Chapter 20: Lighting the Bulb

The Imperium fled. It was just like when Batman had taken control of the core, or when their leader had died in the physical world. When a battle was lost, their true cowardice showed, at least for the moment. They ran, ran to regroup, ran to think what they needed to do next, and how they could unleash their undoubted power to put an end to the heroes who stood against them, as well as an end to the Earth.

Wonder Woman watched them go, feeling triumphant. They had done it. They had driven the Imeprium off. They had shown the Martians the path to bravery. They had driven the cloud away from the innocent and into the strangling depths of the oceans. More, they had the chance to keep it there, both through the Martians strengths and the drag of the ocean currents holding it back. They had done it.

But they weren't done. There was still a long way to go. And they didn't have a guide to show them that way.

Wonder Woman quickly looked around her as she hung in the air. With the Imperium in full flight, the Martians had dropped the shrouding light, no doubt instead focussing on keeping at bay the Imperium's efforts to undo the drowning. That meant she could see everyone clearly. Flash and Shayera stood out starkly against the sands, both relatively distant, both looking around themselves as they came to grips with the situation and the sudden lack of enemies. The Martians, meanwhile, were exactly where Wonder Woman had left them. With no distinctive black shape to draw her to, it was there that Wonder Woman knew she had to be.

Flash and Shayera knew it too. They were both already beginning to make their way over there. Wonder Woman was not about to miss the party herself. They had to figure this out. Drowning the cloud was only ever a means to buy them time. Batman had said exactly that when he had delivered the plan. It was to buy them the time they needed to make a true plan to end this thing. Only Batman wasn't here any more. They no longer had the master strategist at hand, the man who had somehow managed to know the cloud was coming before anyone else, who had figured out what it was before anyone else, and who had gotten them this far in stopping it. He could well still be back active outside the cloud – Wonder Woman prayed to the gods that he was – and working on a plan, but that would do nothing to help those of them already in here to know what to do.

Wonder Woman touched down at J'onn's side only just before Shayera did likewise. Flash, of course, had gotten there first. The vast majority of Martians eyes were still glowing, showing all of the signs that they were still telepathically active. However, J'onn and the apparent leader had ceased their telepathy. Apparently that one was about to act as the spokeswoman for all of her kind for the talk that they all knew would be inevitable now that the cloud was drowned. With the five-being group fully gathered, no time was wasted.

"We have risked our safety to assist you," the long transcended Martian began it all, voice firm. "We have done as you needed in forcing this energy away into the waters of your world, and we shall keep it there as long as we can, but the Imperium are almost certain to eventually find a way to overcome our control. There are too many of them for them not to. But now we must know. What are your intentions now? Your full intentions. Where do we go from here? How do we remain safe? How do we stop the Imperium unleashing their retribution upon us once they find a way to retake control?"

"Woah, hang on a minute!" Shayera declared, butting in. "Before we start getting technical here, someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?"

"I wouldn't mind hearing it again either," Flash muttered after that. "I forgot to take notes the first time. My head's still catching up with me on this one."

"I hope the short version will do then," Wonder Woman told them both. It was a rather complex situation after all... "This cloud isn't just energy. It's made up of the minds of the dead."

"We all died while at war with the Imperium," the Martian leader stepped in. "Except it wasn't our end. We transcended, something long believed a myth. With our minds connected at the time, the destruction of our bodies didn't also destroy our minds. Our mental energies left our bodies, becoming this cloud you see today. The problem was the transcendence absorbed the attacking Imperium with us, in the same way that you people have been absorbed. They have been plaguing us for centuries, but when they learned of J'onn's presence here they came after him instead, hoping he could lead them back home to their master. Then they learned that their leader was dead, and decided to go for revenge. We, thanks to your friends here, have decided to stand up and stop them. We now need to know how. Now, is there any more time you wish to waste on stories?"

"Sorry I asked," Shayera muttered under her breath following the Martian's closing outburst.

"What M'vall means to say is that we must get to work again," J'onn stepped in with an explanation, finally giving Wonder Woman a name to put to the other Martian's face.

"So what's the plan then?" Shayera asked, not letting M'vall's ongoing glare being sent her way dim her stubborn questioning. "You guys were clearly already up to something when I got here. How were you intending to stop this if what us outsiders were doing was ineffective enough for us all to have to stay in here?"

"Err... That's kind of a problem," Flash moaned. "Getting here was the plan. We're still looking for the 'X' on the map to tell us where to go next, but it's better hidden than Waldo. I don't suppose you've got any ideas?"

An awkward silence descended upon them all at that. Everyone began to look around at each other, as if hoping that one of them would have some kind of inspired notion. But Wonder Woman could instantly tell that the solution would not be instant.

At least not for any of them...

"My people can hold this cloud where it is, but it will not be long before the Imperium rediscover their courage. They will attack us again. Next time we might not be able to hold them off. And by then they may have this cloud out of the waters anyway," M'vall broke the silence at last, stating the facts once more. The others used that as a springboard, essentially using conversation as a means to try and find an end. However, Wonder Woman wasn't really listening.

That feeling was back at the corners of her mind, the oddest sensation of another presence. It was almost like in that moment they were still in that core, still connected. For, in that moment, despite the distance, she could feel Batman's mind again. She could feel him out there. And she could feel him triumphant. It only lasted a moment, but it was long enough to give her all that she needed to know. Long enough to make her smile.

Once again, Batman had a plan.

Mr. Terrific had been so captivated by the footage of the cloud falling into the oceans that it had taken him several moments to register Batman stood there beside him. Even then, it just threw even more shock his way. Obviously he had not been told that Batman was awake, but Batman didn't care. He didn't say two words to the man. He hardly even glanced at the sensor footage of the falling cloud, although he did allow himself a silent, internal celebration. They had finished it without him. Superman had allowed them to. Diana had done it.

Now they had to figure out what to do next. Now Batman had to make sure that Superman continued to allow Diana and the rest to remain where they were surely still needed, inside the cloud. He was convinced that this threat could only be beaten, truly beaten from within. He just had to figure out how they would do that.

And so he programmed the teleporters, beaming down to Metropolis just as Mr. Terrific managed to recognise he was there. One second he was on the Watchtower, and the next, he wasn't.

Metropolis looked quite different to when he had last seen it. Then it had been picturesque, almost the perfect city. There had been many a time when he had wished that Gotham would look like this place. He dreamed of it, dreamed of the day when Gotham would no longer need him because it was cured of its own dark soul and could become another beacon of light. Because of that, Metropolis had always been a beacon of hope for him.

A very distant beacon.

But it didn't look that inspiring right now. It looked...broken. It felt like he could hear the screams and yells from miles away as people desperately tried to get out of there, and he didn't blame them. It was abundantly clear that the efforts of Superman and the rest hadn't been enough. It was clearer that the members of the Justice League on the inside hadn't been quick enough to stop the cloud's assault. He hadn't been quick enough. And now the towers were falling, and people had died.

And it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot.

He had beamed down right into the hub of activity, the heart of the populations' efforts to save itself. The military were hard at work, rushing all around him, getting their fellows out in the city organised to get civilians clear. But that didn't stop them all from looking his way as they darted past, from casting him a second glance in surprise. It wasn't everyday they got to see the legendary Batman – he was hardly the public figure the rest of the Justice League were. But now he was right in their midst, right there, when it must have seemed to them almost like the world was ending.

But Batman didn't look at them once, let alone twice. He had spotted straight away where he had to get to. The bright green of the man's outfit stood out strong against the militaristic backdrop, stood beside a man Batman recognised from one of his many files to be General Felix Mulligan, an old warhorse if ever there was one. Batman was quickly marching over to join them, straight through the middle of all the soldiers. Arrow spotted him long before he got there. Reading the man's lips, Batman could see him informing Superman of his arrival. Good. This way Kent and whoever else wanted in on the picture would get there about as fast as he would.

Indeed, the red and blue blur touched down beside Green Arrow just as Batman drew alongside. The green aura of GL soon followed and, across the way, Batman could see as both Dr. Fate and Zatanna came hurrying over to join in too. Of course, he had to get through the usual greetings first. The others were always far too casual, far too unnecessarily compassionate with their displays of affection. But he knew that those weren't things that were about to change. He just had to make sure they lasted for as minimal a time as possible.

"Batman!" Superman pretty much screamed his name, not even attempting to hide his relief at seeing his friend again. No doubt there had been a time when Kent and the rest had thought that he, Diana and the others where lost for good, particularly when the cloud first took them. Seeing him here again, in one piece, would have put those fears completely to bed, and fully brought out the boy scout in him. Thankfully the Kryptonian managed to hold back the hug this time. "Are we glad to see you!"

"I'll say!" Zatanna declared as she and Fate finally drew close. She certainly seemed happy to see him back too. Luckily, at least one of the bunch understood how much of a hurry they were in.

"The legendary Batman, eh? I expected you to be taller," General Mulligan muttered before the next of the heroes could get in. "Look, with all due respect, what the hell is going on? I figure you've been up to something. We were about to destroy that thing until it turned into your sign! You could have cost us a whole lot of lives with that manoeuvre!"

"That saved lives, Mulligan," Batman countered with a growl, startling Mulligan by showing how he knew the man already. "I don't know how much you know, but that cloud contains the minds of hundreds if not thousands of people. Your plan to just destroy it would kill about as many as it would save. As for your plan–" Batman turned to Superman and Fate at that "–it won't work either. Those people in the cloud are not alone."

"Not alone?" GL repeated the words, clearly shocked by them. "Who else is up there? What the hell is that thing?"

Batman turned to face him directly, despite his words being meant for all of them. It didn't matter that he hadn't been around for the last eight months. It was clear that Lantern was worrying about Shayera now that she was in there too.

"It's an entity formed from the linked consciousness of dying Martians, Martians who are still in there right now long after their bodies expired. There's an entire species in there that we can bring back from virtual extinction. But when the cloud was formed many Imperium soldiers were absorbed into it as the people around here were. A lot of them. Those Imperium had control of the cloud. They came here looking for their leader, the one we destroyed years ago. Now that they've learned what happened, they're angry, and they're coming for revenge."

"You're not filling me with confidence son..." Mulligan muttered, shaking his head.

"I must admit I'm waiting to hear the upside myself," Superman concurred. Batman glared at him, making even the Earth's mightiest hero tremble slightly over his next words. "Batman, you said you had a plan?"

"We took control," Batman simply answered, still growling but his voice level. "We got the Martians on side. We used their telepathy to move the cloud while the Imperium were distracted attacking the city. We moved the cloud out of play, away from the city, somewhere where it will take the Imperium time to extract it. We bought us all time to come up with a proper plan, one that won't get every innocent within it killed. I won't abandon our people or those Martians to death, not while there's any chance."

"So what is that plan?" Mulligan pressed. "You've prevented us from carrying out any of our plans, for a bunch of aliens who you suggested just moments ago were dead already. So what's your idea, if its so much better? How are you going to get the people of this city, the people still in this city, out of this safely? Hmm?"

Mulligan had Batman there. They didn't have that plan yet. They hadn't had time to come up with one. Shayera had interrupted everything first. That meant he could do nothing but stare at Mulligan. The General, however, did not react well to that.

"You don't have one do you?" Mulligan uttered, impatience lining his every tone. "This is a waste of time. You people call yourself heroes. Well start acting like it. All you've done is save the very thing that is trying to kill our own. Call me when you have something useful to do."

With that the General turned and stormed away, marching back off to his command bunker. The man clearly wasn't happy, but was just as clearly desperate. That immediately made Batman begin to feel suspicious, suspicious of what that would make the military man do to achieve his goals here. Unfortunately, there wasn't time to truly begin to assess those suspicions.

"Well that went well," Green Arrow muttered once the General was out of earshot. "I'll try and cool him off when we're done here, but seriously Bats. Don't you have a plan?"

"Getting the cloud away from the city was the plan," Batman snarled, letting a bit more of his own eternal rage out as a means of telling the rest not to bother questioning him any more. "Finding a way to extract both the humans and the Martians in there, without just setting the cloud loose in Imperium control, isn't going to be as easy as you might think. We needed time to figure out how to do that, time where we weren't having to fight the Imperium to save the people of this city. Drowning the cloud has given us that time."

"Well I can categorically state now that what we were doing before will not work now, not for all," Dr. Fate stepped in. "Unless you know of a place where these Martians' bodies still exist, we cannot extract them from that cloud without losing their minds to oblivion."

"There bodies are long gone," Batman informed them all again. They were all looking at him eagerly, despite all that he had already said. So many times in the past he had come up with the plan that had saved the world, despite all the others having all the powers. Unfortunately, this time he had nothing, and not for the lack of trying. His lack of words spoke volumes.

"Just to bring you up to speed then," Green Lantern began. He seemed more desperate to get on with this than any of the others. Batman could even see his palms sweating. It made him begin to wonder exactly what the situation was between GL and Shayera. Only begin to wonder though. It could definitely wait. "Nothing we've tried out here would be remotely useful. The only thing we've found that'll do anything other than keep that energy back destroyed an entire limb of that cloud and got people killed. Not particularly helpful."

"What about the others?" Superman clutched at straws, clearly not expecting to come up with anything himself. "Diana, J'onn, Flash, even Shayera before you were gone. Had any of them got anything before Fate got you out of there? Had they even got a start of anything that'd work? A notion? Even if it was just something that seemed ridiculous at the time?"

Batman thought back before answering. There was a point there. There had been developments. Things did change. Unfortunately nothing was springing to mind. He and Wonder Woman had been practically side by side from the moment they had all entered the cloud. Closer even, for that moment when their memories had been linked for a while by the cloud's central core. Not only that, but he remembered it all vividly. There was nothing there. Nothing he had heard from J'onn was particularly key right now either. Shayera hadn''t had time to say anything at all. And as for Flash, he was too busy making stupid jokes and movie references.

Movie references...

That was it. Yes, there had been the instincts to avoid it, but those instincts were wrong. It was the only way.

His face must have given it away. He was certainly feeling far more optimistic, triumphant even. It must have shown.

"What?" GL pressed. "What is it?"

"Can you send me back in the same way you brought me out?" Batman addressed Dr. Fate first. It was the one thing he still had to question, the one thing left to complete the plan that had rapidly formed in his head. The pressures down there in the depths of the ocean would be great, and that was without mentioning how he would get out of the waters if he went in that way. But he needed a way in, a way back in. "Can you put my consciousness back in the energy without me having to travel deep into the ocean to get in the old fashioned way?"

Even behind his mask, Batman could tell that Fate was looking at him quizzically. After all, all the rest of the gathering were doing, as if he had just said something completely crazy.

"Now that Shayera is in place as a link to that location, it should be possible," Fate replied. "The energy of the cloud seems capable of sustaining a human consciousness, though I cannot say for sure. There will be great risk involved."

"It'll be worth it," Batman simply answered, before turning to the group as a whole. It was time to deliver the plan. "I know how we work this. The precise details will take too long to explain and simply put you don't need to know them. But in short, I just figured out how to turn the cloud from a weapon into a cage. I know how to entrap the Imperium and make sure that the thing can never do any damage ever again. And I know how to get the Martians out of there. But to do it, I need to go back in. Alone."

"Why alone?" Superman quickly interrupted there. Predictable. Especially after Batman's last mission as an official part of the Justice League. "Batman, we can help! Just tell us how. You don't have to take on all the risks alone."

"I need to go alone because the rest of you will still be needed out here," Batman firmly responded, eyes now focussed on Kent as if to dare him to question the plan again. The Kryptonian kept quiet, listening this time. "To pull off what I've got in mind we'll need a form of control over the cloud. To ensure that we get that, we need the Imperium distracted again. That means we have to let them attack the city once more."

"You what?" Green Arrow was the first to blurt out there.

"Batman, you can't–!" Superman began to complain too, but now it was Batman's turn to interrupt.

"That's why I need you people to stay out here, to keep the people safe while the military continue to evacuate. Superman, Lantern you two need to keep working with those in the League who can fly to hold it at bay. Arrow, you need to keep liaising with the military, try to help them keep the cloud pushed towards the zones that are already evacuated. Once I'm back in the cloud I'll try to buy you as much time as I can, but the Imperium won't be waiting. They'll be attempting to attack anyway. By letting them we might just catch them more off guard and bring an end to this. Just make sure they can't take more lives than we can rescue. And as for the League magicians, you'll be needed too. Flash and Shayera will be attempting to free the citizens the cloud has taken. You need to get all of them out when they do, Flash and Shayera too."

"And you?" Zatanna asked without waiting for Batman to catch a breath. "Where will you be in all of this? And Wonder Woman and J'onn too. And the Martians at that. Where will you all be? How will you get out of there?"

Batman turned to look at her then. Zatanna had been close to him for longer than any one else in the Justice League. More than for the rest of them, he felt the need to explain to her, to make sure she understood that he was planning that they all made it through this, himself included.

"When we've taken the Imperium out of play we'll be able to make our own way out," he assured her, even slightly reducing the anger in his growl. "The power of the cloud is strong. By then we'll have control of it. Full control. We'll be able to reverse the process that put us in there originally. Don't worry about us. But we'll have to take care of the Imperium first. And save the Martians. So we'll need you all to keep buying us time."

"Well I'm telling you now, ol' Mulligan isn't gonna like this one jot," Arrow commented, scratching his head. "We'll be deliberately putting folks at risk. I can't say I'm too happy about that myself."

"Got any better ideas?" Lantern quickly turned on him, clearly defending Batman's plan already. Hearing that this could not only save many but also get Shayera out of the cloud quickly and alive must have been enough to convince him.

"That's where you've got me," Arrow shrugged. "Fine, then. Let's do it. But you better not have chosen the worst time ever to start being wrong Bats."

"Then in the complete absence of any other genuine option, lets give this a try," Superman summed up, acting like the chairman of the board, particularly since the entire League did look up to him as their leader. Batman found that fact almost amusing. He definitely respected Kent. He was inspirational, a great figurehead and a genuinely good person. But in times of crisis, true crisis, it was always Batman people ultimately turned to to lead them. Kent included.

"Allow us just a few minutes to prepare for the spell," Fate stepped in, referring to both himself and Zatanna. "We need to bring the other magicians up to speed so they can help us to safely transport you back to where you need to be."

"And I'll need the time to cool the General off before telling him about this," Green Arrow piped up. "Better wait until you're gone before I tell him too. I get the feeling he might try and gun you down otherwise."

"Then go get to it," Batman ordered all three of them. "Do it now. I want to be ready to go as soon as you're prepped."

"See you in sec, then," Zatanna muttered, before she turned and slunk away. Even as she did so, though, she kept her eyes on him. Fate and Arrow were trailing off with her straight away, ready to do their jobs in all of this. Batman waited for them to be out of earshot before going further.

He could tell that Green Lantern and Superman were both watching him closely. He could also tell that they weren't the only ones. There was another set of eyes on him, eyes that didn't even belong to the military. Eyes that were those of a certain feisty reporter. Lois was here. She was off in the distance but she was here, keeping tabs on everything just as any top reporter would. Good. That meant the Imperium hadn't got her too.

"Bruce," Superman said his true name, whispering it to make absolutely sure that no one else could overhear. "Just tell me one thing. Tell me you know what you're doing."

"Don't I always?" Batman growled in reply. "Kent, there's no time for your usual sentimental antics. Just do your job. But you might want to get her out of here first. I'd hate for you to have to save her life yet another time, especially when we might need you elsewhere."

"What–?" Superman began again to ask. Batman could guess that the other words would have been 'are you talking about'. However, following Batman's line of sight to her, Superman realised on his own.

"Get her clear of here, Kent," Batman growled in response, about as politely as he could muster while in the full Batsuit. "And you might want to consider showing her your glasses while you're at it."

Batman didn't wait for Superman to react to that one. Hell, Superman seemed to be taking his time figuring out how to react. He was left almost dumbfounded on the spot while Batman marched away in pursuit of Zatanna and Dr. Fate. It wouldn't be long until the Man of Steel was in motion, but Batman knew him well enough to understand that when he did, it would be Lois he headed for, not him. He also felt damn sure that those glasses would be staying away, despite his momentary slip into some sentimentality of his own. An unfortunate side affect of recent...changes in his life.

"How are they doing in there? How... How's Shayera doing?"

Green Lantern hadn't been left frozen. He was hot on Batman's heels, so hot that he almost walked straight into him when Batman stopped to address him. He could sense all of the worry in his ally's voice, worry for the woman he loved, no matter how much he admitted that fact. It was the kind of worry Batman completely understood. Courtesy of his knowledge and training, he was just better at hiding his own.

But he understood all too well how distracting such issues could be. They could never be completely nipped in the bud – if they could be then Batman would have done so long ago instead of having to give in to his buried heart.

But he could try to assuage those worries for a while. For both

"John, they're fine. They were all fine when I left. They're strong, don't forget that. Shayera, and 're stronger than we can ever truly realise. They will all make it out of there, those two definitely included. We can make sure of it. You have to focus. And have faith that they can look after themselves."

Green Lantern actually laughed at that. Batman had not seen that coming. "When did you suddenly become so trusting? Last time I saw you you went all out against us all to keep Diana away from danger, and now you're the one telling me to be trusting! It's...refreshing to see."

"Eight months is a long time to change," Batman replied. "Trust her John. Trust yourself. We only have our choices. There's no such thing as destiny. And making it your cage is never a good idea."

No doubt in a minute he too would be on task, heading off to Captain Atom and the rest to deliver the plan. But for now it was GL's turn to freeze, stunned still by what Batman had just said. For the second time in a minute Batman had just delivered an important personal message to one of his allies. He had just issued relationship advice. Damn that felt strange. Diana really was changing him.

But before he could even think any more about that, he had to save her. He had to save them all. The world was in his hands still, but thankfully he now had his plan. It was time to go to war.

He just had to reach the battleground where it was to be fought.

A/N:

Review away friends. No such thing as too much feedback!