A/N: Thanks for the support everyone! I guess I should ease up on Flash… but he does make it really easy to throw in some comic relief here and there.

Initially, my first thought was to make these godly challenges extreme because Diana is their favorite. They don't want her to just date anyone… I didn't realize that I made them look like assholes. Haha. I thought about having the gods fight amongst each other, I guess I'll think about it again.

As for "old age" and "powers" I'll let the story unfold and show my views on those subjects. hehe

The Dreams of a Silent Knight

Sitting up, Batman pulled the arrows out and tended to his wounds knowing that there would be another task at hand shortly. Artemis appeared just as he finished patching himself up. "Mortal… prepare yourself. Your next challenge awaits." Artemis waved her arms as the trees separated, revealing a path deep into the forest. She then raised her hand up as a giant tree appeared in the distance, towering over everything else. "Your mission is to reach this tree and touch it. Greek hunters and warriors will be lurking within the forest to stop you on your quest. By touching the tree, their pursuit will cease and your mission will be completed." Batman nodded with the understanding of what needed to done and walked onto the path created by the goddess. "This is where I leave you mortal." With a flash of light, Artemis vanished while leaving Batman to himself as the trees closed behind him.

Batman began making his way through the forest. "So I'm being hunted… great… cover is obviously the number one priority…The trees away from the main path seem like the better way to go."

"This is bogus! Now they're hunting him? What kind of challenges are these?" Flash whispered to Green Lantern in frustration.

"Relax. There's no one better at keeping himself hidden than Batman." GL said coolly.

"This is the first and only time we'll be able to actually see him work. I always wondered how he does it." Superman said without taking his eyes off the vision cloud. Batman swiftly moved from treetop to treetop, avoiding groups of hunters without much difficulty. Hidden within the shadows that the trees provided, he waited for the perfect time to make his move and continue towards the giant tree. "Amazing" was all Superman could say as everyone watched the Dark Knight.

"The old man is still the best at what he does." Nightwing smirked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Yea, but not for long." Robin confidently motioned to himself, implying that he was going to take over that title.

Nightwing shook his head while chuckling quietly. "Uhh huhh…" It was only a matter of time before Robin became The World's Greatest Detective. Even Batman acknowledged it, though he would never admit it out loud.

Watching Batman maneuver past the hunters and warriors made Diana feel empowered. He gave her strength, and made her believe that he will defy the odds and succeed. He was fighting for her… for him… for them. Diana stood up, reclaiming her pride as both her tears and quivering ceased. Barbra, Shayera, Donna, and Queen Hippolyta were surprised to see the look of determination on her face as she crossed her arms on her chest and floated up to the vision cloud to watch him. Just by watching Batman work, Diana's heart rate easily calmed down while her breathing returned back to normal. Diana couldn't explain it, but she could feel his presence, feel his strength, and just watching him sneak through the forest undetected made her believe that he was giving her the strength she needed to be strong. If she could feel his presence during this stressful time, then surely he could feel hers. Diana forced herself to focus and give Bruce the extra strength to carry on.

"He looks like was ten years ago." Nightwing said with a sense of pride for his mentor.

Batgirl nodded as she watched in amazement. "Yea, it's been a long time since I've seen him move like that."

"Stealth was never a problem for him… it's the fighting and quick reactions…" Robin leaned side to side, casually stretching out his back. Both Nightwing and Batgirl acknowledged Robin's view of him. After all, he did spend the most time with Batman fighting in Gotham the past few years, and if anyone knew if he had lost a step or two, it was Robin.

On the other side of the cloud, the Gods were impressed with Batman's stealth abilities. "Artemis… how many warriors and hunters did you place within the forest?" Zeus asked as he scratched his beard.

"One hundred each my King… this mortal's hunting ability matches that of a Greek Hero… impressive…" Artemis replied.

Hera looked over to Diana, seeing her strenuously focusing on Batman's activity. "Yes indeed… but should we be so surprised by his abilities? After all Diana did choose him herself."

"My King, the mortal has made it to the edge of the open field." Artemis announced as everyone quickly turned their attention back to the cloud.

Hidden in the shadows Batman crouched on a branch of a tree that lined the perimeter of the large open field of grass with the gigantic tree in the center. There were close to fifty additional warriors and hunters guarding the tree.

"No cover whatsoever from here to the tree… about fifty yards… need a distraction. The warriors aren't a problem, but the arrows from the hunters are." Batman took out a charged bat-a-rang, sprayed a thick layer of explosive gel on it and threw it along the perimeter to another tree. He quietly made his way to the opposite end of the field and detonated it. All the warriors and hunters looked over at the explosion while most ran over to wait for any sight of Batman. He quickly took out a batclaw and shot it at the giant tree. As he zipped towards it, he threw smoke bombs to cover himself along with several explosive bat-a-rangs that were set to explode on impact to take out nearby hunters.

Just as he was about to reach the tree, an arrow cut his line, sending him crashing down just feet in front of the tree. Batman got up quickly and ran to the tree when something grabbed his cape, stopping him as his fingers were just inches away. He turned to see that a warrior was holding onto his cape just as another one tackled him to the ground. Putting Batman in a strangle hold, the warrior stood Batman up in front of him waiting for the hunters to shoot him in the chest with their arrows. Just as the arrows were launched, Batman quickly flipped over the warrior who held him, and jumped off his back as the arrows hit the warrior in the chest. Fighting his way towards the tree, Batman used the warriors' own bodies as shields from the dozens of arrows that came darting through the air. Suddenly all the warriors and hunters that were within the forest were surrounding Batman. He couldn't continue to fight all of them… there were too many. He needed to get to the tree now… Batman took out his last explosive bat-a-rang and threw it at the ground before leaping over a warrior and using his shoulders as a springboard to jump higher into the air. The bat-a-rang exploded, propelling Batman into the tree with a loud thud.

He hit the tree harder than he would have liked, as his back hit the tree's trunk so hard that if it wasn't for the Kevlar reinforced armor, his back would have shattered. Coughing up blood, he rolled over to take inventory of his new injuries. "Internal bleeding… great… must not take anymore hits to the body… can't afford anymore damage…" There was silence... nothing… Batman saw that all the warriors and hunters were gone. All that was left was him and the intense pain shooting up and down his spine.

"That crazy idiot! He almost blew himself up!" Shayera whispered angrily.

Robin chuckled as a smirk on his face. "Hah… you call that blowing yourself up? That puny explosion is nothing compared to what he normally goes through. You should have seen the explosion he was in a week ago…"

"The amount of pain and suffering that Batman can take continues to amaze me… I've never seen any one man take the beatings he's taken in his life and continue to fight on…" J'onn said with great respect for Batman.

"Aphrodite…" Still sitting, Zeus held his chin up with his right hand and motioned towards Batman with the other. Without saying anything Aphrodite waved her hands as three beautiful nymphs appeared next to Batman.

Lying on the grass waiting for his next challenge to be revealed, he noticed someone massaging his legs. He looked down to see three very beautiful nymphs sitting next to him with seductive smiles on their faces. He tried to get up and stop them… but it felt so good…. His body failed him, his muscles failed to respond to his brain. Their soft gentle hands rubbing all over his body, relaxing his tense and battered muscles, numbing his wounds and taking the pain away. One then mounted him and started massaging his chest, whispering in his ear "Stay with us… we will pleasure you like you never felt before… no more pain… only pleasure and happiness for the world's greatest hero…" Batman started to daze into bliss… his mind began to see images of nothing but joyful memories while his heart warmed to the point at which he could do nothing but grin stupidly.

"Damn… three beautiful ladies all to himself forever? How does Bats get all the luck?" Flash said jealously.

"You moron… if he doesn't snap out of it, he will be trapped there forever and fail…" Donna snapped.

Flash elbowed Green Lantern. "Still not a bad way to go out huh…" GL gave a quick smile but then noticed that Shayera heard them and patted her mace while give him a glare.

Diana clenched her jaw tighter than ever while her hands were balled into fists so tight that her own nails were cutting into her palms. Her blood boiling with anger, eyes bulging, rage building up… she was ready to explode. She knew he was being placed under a spell by them, but just seeing him being seduced by the three nymphs just made her want to rip their heads off for even touching her man.

"Diana? Don't worry… Br…Bruce will snap out of it… I mean… after all those stories you told me about him dealing with that Scarecrow guy and the Poison Ivy lady… this is no different… he has the strongest mind of anyone I know…" Donna said cautiously as she floated next to Diana. Knowing that Diana could easily lose it and start tearing the place apart, she blew out a sigh of relief when she saw Diana's face. Diana had closed her eyes and regained her composure.

"I know Donna… he will snap out of this… but I'm still going to kill those nymphs after this is over…" Diana crossed her arms and glared at Batman. "He better snap out of it soon or I'll kill him too."

The nymphs continued to kiss and massage him, planting happy thoughts in his head. "Tell us what you want Batman… we can make you happy for eternity… you'll have everything you need… tell us… stay with us…love us…"

Batman's mind fought desperately for control, trying to resist the nymphs' spells. "I… want… I…I… love… DIANA! No! Won't let you stop me. Must…" Before Batman could finish, one nymph kissed him deeply while another massaged the temples of his head putting him deeper into their control. "Yes… I'll stay... yes… love… love… stay forever…" Batman said with another stupid grin on his face.

The nymphs continued their seduction of Batman. "Yes… tell us your fantasies… your dreams and desires… we will make them happen…. What does Batman dream about?"

"What… what does Batman dream about…" Instantly, flashes of his parents lying dead on the floor of the alley ran through his head. His eyes opened wide and that stupid grin left his face. His obsession of bringing vengeance back into the streets of Gotham forced himself to remember who he is and overrode their control of lust and love. Pushing them off of him, he stood up with his mind clear and focused. "This is over… you will not control me." Grinding his teeth in anger as the only image in his head now was that of the punk with the gun who shot his parents down that fateful night.

Flash was shocked at what Batman had lived through as a child. "Wow… is that why Bats is so mad all the time? Man… I had no idea…"

"He doesn't share much about his past. I don't think many people know…" GL said sympathetically.

"Yea I've known Bruce for a long time… he never likes to talk about it, trust me… never bring it up when you talk him." Superman added.

"Athena… I believe it's your turn." Zeus sat up motioning for her to present Batman with his next challenge.

Batman turned his back to the nymphs and began to walk away. "How dare you! No one refuses us! NO ONE!" The floor began to tremble as Batman struggled to regain his balance. He turned around to see a giant rock creature come out from under the ground facing him.