Author's Note: I know I haven't updated in forever… Sorry. Read on my pretties! Read on. I own nothing.

8. The Third Riddle

Diane hopped out of the crawl space onto a flat surface, wishing she had a flashlight of her own. Moments later Talia leapt out of the tiny opening and was followed closely by her henchman who was slightly less graceful and had to roll to regain his feet. He held up the light and revealed the chamber in which they stood. It was about the same size as the hanger in mount justice. Talia pulled a second light out of her own pouch and lit the large cavern fully. It was deep, a crumbling pathway leading across the chamber to a large arched doorway. There was a large stone door with six items sitting on a ledge attached to it. The bridge looked in bad shape. It appeared to be crumbling in places, mostly around the edges. There were also holes scattered throughout the little of the bridge that remained mostly intact. Diane frowned as she stretched her arms above her head.

"I shouldn't be this stiff. I'm never this stiff. The last time I was this stiff was after they d… Wait a minute, that would mean I haven't even stretched in two weeks, maybe longer." She stretched her back slightly her frown deepening.

"Longer, much longer. What the hell happened to me Talia?" Talia shook her head slightly.

"I don't know the details little one. I know you were injured. You've been in a coma for a little over two months. Bruce's cover story is that you hit your head after a freak horseback riding accident." Diane stared at her.

"That can't be right. I don't even remember the last thing that happened, it's all a blur." Talia nodded.

"An effect of the Lazarus pit I'm afraid. You ready to cross this?" Diane stretched her legs and did a quick backbend that ended in a handstand, then she flipped to her feet and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not as stretched as I should be but it'll do for now. I am kinda curious at this point about what you lot are here for." The three of them advanced carefully down the crumbling pathway. About halfway down the pathway the rock under Diane began to crumble she flipped forward and just managed to make it over the edge of the hole landing on her feet, stumbling slightly as Talia grabbed her arm to steady her.

"That was a little too close for my tastes." Diane shook her head and Talia nodded in agreement as they hurried across the remainder of the bridge. They made it to the door unscathed, much to Diane's relief.

"Alegeți cu înțelepciune sau aceasta va fi locul tău de odihnă, precum și a mea. Pentru a vă ajuta în alegerea dumneavoastră să vă dau acest indiciu. Ai auzit o vorbesc pentru că are o limbă greu. Dar nu poate respira pentru că nu are un plămân." Diane read off the door and turned to the six objects lined up under the inscription.

"So here's the thing about this one. We pick wrong this whole place comes tumbling down around our ears, buries us alive and we die. But considering how old this tomb is and therefore how old these traps are, it could come tumbling down around our ears anyway. Is this friend of your fathers really that important?" Talia glared down at the girl. She was fishing for information Talia knew that. But she also knew that the Justice Brats were catching up, Diane was too relaxed for them not to be. She decided it would be shrewd here to pick her battles.

"He like myself and my father is not one you would want to mess with unless you want your life thrown into chaos." Diane tilted her head in thought.

"Hmmm. Well alright, but if we die I'm blaming you." The faceless goon grabbed Diane's wrist as she reached out to take an item off the shelf.

"What does the riddle say before you kill us all?" Talia pulled her gun without even blinking.

"If you do not remove your hand from her you will be the first to die." The goon released Diane's wrist and took a step away from her. Diane wasn't sure who to glare at so she settled for answering the question instead.

"It says, choose wisely or this will be your resting place as well as mine. To help you in your choice I give you this clue. You can hear it speak for it has a hard tongue. But it cannot breathe for it has not a lung." She reached back out to the shelf and carefully picked up the small gold bell that rested upon it. It was about the size of her palm and had something engraved on it but Diane didn't have time to investigate further. There was a slight creaking noise and the rock wall shifted slightly. All three of them tensed but then in a shower of dirt the door creaked in almost ominously. Diane glanced down at the bell in her hand and grinned sardonically up at the faceless shadow goon as she rang it gently.

"See I know what I'm doing. I regularly face up against the Riddler, you shouldn't doubt my riddling skills." Talia smiled slightly as she motioned her henchman forward. But as he stepped forward there was a crash from the other side of the bridge. Talia whipped her gun out, her goon following suit as she shoved Diane into the passage behind her. Talia's goon fired at the teen that had fallen out of the hole in the ceiling. Diane spotted the yellow suit of Kid Flash and screamed as the bullets raced towards him.

Before they could strike him Superboy leapt out of the hole and they bounced off of his chest harmlessly. Talia turned and grabbed Diane's arm racing off down the dark passageway as her goon kept firing at the teens, pushing the door closed as he did so. Superboy charged forward and the bridge crumbled under him. He let out a cry of surprise as he fell. The goon took that opportunity to close the door as far as it would go. It wouldn't hold the teens for long but it would be just long enough for them to slip off into the shadows.

M'ggan dove after Superboy as Artemis and Red Arrow knelt down to check on Kid Flash. Once they were sure he was ok, just a bit dazed from his fall, Red Arrow smacked him in the back of the head.

"Nice move Kid. Now they know we're here." Wally couldn't really argue with him as he was pulled to his feet. Artemis stayed silent for once. They had been arguing, distracting Wally as he followed M'ggan down the tunnel. M'ggan had been cloaked but then Wally hadn't been watching where he was going. He looked downright upset about alerting the Shadows to their presence. Though Roy really couldn't blame him, he was still hearing Diane's scream echo around them. That was going to haunt his nightmares even after they got her back. M'ggan flew Superboy to the other side of the room and went back for the others. They were so close.

Diane's world was reeling, visions of a reality that couldn't exist echoing through her head as Talia dragged her down the pitch black hall. Artemis evaporating in a blast of light, Wolf not far behind, being forced to leave Kaldur behind knowing he would die. Superboy being fried alive by the same light that had taken the others, every member of the league dying without a fight. She couldn't think about that now. She just hoped with every ounce of her being that Wally hadn't been shot. After all they were here to save her.

Translations: Thank you Google. This continues to be Romanian pretending to be Romani. Yes I know they are different but I can't find a Romani translator so I'm stuck with what I've got.

Alegeți cu înțelepciune sau aceasta va fi locul tău de odihnă, precum și a mea. Pentru a vă ajuta în alegerea dumneavoastră să vă dau acest indiciu. Ai auzit o vorbesc pentru că are o limbă greu. Dar nu poate respira pentru că nu are un plămân. Choose wisely or this will be your resting place as well as mine. To help you in your choice I give you this clue. You hear it speak for it has a hard tongue. But it cannot breathe for it has not a lung.