Chapter 4: A Life Scroll

It took some time but Wonder Woman finally managed to find and convince the others to come to the palace. They all did come and they were in front of Queen Hippolyta's throne while Diana was to the right of her mother. They all bowed before the queen.

"Rise," Hippolyta ordered. They did. "State your name and power or powers." They went from right to left.

"Superman," Superman began.

"Superman?" Hippolyta asked.

"The public gave me that name," Superman explained. "I can fly, see and hear long distances, am indestructible, super strength, heat vision and freeze breath."

"I'm Green Lantern," Green Lantern said. "I can create anything using by ring." He quickly demonstrated by creating a sword.

"I'm Flash," Flash started. "And I have super speed."

"I'm Green Arrow," Green Arrow told her. "And I am a really good athlete and am a really good archer." Hippolyta turned to the last one.

"You are?" Hippolyta asked.

"Batman," Batman informed.

"My queen!" another Amazon came in. She had dark-skin, black hair and brown eyes. "We found these two lurking around THE library."

"Let me go! I'm not a thief!" said one of the "lurkers". Two more Amazons came in with two young ones. They all turned to the two Amazons and Batman's eyes widen.

"Dick," Batman muttered.

"We didn't steal anything!" Batgirl exclaimed.

"Yeah, in fact, we were trying to stop the REAL thieves," Robin explained.

"I don't believe it," Artemis said. "My queen, they were clearly found entering THE library."

"If there's no one to vouch for you two then you must suffer the consequences of stealing from THE library," Hippolyta stated.

"I'll vouch for them," Batman said. All eyes went to Batman. "They're not thieves. They're my partners." He walked toward them. "Though I don't know how or why they're here." The Amazons put them down and untied them. "What you doing here?"

"Watching your back," Batgirl stated. "It's what partners do."

"You're supposed to be watching Gotham," Batman told her.

"Yeah, but there's nothing to do," Robin complained. "Besides we found out why the army was here in the first place."

"You did?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Yeah, they were here so their master could steal some sort of scroll from the library place," Batgirl explained. All of the Amazons' eyes widen. "We followed two men and a young woman there and we knocked out most of the men but then one of them got the jump on us and knocked us out."

"We remember where it was in that place though," Robin assured them.

"We do?" Batgirl asked.

"Yeah, it was in the W sections," Robin informed them. "Remember, it had a golden W on the shelf?"

"Could you lead us there?" Hippolyta asked. They both nodded.

The leaguers, the two partners, Hippolyta and Artemis all headed toward "THE library". It was a large and long building that was open and at the entrance had gray columns. It had wooden walls and it looked like it had been over grown. They all entered the place. It was dark despite the fact that it was day due to the lack of windows.

"Artemis, could you get us a torch?" Hippolyta asked.

"No need," Green Lantern said. He created a large light his ring. "Batgirl, Robin lead the way." They, along with Batman, pulled out their flashlights and led the way to the W section in the building.

"What are those?" Hippolyta asked.

"They're flashlights," Batman informed her. "Now, what's so special about this place?"

"Here is where some Life Scrolls are," Hippolyta told them.

"What's a Life Scroll?" Green Arrow asked.

"A Life Scroll is a recording of a person's life," Hippolyta explained. "They are written by the Fates. They begin being written when a person is born and end when they die."

"But why would someone want to steal one?" Flash asked.

"And you said some of the Life Scrolls are kept here," Superman pointed out. "Where are the others?"

"The Life Scrolls of the living important and influential people are placed here," Hippolyta explained. "It is after they do something impactful that they end up here. The scrolls here were moved from another place where the normal people's Life Scrolls are."

"So they are being written as a person lives their life," Batman figured. "Not before."

"Exactly," Hippolyta answered.

"Again, why would someone want to steal one?" Green Lantern asked.

"Because if you burn a person's Life Scroll their work and all they've done in their lifetime is reversed, so that none of it ever happened," Artemis explained. "And so is their influence on other people. And as a result it sends their soul adrift for all eternity."

"Okay, but what happens when a person dies?" Green Arrow asked. "What happens to the scroll then?"

"It is sent to Hades and is used by the council to determine where a person goes in the afterlife," Hippolyta told him. "After that it is sent to an ever-growing library there where it will stay for all of eternity."

"Here we are!" Robin announced. "This is where we found the men." Batman shown his flashlight around the area and he found that a drawer was open. He went over to it and removed it from the shelf.

"Who's scroll was in there?" Flash asked. Batman shown his flashlight on its golden plat. "It's says Wayne, Bruce. Bruce Wayne?"

"Why would they want to steal Bruce Wayne's scroll?" Wonder Woman asked. "He seems like a pompous jerk to me. And why is his even in here?"

"Because through his company and resources he has made a difference on Gotham," Batman informed her as he put the drawer back into the shelf. "He's not all the public has made him out to be." They all headed back toward the open.

"Yeah, and he's not as bad as some of the other philanthropists are," Robin told her.

"If it wasn't him in charge of Wayne Enterprises it would be someone WAY worse," Batgirl added.

"That still doesn't explain why someone would want to destroy him," Artemis stated. "I doubt they'd be after a businessman's scroll. There has to be a double meaning to this."

"Either way we've got to stop that mad man from destroying that scroll," Robin exclaimed.

"But he could be anywhere," Green Lantern pointed out. "And we don't even know what he looks like."

"But a living person's Life Scroll can only be destroyed by a volcano, right?" Wonder Woman asked her mother.

"Indeed," Hippolyta responded. "And the nearest volcano is on Nisyros."

"What are we waiting for!?" Superman asked.