Flashback, the Watchtower:
"I gotta have dips on at least one Amazon." Shayera says with a smile at the three others.
"I am so un-appreciated." Zatanna sighs. Somehow, whenever either Diana, Raven or Donna ended up in a training match together, people wanted to separate them.
"Then you will be paired with me." Diana says with a smile.
"Well, this week's lump quota will be met then." Raven shrugs as the two groups pull apart, whispering tactics to their teammates as a ripping sound is suddenly heard, making them all turn to see a man in a strange brown red suit with matching bug-eyed goggles and a circular metal backpack.
The four women just stare in surprise at him, which is matched by his, before his expression turns to panic.
"Wrong place! Wrong time!" He says as he quickly pulls out a large remote and begins frantically pushing buttons.
"Get him!" Shayera yells and the four move in, it was a common agreement now that people who suddenly arrived on the Watchtower that were not happy about it were usually bad guys, and that apologies could be handed out in case they were wrong.
Just as the four closes in on him and Shayera's mace comes in close of his backpack, he activates his device, resulting in a flash of white, a sudden sense of vertigo then nothing.
"Oh…my head." Zatanna complains as she wakes up with a headache, opening her eyes, she finds herself alone in a dungeon cell, shackled to the wall. "Uh girls?" She asks.
"All accounted for." Shayera says from somewhere outside the cell.
"Any idea where we are?" Zatanna asks as she searches her hair for a hairpin before setting to work on her bindings.
"Question more likely is; when?" Raven adds. "That guy was a time traveler."
"So how do you know we have travelled in time?" Diana asks.
"I can feel my father is alive." Raven replies. "Any of you free?"
"I can't break them." Diana complains. "There's something in them."
"I'll be right out." Zatanna says as she opens the last lock. "Whoever made this place, knows magic, but left them open to lock picks."
"And bad ones." Raven says as she opens her cell door and steps into the circular stone corridor outside around the same time as Zatanna. "Charming place." She notes.
"Mind taking notes till after we are all out?" Shayera complains from her cell.
"Na, I think we will just leave you in there." Zatanna says as she opens the door into Diana.
"Hey!" Shayera yells before Raven enters hers, soon they are all free. "So what now?"
"Zatanna can get us home?" Diana suggests.
"Sorry time travel is beyond me without the right spell to do it with and I need to know when we are in order to get it right." The sorceress shrugs.
"Halt prisoners!" A stern woman's voice brings them to attention, but only two of them had any idea what was actually said, looking down the hallway they see three armed women pointing spears at them, Raven and Diana just stares at the leader.
"Diana, are you seeing who I think I am seeing?" Raven asks.
"I am, but I don't know whenever to be happy to see her or be upset with having her point a spear at me?" Diana replies.
"You know them?" Zatanna asks.
"Let us try to talk to them, Diana just remember if we are when I think we are, not even you are born yet." Raven says before walking towards the guards. "Greeting's Amazons, we assure you we mean no harm. "
"You will return to your cell prisoner!" The leader, a curly blond, continues.
"Then we will demand to know why we are being detained, we have that right under Amazonian law." Diana says as she stands before the three. "Or has times changed that much Penelope?"
"You know my name, yet I know not yours outsider." The leader says after a moment of surprise passing through the guards. "And yes, you have the right; you are all being detained for disturbing the peace and the practice of unblessed magic."
"Sisters, we have no memory of arriving here, nor of any practice of magic." Diana adds.
"You speak as if one of us, yet your clothes are odd and so is your manner of speech, from where do you hail?" Penelope asks.
"We do not lie when we say that we hail from 3000 years into the future." Diana replies. "As Amazonian law dictates, we must be brought before the Queen as all trespassers must."
"Your knowledge of our laws vexes me, but you are correct." Penelope grumbles. "Secure them."
"Whoa!" Shayera yelps as several more spear wielding guards have appeared behind them.
"Wait, don't!" Zatanna says as Shayera is about to put up a fight as the guards apparently intend to shackle them again. "Anything we do here could result in changes in the present, we have to play along." She says as she is turned around and her arms are secured behind her back the same way Raven and Diana is.
"You are only saying that because you can break out of them." Shayera grumbles.
"We have to find your mace as well." The sorceress notes at the missing weapon before being herded out, having to walk in a line while being escorted out of the dungeon and into the sunlight that blinds them temporarily.
Regaining their sight, the first thing they notice is the wooden scaffold with the bloody block of wood on top and the axe lodged in it. The second is that they are in an enclosed courtyard with a heavy wood door leading outside, guarded by two spear-wielding Amazons, while the walls around them are made from brown stone.
The guards bang on the doors three times in unison with their fists before pulling them open, revealing two more guards on the outside. As they walk, they all study the city around them, all constructed from brown stone. Raven walks the false memory lane Ares granted her, it is exactly as she remembers it. Diana marvels at the city she has heard much about, but never seen. Shayera is looking for paths to run if needed to and Zatanna just walks, wondering if she was about to cook in the sun.
The group is lead mainly through the smaller streets where they only see few other Amazon civilians, Raven and Diana do catch a glimpse of a smithy they pass where a young and slightly smaller looking Io is spotted banging away at a piece of metal in the open part of the forge. But she is too engrossed in her work to look up at their passing.
Eventually they are led through a crowded market square, where most of the civilians stop and whisper to each other about the strangers, not all of it was polite, before they are led to the palace, the first structure they see that is made of white marble. They are left with the guards as Penelope enters the palace to announce their arrival.
"I am going to have a heat stroke." Zatanna growls as sweat pours down her forehead after half an hour of waiting.
"Raven is wearing more than you." Shayera whispers, equally baked but stubbornly refusing to show it.
"Protects me from the sun." Raven whispers, before they have to quiet down as a guard begins to growl at them in time for Penelope to reappear on the steps of the palace. Nodding at the palace with a scowl on her face, the Leaguers are herded roughly forwards with shoving, complaints and grunts being traded between them all.
Again they are led towards their destination, this time through grand marble halls with seemingly an endless supply of guards standing silently at the walls and doors, before they are admitted through two large bronze doors and into the throne room.
Here they see Hippolyta sitting on a golden throne on a raised dais with a huge marble statue of Athena sitting behind her with its back to a row of columns that lets them see a shoreline and a blue lake. Along the walls they count twenty guards standing silently with their spears. Behind Hippolyta stand three women, one raven headed woman that bears a striking resemblance to Hippolyta, a tall blond woman with slightly glazed eyes and finally a scribe in a red cloak standing in the back with a feather and a block. Before her the floor is partially covered by a large circular rug embroidered with a an owl. The four prisoners are forced down onto their knees before the Queen, before they are addressed.
"The wise Queen Hippolyta of Amazonia, demands to know about your business within the City of Themyscira!" The raven headed says sternly, revealing her to be dressed in the manner of a soldier with a leopard skin added as a toga over her armor.
"An accident landed us here, we mean no harm." Raven says.
"She speaks the truth." The blond says quietly. "Your highness, may I suggest treating these with respect, they are powerful warriors and mages."
"I shall not be intimidated by strangers in my own throne room Magala." Hippolyta says as she stares them all in the eyes, Zatanna and Shayera look away eventually from the piercing stare, Diana holds it for a full moment before they both need to blink, for some reason Hippolyta looks away when she stares into Raven's eyes. "One of you claimed to be an Amazon?"
"That would be me." Diana replies boldly.
"Yet you dress like none of us and your tongue is strange, but less so than your dark companion." Hippolyta says.
"You may find it hard to believe, but none of us have yet been born, some of us not for thousands of years." Diana continues, straining not to address her mother as she usually does.
"Yet you all know me it appears, your eyes brim with familiarity." Hippolyta continues. "I will see you all revealed." Two guards step forwards and rolls up the rug, revealing a circular double door of smooth wood that is opened, revealing a pool of still water. "I will see you first." She says while pointing at Zatanna who raises her eye brow at the command she can't understand.
"She wants you to hold your hand over it." Diana says as two guards, unlocks her shackles and has her stand. Zatanna tries to shake them off as they keep guiding her movements.
"She knows what you ask of her, no need to be rough with her." Raven says quietly without looking, the guards stop trying to guide Zatanna and settles with standing behind her.
"This isn't going to hurt hopefully?" Zatanna asks.
"Don't worry, it doesn't." Diana says, Zatanna holds out her hand over the pool.
Hippolyta leans forwards in her seat as the pool turns white, then black, before it first shows a young, laughing, girl being slowly tossed into the air before being caught by a laughing Giovanni Zatara with a smiling white-haired woman next to him, her pupil-less eyes and white-blue skin makes it obvious she is not human. The image is replaced by one of the same girl, only older, being cradled in Giovanni's arms as both are crying. Again the scene shifts, the girl is now older still but now alone, still crying before she picks up a top hat from the ground, she looks at it for a few seconds before putting it on with a defiant look on her face and walks out into the darkness, disappearing from view. Zatanna appears now as an adult, still with the hat, now performing her magic on stage before the image shifts to her turning a group of men into rats. The last image is of her again standing on a stage with her name on the backdrop, she bows to the audience before vanishing in smoke.
"She can stop." Hippolyta says as the images stop appearing. "The winged one."
"Shayera." Diana says as the winged warrior is treated similarly as Zatanna, who is seated and restrained again.
"She is strong your Highness." One of the guards note. As Shayera holds her hand over the pool.
Again the pool swirls before showing a war ravaged world under a red sky, where winged silhouettes battle large stooped shapes with tails. This image is replaced by a group of winged children standing in ordered ranks while a grown up is yelling at them. A young Shayera is then seen receiving her old helmet before disappearing in a flash of light. She is now seen as a grown woman in pursuit of a car driven by masked men, the chase ends shortly after when Shayera brings her mace down onto the hood of the car, smashing the engine out the bottom. There is a short image of her joining the Founders of the League before they move out, before it is replaced by one showing her sending a communication to an unknown receiver from the Watchtower. Shayera cringes a little as the pool shows the Earth with the Thanagarian fleet closing in on it. This is replaced with one of Shayera standing in a circle of dark figures, where some turn away from her as she walks away from the four who remain, tossing her helmet aside. But the scene shifts again and she is finally shown standing alongside the Founders again. After that the images stop and Shayera lowers her hand.
"You who claim to be a sister." Hippolyta gestures to Diana, who gets to her feet, apparently not taking notice of the guards trying to maneuver her.
"She is favored." Magala notes as Diana holds out her hand.
The pool shows a dark beach where storm cloud brings rain and thunder from above. The image stumbles a little as it is cast down into the sand, a pair of hands with golden bracelets appear from the sides, one carrying a knife that is planted in the ground. Out of the sand the hands sculpt the model of a child, finishing with the knife drawing blood from a thumb that is wiped away on the sculpture's forehead. A flash of lightning makes the image go white for a second before showing the rain washing the sand away, revealing a real baby girl with dark hair underneath. The hands appear hand hold the child above a group of cheering Amazon warriors that makes Hippolyta's and the raven-headed eyes widen considerably because they recognize some of them. The image shifts to showing the girl, barely knee high, fencing with a wood sword with another woman, while a blonde stands facing away from the two, gazing across the sea. The scene moves on to showing the girl, now in her teens racing alongside another woman on horseback. The scene shifts quickly again, showing Diana as fully grown and in her armor walk away from the statue of Athena on Themyscira. Again the scene changes, to show Diana standing in the center with Batman on her right side and Superman on her left, while the faces of five women appear behind them, smiling while they look at her. After this the image ends. And Diana lowers her hand.
"Do you believe my claim now?" Diana asks.
"I will have words with you after." Hippolyta says before turning to Raven. "Now you, dark one."
"Show off." Shayera grumbles as Raven stands up handing her still closed, but empty, manacles to one of the guards who just stare's at it.
"I apologies Your Highness, it is a habit of mine." Raven says before holding her hand over the pool.
The pool once again blurs and turns black before showing a sleeping pale skinned baby shortly before four glowing eyes appear behind it and the child opens her eyes, revealing them to be purple, for some reason it causes the pool to ripple. In a strange sequence, the child stands up and begins walking, letting the viewer watch her from the side. She grows rapidly as she walks, growing purple hair, quickly donning her cloak and leotard while people regard her fearfully in the background before she walks out of view. The eyes remain a constant companion of her as she appears again alongside the Teen Titans and the eyes narrow as if in displeasure. The eyes then grow wide and fearful as Raven changes to her white garb and a white flash obliterates them. The pool is dark again when she reappears, standing alone with her arms folded over her chest before her skin changes to red and four yellow eyes begin to glow under her hood and she flees from the viewer, covering her face with her hands. She appears with her hood up, with the viewer looking over her shoulders, with the League Founders in front of her, who disappear one by one, until Raven and the viewer race off into the back with Diana. The scene then flashes white and red a few times before an image returns with an enraged Raven is battling the armored form of Ares. This image is followed shortly by Raven in a toga receiving a pair of silver bracelets from a tall blond woman with her back slightly turned to the viewer, hiding her face, while Diana stands in the back, smiling. The image again goes dark again before a large yellow bat silhouette appears before shrinking, revealing it to be mounted on the chest of a female dressed completely in black, crouching on a building ledge at night while her head indicates she is scanning for something before jumping down, making the image go black in her cape. Zatanna just stares wide-eyed at the last sight, but Raven mouths a 'later' to her before she can say anything.
"An exceptional group." Hippolyta says to herself, seemingly in deep thought. "Release them and leave me with them." She announces out loud, Magala, the scribe and the guards all begin defiling out of the room without a question, but the raven head remains.
"This is unwise sister, you will be vulnerable." She cautions.
"Be at ease Antiope, I am certain in my judgement, leave me." Hippolyta says without meeting the woman's gaze. Antiope stares at her for a second before bowing with her right fist over her heart and withdraws, staring coldly at the group. No one speaks or moves before the doors close behind her with a dull boom. Hippolyta regards the group while leaning back in her seat, having her fingers spread out in front of her face as the tips rest against each other. "Now then strangers, you will impart who you really are to me." This takes them by surprise; she speaks fluent Modern English, a language that had not even begun developing at this time.
"Wait, you speak English now?" Shayera asks, getting a stare. "Your Highness?" She adds quickly, remembering how touchy the monarch could be in the present.
"For one to excel in diplomacy, one must be able to communicate fluently and since you do not all speak my tongue, I must use yours. Come closer and tell me your names." Hippolyta says.
The group moves around the well to stand on the floor before the dais. "I am Diana of Themyscira." Wonder Woman starts.
"I'm Zatanna Zatara."
"Shayera Hol of Thanagar, but most people call me Hawkgirl."
"I am Raven, also of Themyscira and of Azerath." Raven finishes, Hippolyta nods as if putting pieces of a puzzle together.
"Fiery bird of prey, wise bird of carrion, the sorceress and the hunter." She says quietly. "Then you are those who I was foretold would come, travelers from a time yet to come."
"You were expecting us?" Zatanna asks.
"Indeed sorceress, Magala once bade me look into my pool, where I saw images I could not make sense of, but the words impaired to me were clear. You would come and receive my aid in your quest to return to your time. But I will have answers to my questions before that." Hippolyta says. "Diana, we saw you born into our midst, yet your mother remains a mystery." Diana looks at her companions, questioning whenever she should tell or not. "Or is your mother ashamed of you this day?"
"I… no, my mother has often proclaimed her pride of my actions and my deeds. She has often said, I am a symbol that the gods watch over us and that we still carry their favor." Diana says.
"Then she will not be ashamed of having her name mentioned to me." Hippolyta says watching Diana intently.
"I… no, she will not." Diana says pausing before continuing. "I am Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Champion of the God's; my mother is Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons." Hippolyta finally shows some emotion as she stares wide eyed at Diana, getting out of her seat before crossing over to Diana to stare her in the eyes again for a full minute before turning away, nodding to herself.
"One day then, I will have what I always desired." She sighs herself, before turning back to Diana. "Yes, I am proud of what I can see you have become. I hope I can endure the wait till see you at the correct time." She says. "Now, Raven, I will know, you are also a Sister in your time?"
"I am Your Highness." Raven confirms.
"Yet you mentioned it not, nor that you were not born of us." Hippolyta continues.
"The fewest people in our time believe I am when it is mentioned." Raven replies. "My engaging of Ares, the Bloodspiller on Themysciran soil allowed me entry." She replies, letting it go unsaid she privately suspected Hippolyta had other reasons for wishing to include her and now she was certain there was more to it.
"For what reason would you engage a foe that cannot be beat?" The Queen asks while looking at her questioningly.
"I was undergoing a number of trials at the time, Ares appeared during my trials with Diana that had brought me to Themyscira. He enforced a number of memories onto me, of this city and a life I never had here. Something happens to me during this life and I engage Ares to keep him at bay, hoping to buy time for others." Raven says.
"Hmm, you are not telling me everything about this matter. Why?" Hippolyta notes.
"I cannot, if I do and we return to our time, we may find it changed, perhaps for the worse." Raven says.
"Hmm, I understand. Knowledge of the future has value like no other; my pool allows me glimpses from time to time, but it is by the will of the Gods that I am allowed these glimpses. If you cannot tell me, then it must be their will that make you defy me as you have done the Deceiver." Hippolyta says. "Now I know there in the future will be new Amazons, but you two are not?" She continues, looking at Shayera and Zatanna.
"I am not a physical kind of person." Zatanna admits.
"Diana has mentioned your people might not accept my kind in that way." Shayera says as she spreads her wings slightly.
"Then worthy allies you must be?" Hippolyta continues.
"They are." Diana says before either of them can mention their own failings.
"Good." Hippolyta nods in satisfaction. "Now I have an item Magala presented me, a gift from the gods, I was told could help you on your journey, but I can say no more about it. If we meet again, I may have forgotten this meeting, but present the item to me and I may remember with clarity." Hippolyta says before walking up to the throne and retrieves a small hand mirror with a dark metal frame with four spines poking out of the sides, Raven just stares at it. "You have seen this before." Hippolyta notices at her reaction.
"I've… owned it for several years; I got it when I was a child." Raven says, remembering Azar had given it to her.
"Then I guess we will part with it at some point if we can't get all the way back with its help." Shayera mentions.
"That's the problem, I used it to ease my meditation, I have never been told about it being able to do anything else." Raven says as Hippolyta hands her the mirror.
"Let me have a look." Zatanna says before she is handed the mirror.
"Uh, Your Highness, I had a mace with me when I arrived?" Shayera mentions.
"Yes, our smith's apprentice was struck by Zeus' lightning when she examined it. Tell me warrior; is this a weapon of his design?" Hippolyta says as she retrieves the weapon lying behind her throne. Diana isn't missing her Lasso because she had left it in her room before venturing into the gym.
"No, it is one of my homeworld's standard armaments." Shayera says as she twists the small ring on the handle near the head, making it crackle with electricity for a few seconds before she turns it off. "Unfortunately, the metal it is made of does not exist here and I cannot get a new one."
"Hmm, I don't see how it aided you Raven, but I can see a carefully woven spell on its surface, I think I can get us started." Zatanna says. "When you are ready that is."
"My Queen, till we meet again." Raven says, putting a fist over her heart and bows to Hippolyta.
"Till we meet again, mother." Diana says as she gives her a hug, with a sad expression on her face.
"One last thing, you wouldn't have happened to have met a man in a red suit?" Shayera asks.
"I have days ago, I had the uncouth brute executed after he insulted Antiope, his strange equipment was melted down. Why do you ask?"
"His backpack was what got us here." Raven says. "But if its slag now." She shrugs.
"So we ready to go?" Zatanna asks as they gather around her, getting nods. "Ok, farewell Your Highness. ekaT su emoh!" She says to the mirror before they all vanish in a puff of smoke and a loud bang, immediately resulting in guards and Antiope rush into the now empty chamber with a drawn sword, finding an oddly smiling Hippolyta.
Flashback ends.
"Ok, you went back in time, three thousand years and landed in Old Themyscira and found your mirror there?!" Richard exclaims, making sure he got it all right.
"Yup, the spell only took us about a millennium into the future though and landed us in a Viking village that time, right on the king's great table in the middle of a feast. After the ensuing brawl died down, we managed to convince them we were Valkyries who had lost out horses and were searching for a mage to transport us back to Asgard. Thankfully, Shayera had studied all religions and that Zatanna could make herself understandable to them." Raven replies.
"Do you know where you landed?" Richard asks.
"One of the Danish Isles; we had to travel to Sweden to find the mage. He got us landed in Camelot, of all places, fortunately Merlin was in a good mood and got us to the 16th century, I lost the mirror when we crashed through the roof of a monastery in France and were promptly forced to flee the scene. The nuns thought Shayera was an angel and the rest of us were witches that were harassing her. We had to seek out a man living in a cave near Paris, turned out he was a cannibal, but we persuaded him to cast the spell, or rather Zatanna had him buried under a mountain of cabbages before he agreed. We all ended up in a pile on the station, finding out we had been gone for two minutes and that Flash was looking for us." Raven continues. "It was an experience I am unlikely to forget."
"Girls night out." Richard says. "So did you show Hippolyta the mirror when you got back?"
"Yes and she admitted that she actually remembered the meeting vividly, and had ever since Diana was born. So she admitted that she did recognize me the moment she met me on the Watchtower and knew what was going to happen when she allowed me to come to Themyscira."
"Was that a good or bad thing?"
"She said we are even for not being able to tell her about the coming of Heracles, who arrived two years after we left. Magala also admitted she knew I was coming and had been waiting as well, but it was Zeus who had her supply me with the godswater. It is actually scary to think that it all began thousands of years before you were even born."
"I gather, scary to know we might not have an actual choice in what we do." Richard replies.
"We have the choice in the now, don't forget that." Raven says. "Anyways, we did manage to get us a few souvenirs along the way, I'll show them later."
"So I guess you have been spending more time on Themyscira?" Richard asks after a moment's silence.
"Plenty, besides the odd visits and holidays. We have been over to take part in the harvest, and the war games we hold twice annually to make sure no one is forgetting how to fight."
"What's that like?"
"Massed battle formations in regiments and smaller squadron skirmishes. In time for the second one, someone had suggested that I, along with a few others, try and lead a group of twenty each, which did surprise me."
"Ok so how did that work out?" Richard asks, wondering if Raven had the presence on Themyscira that he had seen in the cave.
"Quite well after some explaining was done, they had after all done this for much longer than I had and were used to having a certain way of doing things. While I couldn't teach them how to do stuff like we do it here because of rules and time constraints, I did manage to teach them how to move silently, hide effectively and best of all, how to have patience. See they mainly think in terms of meeting an enemy like a battering ram meeting a castle gate, I taught them how to fight like predators. Ended up with a tally of five other squads before the end." Raven replies nonchalantly.
"Sounds like a career booster to me?" Richard says.
"It was, officially I hold the rank of sergeant on Themyscira, after some instruction on how to act as one." Raven says while rubbing her nails against her stomach.
"Think I found that out the hard way?"
"You did, but it was nothing compared to what I did when I got over to Titans Tower finding everything in disarray because Cyborg was away visiting some relatives. Cyborg could tell by the sensors when he got back that I had been angry, room temperature had been raised several degrees above normal and that everyone were a little white."
"So the team is working out well now?" He asks at the mention of the team.
"Most of the time, nothing serious to complain about in the field. The problems arise when they are in the Tower, they are more like a school class than the family we were. We elected for safety reasons and practicality to make the team as big as it is; we couldn't run two teams and we couldn't really decide on keeping it at four or five." Raven explains.
"So who ended up without a team?" Richard asks.
"Kid Devil and Zatanna's cousin Zachary initially, Kid Devil has since joined after Ravager left, Zach alienated himself from the team almost immediately after he got on board so he is loose again. Which reminds me we need to meet with Zatanna later this afternoon for your checkout, so you might want to tidy up." She says looking over her glasses at him.
"I think its best it remains unknown Richard Grayson is back in town for the time being. So are you two cool now?" he says while combing his beard with his fingers.
"Frosty, she's been teaching me some sleight of hand tricks, some of my escapology classes are with her and of course; magic. She was even kind enough to invite me to her father's funeral when she got it arranged."
"She found him?" Richard asks in surprise.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Raven asks in equal surprise before she remembers she didn't actually tell him back then. "Yes, when we invaded Talazzarr we found him frozen in amber, Zatanna was allowed a last chance to talk to him before she had to consign his soul to the Abyss, a place beyond heaven and hell's reach so he wouldn't suffer. I stored his body till she was ready to arrange the funeral; it was lovely and amazing to see how many people had known him." She says, obviously replaying the scene in her head.
"I remember Bruce saying that Giovanni had noted he could have been a natural magician." Richard says.
"He mentioned that as well, since he attended as himself. Zatanna has offered me the assistant role in her shows, but somehow I think that getting sawed in half night after night will get boring eventually." Raven shrugs. "By the way, do you have a bike parked downtown you need to pick up?"
"No, I arrived by bus. But I can imagine Zee would have fun manhandling you." Richard replies with a smile that is echoed by Raven. "So, Arkham burned down?"
"Ah yes, or how I almost ran over five Amazons with the Batmobile." Raven says as her smile broadens at the memory. "Apparently they felt I had been away for too long and came to check up on me. Bruce had headed out early by bike and I had an assignment that was running late when I got the call."
Flashback, North of Gotham City:
"You are certain we are not in a part of Tartarus?" Penelope asks as the five Amazons follow Antiope along the forest trail just after sunset.
"Of course, that man we spoke to is highly regarded by Princess Diana, he wouldn't have dared to send us anywhere we didn't want to go." Artemis replies.
"Question is why he couldn't send us directly to her?" Io adds.
"We were told this numerous times by Diana, the Dark One appreciates uninvited visitors in his abode as much we do on Themyscira." Artemis continues. "But I agree, he could have placed us closer than that market square we arrived in."
"Because he doesn't actually know where the cave is, or he has been sworn not to reveal it." Anitope says from up front as she crouches and studies the tracks she is following. "It is only because of Diana's directions we have gotten this far."
"You mean till you found some animal you wanted to hunt." Philipus adds while studying the pine trees around her, while it irritated her as much as the others she knew she couldn't track Raven's magical signature because of the wards inside the cave that was meant to prevent just that.
"Actually I am certain I am tracking a very large and unusual version of the mechanical chariots these people seem to prefer." Antiope replies without looking up. "Tracks are less than a day old."
It had been a bit of an experience for the group to appear in the busy center of Gotham, dressed and armed for combat. It had taken them some time to convince Hippolyta to let them make the journey and even more to convince Diana to let slip how to find the cave and taking a vow of its secret remaining safe. Diana had warned them about the society they were about to experience, and had told them not to mingle, ignore any lesser comments, don't kill anyone and be mindful of the roads for the cars and trucks. Io in particular wanted to have a closer look at some of the larger variants, especially a large red truck that almost runs Penelope over. The others however were almost choking in the air, unused as they are to pollution. But after several hours of travel by foot, they have made their way north, only to have Antiope lead them from the given directions when she found the tracks.
"I wonder how people here sleep, it's been hours since we left the city and I can still hear its roar from here." Io continues, noting again the dull hum of the city they can still hear.
"They are used to it, like the foul air." Artemis shrugs. "But I do wonder how such a city sustains itself? We saw no fields of wheat or any game to hunt, unless you intend to turn to barbarity?"
"They are barbarians." Penelope shrugs.
"Not all of them." Philipus corrects.
"Sisters, I believe we have reached our journey's end." Anitope says as she looks up, the others look ahead into a small clearing before a sheer cliff wall rises into high into the air, unbeknownst to them marking the southern border of the gardens of Wayne Manor.
"Or just the end of your trail." Penelope grumbles already thinking about the time they needed to spend to get back to the road.
"No, the tracks lead straight to the rocks." Antiope replies as she studies them, noticing how they just disappear several feet from the cliff. "I suspect our destination lies beyond them."
"And we are getting past them how?" Penelope continues by pointing out the obvious. "We do not have Princess Diana's strength or sister Raven's ability to bypass rock."
"Perhaps it needs a spell or password?" Philipus suggest.
"Please Philipus, Diana mentioned the cave has been in use since before sister Raven arrived, most likely the Dark One has a mechanism somewhere to command its opening." Artemis replies getting a scowl out of Philipus.
"Well whatever opens it, we don't have it." Penelope sighs. "How far away was this manor supposed to be from here?"
"15 minutes walk back the track and about two and a half kilometers further down the road." Io replies.
"Sister's let me try at least." Philipus asks, getting a shrug out of Artemis. "By the power of Zeus, unlock the door in my path." She says in Hellenistic Greek, getting nothing from the rocks.
"Well you tried." Io says patting the mages shoulder as she turns away, looking disheartened. Just as the rocks begin rumbling before falling forwards. "LOOK OUT!" Io cries as the group flees out of the way as the rocks reveal themselves to be completely flat on the back and lowered by hydraulics.
"Ok, maybe it did work?" Artemis admits at the beaming Philipus as they move forwards to the opening.
"Wait, something is coming." Anitope says as she stops just outside of it. "Can you not hear it?"
"I do." Artemis replies, getting the others to stop as well. Deep inside the cave a deep roar is heard along with screeching before four circular white eyes appear at the back and quickly comes towards the group. "MOVE!"
The group scrambles out of the way as a huge black machine erupts from the cave, flying at first, but as it lands it throws up dirt as the brakes set in, stopping it several meters down the path from this landing, before the engines kick in and the tank swings around to catch the five Amazons in its headlights.
"What kind of beast is that?" Penelope asks as Antiope ready's her bow, none of them can see much as the light blinds them, but they hear something moving.
"Not sure, but be ready for anything." Artemis says as a figure can be seen above the light, Antiope doesn't ask, she releases the arrow at the top of the figure, guessing it would be the creature's head, only for the figure to raise something that deflects the arrow.
"Sisters, I would prefer you didn't do that as a habitual greeting from now on." Ravens voice reaches them, getting Antiope to lower her weapon out of surprise. "Get in, we don't have time for talk here."
"Err, Sister?" Philipus asks.
"It's a chariot, come on, we can't wait!" Raven says as she sinks back down, getting the others to quickly hurry forwards, finding her waiting in the driver's seat of the tank. "You will have to squeeze to get in; this isn't as favored as Diana's jet."
"I got dips on the front seat." Io says quickly and jumps in. Antiope and Penelope get in and take up the two rear seats.
"You will have to sit on each other's laps, I am afraid." Raven says, Artemis and Philipus get in as well, ending up on Antiope and Penelope's laps respectively, which is a tight fit. "Ok fasten your seatbelts this is going to be bumpy."
"Seatbelt's?" Io asks a second before Raven has the engine roar to life and swings the car around before racing down the forest trail, getting a scream out of Io and Philipus who aren't used to the kick of the acceleration.
"Next to your seat, Artemis and Philipus you just hang onto the seat in front of you." Raven says, getting the group to finally notice what she is wearing, making Io stop halfway at an attempt at bucking her seat belt.
"You look… different, Sister?" Artemis says as the tank bumps as they exit onto the asphalt road, knocking Artemis' and Philipus' heads against the ceiling. "Ow."
"Armor and badge of honor, have to wear it here, not that I mind." Raven replies. "Hard right turn!" She calls before swinging the car to the right as the road swings; getting a host of complaining from the others. "Sorry."
"Where are we going in this death trap?" Antiope asks from behind Artemis.
"A place called Arkham Asylum was reported on fire 5 minutes ago and the patients are running free. This is Gotham's version of Doom's Door being opened."
"You keep demons inside this place?" Philipus asks as the tank makes its way down onto the freeway. "Watch out!" She cries as Raven swings around a truck.
"Don't worry." Raven says calmly. "Arkham is a place for the mentally ill, where many of Batman's enemies end up. They keep killers that will kill you for a laugh, flip a coin for your life and those kinds of people. Some appear monstrous, but they are human and don't kill any of them, but wound them if you need to stop them from running away. Mind your feet Artemis." Raven waits a second before her seat moves to the center of the car and pulls her forwards.
"It's got her!" Penelope exclaims as the car speeds up.
"No, with a car this big, it is easier to maneuver like this, hang on!" Raven replies before she begins swinging the car from side to side, avoiding the slower moving cars and trucks, while the others scream and hang on for dear life. "Oh and for the record, outside of this I am Batgirl and can't talk." She isn't sure if she is actually heard above the cries of terror, but she races on.
7 minutes later she steps hard on the brakes after a warning, stopping the tank at the edge trees at the back of the Arkham grounds, having used an old back entrance in favor of the one currently clogged by firefighters, police and ambulances on the inside while a crowd of spectators had gathered outside the gates and surrounding wall.
"Remember what I said; stay here if you need to." Batgirl says as she opens the hatch and jumps out and sprints towards the burning structure on top of the hill.
"Did everyone get that?" Artemis asks as she gets out on shaky legs, looking as green as the others.
"Was too busy holding onto my stomach." Io admits as she climbs out as well.
"She must be mad." Antiope notes as they all see a small dark shape seemingly leap several meters into the air and in through a window of the burning building.
"Maybe she spends her free time here." Philipus jokes as she stands and supports herself with her hands on her knees as a part of the outer wall collapses with a crash and something big storms out.
"Beware sisters, we have company!" Artemis calls as she gets her sword out, noticing the shape heading towards them. "TO ARMS!" She yells as the thing roars, while smaller figures emerge from the hole in the wall and follows after it.
Flashback ends.
"And so they got to sample Gotham's crazies, Killer Croc got away to the safety of police custody with five arrows in his hide and 32 lacerations before my sisters had to deal with the more confused crazies." Raven says. "Turned out Firefly thought the place would burn nicely, and he got a nice fireproof cell in the new Asylum for it. Sadly, Joker and many of the others are still at large today." She sighs.
"Terra included." Richard notes.
"Yeah, we have a hunch she returned to her brother since we found the inhibitor in the ruins. We will get her when she shows us again."
"If she shows up again." Richard corrects.
"We know she will, she said often enough during her sessions and temper tantrums that she would have revenge over me and see me locked in Arkham instead of her when she didn't want to personally dismember me. Dr. Light said something like that as well, but let's see when we meet him." Raven shrugs dismissively.
"So what was Bruce like when he met them?" Richard continues, wondering how that could possibly have turned out pleasantly.
"Civil actually, he did tell me to bring them along and he was kinda happy we wouldn't have to deal with Croc later on. But he wasn't too pleased about them breaking the bones of some 30 mentally ill patients. But he did let them in the cave afterwards and walked all over Artemis and Penelope when they finally challenged him to a fight."
"Well that should have pleased him." Richard says, thinking about the scowling women after it. "Can I ask, have you really gotten all those scars during this time?" Raven quirks an eyebrow before looking down herself.
"No, some of them are from Azerath, others from Jump City, but I have a few from Gotham. But they are all cosmetic, but I like being reminded of my mistakes. Like these remind me why a cheesy name does not equal an easy target." She says, pointing out four small marks, two on her chest, one in her right tight and one in her stomach. "Some girl calling herself the Carpenter had boasted she had rigged a building to blow, but gave up her location, an old rundown theater. I found her standing on the stage, I tried sneaking up behind her and failed to notice several floorboards behind her had been replaced recently, resulting in me falling through them and getting a sandbag to knock me out from above. Turns out her real agenda was that she was hired to booby trap the entire theater for us. She told me this when I woke up tied to a chair, she used a nail gun whenever she thought I wasn't paying enough attention to her. Hurt like hell, but the armor took the worst, but I got out and knocked her out." Raven explains.
"So it's not all been a breeze since I left." Richard says. "Anything serious?"
"My first encounter with Harvey Dent; I got cocky and the armor wasn't as thick as it should have been at the time, I ended up taking seven slugs from him. I couldn't do much else than call for help after falling down an elevator shaft. Bruce wasn't too happy afterwards, but nothing serious was hit. The time Scarecrow got us both was bad as well, had us both hanging by our arms over the ground before flooding the room with gas. We both got a little, before we got out which made following him over the rooftops particularly hairy."
"Well good to see you made it through intact." He says while studying his feet in the water. "Everyone else intact as well?"
"Yeah, nobody dead or mutilated in the past two years, thankfully. We've had a few close calls here and there but everyone is good. Well that depends on if you can call marriage a blessing or mutilation?" This gets Richard to look up.
"Who?"
"Bee and Herald last year. And Beastboy and Starfire are officially engaged and you are hereby invited if they finally decided on a day." Raven says with a smirk.
"Whoa, I thought that was just a flirt." He says before a smirk makes his way onto his face. "So anyone in your life?"
"No." Raven replies flatly.
"Not even a crush?" He continues, splashing a little water onto her before promptly getting thrown in the water, emerging gasping for air.
"That last one was you, and I have had enough of being hurt and heartbroken!" She snaps before teleporting away, leaving Richard in the pool.
"Damnit!" He curses as he punches the water. "Way to go Richard, shoot yourself in the foot a few times more why don't you?" He growls at himself.
Author's Notes: She's still very touchy about it :) And for older readers; now the mystery of Hippolyta's behaviour when she first met Raven has been solved. Next chapter; Richard gets even more confused and upset.