Author's note: Hello once again DC fans and Merry Xmas! I hope you all get what you wish for! Here's a little Christmas gift from lil old me! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own DC or Batman or...anything really...
Reunion
Chapter 2: Fate Will Descend
Batman's jet soared through the rainforest at a breakneck speed. Why on earth would the League trust Le Fey? She was an evil woman who had shown no mercy whatsoever in the past. One thing was clear in Bruce's mind; she was not getting hold of this ruby. There would certainly be consequences if she did. Estimated arrival time to the Cave of Eros was around 10 minutes. That meant the League would arrive in about 40 if they were dragging Le Fey with them. That gave Bruce enough time to find the ruby and perform a few quick scans to see what they're dealing with. And to stop the Joker his mind whispered. Batman glared internally at what part of his mind uttered those words. There was no chance the Joker was free.
Suddenly, Batman's comm buzzed showing Nightwing's face on its screen.
"Nightwing?"
"Hi Batman, listen I've been speaking to Robin. He's worried. We all are. You've been chasing Le Fey for weeks, when are you returning?"
"Soon. I located the ruby and the League has Le Fey."
"Oh great!…Batman I…I just have to say…I told Robin…about the-"
"Can't talk. I'll be back soon." With that, Bruce hung up the comm and stored it back in his belt. He had arrived at the Cave of Eros, in the heart of the rainforest. It was a small hole in a huge rock face, with vines draped along the ancient entrance way. Words were engraved in the stone walls, difficult to decipher and no doubt in an forgotten language. If this cave truly held the ruby, who knew what else was in there. Batman took no chances and cautiously approached the cave.
The temperature dropped as soon as Batman took a step inside, sending an eerie chill down his spine. A distant drip drip of water could be heard, signalling there was a pool of water somewhere within. Darkness started to engulf Batman as he walked further into the cave. Rather than producing a flashlight or lighting one of the torches which stood along the wall, he turned on his night-vision goggles and continued. Darkness gave him the advantage.
He started to feel uneasy. Perhaps it was due to the continuity of the cave. Everything looked the same…even the engraved words on the walls were styled in an identical fashion with the same lettering;
"dnecsed" followed a few meters on with, "lliw" and soon "etaf"
He didn't dwell on them; instead he continued to move forward. He continued for what felt like hours, just the sound of his own footsteps and the drip of water reverberating around the cave could be heard.
Without warning, a flash of light illuminated the walls around him, scorching Bruce's eyes behind his goggles. "Ack!" he winced as the light continued to grow brighter. Batman blinked a few times, trying to adjust to these new surroundings.
What stood in front of him left him without words. The most beautiful fountain he had ever seen greeted him, water cascading in angles that projected rainbows on the now lit cave. It was made from sparking white stone and stood at around 9 feet. At the centre…
"The stone…" Batman whispered
"Beautiful isn't he?" Batman instantly stood to attention, ready to fight whoever made the noise.
Suddenly, the water pooling in the fountain started to float upwards and take shape. It took the form of a woman, the blobs of sapphire water lightening to the palest of blues, the translucency being replaced by what seemed to be skin. Her eyes opened, revealing dark red irises.
"Welcome to the Cave of Eros. I'm Mayua, guardian of the Sacred One. What is your business, mortal?"
Bruce was stunned by the dazzling sight before him. Never did he think he could be distracted by a woman whilst working as Batman, but oh how wrong he was.
"I…I'm looking for a ruby. It grants the holder the powers of a god. We need to destroy it."
"We?" Mayua chuckled. "Why would I destroy the Sacred One, fool? I have been guarding it for thousands of years. I assure you, many mortals have come to this place in search for the Sacred One, and only a few have lived to recount the tale."
"Morgan Le Fey, an ancient sorceress is after it. She claims she will destroy it, but I'm not gullible enough to believe her." Unlike the League, Batman thought.
Mayua hissed, her pupils constricting, fangs (which had not been so visible before) bared. Her tone of voice changed drastically from sweet and harmonic to sharp and poisonous.
"Le Fey?! That witch wants to be reunited with the Sacred One?! This stone contains a powerful deity, her father, banished to a cold cage by his own daughter. She, jealous and fixated by his powers, sought them for her own. She killed her own father and performed a rite on the ruby, allowing his soul to be encased and trapped. She would use the Sacred One to rule our world and countless others. The only reason she doesn't already have the stone is due to her mother. Devastated and distraught, she teleported the ruby to a random location on the planet, without a trace to follow. Le Fey must have only figured out it is kept here recently…"
"So I take it she doesn't want to destroy the stone."
"Far from it child. And it can not be decoyed. It contains a god."
"What do we do?"
"We? I told you before, Bat. I am the guardian of the gem. It will not leave this place whilst I am still standing. In this cave, I am far more powerful than Le Fey. She will not succeed."
Morgan led the League along through the jungle, keeping an even pace as she wound her way through the trees. Superman didn't take his eye off her for one second. He didn't trust her but… she was their only hope of destroying that blasted ruby. If it got into anyone else's hands…
"Supes…are you sure about this?" The Flash whispered at a fast ramble. "We're directly disobeying the Bat, he wouldn't be patting you on the back for a job well done that's for sure, I mean we've never gone against him before and I don't trust that bitch one bit, she seems like she's hiding something but then again Diana's Lasso didn't indicate she was lying-"
"Barry I swear to the gods, if you don't shut up-"Green Lantern started angrily.
"We've arrived at the Bat's coordinates" Morgan spoke evenly, not giving any emotions away at all. "I take it I should lead the way?"
"Ladies first" Superman indicated for her to proceed into the cave.
"Who said chivalry was dead?" Diana winked as she followed Morgan into the Mouth of Eros.
"Seeing as I'm obviously the most masculine of the team, I think I'll go last…" the Flash stammered, terrified at the prospect of delving into the unknown.
Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash all followed the path lead by Morgan. The woman had balls, Flash would give her that. Actually, who was to say she was a woman…
"How far in are we?" GL inquired
"No idea… we've been walking for ages but our scenery doesn't seem to be changing…but it's hard to tell given how bloody dark it is. Batman's probably enjoying a tea party with the other creatures of the night up ahead" Unbeknown to the Flash, his comment received a small smile from Diana.
"There's nothing ahead, just the carvings on the wall and the torch holsters. All the same." Superman reported, able to see clear as day with his super sight.
The Flash sighed, "well we better get there-"
The same beam of light ignited around them, surrounding their once dark world with brilliant light. The team all groaned and covered their eyes, bar Morgan and Superman.
"Well…that's new" Whispered Superman. In front of them was the magnificent fountain, along with Batman and Mayua. Simultaneously, Mayua and Batman caught sight of a free Morgan and shouted "Le Fey!" fiercely. From his utility belt, Batman pulled out a grapple hook, and shot it at Morgan to bind her. All Morgan did was raise her hand and the rope suddenly changed direction, binding Batman on the spot.
"Why is she free?!" Batman bellowed from the floor at a shocked Superman.
"I…"
"Le Fey!" Superman was interjected by a furious Mayua, her long blue hair flying in all directions around her head. "How dare you enter the Cave of Eros. This is my territory you hag-"
"Greetings Mayua daughter of Gerfottan. I have come to collect something which I believe belongs to me."
"No. You will not lay a finger on the Sacred One!" Mayua snarled, starting to levitate above her fountain as an unnatural wind from an unknown source flared up around the cave.
"Is that… a challenge?" Morgan's golden mask tilted to one side in curiosity.
Mayua screamed in fury, stretching out her hands, palms facing Morgan. They started to glow a brilliant blue, and as soon as she screamed "etaf lliw dnecsed" jets of water shot from them in the shape of two arrows.
Morgan reflected them with a wave of her hand, exploding them into shimmering water droplets.
The League stood stunned, watching the battle that was unfolding.
"Who…Who do we support?" The Flash looked up at Superman, waiting for a response. He did not receive one.
"Mayua. Morgan was lying. She wants the stone to rule the planet." Batman snarled. He cut the grapple hook's cords with a small knife. "If somebody had listened to me…" He strode up to Superman and looked him straight in the eye, the most menacing glare of all time piercing Superman's pupils. "…we wouldn't be in this mess."
The cave was being lit with alterations of purple and blue light, the duel of magic being fought by the guardian and the seeker. Both seemed to be on equal footing and neither was about to give up.
"Fight. Or just stand there, boyscout." Batman growled at Superman's face. With that, he spun on his heels and ran up to the fountain. The other members of the League took that as their queue and ran behind Batman to face Morgan head on. Superman glared in Batman's direction but joined them nonetheless.
Mayua shot a variety of water weapons from her palms, chanting as she did so. Wonder Woman protected the League from oncoming beams of magic from Le Fey with her bracelets, whilst Green Lantern enclosed Morgan in a ball of green energy. Inside her cage, Le Fay laughed softly and raised her arms above her head. Instantly, the green cage broke apart, freeing Morgan once again.
Batman crouched behind the fountain, readying his secret weapon. The power draining curse apparently inflicted on Morgan had been a fake. Once "administered" by Zatanna, Batman had told Le Fey what exactly she had just been attacked with. Something he would never usually do. A magician never reveals his tricks. As planned, Morgan had used this to her advantage and pretended to be weakened to lure the League together. Only Batman knew her powers were at full fledge and hid the fact Zatanna had actually bestowed the curse on a serum, able to be injected into the body. And that was his plan.
Mayua's weapons became more and more deadly, being deployed more and more quickly. All the rest of the team could do was dodge and protect themselves from the oncoming attacks of magic from Morgan, and the reflected magic from Mayua.
"Superman" Batman whispered, knowing at this low tone he would be the only one to hear. "I have a serum I need you to inject into Morgan's neck. Don't ask questions, just take it and administer it. Be as rough as you like."
Instantly, Superman flew over to Batman and grabbed the needle and syringe.
"Pin her down Mayua!" Superman shouted, leading to a wall of water in the shape of a hand rising from the fountain. The hand grabbed Morgan, who was unable to raise her hands to reflect the water. GL coupled the attack with his own hand made from green energy.
In a matter of seconds, Superman had jammed the needle into Morgan's neck, just below the beginning of her golden mask. Morgan screamed in pain as Superman pushed down on the syringe, allowing the liquid to seep into her ancient veins.
"It's no use Morgan." Batman rose from behind the fountain, "that was the real power draining curse. In a few moments, you'll be useless."
"A few moments is long enough!" Morgan shouted, her eyes behind the mask glowing a deep purple. The light merged into a concentrated beam and;
"TISIV HTAED!"
The beam shot across the room at the speed of light, straight through Batman's heart.
Morgan smiled her Cheshire smile before passing out due to exhaustion and the loss of her powers.
"NO!" Diana screamed, as Batman stood gasping for breath before collapsing on the floor in a pool of his own blood.