Thanks for all the reviews last chapter!
To see a summary of the episode, at least in part, go to the previous chapters.
Thank you to my beta, Lavender Gaia, for putting up with my constant emails, my rants, and for sharing my love of BMWW!
One Spark, Chapter 5, Everything Zen, by Bush
Diana's perspective…
(Finally, right?)
The rest of us stood around for a moment, still trying to get our bearings in the wake of Batman's abrupt departure. For myself, I was still eyeing the rail over which Bruce had disappeared, leaving us to find the portal and, I feared, fight his own personal battle. I had heard snatches of the conversation between the two Batmans and I couldn't begin to understand how difficult it must have been for Bruce to not only stare himself in the eye, but to realize that his immense abilities and talents were equally matched in this situation. It was rare for Bruce to find someone anyone with an intelligence rivaling his own and to find it in himself, an alternate version of himself, must have been disconcerting to say the least.
Bruce was so often the most arrogant among us, and I was usually the first to admit that it was justified, his faith in his own capabilities. It wasn't any average human who could hold himself among this particular group of superheroes – he was almost a weapon, a man honed to lethal intelligence and schooled in the arts of technology and escapism to an extent that the rest of us could not begin to understand. He was not a dabbler by any means – if Bruce was truly interested in something, he would throw himself in it whole-heartedly, no reservations, intent on becoming master of whatever subject his interest had rested on.
I respected that ability, and was comforted by it, to some degree because it meant that we as a team could rely on the almost supercomputer like brain of Bruce's to find the answers to whatever question or dilemma we faced. But today, he hadn't been able to find the answers himself, he had been forced to rely on his teammates to procure the solutions, even if he had prodded Flash into discovering the truth on his own, the means to our freedom.
That one speaking glance between us had been enough to let me know that he had questioned his abilities and that his confidence had taken somewhat of a beating – a realization that perhaps the one person that he could never best was indeed himself.
That knowledge would never rest easily on his shoulders. They already held the weight of the world at moments and this would only drag them down further. I resolved to deal with the situation as soon as possible, to help Bruce wrestle with his demons and whatever else came about on this mission, but right now, I had other pressing concerns, mainly, finding Hawkgirl wherever this team had stashed her.
Flash took off in a blur, racing around the compound where we had been held, presumably looking for some means of discovering Hawkgirl's location. After a moment, he came to a screeching halt in front of us, telling us that he had found a computer monitor this world's Batman had installed – one means of searching for potential locations.
Following him, we found ourselves in a monitoring room, similar to that on the Watchtower, set with numerous monitors and various pieces of machinery. Taking a seat at the keyboard, Flash began to earnestly search for hospitals in the Gotham area. The rest of us gathered around the room, trying our best to think about what we knew of Gotham City. I, honestly, knew little other than what Bruce had shared with me, but Superman had spent more time in Gotham City than the rest of us and perhaps he could be of the greatest help in that regard. I took a position behind Flash at the controls, resting my hands on the back of the seat while I peered over his shoulder at the screen. We began to run through potential possibilities, each being declined for countless reasons – lack of security, improper equipment – when John hit on a brilliant idea.
"Wait a moment," he said as I turned to my right to look at him, his expression serious and obviously very concerned about Shayera, our team's Hawkgirl. A small grain of my consciousness wondered if perhaps the concern on John's face run a little deeper than the rest of ours – concern for more than simply a teammate, concern for someone he seemed to care very deeply about. I recognized the emotion running through him – I had often felt that way about Bruce, the anxiety about a loved one rather than a work companion, a teammate.
"In this world, we're the bad guys."
"So?" Flash asked him, obviously not understanding where the Green Lantern was leading us.
"Where would you send a sick bad guy around here?" he questioned us and immediately, Superman answered him.
"Arkham."
Arriving on the ground of Arkham Asylum, Gotham City's most notorious mental hospital, home to hundreds of criminally insane individuals, we immediately noticed a change in Gotham. The grounds of the hospital were lush with greenery; cobbled paths wound their way through the lands, and the landscape was a picture of beauty and health, a very different scene that the Gotham I had heard so much about. It was always described as a city of darkness with Batman as one of the few beacons of hope left to its citizens. But this was akin to a paradise, a fertile, bright land that I wasn't sure Bruce would even recognize. Perhaps it was better that he wasn't with us for this part of the mission, seeing what his city could become under the dominating rule of these Justice Lords, their Batman included.
We touched down just outside the main archway leading to the facility and Flash immediately took several steps forward, ready to face whatever we would find inside in order to rescue Shayera. But Superman stopped him, placing a hand on Flash's shoulder.
"Wait here. You're dead, remember?"
"Hey," Flash told us, "The costumes will tip them off anyway."
"We'll just say it's a fashion choice," I informed him. And we took off into the air again, leaving Flash to wander the grounds outside while we located Hawkgirl.
Surprisingly, we were able to walk into the Asylum with no difficulty, but I supposed that I shouldn't have been surprised. Our faces were still those of the ultimate rulers of this world and we had control simply by our identical features, at least for the time being. I was still certain that this would not be as easy as we were being lulled into believing. Strolling up to the reception desk, Superman took the lead of the group, addressing the figure at the desk, seated in a high backed chair currently facing away from us.
"We need to see one of the inmates."
The figure spun around and I couldn't contain my amazement at the man now in front of us – the Joker. But the criminal who wrecked such havoc on our world with his devious schemes and maniacal laughter was now a docile, albeit still green-haired man, eager to assist us. And from the looks on my other teammates, none of us was able to easily process the sight in front of our eyes.
"Why certainly, Superman. Right this way." He stood up and motioned us to follow him through a large set of double doors and we trailed after him, still trying to process the shock of seeing a passive Joker calmly leading us through the Asylum walls. The rogue's gallery behind the double doors was a Who's Who of Gotham's most infamous criminals – Two Face and the Ventriloquist amongst their ranks.
Reaching a locked door, the Joker paused, and the rest of us stopped, knowing that some sort of test was awaiting us. I rested my hands at the small of my back, clasping my bracelets for comfort, a small sign that this was indeed a reality and not some delusional dream.
The green-haired figure turned back to us, a question written on his white face.
"Oh, one little thing. Today's password?" I saw Superman tilt his head towards J'onn and the Martian's eyes flashed a dark orange for a moment before Superman answered, "Applesauce."
"Right," intoned the Joker. He then quickly leaned towards me, pointing a finger in my direct when he stated, "But Wonder Woman was supposed to say it." He pressed a red button on the door in front of us and immediately ran down the hallway, leaving us to our fate. The door slowly slid open and inside, I could see a shadowy figure in a cape, eerily similar in size and shape to Superman. I gasped in surprise as Superman, dressed in his Justice Lords outfit, emerged and stated, "You must be stopped."
"A robot?" John questioned.
"I built mine to take over for me when I went away," said Superman, clearly not that surprised to be facing a likeness of his, in whatever form.
"Looks like the other guy had the same idea," John confirmed, before continuing, "In spades."
The first Superman robot was followed by four others, each identical to the last. They fanned out and then immediately headed towards us. 'Hera!' I thought, trying to block one of the robots with my forearm and unleashing a punishing kick to his midsection. The others were each trying to handle themselves as well against a mechanical Superman, with our Superman taking on two of his eerily similar automaton selves. I continued to fend off the robot that I was facing, trying to find some sort of weakness so that we could end this fight, save Shayera, help Bruce find that portal, go home and take our world back into our hands.
John took off across the room, ripping through one of the Supermans with a blast from his ring, heading through the doors from which the Supermans had emerged in his quest to find Shayera while Superman, J'onn, and I continued to fight. I could see Superman, red cape flaring behind him, take out two of the robots with his heat vision and simply rip the head off another with the might of his fists. Flash emerged from the front door, confusing one of the other robots with his speed before finally hitting him at top speed, causing the circuits to fry and rendering the robot utterly useless. Taking a page from Superman's book, I decided that my fists were the best means of defeating this machine and, gathering my strength and my ire at the situation we had found ourselves in, pummeled the robot squarely in his jaw, forcing his head to snap off with the energy I created. Ironically, as its head flew across the room, the robot said, "Thanks" in a mechanical voice.
We had just regrouped when John emerged from the doors with Shayera cradled in his arms. Immediately, I could see that he had changed a little, his determination and anger almost palpable and at odds with the gentle way he supported Hawkgirl, her figure limp and lifeless in his arms. He didn't even stop, but headed straight for the front door with the rest of us in swift pursuit.
But, exiting Arkham, we were in for yet another surprise – the grounds were littered with police cars, cannons, and tanks positioned in our direction, not ready to let us leave Arkham with our injured teammate.
One of the leaders began barking out commands through a bullhorn – "Don't make any sudden moves or we'll vaporize the entire lot of you."
We gathered our strength, ready to take on what lay in front of us…
Thanks to my husband for coming up with the awesome title for this chapter – I love it! As for the rest of you, what do you think of this chapter?
Next chapter: Batman vs. Batman – I Go to Extremes
