Chapter 11: A Captive Audience

He felt himself awaken slowly, unable to stop the soft grunt escaping him as he did so. Even the Batman took a second to remember where he was before he had lost consciousness, and what he had been doing there. Even the Batman needed the second to realise that he was still alive.

Once he did, Batman instantly tried to move quicker than he otherwise would. He still had a mission. He had to save the world, to save Diana. Unfortunately, he discovered he was now shackled tightly against a wall, and very firmly so. He fought the shackles hard with pure strength as well as with skill, but it was in vain. If he had time, he might be able to work his way out of them, but that was only if he had time. He had to fight back the intense growl of anger, but it still rumbled silently through his lungs.

He couldn't have failed in his quest to stop Ovada Kaah. He couldn't lose her...

But then, he may have done already. Batman realised that he had no idea how long he had been out. By now, Kaah may well have had his portal opened, sent his ship to the prime dimension, destroyed the world and... killed Diana. And it would be all because Batman had momentarily lost his control of his emotions and allowed himself to be discovered before he could destroy that weapon. All because he had failed to shut her out of his heart.

"Three and a half of your days."

Batman looked up, pausing his efforts to free himself. As soon as he could after awakening, he had focused immediately upon getting himself loose from his restraints, so much that he had hardly taken in the room around him. Another example of how this was affecting him; that wouldn't normally happen. He would have to wait before chastising himself over it, though. For now, he did finally study the room he found himself in. There wasn't much to it. It was small, square, better lit than the rest of the ship Batman had seen and with a table in the centre lined with instruments. Batman immediately recognised them as tools of pain, but if he had already failed her then he didn't care what those instruments were or what they might do to him. Instead, it was the single other being in the room that got his attention – and meant he could no longer work on freeing himself without his efforts being noticed and him being sent right back to square one.

Big, strong and green, just as Westwood had described him. In a way the being reminded Batman of Mongul, only even greener and with a lot more weight on the frame. Perhaps he was from a similar species Batman had yet to hear of, distinct because of the subtle physical difference and of course this power to remove a meta's abilities. That immediately made him glad that he had insisted on doing this alone. Mongul had almost killed a fully powered Wonder Woman once. If this guy was as tough as him, but could also remove a hero's powers, then she would have had no chance.

Batman also finally took time to truly recognise his own condition. He was still looking through his cowl. He still wore his full array of armour. He even still had his utility belt and, from what he could tell, all the gadgets within it. There was no way of knowing whether Kaah's men had actually tried to remove any of it and been foiled by his defence mechanisms or not. Nevertheless, that recognition was certainly of great note.

"That's how long I have kept you unconscious," Ovada Kaah expanded when Batman made no obvious attempt to respond to his words. He stepped forward around the table to be closer to Batman, almost caressing those torture tools on his way around. That immediately told Batman that this guy did not know much about him. He was trying to intimidate the man who had long mastered that art and as such would not be struck down by it so easily. Of course, Kaah failed. "For three and a half Earth days I have kept you here. I could have killed you straight away. You see I recognise you, Batman. I have seen you before, flying around in your little black plane of yours trying in vain to stop my crusade of justice. And I have killed you. Many, many times."

Again, Batman said nothing. He did not even let a muscle in his face twitch. Kaah was stood right before where he was held now, a taunting smile over his crusty alien lips. The continued lack of a response from Batman kept this guy talking. He clearly liked the sound of his own voice. Batman was already getting the impression that this guy had a bit of a god complex.

"I would have killed you by now too. I will do, soon enough, but first I wanted to speak with you. To find out why you are here as much as how. And to find out how much you know, over in yourdimension. No doubt that fool Bert Westwood sent you here to stop me. As if you ever had a chance."

Kaah definitely smiled this time, abundantly pleased with himself. He clearly didn't realise that his words had done nothing to intimidate Batman or in any way break him. In fact, they had done the opposite. They had given him hope. It was the only explanation, especially given Kaah's wording. The only reason why he would want information on the prime dimension, why had did not refer to Westwood in the past tense, would be because his assault had yet to begin.

And because Diana was still alive. Batman still had the chance to save her. She was alive.

"I know you have issues," Batman spoke in a slow growl. He might be the one all tied up with seemingly no chance of escape, but, as the old Injustice Gang could testify to, that did not mean he was helpless. It was time to play the mind games. "I know that your name is Ovada Kaah, and that you're a sociopath, a madman who intends to bring death to every Earth across the infinite number of dimensions out there, which tells me that you're insane. I know about your apparently impenetrable ship, your atmospheric devastator and your personal abilities to remove the powers from any meta. I know that Albert Westwood drew you to my dimension, and I know that you have no intention of sparing my Earth. I know that you have an irrepressible rage towards Wonder Woman, and that that is the cause of all of your conquests against humanity, to kill all the versions of her. I also know that you are not invincible, and that I will stop you."

"My, my, you are the clever kind," Kaah uttered, quieter this time, his smile significantly lessened. He even took a step backwards towards that central table. "I never got the chance to get to know you before, in the one version of your world where I made the mistake of not just destroying you all from the outset. Perhaps if I had dealt with someone smarter then, instead of those who simply tried to smash their way to answers, you could have all died honourably, like civilised people. Perhaps if I had dealt with you and not... her, my wife would have lived, and so could all these other dimensions, perhaps even that very first one."

He definitely had a god complex. Just a few words and it seemed Batman had this guy ready to give him his full life story. There was no longer any doubt; overconfidence was definitely Ovada Kaah's greatest weakness. He clearly felt absolutely certain that Batman was already beaten. He had also clearly never stopped to watch any movies on that first trip to Earth of his, otherwise he would know better than to reveal his secrets to a captured hero. Batman hid his smile. He still had to pull it off, but even as a captive, he was learning his way to victory, and to saving her life.

"You didn't know that part, did you?" Kaah continued, sounding increasingly emotional. It was another weakness coming through, Kaah's lack of objectivity due to the effect of a woman. The fact that Batman was being held here instead of being out there destroying this ship was proof of the detriment that could have. "I came to the Earth in my dimension over a year ago now. The Justice League were obviously taking note when my ship showed up in orbit, but I gave them no reason to attack me. In fact, I arrived diplomatically, communicating with the Justice League and the planetary governments. I was not a warmongerer you see. In fact, I was a simple miner then, searching the galaxy for precious minerals to sell to various other worlds so that they could better themselves. Back in those days my ship had no weapons, just various drills and the like which could be used offensively in an emergency situation, what is now my devastating cannon included. Earth just happened to have a lot of the minerals that I required, so I came to collect them. That was the only reason I went to that version of this world. To gather minerals. And the easiest way to do that was to talk everyone on the planet into handing the desired elements and ores over to me. Unfortunately, the people of Earth weren't prepared to donate as much as I required. And I was not about to go home empty handed. I needed those minerals, and so I arranged to take what I wanted. Of course, the Justice League tried to stop me. They turned a theft into a war. They turned a harmless event into one of mass killing. On that first Earth I was naïve. I didn't know the tactics then that I know now, the tactics to beat your League with ease. My ship wasn't as perfect as it is now. Back on that first Earth, your people had a chance to fight back. Back on that first Earth, I had another ship along with this one. Back on that first Earth, Wonder Woman destroyed that other ship, and my wife along with it."

Kaah was really getting emotional now. His fists had clenched. They were actually shaking in anger. Batman, though, stayed quiet. Kaah was doing a good enough job in destroying his own objectivity for Batman to need to bother helping the process, especially as K aah went on.

"Your League attacked first when I tried to take what I needed. Your flying heroes led the assault, of course. The ones called Superman and Green Lantern were chief among them, along with her. I was on this ship, my ship, leading the efforts to repel them. Tactically, I held my own against your heroes, especially as I took away their powers whenever they came in too close. A little trick my species developed millennia ago, before we had even encountered people with such powers; evolutions finest moment. Anyway, I was engaging your League without harming the civilians below on that Earth. I could have just destroyed that planet from the start with the main cannon, but I hadn't. I knew the potential of what it could do were it misused, fired into the atmosphere in an unsafe way instead of down into the rock. I had no desire to unleash that potential. Not until my hand was forced. My other ship was out of the fighting, you see. It wasn't involved in the fight. It held only my civilians. I had kept away from yours. Your League should have kept from mine.

"But instead, the one called Wonder Woman broke from the duel, and tore my second ship from the sky. It hadn't the defences mine had, even back in those early days before my ship was improved. It could barely even fight back in any manner. And she still destroyed it. There was no survivors. My wife was on that ship because she was meant to be safe. Safe! But Wonder Woman would not allow it. I know you can argue that it was I who caused the conflict with my actions, me, yet Wonder Woman didn't look to me. She murdered my wife instead, an innocent. I watched my beloved - and the entire ship she was on - fall from the sky. I watched my wife and hundreds of other innocents die at the ends of your so-called Wonder Woman. In that instant, I knew I had to make them pay. That I had to make them all pay for what she had done. I no longer had a choice. Your League no longer represented justice. Perhaps it never had. But now, after that moment, I did. So I activated my cannon, now very much intended as a weapon, from safely within my ship, and watched Wonder Woman, Superman, you, and the entire Earth burn. Every last living creature on that planet died. And I swore, right then and there, that every last Earth must fall in penance for what she did. That every last Wonder Woman must die."

Once again, Batman just stared at Kaah as he continued his recap of the past. He did not really care about why Kaah was assaulting each dimension as he was. It had been clear to him from the outset that Kaah was too locked on his course to be talked out of it, by anyone. Batman would not even try to. He did not even point out Kaah's obvious stupidity. For a man who now spent his entire time hopping between dimensions, he was far too lost in his emotions to know, or care, about how one dimension's Wonder Woman could be the complete opposite of the next. Batman knew his Wonder Woman would never perform the actions which Kaah had described. He also knew that it would not matter in the slightest to Kaah.

"I spent a long time gathering the means to accomplish my vow," Kaah resumed again, still sounding furious. His hands had grasped for one of those torture instruments behind him. Batman was sure it wasn't to use it. It was a means to stop those hands from trembling so. "I spent a lot of effort and favours to repair the damage the League had done to my ship in that first battle, but I didn't end there. I had become a soldier of justice, and I needed a weapon to match. So I had my ship turned into one. I had it layered with all kinds of actual weapons in place of many of the drills. I spent months striking fear into my workers to turn them into the obedient soldiers you see today. I assembled a squadron of fighters with pilots who did not care if they lived or died so long as they got the chance to fight worthy enemies. I enhanced my heat drill so it became far easier to be used as a weapon of such devastation, and for a long time to come. And then, I found the witch, the witch to imbue my ship with the same power that my species posses. I had to hunt down many of my own kind so that she could do it. Largely I used criminals set for death anyway to pay the witch's price. For justice, that was a small price to pay. With the witch's help I made my ship impenetrable from the outside. Now, like with myself, no meta can draw close enough to my ship to do any real damage. Like with me, any meta who is close to my ship in any way will find their powers failing them. That means no super strength, super speed, lasers, ice, atomic powers, light projections, nothing. Only when the meta backs away do their powers return, but then they are helpless against me. And with my more standard armaments to stop foes like you, that means no one can get in my ship without me letting them in. I couldn't afford the price for the witch to make it so my entire ship could negate meta powers, but with this I don't have to. And, as the last few dimensions have proved, the League cannot even begin to think up a new plan before my cannon has fired and Wonder Woman is dead."

Kaah paused again, only briefly this time, but he was clearly savouring that thought. Batman help off all anger. He wanted to show Kaah nothing but disconcerting neutrality right now.

"But most of the time since my wife was murdered was spent obtaining my Gateway, the device that allows me to take my ship, my weapon and my army to the next Earth on my path to justice," Kaah resumed. "It really is a wonderful machine. In the time since I had destroyed the Earth, people were beginning to talk of replacing its atmosphere, of rebuilding what had been destroyed thanks to cloning the few surviving humans, such as those left in the Green Lantern Corps. With my Gateway, I could put an end to any of those plans. Since you are so obviously intelligent, I'm sure you know that for the Earth to be able to sustain life as you know it, it needs the heat and energy provided by the planet's core. My Gateway needs a remarkable amount of power. The dead shell of Earth just happened to do. It opened my path to the next dimension, to my first stage of vengeance, and it saw to the final end to life on that first Earth. By now, I have repeated the process more times than I wished to count. Every time Earth fell with greater and greater ease, despite the many Leagues and their various efforts to stop me. Every time I made sure that, before the end of her world, Wonder Woman suffered an increasingly agonising death. Every time, I felt one tiny step closer to justice. Now that your Albert Westwood has drawn your dimension to my attention, it shall soon follow the same fate as all the rest, and so shall its version of her. I kept you unconscious while waiting for my Gateway to gain the full power it needs so that it could be activated. Now, this Earth is truly dead, and that time is here."

Batman just continued to stare at Kaah, not even bothering to tell the alien that he already knew that revelation. He had already learned all about that portal device, but he didn't care about what it did to an Earth that was already destroyed. What he did care about was that he seemed to have run out of time before it was ready to allow Kaah's invasion to begin.

"So, you have now heard my story," Kaah still continued to speak, though he seemed more in control of himself now that his tale was done. "Now I would like to know more of yours, as I had initially asked for. Why,Batman, have you come here? Why have you done so alone against all the might at my disposal? What was your plan? Surely you should know that if all your strongest combined fail against me, you alone would be doomed to fail too..."

Kaah paused, trailing off on those words and, despite Batman not reacting at all, suddenly seemed to understand. He wasn't always stupid then.

"Ah... That's it, isn't it? That's why. Westwood told you because you are not powered. But you came alone for a different reason, the same reason as mine. You're doing this for love. You heard that I was coming to kill Wonder Woman, so you came to stop me. You came alone to protect her, keeping her from me because you knew that unlike a lot of the other threats you face, I can genuinely kill all of your League. But especially her. You, Batman, are in love with Wonder Woman. How... touching."

This time Batman maintained his silence for a different reason. He had denied talking about this openly for years, had tried to find a way past his feelings. He had definitely not talked to Diana about how he felt. He definitely would not share it with this demonic alien. However, it seemed he didn't have to.

"Well done, Batman." Kaah was mocking him now. His anger was definitely gone. Instead he was laughing, clapping his hands together in giddy joy. "You have just made this time all the more special. This time I can really obtain a form of equal justice. I could so easily cause you such intense physical pain with the tools at my disposal, but now I have a far better weapon to use against her. Just as she made me watch my wife die, I shall make you watch her death. And that of your entire planet. I shall make the one who loves her suffer as she made me suffer. Only once her corpse is no longer even fit to feed the crows shall I permit you to die too."

Kaah broke off again, pushing one of a series of buttons Batman now noticed on the alien's fat metal bracelet. A second later a pair of his faceless soldiers walked into the room, stepping forward to Kaah's side. They said nothing, merely awaiting their master's orders.

"Take this human to the barracks. Hold him there until after our next target is totally defeated. Make him watch. Make sure he sees every second of it. Once you bring the Gateway through to the next dimension with the rest of the encampment, see to it that he is left behind. I think that would be the time for him and this shell of a world to truly acquaint themselves."

"As you command, my Lord," one of the two soldiers uttered as both bowed low. They immediately began to comply, stepping further forward. Batman was not released from his shackles. Instead, one of the soldiers simply unconnected them from the walls while the other kept his weapon trained on Batman. Batman's manacled hands dropped down in front of him. His feet were released from the hold of the wall too, also chained together. The closest trooper quickly pushed Batman forwards, the other still with his weapon aimed Batman's way as they began to guide him off of the ship.

None of them realised their true mistake. Kaah's overconfidence apparently knew no bounds. He was the ultimate advert that too much success could lead to the kind of mistakes that could bring about failure. They had not literally taken any of Batman's gear of him. They had instead believed they had done it metaphorically, Batman's hands lost in giant metal canisters that were chained together. However, what that actually meant was that they could not see Batman's efforts to free himself from those chains now he was no longer held to the wall by them, especially as both his guards walked behind, pushing him onwards. It would take time but once his hands were free his arsenal of batarangs, gas pellets and the rest would be at his disposal to deal with these guards. Most importantly, he still seemed to have his cryptographic sequencer on him too. He knew that the small device was now the most vital weapon he had.

What was more, in breaking from Kaah's restraints Batman knew he would regain the element of surprise he had lost when he was captured. These aliens obviously had their own thoughts well droned out of them. They shared Kaah's overconfidence, and that meant they too didn't consider that Batman could break free from the shackles. Furthermore, that meant that when he did, his chances of bringing these soldiers down was greatly improved. These guards could well get him off of this ship before it took off to begin the assault, but even if they did, with surprise and the sequencer Batman's efforts to save Diana would be far from over.

But there would still be a lot to do, and Kaah would still have a chance to kill her before Batman could pursue him...

"Don't worry Batman," Kaah said with a wicked smile as Batman was about to be pushed beyond him, causing the two soldiers to temporarily and forcefully halt Batman's slow walk for what was obviously intended to be a kind of parting blow by their master to his captive. "As soon as you are off my ship, it will be time for the attack to begin. You will not be watching for long. Your appointment with the vacuum of this Earth will not be a distant one."

Yet again Batman showed no hint of reaction. He wasn't scared in the slightest for himself. He knew he could escape Kaah's soldiers before they tried to kill him. However, he still felt intense fear, fear for Diana. Fear because the assault he had come here to stop was about to begin. Fear that he wouldn't be able to get free and back to her in time...

With their 'master' clearly done with him, the two soldiers continued with their task of ferrying Batman away, but Kaah's face remained etched in Batman's mind. He was determined that he would be seeing it again very soon, and wiping that grin clean off of it.

Using his mastery of escape artistry, his hands were picking their way out of Kaah's shackles all the more furiously as he emerged out into the typical corridors of Kaah's monstrous craft. As he worked, all his thoughts were centred on Kaah, how he would manage to stop the alien in the fight to come and, in doing so, how he would save Diana.

That didn't stop two words from interrupting those thoughts, the kind of doubting words Batman rarely felt break through his walls of well-earned confidence, the words born from knowing that Kaah's assault was about to begin.

I hope...

A/N:

Been a while so I thought I'd best thank you all again for the fandom and reviews this has received so far, and for those to come too. I wrote this for my own fun but the fact people seem to like it too makes it all the better. And its still got a ways to go yet. Stay tuned.

The next bit should be here soon, so long as I don't get too distracted by us winning the Ashes in the coming days.