Monsters

Chapter 5: Expected Betrayal

"What on Earth were you thinking taking those mortals with you?" Mamaragan was furious, his eyes glowing as thunder cracked and echoed around them.

Captain Marvel was finding it difficult to focus on anything the wizard had to say, the blood loss making him light-headed. "I – I didn't bring them, they grabbed hold when you teleported me. So technically it's your fault they wound up there," he pointed out then yelped and barely managed to avoid getting hit by the wizard's staff. For someone that was several centuries old and (supposedly) on the verge of death the wizard still had a lot of fight left in him.

"How dare you blame me for your failure?!" Mamaragan roared in fury. "Your job is to stop the monsters – not play hero with a bunch of mortals."

Captain Marvel thought it wise not to mention that Wonder Woman (who was currently visiting her home) was a demigoddess. There was no reason to antagonize the Wizard any more than he already had. He could already tell that this wasn't going to end well for him anyway. Maybe he should just return to the Watchtower – he needed to heal anyways even if he dreaded the questions that he knew were coming.

What if they thought he was weak (he was though, so very weak) because he didn't fight the monsters? If they realized just how weak he was then they might not trust him to watch their backs anymore. If they kicked him out of the Justice League he honestly didn't know if he could handle it. Then of course there was still the possibility of them learning who he truly was. That alone would get him kicked out.

"I want you to leave the Justice League – they know far too much as it is," Mamaragan ordered.

"No," Captain Marvel protested. "I refuse to leave the League. We've done a lot of good and saved a lot of lives. Maybe…maybe they can help us with the demons. Especially when Wonder Woman comes back – she'd be a great help."

The Wizard slammed his staff into the ground. "Absolutely not!" he roared. "Mortals should not be involved in our affairs."

Captain Marvel swallowed and hesitantly pointed out, "Technically Billy was a mortal when you gave me these powers."

The Wizard's face darkened and he pulled out a dagger, grinning when Captain Marvel paled. "It's high past time you learned not to defy me."

Batman was pacing, a worried expression on his face as Superman kept trying to locate Captain Marvel but to no avail. It had been three hours since they had been returned to the Watchtower. During that time there had been no sign of Captain Marvel and no signal from his communicator. At this point Batman was willing to admit that he was beyond worried. If only he knew whether or not Captain Marvel was still in that other dimension, which alone would put him at ease.

"Pacing isn't going to help," Superman reminded him.

"I can't help it," Batman retorted. "You're just as worried as I am. You've called him over one hundred times."

Superman shrugged unrepentantly. "I'm not going to deny it, especially after we saw earlier."

After a long discussion Batman and Superman had come to an agreement not to tell anyone what they had learned until after they talked to Captain Marvel. For one thing it was his own personal business and for another they didn't want to risk scaring him off until they knew all the details. His mental state was something else that would have to be determined before they let him back out into the field. Regeneration or not losing a limb (or two) was still a very traumatic experience for someone especially when you considered all of the monsters (both literally and figuratively) they battled on a daily basis.

Just then there was a familiar burst of light and Captain Marvel once again appeared in front of them. He looked worse than when they had last seen him. There were cuts all over his face, hands and torso.

"These are defensive wounds," Batman picked up a limp hand. "He was trying to fight someone off. He must've used the last of his energy to teleport himself here."

"Yeah but who was he fighting? I highly doubt that demon we saw uses a knife."

Batman frowned, a million theories swimming through his brain. "It might have been the Wizard," he said slowly. "If he's the one that fed Captain Marvel to the monster it stands to reason that he wouldn't be happy we followed him even if it was by accident. He probably took it out on him."

"He doesn't deserve any of this," Superman declared angrily.

"No he doesn't," Batman agreed. "At least his wounds seem to be healing."

"Some good news is better than none I guess," Superman sighed.

"After all I've done for him how dare that brat turn on me!" Mamaragan raged. "How dare he! He needs to learn his place and I know just how to do it. He'll see that his precious band of mortals don't stand a chance against those demons. He'll see and he'll regret crossing me."

"So what do you think is going on?" Flash asked, spinning in his chair.

Green Lantern shrugged. "Not a clue," he reached out and grabbed the back of Flash's chair, forcing him to face the monitor. "Pay attention," he scolded.

Flash pouted. "You're no fun," he grumbled.

"It's work," Green Lantern rolled his eyes. "It's not supposed to be fun and – oh my gosh. I'm turning into Batman. Next thing you know I'll be brooding in the corner, spying one everyone. This cannot be happening to me. I'm too young to have a mid-life crisis."

"Hal," Flash's voice cut through his whining. "Something bad's happening in Fawcett City."

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Please read and review and thanks to all those who already have.