Chapter 13
Explanation...
After night had fallen on Jump City, the two combatants, once hellbent on destroying the other, were safely back at Titans tower. From here, Polybius found himself confined to the medical bay, with only a curtain between himself and Wonder Woman.
At that moment in time, Raven was on watch, and currently meditating just beyond the curtain. Wonder Woman had fallen unconscious, leaving himself, in a way, alone.
And naturally, the mute Titan was paid a visit from his darker counterpart.
"Good evening Polybius!" Darkbius greeted as he approached the young Titan.
It was clear to Polybius at that moment in time that Raven could not hear, see or detect him as she just went on meditating.
"Boy oh, boy, look at you now." Darkbius started "Broken, bruised and battered. And all for what? To prove that you aren't Montezuma? Oh please, Montezuma looks like an angel compared to what you've done!"
As Polybius remained motionless on his bed and took the verbal beating from the dark Polybius, not too far away, just outside of the medical bay, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire and Robin were gathered discussing what had happened.
"I think Polybius won." Beast Boy stated, "He totally kicked her butt."
"Nobody won." Robin quickly shut down "What happened was a serious case of misunderstanding."
"Yes." Starfire said "Although, I do hold the Woman of Wonder at fault for this. She really 'jumped the gun' yes?"
"She did." Cyborg agreed "However, now knowing why Montezuma hasn't appeared in Jump City, can any of us really say we wouldn't do the same thing?"
Nobody would answer that question, as Raven called over on her communicator that Wonder Woman was waking up.
"Come on y'all." Cyborg said, "We've got a story to tell."
The team then proceeded headed down to the medical bay. Once there, they found Raven tending Wonder Woman.
"What happened?" Wonder Woman asked.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Raven asked.
"When that monster took this chunk out of my arm." Wonder Woman explained, "After that, it's all just a blur."
"Well, maybe we can fill in the gaps for everybody." Robin said as the team entered the room.
"Gaps?" Diana asked, "Your friend Polybius attacked Paradise Island, killed one of my sisters and kidnapped another, leaving the island in ruins on their way out."
"That wasn't him." Robin stated.
"That's a lie." Wonder Woman spat "His face matches that of the face of the invaders."
"Look, if you'll please let us explain, we'll fill you in on not only what we think actually happened, but also why it would have been physically impossible for Polybius to do that at the time it happened." Cyborg said.
Wonder Woman didn't respond as Starfire walked around the curtain to see the mute Titan looking out the window.
"Polybius?" Starfire questioned as she approached him.
At that moment, where Darkbius had once been standing, now stood Starfire. She looked at him with a worried face.
"He is awake." Starfire called over to the other side.
"Good." Robin said, "Then we'll only need to explain this once."
Starfire then drew back the curtain and Wonder Woman locked eyes on Polybius.
"You!" She spat angrily, but still too weak to make a serious effort to attack him.
"Stop!" Starfire said putting herself between the two "You must listen to what we have to say before you can do anything else!"
The Amazon, knowing she was too weak to try and fight off the team, held back and rested in her bed.
"So enlightened me." Wonder Woman ordered.
"Well-" Robin started before getting cut off by Raven.
"Wait." The half-demon girl said picking up the lasso of truth "Hold this so she knows you're telling the truth."
"Good idea." Robin said as every member of the Titans except Polybius took hold of the lasso.
Wonder Woman looked up at the team of young heroes.
"Alright." Robin started "So where should we start."
"Wherever you like." Wonder Woman said.
"Alright." Robin said, "I guess I'll start from the first time we encountered Montezuma."
"Alright." Wonder Woman said, "Start there."
Robin then began to explain "So when we first met the Aztec warrior, it was just myself and Polybius facing off against him. He thrashed us hard, stole a bunch of gold, and then disappeared for a while before suddenly showing up again at the museum and stole Aztec artifacts. That time, however, only Polybius fought him and as soon as we showed up, he vanished."
"That doesn't tell me much." Wonder Woman commented.
"Well you see, the thing is, nobody has seen him since that day." Robin went on "That was the last time we saw Montezuma, and that was well over 5 months ago."
"So?" Wonder Woman said, "Seems like deception to me."
"Well, it's not." Cyborg began "Because that night Paradise Island was attacked, our biggest threat, Slade, had launched a plan to make Robin his apprentice. And with the time frame, we've gotten by talking to the Justice League, Polybius was with us the entire time Paradise Island was being attacked. And it was the real Polybius because Slade had used infected us with nanoprobes, so with the push of a button, he could take us all out."
"However!" Starfire quickly piped up "We discovered Slade's plan, and in the end, it ended up with Robin infecting himself with the probes."
"And all of this was going on while your home was being attacked." Raven added.
"Okay." Wonder Woman said, starting to connect the dots in her head "But that still doesn't rule out things like magic."
"As of right now, Polybius has never displayed any magical abilities." Cyborg stated, "And Raven, who is our magic expert, says he doesn't have any magical abilities, right?"
"Correct." Raven confirmed, "Therefore, it would have been impossible for Polybius to attack your home at that moment in time."
"Not to mention that Polybius and Montezuma are two different people." Beast Boy added.
"So then why did all of the people who attacked Themyscira look very similar to him?" Wonder Woman added.
"As of right now, we have no reason to believe that Montezuma does NOT possess magical capabilities." Raven said "It is entirely possible that he used some sort of spell, or has a magical ally, that made him and his horde look like Polybius to throw you off of his trail. However, from the details we have about the attack on your home, we now believe that either he or an ally of his does possess magical capabilities."
Wonder Woman went wide-eyed as she connected the last of the dots. She had been fooled hard.
"By the gods…" Wonder Woman said as she put both hands on her head.
"Yeah." Beast Boy said, "You got played hard."
Cyborg smacked Beast Boy in the back of his head.
"How could this happen?" Wonder Woman asked herself.
"It is not your fault." Starfire assured her "If it had been any of us in that same situation, we too would have likely acted in the same way you did."
Meanwhile, back at Montezuma's residence, the warrior in question picked up a cigarette and began smoking hard.
"Montezuma!" The voice of the Sun God called out.
"Man, I thought you said you had taken care of Wonder Woman!?" Montezuma demanded.
"I did." The voice stated, "She's not on your trail, rather, she's been thrown off of it hunting Polybius for the past four months."
"Oh goodness." Montezuma said "But wouldn't her now discovering that Polybius was not behind the attacks, put her on my trail. Especially now that she has fought Polybius."
"Yes and no." The voice bellowed "Quite frankly, for the plan, it no longer matters what they do. Whether or not they fight each other is irrelevant. With you having been off the grid for months, the idea is that she'll restart her search. Most likely heading back to Mexico City."
"But Polybius will stay here." Montezuma pointed out.
"And do what?" The voice bellowed "Stay on your trail? Bah! He can't find your trail!"
"I hope you're right." Montezuma said as he finished his cigarette.
"Also, since when did you pick up smoking?" The voice asked.
"Not long after you told me to roll back on Cortés." Montezuma said.
"Well, you can't kill them yet!" The voice bellowed.
"Why not?" Montezuma questioned, "It's been four months and I'm dying to finally send her soul up to you."
"All in good time." The voice bellowed "But you can't repeatedly beat her to the point of near-death, cause you keep risking her dying. And if she dies before I tell you you can sacrifice her, then you are going to get punished.
"Got it." Montezuma said.
"That being said, however!" The voice suddenly perked up "I still want your long, daily, torture sessions to get more intense, at least verbally. You've been too quiet lately. She needs to hear your voice to keep up that impending sense of doom."
"You got it." Montezuma said.
"In fact, why don't you go pay her a visit right now." The voice stated "You don't have to really do anything, as torturing her is all I've been having you do all day every day since you kidnapped her. But still, I think a nice talk between you and them would really help instill the fear we're trying to build."
"Whatever you say." Montezuma stated.
"One more thing!" The voice bellowed out "Use this."
On the counter in front of Montezuma, suddenly appeared the two halves of Wonder Woman's broken tiara.
Down in the basement, Donna laid on her back, her knees tucked into her chest and her arms cramped up by her head inside her small dog cage. Montezuma had long ago stripped her of her clothing, leaving her defenseless in the cold basement. She also bore many barks from beatings, cuttings, burnings, and a multitude of other wounds.
At that moment in time, Donna was exhausted and was broken. She had made a few escape attempts when it seemed like Montezuma had let his guard down. However, every time she tried, she failed miserably and paid for it dearly. In fact, to prevent her from escaping, Montezuma broke her legs in multiple places and then didn't treat them so they would heal improperly.
The light in the basement flickered on and Donna felt a wave of fear overcome her. She had already taken her fair share of torture today, what else could this man want.
"Wake up!" Montezuma shouted as he shook her cage.
Donna just let out a groan in pain and didn't open her eyes.
Then without warning, she suddenly felt a bucket of cold water splash on her face, jolting her awake.
"Good." Montezuma said as the two made eye contact "Listen up Cortés. I want to tell you something that I think you should know."
Donna looked up at him.
"Your sister Diana came by today." Montezuma said, "I must say, her attempt at rescuing you was valiant, but she's now dead."
To prove his point, Montezuma held up the broken tiara for Donna to see. The poor girl felt a wave of sadness wash over her as tears began to form up in her eyes.
"And you know, with your people being so afraid of everything, I don't really think you have anything to look forward to besides your soon death!"
The Aztec then stabbed the girl with one of his electro sticks. This sent a shock wave of pain through the poor girl's body.
"So I suggest you give up all hope of being rescued." Montezuma said, "But don't worry Cortés, we still have a lot more fun to go through!"
With that, Montezuma hit the Amazon with his electro staff one last time before leaving the room, turning the lights off behind him.
Donna began to cry silently to herself. With Wonder Woman dead, and the evidence right in front of her, the teen girl was sure that there was now no one on their way to save her. She was going to die cold, alone, and scared.
Meanwhile, back at Titan's Tower, a few days had passed since the fight. Wonder Woman hadn't spoken to Polybius, and Polybius had made no attempts to communicate with her. This wasn't helped when the mute Titan was released earlier than she was on the lone fact that he hadn't broken any bones in the fight. And while he had been severely battered, Raven's powers made both his and Diana's recoveries a lot quicker. This allowed both of them to get back to work quite rapidly.
That being said, however, the anger that had existed between the two had vanished, and Polybius was just waiting for an apology.
Which he got once she was finally released from the medical bay. The Amazon was told that Polybius was in his room working on the Montezuma case. And when she got there, she found him in his swivel chair looking over an article. She requested permission to enter and Polybius offered her his rocking chair by his window.
"And again, I can't express with words how sorry I am for what happened." Wonder Woman finished.
She waited for him to say something, however, when he didn't she got confused.
"Why are you not saying anything?" She asked.
"Because he can't." Robin stated as he entered Polybius's room where the two were.
The mute Titan had left his door open because it had yet to be replaced since the Titans had busted it down, and he had plastic over his window as well. Neither one was going to get fixed until the following week.
"What do you mean he can't?" Wonder Woman asked.
"He's mute." Robin explained.
"Mute!?" Wonder Woman said surprised "That does explain how you resisted the lasso's power. You can't tell me anything if you can speak."
Polybius then pulled out his notebook and pen and held it up.
"What's that?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Aside from hand and body signals, writing things down is his primary way of communicating with us." Robin went on "And if he has something important to get across quickly, he will snap his fingers."
Polybius nodded as he opened up his notebook and wrote something down. He then handed it off to the Amazon heroine.
"You… forgive me?" She questioned "Like that? After everything that happened?"
"That's how he is." Robin stated "It's not like Polybius to not forgive people. And considering the circumstances, it'd be hard not to forgive you."
Polybius nodded in agreement.
"That is, quite honorable of you." Wonder Woman commented.
"Well, it is easy since I don't think he was ever mad at you." Robin added.
"Why's that?" Diana questioned.
"Well, at the very end of the fight, when Starfire came and broke you two up, with all of the damage Polybius had done to you, you needed a lot of blood. And with you being O positive, none of us could give to you except Polybius, who didn't even hesitate to whip his arm out and offer blood. By doing this he effectively saved your life even though, as he has explained to us, he thought you were trying to kill him."
Polybius nodded his confirmation and Wonder Woman went wide-eyed as she looked at the young, mute Titan sitting in his computer chair. It was clear that his actions baffled her as she had met few people who were willing to do that for somebody who they thought was trying to kill them.
"Thank you." Diana said humbly "I envy your honor and self-sacrifice."
The mute Titan smiled warmly. He then wrote down something in his notebook and passed it to her.
"So you are proposing we work together on this Montezuma case?" Wonder Woman questioned, to which the mute nodded "I'm not sure. I'd rather take this by myself."
"Actually, you two working together might bring down Montezuma faster." Robin stated "At first, both he and I worked on this case, splitting the work. However, when Slade showed up, I put him in charge of the Montezuma case. He knows more about this than anybody else, and I think that if you two work together, it may bring him down faster."
"How so?" Wonder Woman questioned.
"With Polybius being a part of our team, he is sort of tied down here mostly. However, with you being in the Justice League, you are afforded more autonomy and are able to get away easier. This would allow you to search elsewhere while Polybius stays here. After all, Jump City is where Montezuma has had the most activity. But the Aztec empire was historically located in Mexico."
"I see." Wonder Woman said, "When you put it that way, it would make sense for us to work together."
Polybius smiled as he pulled out his cell phone. The two traded numbers and Robin let the two of them get to work.
After explaining everything he knew about Montezuma to her, the two began to discuss courses of action to take.
"So the locations you want me to head to are Mexico City, specifically the ruins of the pyramids as well as a handful of other Aztec ruins in Mexico, and then also to travel to Spain to visit this Hernán Cortés's home."
Polybius nodded.
"Why his home?" Diana asked, "I don't see how there could be much use there."
The mute Titan would then go on to explain over text that if Montezuma believed that Donna was one of his descendants, then there may be something he would target there. What, Polybius couldn't answer.
"I see." Diana said, "Hopefully one of these locations will yield something."
With that, the two-headed up to the roof. Diana wanted to waste no time in searching for the Aztec warrior, so she was eager to leave.
As the two stood up on the roof, they were followed by the Titans. However, before she took off, she turned back to Polybius and offered a hand.
"Again, sorry about jumping the gun." Diana again apologized.
Polybius smiled and took the Amazon's hand. However, as they were shaking hands, a flash from a nearby cell phone camera caught their attention. They both looked over to see it was Beast Boy who had taken the photo.
"Oh, man!" Beast Boy said, "This is gonna get so many upvotes and likes!"
The two glanced back at each other before all eyes set on Beast Boy. This caused the green Titan to laugh nervously before explaining that he was an administrator on all of the Titan's 'official' social media pages, and was trying to grow them.
Polybius let out a silent chuckle when Raven slapped the teen upside the head.
Turning back to Wonder Woman, she was looking out at the city.
"I pray to the gods that Donna is okay." Wonder Woman said.
"Don't worry." Robin said, walking up by Polybius's side "If she's here, we'll find her."
"Yeah!" Cyborg agreed "You've got one of the best teams leading the charge here."
"Lead by the toughest one!" Starfire added.
"And nothing will stop us from bringing Montezuma down." Raven threw in.
"We'll bring him down!" Beast Boy finished.
The famous heroine then chuckled seeing the team so determined and confident.
"You kids are alright." She stated.
With that, the Amazonian heroine then took off for Mexico City to begin her part in the search for Montezuma.
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a wonderful rest of your day!