A/N: Hi Guys! I hope you like this chapter, the overall mood of this story really gets kicked up a notch. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!
The Wrath of a God
"Challenging The God of War to a fight? Your husband must have lost it Princess…" Circe walked up to Diana knowing all of this was tormenting her like nothing else could ever do.
"Batman!" Ignoring Circe's taunts, Diana yelled at Bruce, hoping he was coming up with a way to get out of this. "Remember, he's a God! You won't be able to hurt him at all."
Batman quickly thought of a way to even the playing field. He just hoped that Ares would take the bait. "You're right Princess… we both know that Ares is too much of a coward to come down to the level of a Greek Champion to fight me."
"Scared of someone as frail and pathetic as you? Even lowering myself to your level, my fighting abilities are far superior and can't be matched. You'll pay dearly for your ignorance when I force the Amazon to watch me bathe in your blood." A bright white light surrounded Ares as he powered down to Batman's level.
"Uhhh… has he lost it? He knows he's still fighting a God right…" The Huntress whispered over to Zatanna and Black Canary as they looked on.
"I don't think it matters to him anymore… he'd rather die trying to save all of our lives than choose between the two." Zatanna tilted her head towards Robin and Nightwing. "He would have to live the rest of his life with that regrettable decision staring him in the face."
"Damn… that Ares guy really wants Diana… gross… You'd think a God would at least make himself look hot if he's trying to attract a woman." Oracle motioned as if she were about to puke.
"Who knew there would be a downside to being the most beautiful woman on the planet? Can you imagine her serving that jackass for the rest of her life?" Helena stuck her tongue out in disgust.
Zatanna looked over at Diana as she watched Batman and Ares continue to fight each other. "She's immortal too… should have to put up with him for an eternity…"
"Seriously… We've got to stop talking about this guy being with Diana or I'm going to hurl." Black Canary took a deep breath, trying to control her nausea.
Helena sighed as she saw Ares winning the fight. "We're doomed aren't we? I never thought we'd go out like this…"
"Well… IF I had to choose one person to save me under the most strenuous of circumstances like this, there wouldn't be anyone else I'd rather have out there than him." Black Canary winced when she saw Batman take a shot to the head.
A smirk quickly formed on The Huntress' face. "Oh really? Does Ollie know that? I'm sure that it would be a huge blow to his ego if he found out."
The Black Canary's eyes narrowed as she glared at The Huntress. "No he doesn't, and I tend to keep it that way. Besides… who would you rather have out there saving your ass? The Question or Batman?" Helena tried to say she'd prefer her boyfriend, but nothing came out of her mouth. Dinah had a point… Bruce was the best, it wasn't even close. Black Canary smirked back as she saw Helena's disappear. "I thought so."
Zatanna couldn't help but grin. "Wow… I didn't know he had THAT kind of an affect on the both of you."
"SHUT UP! You tell anyone this and we'll kill you!" Both Dinah and Helena yelled at Zatanna simultaneously.
"Damn it…why am I letting him control this fight? I've got to focus…" Batman stopped and regained his composure as he took a deep breath.
"Is this really who you decided to mate with Princess? I can't believe this pathetic man is a Greek Champion, much less a hero of the Earth." Ares stood confidently as he had yet to break a sweat in his fight with Batman.
"Hmmm… You know Princess… your pointy-eared husband does seem to have lost a step. I remember him being a much better fighter than this. Maybe he needs a true woman like me to get back to his full potential." Circe watched Batman with a seductive smile as she leaned on the giant stone hand holding Diana in place.
"If you so much as touch him I'll rip your limbs off one by one and feed you to Cerberus!" Diana roared at Circe while still trying desperately to free herself.
Batman stood up, hidden within his cape as he glared at Ares. "His techniques…same as Diana's before she came to me. He mastered them and is better than Diana was, obviously…But like Diana back then, his limited knowledge of techniques will be his down fall…"
Ares began to walk up to Batman triumphantly. "What's the matter Batman? Admitting defeat already? Has it sunk in that no one can defeat The God of War in hand to hand combat?"
"Except me" Batman stated flatly, much to the surprise of Ares. "No more mistakes…focus…"
"What! You arrogant imbecile! I'll destroy you!" Having his anger take control, Ares charged at Batman. Batman quickly dodged Ares' attacks and punched him in the left temple, knocking him back in disbelief. "How dare you strike a God! I'll see to it that you spend all eternity suffering at my hands!" Ares came at Batman again trying to hit him with a combination of kicks and punches. Batman quickly dodged and countered his attacks and toppled Ares with a combo of his own, connecting with a series of hits to the abdomen, ribs, and face. He was manhandling The God of War. No one in the room could believe what they were seeing as all of their jaws dropped in amazement.
Ares was fuming. No one had ever embarrassed him like Batman had just done. Every possible way of torturing Batman was running through his mind as he stared down his adversary. Suddenly Ares' eyes widened in realization as his anger quickly subsided. "Impressive Batman… having my anger get the best of me. But now this is where it ends for you."
Ares approached Batman with a sense of calm and focus as he attacked. The two fought to what looked like a draw. Neither landing many direct hits on the other… All of Ares' attributes were better than Batman's, he was quicker, stronger, and his endurance was limitless. But it was Batman's superior knowledge of various fighting techniques that allowed him to counter and avoid most of Ares' attacks. The longer the fight went on, the more frustrated Ares got. He was a God, and no one should been giving a God this much trouble, even if he did lower himself to that of a Greek Champion. Batman knew that his endurance wasn't limitless as the fight slowly began to take its toll on his body. He refused to show any sign of fatigue by controlling his breathing rate. Sensing the frustration building within Ares, Batman continued to fight as he waited for him to make a mistake and give Batman the right opportunity to strike.
Batman watched Ares' eyes widen for an instant as if he suddenly realized something. He dropped his guard as he stood up while crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk on his face. Batman continued to hold his guard up just incase Ares was planning to trick him. "I now realize that I have been going about this all wrong in order to make her mine. Everything you have done so far has been with honor, which has only reinforced and increased her faith and love for you. Normally, I would just kill you here and now for giving me such a humiliation… but I see that I must do much more than cause you unbearable pain." The smirk on his face widened into a grin. "She WILL be mine Batman… It's only a matter of time." Ares floated back into the air as he regained his godly powers, emitting a bright yellow light in the process. "As The God of War, I declare this duel a draw. And because I am a God, I have the power to determine the ramifications of what a draw entails… As much joy as it would bring me to force you to choose… I believe you deserve a reward for being such a skilled warrior as you are."
Ares snapped his fingers as Batman instantly looked over to both Dick and Tim. Their eyes widened in horror as the spears shot through their spines and came bursting out of their chests, leaving nothing but blood pouring down onto the floor. "NO!" Batman couldn't believe what he was witnessing. "NIGHTWING! ROBIN!" Batman ran to their bodies and collapsed to his knees. They were gone. Dead. He failed to save either of them. The entire batclan was speechless. There wasn't anything they could say as Oracle cried uncontrollably, screaming for Nightwing. Batgirl looked at both of her brothers' dead bodies in a traumatized trance. Zatanna, The Huntress, and Black Canary could only drop their jaws in shock, seeing both of boys' heads hanging lifelessly with the look of horror cemented on their faces. Everyone watched the poles of the spears that were still embedded within the boys' chests drip blood down to their feet. The bloodstained arrowheads were taunting them, as if they were giving everyone in the room the middle finger. Diana's whole world was destroyed as she watched her husband kneel down in front of her adoptive sons' giant pool of blood, looking at their dead bodies. She knew Bruce's mind was completely rattled and that his spirit was broken. If he lost control of himself for the first time back when they returned to the cave to find everyone missing, he was definitely going to lose control now. And this time, she feared he wouldn't come back.
"Dick… Tim… NO…not like this…NOT like this!" Batman gritted his teeth in pure anger.
"And because I know how much pain this building has brought upon Batman… how about we blow this entire building up? I'm not that cruel Princess… I'll give you… oh… a few minutes to say goodbye to everyone." Circe gave Diana one last grin as he snapped her fingers, transforming everyone except her and Batman into bats. Before magically disappearing with Ares, she disintegrated the giant stone hands and mockingly waved goodbye.
Diana quickly flew to Batman. "Bruce! We have to get everyone out! The building is going to blow!" He didn't respond as she continued to shake him. "Bruce, we will survive but the others won't! Bruce! We have to save them!"
Realizing Diana was right Batman shook his head, regaining his awareness of what was happening. He quickly spun around as he took out an explosive bat-a-rang with his left hand and threw it at the wall, creating a giant hole for them to escape. After the wall crumbed to the ground, he threw a few sonar bat-a-rangs as far as he could with his right hand through the giant hole. While counting to make sure that all five bats flew out to the sonar bat-a-rangs, he grabbed Nightwing's body as Diana grabbed Robin's, and escaped just before the bombs went off. The explosion sent them tumbling into the cold frozen grass while the warehouse debris littered the area. Batman and Wonder Woman pulled themselves up and checked to see of any further damages had been done to the boys' bodies. Batman took out the batwing's remote control and had it land next to them. Diana placed the two bodies in the batwing while Batman activated another sonar bat-a-rang and placed it on Tim's lap. He shut off the others he threw out earlier to get the bats to fly into the cockpit. Closing the canopy and sealing the bats in, he enabled the autopilot, sending it back to the cave on autopilot as he and Diana flew behind it together.
"Bruce, please don't do this to yourself!" Diana watched him stare at the two dead bodies on the medical tables in silence. Batman didn't move since they returned to the cave and placed the bats in a special holding cell.
"I agree with Mistress Diana, Master Bruce… standing there will not help bring them back. And I do believe you must find a way to return the others back into their original selves." Alfred said with a heavy heart. He always feared the possibility that one day, any one of them could return home dead. He always forced himself to disregard that thought each night during their patrols, but it never made it easier.
"I failed them." Batman walked over to the armory section of the batcave to restock his supplies. "I must stay focused. I can't allow my anger to take control. I still have to find a way to restore the rest of them on my own. No one will ever suffer because of me again."
The way Bruce was handling the situation was a lot better than Diana had expected. He didn't destroy the cave or heavily brood… yet… "Bruce…" She slowly followed him into the armory. "What are we going to do?"
"I failed them. They're my responsibility, not yours." Bruce spat out coldly as he finished restocking and turned past Diana, leaving her in the armory.
"OH HELL NO! He's not going to kick me out and do this alone!" Diana stormed up to Bruce and spun him around to face her. Meeting his glare with one of her own, she repeatedly poked him hard on his chest with her index finger as she spoke. "You're NOT doing this on your own Bruce. They're my family too. Circe and Ares are MY enemies or have you forgotten?"
"They're mine to protect, not yours." Batman cut her off. "And I alone will suffer the consequences of my failures…"
"You thickheaded, stubborn, MORON!" Diana threw her arms up in the air in frustration. "The whole point of this was to get their revenge on ME, not you."
Batman's eyes narrowed "Exactly. They were getting to you through me. There's nothing left that they can take away to cause me pain except… you. You're all I have left, and I'm NOT going to lose you. I have failed everyone… Jason, Dick, Tim… they all died because of me. I will NOT allow you to die because of my failures."
Diana cut him off before he could continue "If that's how you see it then I failed you. The instant you failed, I failed. It's my responsibility to protect you from any kind of pain and suffering… physical and emotional. And I will do whatever it takes to atone for my failures, and that includes helping you to do the same for yours."
"You were never given that responsibility." Bruce stated flatly without any hint of emotion.
Diana glared at him as she took her wedding ring out of her belt's newly installed secrete compartment and held it up to Bruce's face. "You gave me that responsibility when you gave me THIS. And it's a responsibility I'll never relinquish or take lightly." She placed the ring exactly where it belonged, on her left ring finger. "We share everything Bruce. Your failures are now mine, as mine are yours. WE will make Circe and Ares pay for their crimes, and WE will restore our family back to normal…" Diana slowly pulled of his cowl as she cupped her right hand on his cheek. "You and I have never failed together, and I won't allow us to start now."
Bruce looked into her beautiful bright pearly eyes as he took a deep breath, he knew she was right. She was always right when it came to their relationship issues… not that he liked to admit it… "You know you're supposed to wear that ring at all times…"
Diana smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "But how many rings did I break during combat?"
Bruce chuckled as he thought about it. "Enough times to make the jeweler set for life."