Chapter 13: Shadows Part Two.

Harry had no time to be properly exasperated. He was fighting for his life, but fortunately he had few tricks up his sleeve. One of them was a well-placed bone breaking curse aimed to the skull of one of his enemies. A loud crack resounded throughout the building, and Harry moved around with expert precision. Astoria held her wand, slashing it in the air, and she sliced open one of the attackers.

"When this is over, you and I will have words!" Harry yelled, but he had no other time for words, before he had to he dodge an attack. Blood splattered upwards, and Astoria continued to press forward. Astoria allowed her movements to remain swift and precise.

"Potter, we're both in this situation, like it or not, so we could try and work together," Astoria replied, but this got her a nasty glare. He went over the merits of just killing her, but the desire for knowledge.

Harry impaled two of the attackers. He could not even formulate a proper retort; due to the fact that he was too busy fighting for his life. He had to admit, these guys were good, but he was just a few steps quicker. Some of them were Muggles, but a few of them seemed to have magical abilities of their own.

He apparated behind one of the attackers and used a summoning spell to pull the sword out of the hands of another one of the attackers. He propelled it back, and the white hot metal seared through the stomach of his enemy. The attack instantly killed him.

"Yeah, only reason…" Harry started, but he dodged another attack. "The only reason why I'm in this mess is because you had to blab my name out loud.

Astoria rolled her eyes, and jabbed her wand at one of her enemies. Her breath hitched in, and she took another deep breath.

"Details, details," Astoria said in a dry voice, and the bones shattered from the impact. "You had to play the hero and come after me."

"Well, if you hadn't sent me that taunting little message, you could have gotten away from the perfect crime," Harry said, and more assassins were knocked down to the ground. "In other words, you brought this down on your head."

Astoria gritted her teeth, and flew forward with a swift assault.

"That taunting little message was just to tell you that I have no quarrel with you, but you decided to come after me," Astoria responded, and she continued to brutalize her enemies. "Do you enjoy playing the self-righteous hero, or does it come naturally?"

Harry had no more words for her. He angrily pulled her out of the way, and a poison dart landed on the ground. Harry engaged the large man who had fired it. He was huge, but the bigger they came, the harder they fell.

Cheshire watched from the background, holding a dagger. She would pick her shot wisely, and the Greengrass girl seemed to be the obvious target. Potter would be a bonus, but that was not what she was strictly hired for. He did move rather swift, not to mention he mixed his attacks. That was something that served any warrior well.

She flung her dagger, but Astoria deflected it before it could hit Harry. Astoria fired an attack back at her enemy, but Cheshire managed to move out of the way. The two females circled each other, each looking for an opening.

"Your magic tricks amuse me, kid," Cheshire said, dodging a flame spell with swift quickness and skill.

"I wonder if a broken jaw will amuse you too," Astoria fired back. "Or perhaps your spleen exploding out the top of your head."

Cheshire dodged the attempted curse, and looked for an opening to expose to strike her enemy.

"You talk a good game, but without the smoke and mirrors, you're useless," Cheshire said, and she disarmed Astoria of her wand, twisting her arm around with one swift movement. "Without this little stick, you're as helpless as a newborn kitten."

Astoria felt the full force of a knee slammed into her stomach, and she doubled over in pain, wheezing. Cheshire slammed an elbow on the side of her neck, and threw her off to the side. Astoria landed on the ground like yesterday's rubbish with a crack.

Harry did not really hasten to help her, but all of the same; he made his way through the Society of Shadows. Cheshire looked towards the approaching young wizard. She did not plan for him, so a bit of a change of strategy was in order.

"Cover me," she said.

The half of the assassins moved in, and did as they were asked. Harry engaged them one at a time, blowing through them with brutality. Astoria was down on the ground, the victim of a beating, her wand having rolled off to the side.

She was not any help, but Harry did prefer it that way. That way, he would be able to dispense of the Society of Shadows one at a time without any troublesome distractions. Then he would deal with Astoria. He edged closer and closer to Cheshire, who backed off slowly and carefully.

"Another time, perhaps," Cheshire said, and she tried to scale the wall, but an arrow shot through the air. The arrow exploded, and knocked her off of the wall.

Red Arrow popped up to face Cheshire. The assassin pulled herself to her feet. With a swift movement, she ducked her head, and rolled out of the way of a shot with an arrow. The arrow stuck to the ground, and a cloud of smoke moved up. She flung another dagger, but Red Arrow dodged it. Cheshire turned around, rolling out of the way.

"We really need to stop meeting like this," Cheshire said, and she bowed, before adding as an afterthought, eyes focused on Red Arrow. "People are beginning to talk."

Red Arrow did not respond. Rather, he shot an arrow towards his enemy. The female assassin dodged the arrow, with expert precision, and then she threw a pellet into the air. She punctuated the movement with a brutal, but non-lethal kick to the head.

Green smoke clouded the area, and the remaining assassins, the ones who were still alive disappeared. Harry used a spell to siphon the noxious vapor away, but that gave them the cloud of smoke to escape. He did manage to tag a tracking spell onto one of them, but with how they were moving, it was hard to tell how it would stick.

Astoria picked up her wand, and slipped off, before she was noticed by either party. There was still some unfinished business. She had to find that book, and the secrets that it held.

"Alright there?" Harry asked Red Arrow.

"Yeah, other than the concussion and the near asphyxiation," Red Arrow said, and he looked around. "Cheshire got a way, and it seems like her target took a cue from her as well."

Harry could have kicked something. He had Astoria Greengrass within his fingertips, and was about to bring her down before she could harm anyone else. Yet, she had slipped off into the night, without a trace. That just about summed up his luck.

"Lucky I managed to pin one of them with a tracking charm," Harry said, but he looked thoughtful.

If the Society of Shadows were as good as they were supposed to be, they would find Astoria in due time. Harry just had to track them down, and with any luck, that would lead him to Astoria.

"So, I guess we're on the trail together," Red Arrow said, and Harry nodded.

'Looks like Kara will have to have to be the one to track me down,' Harry thought, as they took several steps upstairs.

"According to the tracking charm, they're heading North from here," Harry stated in a calm voice, and Red Arrow nodded, before they set off.

Batman stepped back into the shadows. The trick for any fighter would be to allow their enemy to come forward. Never come to an enemy, make them come to you. That is so they could be the ones to dictate the pace of the fight.

With each movement, he took out his enemies one at a time. Smack, smack, and a kick to the head for good measure, before Batman swerved around the statue. One of his enemies sent a spell at him, and Batman dodged it. The explosion of marble and dust caused him to take a couple of steps into the shadows.

Batman repelled to the rafters, and he jumped down to the ground. The enemies moved forward, and attacked him one by one. The Dark Knight fought them off, one at a time, and knocked them around with expert precision.

The robed figures all stepped back, and backed off, before they scrambled towards the nearest exist.

''Curious,' Batman thought to himself, and he took a few more steps forward. The robed figures vanished into the night. The Dark Knight turned around, taking a step forward, but he paused and peered over the stone wall.

A breeze blew from below, and Batman continued to lurk around the outskirts of the village. He followed two shady looking individuals. Understanding who they were might be a benefit to figuring out who was behind this scheme.

Kara extended her arms, and gained flight velocity. She would have to derail the train, without damaging the part in any way. She calculated the situation, all of the things that could happen, and all of the things that could go wrong. Given the speed she could think, it did not take too long. Kara bit her lip, and continued to keep a close watch on her target. She circled around the tracks, and maneuvered herself in front of the train.

She put her hands on the top of the train, and managed to slow it down to a grinding halt. Sparks flew on the tracks, and bounced off of her. Kara gritted her teeth, and did not blink for one second. This was the right force to stop the train, and not hurt the part they needed.

She bent her knees, and gained the momentum she needed. The angle had to be timed properly.

When she was in position, with the train stopped, she smashed through the front of the train. She blasted forward at super-fast flight. Kara continued to move one step at a time, and the assassins stepped forward. They tried to attack her. She punched them out with her strength. She was not wasting any time.

"You took something that belongs to me and my husband!" Kara yelled, dodging the attackers best shots. With a super-fast movement, she blew them off of their feet with her combination of super breath and banishing charms. "And I want it back!"

A blast of heat vision burned one of the attackers. Kara flew around for a minute before she recognized the crate. The package was transparent, so she noticed it straight away. The blonde Kryptonian snatched it into her arms She held it in her arms, and blew her powerful breath taking them out.

A sheet of ice held them in place, and Kara flew back around, towards the exit, the package in her hands. It would take her only a few minutes to fly to the Patronus Incorporated Headquarters.

From there it would be a simple matter to use her ring, and track Harry to help him. Kara flew into the entrance of the headquarters of Patronus Incorporated, and set the package securely in their lab. She turned around, and held up the ring. The ring blinked, and Kara turned around in flight, with only one objective in mind.

The assembled party had been moving around in the catacombs for what seemed like hours, but what was truthfully less than one hour.

"So, can you teleport us out or something?"

Raven sighed, long and hard.

"If I was able to simply teleport you out, I would have done so by now," Raven said to them.

"There are powerful enchantments, keeping us down here, we're going to have to find another way out," Hermione added, and she took a few more steps forward. She frowned, and took a good look at the wall. "That wall seems structurally unsound, Raven could you…"

Raven nodded, and a few seconds later, she blasted the wall. The wall crumbled into dust, and revealed a curving set of stairs.

Batgirl surveyed it carefully. There appeared to be no imminent danger.

"Looks perfectly safe to me," Robin commented.

Nightwing eyed it suspiciously. Years of being a protégé of Batman had the fact that things were not what they seemed drilled into his head. "I'd wait for a second opinion."

"And you shall have it," Raven said, and she tested the steps. "The steps lead upwards and there's a pretty good chance they lead out as well."

Hermione took the plunge, and led the way. There were noises, rats likely, trying to scrounge for anything that was in the chamber. She squinted, looking on the inscription on the walls.

"What does it say?" Nightwing asked.

Raven tried a translator spell, but there was nothing. She tried every trick should could think of, before she managed to get what passed as a reading.

"Our legacy shall be your tomb," Raven commented after a moment. "At least that's the closest translation I can get."

Batgirl grimaced. "That's foreboding."

Hermione continued to move upwards. She found a hatch leading to the top, and then she pushed it open. Carefully, she poked her head out, and sent a spell into the shadows. The chamber lit up, but there was nothing moving.

She brushed her dark hair out of her face, and pulled herself up into the chambers. Allowing herself a moment to look around, Hermione walked down the corridor, to see markings on the wall.

Raven was next to follow, with Batgirl, then Robin, and then Nightwing. The half demon sorceress was on her guard, and her skin prickled from what she felt.

"Touch nothing, there's a high concentration of dark magic in these chambers," Raven said. "The book may be close."

"Or another trick," Nightwing responded.

Raven considered this, but she nodded. The architecture was late Roman magical empire, or perhaps an imitation of it. Regardless of this fact, it was remarkable. Hermione stepped into the light, and the curtain flew back. They reached a temple.

"It looks like some kind of place of worship," Batgirl said.

"Worship of the worst and most demented type," Raven said, but she waved her hand. "There were human sacrifices brought here, offerings."

"So what kind of mess did we stumble into now?" Robin asked.

Hermione paused, and she saw a statue. It stood imposing. Dark robes, with the hint of snake like eyes and face, towering over all of them. The inscription told her all that she needed to know about the type of people who used this temple of worship.

"Cultists, for Riddle," Hermione whispered, disgust dripping from her tone.

"Riddle you mean…"

"Yes, Lord Voldemort."

A hunchback figure stepped out of the shadows. The group was caught off guard by his presence, but remained calm. His skin was a bit greenish, and his hands were clawed. He surveyed the group through narrowed eyes.

"Who are you?" Hermione demanded to their mysterious friend.

The hunchback chuckled.

"I was once the owner of this temple, until Lord Voldemort's cultists turned it into their own personal center of worship," the hunchback said with a bow. "At one time, I thought he would lead us to the promise land, but his followers experimented on the villagers. Some of us were lucky enough to die to not bear the shame of what happened, while others…well we were turned into hideous abominations."

The hunchback hummed underneath his breath. That was a time many people feared to even whisper of.

Raven's patience was not at its highest point. "Yes, but do you have a name?"

"I had a name, but it was stripped with me along with my memories during the process," the hunchback said, and he turned around. "The existence is not too bad once one gets used to it. Food is plentiful; all I have to do is scrounge for rats."

Batgirl felt a bit of pity, but her instincts made her not completely trust this individual. "Why this place?"

The hunchback considered what to tell the group. Once again, he bowed his head.

"Voldemort believes or believed rather, that this temple houses a power that could turn him into a literal god among men," the hunchback stated. "Once his goal of immortality was assured, he wanted to go one step beyond, and that was to obtain godhood."

Hermione just looked a bit amused. "Well immortality didn't turn out all that well for him."

The hunchback nodded; pleased to have official confirmation that Voldemort had met his final demise some time ago. Many believed it, but no one dared utter the theory around this parts. For one would easily incur the wrath of Voldemort's worshippers.

"This used to be sacred land, but now it has been tainted," the hunchback continued. "Now that the book's presence is known, warring factions will tear themselves over it. Greed is a powerful motivator, and ever-lasting life is the highest motivator for greed of them all."

Raven turned around, and walked over to the trunk. She could sense extremely powerful magic coming from it.

"Many have tried to open that trunk, and no one has succeeded," the hunchback said.

Raven studied it. She was sure that it would be a simple matter to open. Well maybe simple for her.

"Maybe it needs the right touch," Raven offered.

She waved her hand, and the trunk sprang open. Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, Hermione, and Raven all crowded around the trunk, to see its contents.

There was nothing inside.

"So, your mysterious fabled book isn't here," Robin said, breaking the silence.

The hunchback stepped around, to look at the trunk.

"Clever, fiendishly so, the book was never in this temple at the first place," the hunchback said.

Raven shook her head. She was sure that the book was here. She turned around and shifted some stone pillars out of the way. Yet there appeared to be no secret passageways, no hidden rooms, no compartments underneath the floor.

After twenty minutes of searching, the group turned to each other.

"Nothing?" Nightwing asked, after he did some looking around of his own.

"Nothing," Raven confirmed. She shifted everything back to the way it should have been.

None of this made sense. The book should have been here, but it was almost like someone moved it.

"You should leave, before the cultists come back," the hunchback said. "They do not take kindly to your type around here."

Hermione was about ready to ask what their type was, but Raven shook her head. She shut her mouth, realizing now was not the time. The five heroes exited the temple rather quickly.

"We're no closer to getting that book," Batgirl said. "Should we poke around a little bit?"

"I'm beginning to think it's a myth, or someone long since beat us to the punch," Hermione said, but Raven shook her head.

"My locating spells indicate that the book should be here, but where, the enchantments are not picking anything up," Raven said.

Nightwing paused, before he took out the communication device from his belt.

"Yes, there's a temple, we've seen it, and yes, we know about the trunk," Nightwing said. "There's nothing in it…no Arcane's off doing his own thing right now, him and Supergirl. They haven't got back yet. Will keep an eye out for anything, Nightwing out."

Nightwing turned around, and Raven, Hermione, Batgirl, and Robin all looked at him.

"Batman seems to think that there's a subtle clue hidden somewhere in the temple as to the real location of the book," Nightwing said.

"Both the Society of Shadows and Asotria Greengrass are after it," Hermione said, and she thought about Astoria. The danger she could present if she got her hands on the book.

Hermione shook her head. She didn't have the book yet.

"We better keep moving," Batgirl said.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and a couple of them believed they were being watched. Given the hunchback's warning about the cultists returning, perhaps it was best if they had moved to safer ground. At least until they knew what exactly they were dealing with.

Harry peaked over the side of a wall. He saw more than a few shady figures move around. Red Arrow walked behind him. The dark haired wizard studied everything, but his eyes widened when he managed to get a good look at his enemies.

"You've got to be kidding me," Harry whispered, catching a sight of the robes.

"Is there a problem?" Red Arrow asked.

"Problem, yes, a big one," Harry said. "Death Eaters, or at least rather good imitations of them. They are followers of Lord Voldemort, a rather dangerous dark wizard."

'He must have had devoted pockets of followers in other countries,' Harry thought to himself. 'Some people just don't want to ever let it go.'

"So this Voldemort and you are old enemies," Red Arrow said.

Harry offered a slight smile, but he kept his eyes on the prize. "That's putting it rather mildly."

So he had to deal with the Society of Shadows, Astoria, and these wannabe Death Eaters. All of which he suspected was after that book.

In other words, it was just another day in the life of Harry Potter.

Harry managed to track a source of magic, and he was confident that the book was located underneath the statue in the middle of the town square.

The problem was said statue was surrounded by wand wielding psychopaths. He would have liked to avoid as much attention as possible, due to the fact the Albanian Government had a very strict, "crucify Harry Potter" on sight policy. Harry looked up, and saw Kara hover over him. He smiled, pleased to see his wife.

"Got the part," Kara said to him.

"Great, but we've got another problem," Harry said, wishing he could be a bit happier about the fact they got the vital and rare component to their Interstellar Portal Device before it could fall into the wrong hands.

Kara felt a sense of dread coming on.

"What kind of a problem?" Kara asked, but Harry pointed. Kara's eyes narrowed when she saw the robed figures move around the town square. "Oh that kind of problem.

"Good news is, the book is there," Harry whispered to Kara in Kryptonian, and Kara nodded. "Underneath the statue."

"I think we have a good shot at these guys, if we time it right," Red Arrow said, but he calculated the angles. "The problem is that it might be our only shot."

"Better make it count," Harry said, but then inspiration struck him. "Do you have anything in that bag of tricks of yours that can distract them?"

"Yes, a few things," Red Arrow confirmed, but he looked at them. "What exactly do you two have in mind?"

"Just distract them, and we'll do the rest," Kara said, and if Red Arrow had any problems with this arrangement, he did not say anything.

The cultists walked around, talking in hushed undertones. A blinding flash of light distracted them. They all staggered, and were unable to regain their bearings. Some of them sent spells into the air, but they came nowhere near hitting anyone.

Immediately, Harry and Kara darted in at the speed of light. They took out the statue, causing the debris to shatter. A huge chunk of the statue crushed one of the cultists, and Kara ripped the base out. Harry looked down, and spotted a black bound spell book.

The cultists staggered around, withdrawing their wands. Kara used her heat vision to cause the pavement melt. The melted pavement caught them in the ground, and their feet sunk down. Kara grabbed Harry by the wrists, and flung him forward in a tandem attack. Harry spiraled through the air, and sent any number of lethal curses at the cultists. A few of them slipped through the night.

Harry stepped over to secure the book, but a purple spell was shot at him. He managed to put a shield up in the nick of time. Regardless of his shield, he was sent sliding backwards.

Astoria Greengrass tried to make her way to the book, but Kara grabbed her by the throat and pulled her off of the ground. Her grip tightened around Astoria's throat.

"The game's over, Greengrass," Kara said. Instead of being scared, Astoria just looked smug.

With a flick her wrist, Astoria sent a super-sonic vibration spell at Kara, which caused her super hearing to be hammered by the loud sonic sounds. It was the few seconds that the former snake needed to escape Kara's grasp. Astoria dropped to the ground, and reached for the book, but Red Arrow shot an arrow at her.

It exploded, wrapping a net around her. Astoria was bound, and the red haired archer stepped forward.

"Not so fast, lady," Red Arrow said. Astoria grinned, before she twisted into smoke and escaped from the net, before she knocked Red Arrow to the ground.

Both Potters were momentarily baffled by what just happened.

"Wait, when could she do that?" Kara asked.

"Someone's been screwing around with magical rituals," Harry whispered, and he sent a jet of red light at Astoria. Astoria dodged it, while putting a shield up.

Kara flew over at super speed, and knocked Astoria back. Astoria shrugged off the attack, before Kara spotted a necklace around her neck.

It was the talisman she stole in Brazil. It protected her from physical attacks, even from a super powered Kryptonian. Kara raised her hand, and sent a white light from her hand towards Astoria, but the witch deflected it back. Kara and Harry moved in to try and box her in. She managed to deflect their spells.

Until Harry put her down with a swift spell and Astoria was blown several feet back. She was not harmed. However, she was disoriented.

"Going to kill me, Potter?" Astoria asked him. Before Harry could answer, several assassins showed up immediately in a cloud of smoke.

Harry turned around, and saw them all surrounding them in a circle. He just smirked, that just made them easier targets. He crouched down, and slashed his wrist. A circle shot from his wand, and several birds with razor sharp beaks shot out. Anyone who was not fortunate enough to get out of the way in the circle was sliced to ribbons and essentially pecked to death by the creation.

Astoria rushed for the book. Cheshire beat her to it. Red Arrow shot an arrow, and the explosive charge knocked both girls off their feet. They both spiraled to the grounds, hands wrapped around each other's throats as they struggled.

Astoria flipped Cheshire over, and wrapped thick cords around her. The assassin tried to cut herself out, and Astoria dropped to one knee, feigning an injury. She used this opportunity to slowly crawl towards the book.

Harry and Kara were temporarily occupied with the Society of Shadows, and Astoria rolled over, flipping open the book to the page she wanted. This was the only thing she wanted. With a tug, she tore the page out, and stashed it into her robes before anyone noticed it.

Cheshire broke free from her bindings and pulled herself to her feet. Through gritted teeth, she charged Astoria, but the girl dodged immediately. Two more attacks had been fired off. Astoria dodged both of them.

"This has been fun and all, but I've got places to go, people to see," Astoria said, and she reached into her robes, before she pulled out a small pin. She had what she wanted.

However, before she could activate the Portkey, a blast of heat vision struck the pin. The attack did not harm Astoria, but it burned the pin in her hand. The melted metal dripped to the ground, and Harry dove at her. He sent an array of spells at her, trying to find a flaw in her protective talisman she wore. It protected her form magical and most physical attacks.

There was one fatal flaw. The talisman protected Astoria, and made her invulnerable. It did not make the ground beneath her immune from attacks that could indirectly hurt her. Harry jabbed his hand towards the ground, and it caused everything to crack. Astoria screamed, and Cheshire rushed in immediately. She flicked a miniature bomb at the ground, and the pavement crumbled beneath Astoria. Astoria fell hard in the sewers below, the debris of the statue, the base, and the street falling on her, burying her alive.

Harry stepped forward, to finish the job, but Cheshire rushed in front of him. She sent a dagger at Harry, but Harry transfigured it into a paper airplane.

"Very clever," Cheshire said, and she rushed forward. Harry dodged the attack. He sent a slicing spell, but she ducked her head and rolled out of the way. "But not clever enough."

She dodged a spell, sensing that it was potentially lethal. While she had no ability to perform magic, Cheshire did have enough knowledge of the arts, and enough of a sense to know when to duck. She also knew when she needed a human shield. The battle continued against Arcane, Supergirl, and Red Arrow, and the assassins circled around. They prepared to protect their leader.

Harry had to defend himself against the assassins at this moment when they turned their attention on him. He fought them hard, taking them down by flicking his wrists at the assassins. The assassins flew down onto the ground with a huge impact, and the landing was lethal for most of them.

"There do seem to be a lot of these guys," Red Arrow commented, and he shot an arrow. "And I'm running on empty."

Harry's eyes closed. He looked focused, and intent. He saw several figures move up from above.

"Well, no need to hold on for too long, help is on the way," Harry said. He assisted Kara in nailing one of the larger assassins, and the assassin crashed to the ground, the breath leaving his body.

Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Hermione, and Raven all popped up. Nightwing was first on the scene, and he knocked one of the assassins back. Levitating rocks lifted into the air, and the jagged pieces slammed into several unfortunate attackers. The assassins staggered back, and started to back off. The fight seemed a bit less certain with the odds being a bit more even. Harry slid over, and picked up the book. He stashed the book into his bag.

The Society of Shadows ran into the smoke that had been created. They had given it up as a failed mission, and Harry and Kara tried to follow them. The few that managed to escape had vanished into the night, without a trace.

"Got away, slipped into the night, into the shadows," Harry said, and he tried to see if he could find them.

They managed to give them the slip. The group ran. It was almost like they knew the alternative was death.

"They always do that," Nightwing offered him in a knowing voice. "That's just what the Society of Shadows does. They're a slippery group."

Harry and Kara exchanged a look and without another word, they slipped off towards where Astoria fell through the street. They had to find her body. She took a couple nasty hits. Both would be happier if they could find her corpse, making sure that she was dead.

"Yeah, but they can't keep running," Red Arrow said, just only slightly acknowledging Nightwing. There was a long pause, before he spoke up "Thanks for the help, you swung the numbers back the other way."

"Happy to help," Nightwing said. He carefully chose his next words. "Look whatever happened in the past…"

Red Arrow put a hand up, to stop Nightwing from saying any more.

"We both know what happened, no need to dig it up," Red Arrow said with a crisp nod. He turned around to address the entire group at large. "Take care of yourself, all of you. I'll see if I can dig up something to lead us to them. I'm sure our paths are going to cross with each other again."

Red Arrow slipped off into the night. Harry and Kara stepped forward, and Hermione noticed her two friends seemed a bit deflated.

"Didn't quite get Astoria I take it," Hermione said, and they shook their heads.

"She fell right through the street, and there should have been no way she should have survived that," Harry said, but he shook his head. "I know better though."

"Both of us do," Kara added. "We can't find her body anyway. There are body parts in the tunnel, and dismembered remains, and it's hard to tell who they belong to. There are members of the Society of Shadows down there. Until we find a body we can identify, we should assume that she could still be out there. And if she is, when we get our hands on her…."

She let her words hang. Kara did not appreciate getting her hearing bombarded with super sonics, so now Astoria made it personal Hermione looked very much disappointed, but she could see how their failure caused them to be a bit agitated.

"Well, I can't say I'm happy not knowing for sure," Hermione said, determined to still make Astoria pay for what happened, if she was still out there. "A part of me wonders if she wanted you to find her here."

Harry was thinking the same thing, he nodded. Like a Slytherin, Astoria was playing mind games. Any thought of Astoria being an innocent victim, small as they were, left Harry's head. She was calculating and brutal every step of the way.

Her reliance on the protective talisman did allow him to defeat her, in a sense. The Society of Shadows had been cut down severely.

"You should have seen the temple we found," Batgirl said breaking the silence.

That got the attention of both Potters.

"That wouldn't have had anything to do with the Death Eater wannabes that we spotted earlier," Kara said, and Batgirl looked surprised. The blonde Kryptonian decided to elaborate. "Yeah, they were surrounding a statue that stood right here, where Harry found the book."

Harry unzipped the bag to show them the book.

"Great, you found it," Raven said shortly.

"And I'm keeping it," Harry said. "After all of the trouble I went through fighting for it."

There was no argument for this. Raven had to agree with this, Harry would likely not misuse the book and might even get something out of it.

Harry and Kara turned around, helping clear up the mess that they made in the battle. There were no more surprises. Astoria had left, the Society of Shadows had left, the Voldemort cultists had also vanished into the night. They were all alone.

"Can I have a look at that temple?" Harry asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, whatever you want to do," Raven said. She was not about to stop Harry.

The group walked a short way. Harry both looked forward to and dreaded what he would find out.

"It's right…over there," Hermione said, and she looked over the fence, unable to believe what she saw.

Or rather what she didn't see, as there was no temple at all. It vanished without a trace. Hermione's mouth remained a gap, and she blinked several times.

"I don't get it," Batgirl said finding her voice. "It was right there."

"Someone must have caused it to move."

The entire group spun around, to see Batman standing there in the shadows.

"There are any number of enchantments that could cause a building to disappear," Kara said, remembering her studies. "They take a bit of power to pull off, but it can be done."

"Although maybe not this quickly," Harry added, racking his brain for an explanation.

They had no idea whether it was hidden, or had simply disappeared.

Kara nodded. "Yeah, most certainly not this quickly."

"Unless the entire temple was sentient," Raven offered. "Which would really explain a lot of what happened in there."

Harry cringed. A sentient temple that disappeared, and was a worship place for Voldemort cultists was not something that he relished dealing with. The temple was not there, but it had to be somewhere.

Batman stood calm and still in the shadows. He calculated the angles in his mind, but there was another problem. He turned to Harry.

"Greengrass did not get the book," Batman said.

Harry shook his head. "No, she didn't get the book. Although I find it rather curious that you knew that she could be out here, and you didn't mention one word for me. In fact…"

"I wasn't certain," Batman said, cutting off Harry's protests before they could even start.

It was amazing that Batman could come up with a reasonable explanation of why he did something in so few words.

"But you had an idea," Batgirl countered.

"He always has an idea," Nightwing said knowingly.

"She got away, but what about this Society of Shadows?" Kara asked. "They wanted to kill Astoria, but it seemed like they wanted their hands on the book as well."

Batman paused. One could almost get a sense he was trying to calculate what to tell them, and the consequences of it. It was a couple moments before Batman said anything.

"It's nothing good if they wanted their hands on that book," Batman said.

"Good, then we'll make sure no one comes close to grabbing it again," Harry retorted.

There was a small shadow of approval on Batman's face, even though he said nothing for a moment. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Easier said than done," Batman said, but he looked around.

"Yeah, but nothing new on that front," Harry said.

"Well, our work here is done," Kara said.

Today's mission was a mixed bag on how successful it was. After a small problem, they got their hands on the final component to the Interstellar Portal Device. Harry managed to grab the spell book, before it fell into the wrong hands. On the other hand, Astoria's body was not found and there was the mysterious vanishing temple. Not to mention the few Voldemort loyalists that still lurked around long after his death.

There was really no reason for them to stick around there, so they all made their arrangements to get out of Albania.

It was a long night, and they all needed some rest.

An aged figure stood in the back of a chamber, dressed in green and purple. His hair was dark, with the slightest hints of grey. He noticed a number of his assassins had not returned, but that was the price that they would have to pay for their carelessness. Perhaps their deaths would inspire their remaining members to be a bit more careful, and take their training to the next level.

He managed to piece together enough of the reports to have his interest piqued. When a person was centuries old, a person intended to undertake long term projects in order to pass the time.

The aged man stood in front of a map of the world. His face contorted into a sneer when he realized what time had done to this planet. He had visions of a utopia, but most of humanity was less enlightened about that fact.

His name was Ra's Al Ghul, the demon head, and the leader of the Society of Shadows. A group which he considered having a severe overhaul of, because of their multiple failures on this day. His subordinate, a large bald man named Ubu, took a few steps towards him.

"Master, what seems to trouble you?" Ubu asked.

Ra's considered his loyal servant for a moment. The truth was many things troubled him.

"The company of fools and the further decay of humanity on this day, my friend," Ra's said without blinking. "Humanity has grown complacent, and instead of bettering themselves, they wish to take short cuts."

Ra's kept calm and collected. He continued to speak his mind about what had been bothering him.

"Yet, my empire could be in position to take control of this planet for generations to come. To bring it back to the days where survival of the fittest reigned supreme, and those who were not fit, perished. Instead, those who are not fit, pollute both the minds of humanity and the nature around us."

Ra's put on a pair of glasses, and he scanned the imprint of the page, the one clue he managed to uncover as it pertained to the treasure.

"There it is, right in my midst," Ra's said. A glint of malice appeared in the aged man's eyes. "Three keys, of great power, and all of them unlocking a power beyond the wildest dreams of mankind. For centuries, people have torn themselves apart in pursuit of these items, but they foolishly had delusions of power. I will be able to wipe the slate clean, and start a fresh new world."

The Demon Head looked thoughtful, but then his attention was diverted the images of Arcane and Supergirl on the screen.

"And an amazing duo if I must say so," Ra's said, abruptly changing the subject. "Their powers are magnificent, if a bit misplaced towards heroics. Yet their dedication to a cause they believe in, it is something that should be respected and admired. They would be powerful allies in the coming change, but it is a matter of opening their eyes to the faults of this world."

Ra's paced up and down the room. His gaze snapped to the depiction of the three keys. Three pillars of power, and they were as such.

One key cloaked a person and their intentions from the one.

One key was able to break down the barriers between life and death.

And the third key was an instrument of great power, an unbeatable weapon that could vanquish armies and conquer villages, even entire countries

Alone, each of the three keys was powerful, but together the three of them would be extremely powerful indeed. Ra's gaze remained fixed. It was a treasure that could not be measured.

It was a treasure that was fit for someone of his standing.

The Demon Head continued to watch the two known as Arcane and Supergirl, impressed. Not many would take the necessary actions to vanquish an enemy fully to protect themselves, or those they cared about. Most would let the authorities take care of the rehabilitation of these wicked elements of the world, never shedding one drop of blood even if it would solve their problems.

That virtue made the human race weak, and lead to the decay of the planet. Shouldering the responsibility to the authorities, and allowed countless to perish, all in the name of playing the hero. It was to play the ego, and to ease their conscience. They were blissfully ignorant of the blood placed on their hands caused by their sad inaction.

Ra's plotted. Many plans were in motion, and many chessboards were in play from many parties. Ra's would find a way to triumph over all of them, and the world would be in the palm of his hand.

Then he could mold it into something magnificent.

Back in their main laboratory, Harry and Kara had the spell book they had liberated out on the table. They looked over it with great interest. Some of the spells were a great deal among their abilities, and other spells yet were those that had backfired that would make them think twice about even trying them.

"Look Harry, there's that symbol again, the one that was on the ship," Kara said, pointing it out at them. "And Hermione said she saw it on the temple too. It sure seems to be popping up a lot."

"Almost like it's a sign," Harry said, but he had truthfully had no idea. The symbol was something that he thought should be familiar, but for some reason he was unable to track it down. "So, Astoria…"

"She has a few new tricks," Kara said, and she rubbed her ears. They still stung a little bit from what happened. "I'm mostly back to normal, but that caused my ears to ring a little bit."

"I'm sorry, I should have stopped her," Harry said, but he paused before he added, "I just…I just wanted to understand what her motivation was completely. Gold just seemed too simple."

"Well, sometimes motivations aren't complex, sometimes there's just greed behind everything," Kara offered him, and Harry responded with a slight nod of his head. Kara put her hand on his, and they flipped through the book.

"That symbol again, and…that's interesting," Harry said, and Kara's ears perked up. "The three keys will be tamed by the seven."

"Aren't three and seven the most magically powerful numbers?" Kara asked him.

Harry responded with a swift nod, and continued to decipher the inscription. Kara looked at the writing, and her interest was grabbed.

"The three keys," Kara whispered. "Three keys that have great power, and they will give the power beyond the dreams of mere mortals."

Harry continued to read the passage. "Three pillars of power, the power to cloak ones intentions. They contain power to transcend the barriers between life and death. And the power of a weapon that could vanquish entire armies."

Kara and Harry exchanged a look. It gave them something to think about.

"Sounds like a myth to me," Harry said dismissively.

At the very least it was a myth. At the very worst, magical artifacts of that magnitude would have to have a backfire against anyone who used them.

"I don't know, all myths have a shred of truth to them," Kara said.

Harry just smiled. "Yeah, I would have to agree, and it doesn't really matter if it's true or not. There are people there who believe it is. They shall all tear each other apart in the pursuit of these keys until the chosen unites them. Sounds like something dangerous, if it exists."

Harry and Kara continued to flip through the book. There were a few things of interest and some intriguing theories about the nature of magic in general. They would be worthy of research in the future, and might broaden their abilities.

Witches and wizards had limited themselves to the theories of what was perceived to be possible. It flew in the face of the very nature of magic, which was all about creativity and thinking outside the box.

"We'll be able to hook up the portal in the morning, and then we'll be able to test it," Kara said.

"And, what would you say, in a couple of weeks, we'll be able to use it," Harry said, and Kara nodded, that sounded about right. "No need to rush. We have the pieces in place; it's just a matter of time. You did good work getting that last part back here."

Kara looked pleased with herself, and Harry bent over, to give her a passionate kiss on the lips. Kara returned it, but a buzzing sound told them that business was afoot. They had to break up their activities. Harry stepped forward, and switched on the intercom.

"Harry, we've got the ship in," Tonks informed him. "We're taking it to the storage area right now."

"Were there any problems?" Harry asked her.

"No, there weren't any problems," Tonks reported back.

"Good, we'll be down there in about a few minutes, to take a closer look at everything, and secure it," Harry said. "See you in a bit."

Harry grabbed the book, and was about to put it away. He stopped immediately, and showed something to Kara.

"There's a page missing," Kara said, and Harry looked at her with a nod. "And, Astoria must have ripped it out before her body vanished."

"I think so, but why?" Harry asked.

For that question, Kara had no answer, and neither did Harry. Harry planned to investigate a bit closer, and he opened a vault door. He gently slid the book in the vault. He made sure it was locked. Anyone who was not authorized to go in the vault would get their hands sliced off.

"Ready to go and look at that ship?" Harry asked her.

"Yeah, let's do it," Kara said in a firm voice.

Harry and Kara made their way to the storage area across Metropolis, to hopefully get a bit more in depth study into the mysterious alien ship. Hopefully they could solve this one a bit easier than the mysterious disappearing temple in Albania.

Rain dropped down, and a scorpion morphed into a fifteen year old girl. She had returned from a mystical pit that healed her injuries from earlier. Her associates had commandeered a couple of these pits for research purposes, unknowing to the man who had previously discovered them. When she took her dip into the pit, she suffered madness, and then clarity. Her near lethal injuries had been healed.

The page of the book she tore out was clutched in her fist. A section of the page talked about the fanciful legend of the three keys, but Astoria was more concerned about the real treasure. A treasure that would allow her to become the richest witch in the world, and that was where the true power lied.

She saw illustrations of four rune stones. One was green with the inscription of a snake on it. A second rune stone was blue with an inscription of an eagle on it. A third rune stone was yellow with a badger on it. The fourth rune stone was orange with an inscription of a lion upon it.

Four powerful items on their own, but together they unlocked a secret that the four Hogwarts founders locked away. It was a treasure of untold riches.

Astoria used a charm to dig through the dirt, and she found the first hint the treasure was real. She pulled out a small green rune stone that flickered in the moonlight. Her blonde hair flicked back out of her face, and Astoria turned around, before she took a few more steps back.

Several uniformed figures stepped forward. She offered them a cordial nod.

"Do you have what you were looking for, Ms. Greengrass?"

Astoria held up the green stone and nodded with a smirk on her face. Her associates stood across from her, and the young witch took a few steps towards them.

"I need to return, before my friend gets suspicious," Astoria said to them. "He's already asking too many questions. If I didn't need him alive, I would have disposed of him. I'll be in touch if I need your assistance."

"Of course, have safe passage, Ms. Greengrass."

Astoria turned around, and walked off into the night.

When Astoria had left, one of the figures unwrapped an item contained in a red cloth. It was a nearly identical green rune stone. The only difference was that it was a bit smaller than the other one that Astoria had uncovered. A click activated the ear piece that one of the men had on.

"Report."

"Do you have the stone?"

"Yes, we found it just before she arrived, and swapped it for a duplicate. She won't suspect a thing, and may just assume it's a counterfeit."

"Let's hope for your sake she doesn't catch onto our duplicity."

"No, Mr. Luthor, sir."

"Bring it to me, immediately, before anyone finds out what you were doing," Lex Luthor said. "Especially Waller. You will receive a bonus if you keep this from her. Give her any hint, and you will be lucky to be cleaning the toilets."

"Of course, sir, expect it within the day."

The men boarded the helicopter, and it lifted off into the ground. A wind blew as it flew off into the night, and back to the Cadmus Base.

Standing in a warehouse, charmed to look run down and condemned from the outside, stood the same imposing vessel that Harry, Kara, and Hermione came across in Brazil. It remained still, and silent. Harry walked around it, and fired every single diagnostic spell he could think of. There were many, but the scans came up as one thing.

Inclusive, the scans were inconclusive all around the board.

Harry and Kara both sighed immediately. Kara tried to use her telescopic vision to find something, anything microscopic that would indicate an opening. Whoever had created this ship, it seemed to make sure it locked up tight.

Kara placed her hand on the ship. The alloy was very fine and cool to the touch. She studied it carefully. "Cool to the touch."

"Yes, but no way inside," Harry said, biting his lip and studying the ship intently.

"And it's lined with lead on the inside," Kara said, trying to use her X-Ray vision to scan the ship. Frustration mounted.

"Without being able to penetrate the ship with magic, I couldn't transfigure the lead into something you can see through," Harry added, and Kara folded her arms, a cross expression on her face.

She slammed her hands on the ship, but there was no way in. Harry circled around the ship, and he noticed something, about the mark. He traced around it.

"I think that's our way in," Harry said to her.

Kara stepped back, and unleashed heat vision onto the mark. The mark absorbed her best attack. Harry tapped on it, but there was no reaction.

"Let me try something," Harry said.

He sorted through his bag, and threw out several items to get to what he needed. One of them was the Invisibility Cloak. Once the cloak hit the ship, it reacted, but only for a second. Harry picked up the cloak, curiously, and he dangled it above the mark. The triangle turned from black to white.

'Interesting,' Harry projected to Kara.

"Okay, that's weird," Kara said. "What do you think it means?"

Harry took a moment to think it over.

"I think it means that this symbol is three components, to unlock this ship, and whatever's inside," Harry said. "If there's anything inside."

"So the circle and the line are also part of it," Kara said, but then she stopped. "Three keys…you don't suppose?"

Harry was silent. The situation mulled over his mind.

"If that's the case, then this ship needs to be under the highest security imaginable," Harry said. "Three keys, tamed by the seven, will unlock a great power."

"Who are the seven?" Kara asked.

Harry remained thoughtful. That was a good question. Right now, they made preparations to secure the ship, until they found the other two keys, or found an alternate way in.

Then they would go from there.

The mysterious ship stood, immobile and ominous.

To Be Continued in Portal.