church of Blood. They once operated out of Zandia but it appears as if South America is their new base of operations. Not much is known about their inner workings except for the way their leaders are appointed, in which the son does away with the father when he turns twenty one. Sacrifices are a normal occurrence for them but they are very selective in who they use."
"So they sacrificed Red Devil for what, a purpose he could serve?" Barbra asked over speaker phone since she was at her civilian job.
"Precisely, but for what remains to be seen."
"Koriand'r," Wonder Woman said, "just how many pictures did you take?"
"I have filled each of my four memory cards with the pictures," Koriand'r answered proudly. "They say four GB's."
"So that's roughly three hundred per gig...twelve hundred pictures, nearly five thousand pictures in all." Dick calculated.
"Is this the only one from Brazil?" Wonder Woman asked again.
"Yes. Kara and I took many pictures there but did not switch cards."
"If you wouldn't mind, I need to have your photos scanned for any more traces of this symbol," Batman said.
"Oh that is no problem at all."
"You don't want to do that." Taking the small group by surprise, Lilith stood in the entrance to the conference room and stared at the image on the holoscreen.
"Lilith," Kaldur said as he scooted back from the table. "I did not expect for you to leave your medical room."
"Stay away from them." The tone of the young woman's voice had a clear, stern warning lacing her words.
"Um, Lilith?" M'gann said carefully as she stood. "I'm M'gann Kent. People call me Mrs. Martian. I'm a member and co-leader of the Titans. We have been informed of what had happened to you and with your permission, I could-"
"Just stay away from there. It's the best way."
"The best way for what?" Barry asked.
It took a moment, but the South American woman finally looked up at the group of heroes through her dirty blond hair. She had went from leaning on the edge of the doorway to standing in somewhat of a sunken stance with her head down.
"To live." Turning, Lilith slowly walked away in the direction of the medical ring.
"I will try to speak with her more," Kaldur said to the others as he stood and followed the woman back to her room when Artemis' phone went off with a picture of Wally on the screen.
"Go, slow poke. You're on speaker." Artemis greeted as she put her husband on speaker phone.
"Arty, I don't know how far you are in the meeting with the others, but I found something out on that pendant during my break." There was some ruffling of paper over the speaker. "From what I printed out, the symbol belongs to a cult called the Church of Blood and-"
"Um, Wally, we kind of already have that figured out."
There was a moment of silence on the line before the ginger spoke again. "Batman figured it out?"
"Batman figured it out."
"Is he right there?"
"Yep, right here, a seat down from me."
"Is he using the same Bat-scowl he always uses?"
Looking at the Dark Knight, Artemis shook her head with a grin. "You do remember you're on speaker, right?"
"...Sorry. Hanging up now."
After the audible beep of the cell signaling the conversation was over, Artemis looked around and saw her friends try not to snicker at Wally. It was useless once she saw M'gann's face and couldn't help but crack into a full-fledged smile of her own before she and the others choked back their laughter should Batman take it the wrong way.
Down the hall leading to the medical wing of Watchtower, Kaldur had finally caught up with Lilith. The woman had her arms wrapped around her with red marks where she held onto herself tightly. Not wanting to startle her, the Atlantian slowed his pace from a run to a careful walk. Reaching out, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump from the contact.
"I apologize," Kaldur said. "I just-"
"Don't touch me!" Jerking away, Lilith lost her footing and stumbled into the wall beside her. A loud thud rang out from the force of her impact as she fell but was stopped as Kaldur caught her.
"Again, I apologize, but you need help. It still seems as though you are still malnourished and need more rest."
Resisting no longer, Lilith let the dark skinned hero help her back to her room and into her bed. Once settled, she hugged her knees to her chest with the blankets tightly around her.
"If you do not mind," Kaldur softly said, "could you tell me why you decided to leave your bed in your condition?"
After sniffing and shifting slightly, Lilith cautiously looked over at him. "I wanted to see the blue devil man. I couldn't find him. Then I heard all of you speaking in the room down the hall."
"What did you wish to speak to him about?"
"I wanted to know why he saved me. Why he and the younger devil saved me."
Before Kaldur could answer, she continued.
"I was supposed to die. I was supposed to be used to bring them power. One of the few, one of the few who could grant the pale man power. One of the few he needs left."
"What do you mean 'one of the few'?" Moving closer, Kaldur stood next to the young woman as she began to rock back and forth.
"Five. The five."
"Five? Five sacrifices?"
"One smart fool. One who sees through touch. One who celebrates life through movement. One who hides the good within evil. One who lives in darkness but walks in the light."
"Lilith," Kaldur said as he sat beside her. "What do you mean by all of that?"
Looking up at him with tear filled eyes, Lilith held herself tighter. "I don't want to die."
Reaching over, Kaldur put an arm around her shoulders and brought her in close. "I give you my word. I will not let anything happen to you. My friends and I will protect you."
As he sat next to Lilith, Kaldur failed to notice Conner standing just out of view of the doorway. His super-hearing picked up on everything they said, making him stop from informing the black ops leader on what he missed after Wally hung up. He also heard another sound, something he first heard when he met M'gann, the increase of a heartbeat, right before he heard the sound of metal footsteps approaching.
"Conner, glad I caught you still here." Coming up to the Kryptonian, Victor Stone, Cyborg, produced a device from one of the small doors located where his belt would be. "Thought you could use this."
Taking the device, something akin to a smart phone, Conner looked it over. "What is this, a new communicator?"
"Sort of. It's something I've been working on for a while now. The Apokalyptic tech I'm partly made of is similar to the New Genesis tech Sphere's comprised of. And after she was in my circuitry when BB brought me to you, I came up with a way for her to speak to you clearly."
Looking the device over, Conner went over the three buttons and what they did as Victor explained them to him.
"The main button on the bottom turns it on and off. The top side one is for if you want a voice instead of reading the screen. You can pick one by tapping your choice."
"And the top one?"
"That was Sphere's idea. If at any time you need her in case of an emergency, just hold it down for three seconds and she'll receive a distress call to pick you or whoever has the device up. She can track it, you, and our uniform's biochips now. I should have two more finished in a few weeks so in the meantime, you can give the first one a test run."
"Thanks, Victor."
"So, how did Kal take it when you told him what Batman's planning?" Victor asked while Conner slipped the device in the pocket of his jeans.
"Didn't say. I was giving him a moment to talk to Lilith."
"He's been spending a lot of time with her."
"Really? I thought he would be finding more about this cult."
Moving towards the wall, Victor leaned against it and crossed his arms. "He always brings her meals. Always makes time to talk to her outside of speaking to Martian Manhunter or Black Canary."
"Sounds as if he's trying to get any information he can out of her."
"Or it might be something else."
Looking back in the room, Conner saw his longtime friend still holding the Brazilian woman. "Maybe. He really hasn't been the same since he lost Tula."
"I heard about her. You never are after losing someone like that."
Attention, all available League and team members, report to the war room at once.
Responding to the sound of Batman's voice, Conner and Victor quickly made their way to where they were summoned with Kaldur following a few moments later.