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Chapter 23

Batman carefully moved through the dimly lit labyrinth of hallways that snaked this way and that through the warehouse, his hand firmly gripping a batarang in preparation for another fight. He had just finished taking out six of the Joker's henchmen with little clamor and was definitely ready for more.

Even though he knew they were expecting him, he still wanted to keep somewhat of an element of surprise if at all possible. He wasn't about to just walk in there and announce his presence no matter how desperate he was to get his hands on the Joker and Luthor, to feel Diana safe in his arms again.

Peering out of a small window as he passed by, he could see the gathering storm clouds blocking the moonlight and adding to the darkness of night as rain began to softly pelt against the glass, thunder rumbling dimly in the distance.

'The darker, the better,' he thought to himself with a small smirk of satisfaction. He always felt more in his element when he worked among the sinister shadows that cloaked his very presence. Most hated the dark and all it represented. He thrived in it, embraced it as his destiny.

It not only matched his usual brooding mood, but the bleak despondency that he felt always pervaded his heart. And even though Diana had shined her brilliant beautiful light into his life, he could still feel the darkness lingering inside, the demons from his past that were always there haunting him and reminding him of what he was.

He feared there were some things that even Diana wouldn't be able to erase, scars running too deep to ever be healed.

Coming to a crossroads, Batman quickly turned to the left, having already studied the layout of the warehouse before even entering. Hearing footsteps up ahead, he instantly shifted closer to the wall once again allowing himself to disappear into the dark as he waited with bated breath. His muscles were tensed tightly like a spring ready to pounce on his unsuspecting victim, the white lenses of his cowl narrowed as he peered through the darkness.

A shadow began to gradually lengthen across the ground as the person drew closer, the sound of the now pounding rain muffling the sound of his footsteps against the concrete floor as he neared. With deadly precision, Batman suddenly lunged, swinging his fist, connecting solidly with the man's jaw and earning a startled cry.

With swift fluid movements learned from the very best martial art teachers, he expertly incapacitated the man with lightning speed, binding him and tossing him into a nearby closet.

Resuming his way down the hall, he quickly detected more footsteps this time coming up from behind him. He frowned, immediately recognizing the familiar foot fall coming towards him. He knew it had been only a matter of time. He had hoped, though, to have gotten to Diana first.

He stopped, crossing his arms against his chest as he turned to face him, catching site of a familiar red cape and boots before actually seeing the face of the man himself. "You're lucky you didn't get a batarang upside the head," he softly growled at his friend through the darkness.

"Hi, nice to see you too," Superman murmured.

"You got a video too?" Bruce grunted before turning down the corridor that would eventually take him to Diana.

"Yah, quite the little invitation," Superman snorted. "Using Diana to get to us? They must have a death wish."

Batman smirked. "My thought exactly."

"So what's the plan?" Clark asked, using his super hearing to discover any more of Joker's henchmen lurking about in the shadows.

"Save Diana and try not to kill Luthor or the Joker in the process," Batman heatedly replied, his gaze constantly searching the dark for signs of more trouble.

"Tempted, aren't you?"

"You have no idea," he ground out, his hands clenched tightly.

Superman gave him a lop-sided grin, knowing that Batman was already fighting back the overwhelming urge to tear someone apart. He could feel his fury roiling off of him in heated waves, could see it in the tight set of his prominent jaw. He could tell that Bruce was barely holding it together right now. He just hoped that he'd be able to stop him before he had a chance to tear the Joker or Luthor to shreds.

"J'onn told me you got your vid invitation hours ago," Superman said. "You should've contacted me immediately."

Batman cast a fleeting glance at him, fully appraising him in that all too brief glimpse of his friend. "Right," Batman rasped in his usual deep gravelly voice. "Because you were obviously available. You look like hell. Where have you been?"

"Earthquake in Peru," Superman replied, looking down at the tear in his uniform, the dirt and mud that streaked the blue and red material. "You still should've contacted me."

"I didn't have to," Batman coolly stated, noticing an angry scowl on the Man of Steel's face out of the corner of his eye. "They ultimately want you and me so I knew that they would be sending you a vid too. Besides, you obviously didn't need me to figure it out for you."

Superman thought for a moment, knowing that he was right, but still not liking the fact that Batman had once again not notified him the moment he received information about Diana. He knew that he preferred to work alone, but there was too much at stake with Diana's life on the line.

"Just remember this isn't just about us," Clark firmly said. "This is about Diana."

"Don't you think I know that," Bruce bit out. "Just worry about stopping Luthor and Joker."

Diana was his whole reason for being here. Not only did he want to stop the Joker and Luthor, but he wanted to save Diana above all else. She had become the center of his universe, winning his heart bit by bit over time until there was nothing left but her.

Living without her now was unacceptable.

XXX

"Are you transferring the memories I designed?" Luthor yelled over Diana's painful cries as she fought against the overload of information being transmitted into her brain.

"Yes, they're all being transferred right now," the young man told him as he shook his head, his forehead creased with obvious concern. "I don't know if it'll work, though. We didn't make sure the old memories were completely erased before replacing them with new memories."

"It shouldn't matter," Luthor frowned as he took a step closer to Diana was trembling from the pain. "As long as she has the memories I want her to have, then it should work. And now that she has her powers back, I will be guaranteed even greater success."

"You mean 'we', don't you?" Joker retorted, jabbing at Lex's shoulder to get his attention. "We are equal partners in this, Luthor. Don't you forget it!"

"I haven't forgotten," Luthor sneered as he turned his attention to the clown. "We will finally have the trinity under our control and the Justice League will be no more. The world will be mine to rule."

Joker glared at him. "You seem to keep forgetting the fact that without me, you wouldn't have been able to pull this off."

"I know that," Luthor spat out. "You're a constant foolish reminder of that fact."

Joker opened his mouth to respond with a biting retort only to be interrupted by the sudden sound of wood shattering, splinters flying everywhere. They both turned to find Wonder Woman standing before them, free from the restraints and a wild look of rage in her blue eyes.

"Perfect," Luthor breathed in admiration as he stared at his new creation.

"Perfect?" Joker cried, pointing a finger at the enraged Amazon standing before them now. "How do you plan on controlling her now? The process isn't even complete yet."

"Calm down!" Luthor yelled at him as he slowly made his way closer to the woman glaring hotly at him. "I'll be able to control her. Isn't that right, my pet?"

All of the sudden, Diana's lips curled into a sinful seductive grin as she stared at Luthor with lust blazing in her eyes. "Yes, my love," she sweetly replied, wrapping her arms around Lex's neck and pulling him in for a deep kiss.

Shocked, the Joker stared at them, dumbfounded by the recent turn of events. He definitely didn't like it one bit. Luthor could easily have Wonder Woman take him out and therefore dissolving their partnership permanently. He had no way to protect himself against the powerful Amazon.

Watching from behind some crates on the other side of the room, Superman could hear Batman's teeth grinding at the site of Diana and Luthor kissing. He feared the Caped Crusader would break his teeth if he kept it up too much longer.

Clark had a feeling even though Bruce knew it was against Diana's will, it wasn't making any of this any easier to witness or to swallow. It was turning his own stomach and he wasn't even in love with her quite like Bruce was.

Luthor finally pulled back with a gasp for air much to Clark's relief. He swore if Bruce's heart pounded any harder it would explode from his chest. He knew they needed to get Diana back before Batman did something he'd only regret later.

Lex grinned devilishly as he stared into Diana's eyes. "I can hardly wait to get you into my bed," he told her, his fingers tracing along the delicate contour of her beautiful face.

Clark immediately heard a low growl erupt from deep in Batman's chest, his breathing growing harder by the moment. He quickly reached out and placed a firm calming hand on Bruce's arm, keeping him from running out there and doing something foolish...of course, not that that was something that Batman ever did, but he couldn't be too careful.

The Dark Knight's entire body was rigid with anger and jealousy. And this was about Diana now, the woman he loved, the woman he'd finally allowed into his heart and into his life. There was no predicting how the always in control Batman would react now.

"It's not really her," Clark whispered. "It's not her fault."

He watched as the muscles in Bruce's jaw flinched slightly, a sneer on his lips. He was no doubt picturing a thousand ways he'd like to mutilate and murder Lex Luthor at that moment.

"Sir, I'm reading extremely high brain activity in Wonder Woman right now," the young man in the lab coat and red Converse suddenly announced. "It's dangerously high. We should sedate her until she's had time to fully process all the memories I just dumped into her brain."

"Can't," Luthor frowned, his attention still fixated on the beautiful Wonder Woman standing before him. "Batman and Superman will no doubt be here soon. I'm going to need her to help capture them for me now that she has her power back."

"And what exactly were you planning on doing if Wonder Pants over here didn't get her powers back in time for their arrival?" the Joker demanded to know. "Have her bat her eye lashes and flip her hair at them?"

"I always have a backup plan, Joker," Luthor sneered at him, his anger rising. "You should know that by now. I never go into anything without knowing exactly what's going to happen.

"This little experiment of ours could've easily killed Wonder Woman and we wouldn't have had her to capture them for us, but she survived and now it's time to take down the trinity."

"Sir, I really need to insist we sedate her right away," the man repeated himself, his concern rising not only in his face, but also his voice. "It could cause permanent brain damage or kill her if we don't do something soon."

"We need to get in there and stop this now before Diana gets killed," Clark hissed, anger heating his voice.

Before he could even finish his sentence, Batman was already shooting his grappling gun, swinging through the air towards the Joker and Luthor, his black cape billowing ominously behind him. Superman didn't waste any time following him, more than prepared to end this here and now in order to save Diana.

Wonder Woman was the first to spot Batman, a sneer on her face as she immediately began to race to meet him head-on. Batman's heart stuttered in his chest at the sight of her. He was desperate for her to be alright again, but knew that she was far from it at that moment. He needed to get her our out of here and find a way to reverse what they had done to her.

She didn't seem to know who he was as she raced towards him…or she knew all too well, making him wonder what things Luthor had actually planted in her mind about him and the rest of the League members. He knew by the deadly look of intent flashing in her blue eyes that it wasn't anything good.

Gone was the love that had permeated her cobalt orbs before, longing and desire for him and him alone. It had been replaced with rage and hate, a deep-seated need for vengeance. It caused a chill to suddenly race through him, wondering what he could have done to her in her new memories of him that caused her to react to him like this.

Batman landed on top of a large crate, releasing his grappling gun as Wonder Woman swiftly floated up to meet him, looking him deep in the eye. "I don't want to fight you," he firmly told her. "You know we're your friends, Wonder Woman. We're here to save you."

"I don't need to be saved," she scowled at him. "And you will fight me or die. Either way, you will face me, Batman."

Even though far from being herself, Diana was still breathtaking to behold as she floated in the air before him, her raven curls like a dark waterfall over her shoulders and down her back. Her eyes were twin infernos of rage, revealing the passion and intensity that she possessed inside her.

Exhaustion clung to her like a second skin, a deep purple bruise marring her jaw and causing Bruce's fury to flare even hotter. He would make Luthor and the Joker pay for what they had done to her, for causing her tremendous pain and twisting her mind like she was some plaything.

They had stolen her from him, made her hate him and for that, they would suffer.

With a flick of his wrist, Batman released a small smoke bomb, temporarily blocking her from his view. He needed to get to her without ending up in a knock-down drag-out fight with her. Even though she had her super powers back, he still didn't want to risk hurting her.

Diana coughed at the sudden gray smoke that shielded the Batman from her view. She immediately flew towards him only to find him gone from his perch on the crate. She growled under her breath, a Themyscirian curse on her lips as she clenched her hands tightly into fists, frustrated she had allowed him to get away from her.

She turned only to suddenly have powerful arms snake around her. She found herself look into cerulean blue eyes full of compassion and concern, a kind face that revealed worry for her. She instantly bristled at the sight of him, struggling against Superman's powerful hold on her.

"Let me go," she snarled, fighting against his strong embrace on her.

"Diana, listen to me," Superman calmly replied. "You aren't yourself right now. Luthor poisoned your mind with memories that aren't real. Batman and I are your friends. We care about you. We want to help you."

"No, you don't," she yelled. "You and Batman did nothing but hurt me. You both pretended to be my friends and then you tortured me, tried to kill me. I'd rather die than let you do that to me again."

Hidden behind the crate, Batman was stunned by her words. What sort of horrifying things had Luthor put into her head about him…about them? He didn't have time to dwell on it as dozens of the Joker's thugs began entering the warehouse from every window and door.

Batman could hear the Joker's hysterical laughter above the din of chaos, Luthor shouting orders to Diana to capture him and Superman. A string of curses danced under the Dark Knight's breath. This was the one thing that he had wanted to avoid at all cost.

All hell had just broken lose.

He swiftly leapt into action, batarangs and batbombs flying in all directions in a shower of chaotic activity in order to take out as many of the Joker's men as possible with as little effort as possible. He wanted to reserve his strength for the real fight with Luthor and the Joker…and maybe Diana if things didn't go well.

As much as he loathed having help, he had to admit that he was glad that Superman was here to help him corral Diana. Hopefully, he'd be able to help him talk some sense into her before she had a chance to beat them both to a bloody pulp and mop the floor with their lifeless bodies. It was a prospect he hoped above all else to avoid at all cost, but he already knew he'd do whatever it took to save her from this horrible nightmare.

He didn't know he how'd be able to defend himself against her when or if it came down to it, be able to actually raise his fist to her especially after having made love to her just a few nights ago. Now, he may have to in order to stay alive long enough to save her.

Peering around the crate, Batman admired his handiwork, pleased he'd taken out several of the Joker's thugs, but there were still dozens more. Releasing more batbombs, he quickly chased over Joker who was already trying to make a quick escape. He wasn't about to let him get away after what he had done to Diana.

Superman tightened his hold on Diana as she struggled and squirmed against his embrace. When it came to a battle of strength, they were fairly equally matched, but when it came to battle of wills, there was no competition when it came to the Amazon Princess…unless you were wearing a black bat suite.

Diana gritted her teeth, swinging her legs and kicking him hard, but it didn't seem to have any effect on him. "Listen to me," he firmly said, trying to force her to look him in the eye. "You have to fight against the drugs and the memories Luthor implanted in your mind. They are not real. Batman and I are your friends."

"I have no friends," she hissed as she smashed her forehead against his in an effort to escape his hold on her.

The force of her action briefly dazed him, but did little to affect his grip around her body. Instead, he tightened his grasp, wrapping his legs around hers to keep her from kicking him again. He had to figure out a way to make her understand, to help her see that he and Batman were not the enemies.

The problem now was how.