A.n I own Nothing
This is the last one, there will be a wrap chapter next but this is it. Hope you enjoyed this very tense arc. It was a lot of work and fun to write up.
Special Thanks to Iceiclecold for taking the time to proofreading and help with the editing in this busy and joyous time.
See you all in the New Year.
As always, Please Review
Green Lantern sat on a stool holding onto a portion of Alucard's coat while the vampire examined his eyes, he still couldn't see. After Alucard had freed the Green Lantern and Hawkgirl from Shaft's recreated version of Chicago, Alucard had taken them both to the infirmary, he'd placed Hawkgirl in a medical tube before turning his attention to Green Lantern. Alucard took a good look at John's eyes and everything about them told him he was irreversibly blind. However, judging from the smell of Green Lanterns' blood, Alucard could tell that was not the case and that his eyes were in fact functioning normally.
Alucard just couldn't figure it out. If Shafts' recreated environment had made Green Lantern go blind then he should have recovered from it the moment he'd destroyed the core. Yet that had not been the case. Alucard knew that John had his sight earlier in the meeting, and he knew that humans don't just become irreversibly blind in a few hours…at least not to his knowledge.
"Can you fix me?" Green Lantern asked, pulling Alucard out of his thoughts.
"Ah…I am not sure," Alucard said.
"Aren't you supposed to be a doctor," Green Lantern snapped. He did not take the news well.
"I am not a doctor yet…I have never heard of a human becoming blind in the span of a few hours without injury," Alucard shot back.
"Then just use your magic to give me my sight back then,"
"I cannot…as I have told the League previously, I am not capable of Healing magic,"
"Well then go take care of that priest or something. This is his doing,"
"If it had been Shaft then your blindness would have cured itself the moment, I freed you both from his magic," Alucard pointed out "your blindness is not Shafts doing,"
"Well, I certainly wasn't blind before meeting him," Green Lantern huffed.
"No…you weren't," Alucard agreed "Excuse me," Alucard moved away and with a snap of his hand he yanked his coat away from Green Lantern.
"Wait, where are you going," Green Lantern panicked.
"To the console, I need to call Batman," Alucard stated.
"But you're not leaving…right?"
"No, I am not," Alucard assured.
Alucard walked over to the console and commanded it to connect with Batman's commlink. Everything was still gibberish.
"Alucard to Batman," Alucard said once the console was connected.
"Little busy," Batmans' response came through.
"I have retrieved Green Lantern and Hawkgirl and destroyed the magical core…shafts created Chicago is not more,"
The sound of an explosion was heard. Alucard raised an eyebrow and Green Lantern's head snapped in the direction of the console and tensed up.
"That sounded close…are you alright Batman?" Alucard asked.
"I'm fine, is Green Lantern there? Tell him to get to Metropolis asap,"
"He is but cannot see…he is blind,"
"Blind?"
"Indeed…I had thought it was something shaft did or wanted but…it did not go away when Green Lantern returned to reality,"
The line was silent for a moment.
"Take his ring off," Batman advised.
"I do not understand,"
"Take his ring off," Batman repeated "if you remove his power ring he'll recover instantly,"
Alucard wanted to ask how that would help but the sounds of maniacal laughter and shouts filled the com line.
"I've got to go," Batman said and shut off the com.
Alucard let out a sigh, it seems Batman was having trouble, he knew he should have gone down to Metropolis. He then turned and looked at Green Lantern, his eyes fell on the power ring that was secured to his ring finger. He approached.
"Green Lantern…did you hear all that?" he asked.
"I did but why does Batman think if I take my ring off, I'll recover?" Green Lantern asked.
"I do not know…do you wish to try it?"
"I'd rather not,"
"Do you not trust Batman or me?"
"Of course, I do, it's just if something happens and I don't have my ring on…"
"Green Lantern…we are in the watchtower infirmary. Nothing is going to happen," Alucard promised "I will not let it,"
Green Lantern let out a sigh "Alright but just for a moment," he said and he felt around for his ring, once he found it, he slowly began to remove it. Once it was off Green Lantern's clothes returned to normal and the glow from his eyes faded. He kept his eyes closed though, afraid to open them.
"Green Lantern, open your eyes, please…I cannot tell if your sight is restored if you keep them closed," Alucard requested.
Green Lantern hesitated but did what he was told, he opened his eyes and much to his surprise, Alucard came into view.
"I... I can see," Green Lantern announced.
"You can?"
"yes, I can see, that worked,"
Alucard looked down at the power ring in green lanterns hand.
"I do not understand, why did removing your ring cure your blindness?" Alucard asked.
"I don't know," Green Lantern said "but enough about me, where are Hawkgirl and the others,"
Alucard filled Green Lantern in, on how J'onn had nearly been burnt alive, Superman getting shot and how he'd been trapped in the ocean with no magic. Alucard wasn't sure what happened to Flash and Wonder Woman but assured him that Batman was looking into it.
"The League of assassins did all that in just a few hours?" Green Lantern asked in shock.
"They had the aid of Shaft," Alucard pointed out.
"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why the Medi-tubes are broken,"
"Broken?"
"Yeah, they've got all these weird symbols on them," Green Lantern pointed out.
"Ah, they are not broken…it is all part of Ras Al Guls plan…at least according to Batman," Alucard explained.
Green Lantern wanted to press more but decided to wait for Batman to return so he could explain everything at once. Both Alucard and Green Lantern found it odd that Batman knew how to cure Green Lanterns blindness without even knowing the full situation.
Fortunately Batman returned an hour later with Wonder Woman in tow and Flash in tow. Both Wonder Woman and Flash looked beat up and exhausted. Batman didn't show it but he was happy that Green Lantern had his eyes back. Flash headed straight to the kitchen to eat as he'd used up far more energy than he should have by running in circles for so long and Wonder Woman needed a lie-down. Despite the emergency at hand, Batman didn't protest, knowing that the Justice League was in no condition to chase after and confront Ras as they were and it would be better in the long run if they were at full strength. Additionally, with Superman Hawkgirl and J'onn heavily injured, they would need to be at the top of their game to even stand a chance against the League of Assassins.
Batman headed to the Monitor Womb and started doing some work on it, though it was very difficult given he couldn't read what he was doing. He waved off Alucard's attempts to get himself to rest and any questions the rest of the League had for him in favour of them getting some rest. He had to threaten Flash with triple monitor duty if he didn't stop pestering him.
While Batman was working, the watchtower's warning system went off and an image of a good dozen or so missiles was launched. Batman watched in horror, fearing that this was the world government's response to the current crises, but the missiles exploded in the upper atmosphere and didn't hit anything. Batman was worried and ran a quick scan over the area where the missiles had exploded. He jumped out of his chair when the watchtower came back that there was an unknown pathogen in the air that was descending on the populace below. Batman knew that the whole world would be infected with whatever this pathogen was in a matter of minutes.
Time was up, the League couldn't wait for J'onn, Superman and Hawkgirl to recover. They needed to act now. The problem was if the League went down to earth they too would be infected by whatever was in the missiles, however, Batman would need a sample of it to determine its effects and make an antidote. Getting the sample shouldn't be a problem, Wonder Woman and Alucard were immune to every human disease and Flash had a hyper-charged immune system. With Flash and Wonder Woman resting it left Alucard free. Design made Batman headed to the infirmary where he knew Alucard would be. Upon arrival, he saw the vampire coming out of the large freezer with three blood bags in hand. He looked towards Batman as he arrived.
"Alucard there's been a development. An unknown pathogen has been released into the upper atmosphere. I need you the get a sample and bring it back for study," Batman said.
"Is that a good Idea? Would it not spread to us as well?"
"That's why I'm sending you, you said you were immune to all human sickness and disease correct? if we're careful we can keep it isolated," Batman finished. He then reached into his utility belt and pulled out a small corked test tube "get a sample of the air in this,"
"Very well," Alucard agreed. He put the bags aside, took the test tube and vanished in a pillar of flames.
Batman waited; he didn't believe it would take Alucard very long to collect the sample. A few minutes at best since he could use his castle to instantly transport him places; so, he waited in place. However, as the minutes ticked by, Alucard didn't reappear. This worried Batman, there was no way the League of Assassins would be able to get him into the upper atmosphere. He gave the vampire a benefit of the doubt of taking a bit longer but after waiting a full 10 minutes and no sign of Alucard returning, Batman knew something was wrong.
Letting out a sigh he headed back for the Monitor womb, he verbally commanded the console to search for Alucard's tracking device and found it in the upper atmosphere. He headed for the Javelin and went down to pick him up; given that Alucard was exposed to an unknown pathogen Batman made sure to go in a fully airtight and proactive suit.
When Alucard was picked up, he gave Batman an odd look.
"Did you get it?" Batman asked.
Alucard looked at him with a highly confused expression on his face. He opened his mouth to respond "Lewtyubjkcghie;mhfi ppspjp[ sdieofrup,"
Batman blinked at Alucard with an equally bewildered expression. He didn't understand what the vampire had just said as all that came out was a string of mismatched letters and sounds that didn't make any sense.
"Alucard? Can you understand me?" Batman asked.
"YUIOnfjihfibkkl," Alucard responded with a blank look on his face.
"Of course, you don't," Batman stated. Ras had said he had a virus to scramble verbal language as well using scrambling written langue. Batman let out a groan, he hoped Alucard was not contagious as if he brought him back to the watchtower then he could infect everyone else.
He looked down to see a sealed corked vile in the vampire's hand. "Can I have that?" Batman asked and pointed to the sealed vile.
Alucard looked down at what Batman was pointing at and handed it to Batman. The Dark Knight took the vile before heading back to the Javelins controls. He piloted the Javin back to the watchtower with Alucard every so often trying to talk to him however it only came out as garbled gibberish. Batman had to assume this was the reason Alucard didn't return to the watchtower via Castlevania; he couldn't use spells with his words jumbled.
Batman wondered if Ras predicted this outcome, that he predicted that Batman would send Alucard out to retrieve a sample; but in doing so Batman had servilely weakened Alucard's combat potential and was not limited to close combat. While Alucard could defiantly hold his own in such a situation, the fact that he no longer had his magic was a definite blow.
Once they arrived Back at the Watchtower Batman didn't let Alucard out of the javelin. He wouldn't risk infecting the others unless he was sure the virus was not contagious. He headed to a research lab and placed the vile in a sealed airtight box with gloves on the side.
Once he was sure it was secure Batman opened the vile and had the computer scan it. After a few minutes, he got a result. The virus itself was an asymptomatic version of the common cold. It wouldn't give a person symptom, however, it had tiny microscopic nanomachines that emitted a small sonic wave. They were attached to the virus.
Batman theorised the virus was just the carrier and once inside the body the machines would then activate; making whoever breathed in the virus lose their ability to speak. He would need to present his finding to the justice League as soon as possible. With the knowledge that Nanobots were the cause of the loss of voice, Alucard should not be contagious and thus safe to let out.
Batman gathered Flash, Green Lantern and Alucard, guiding the latter to the meeting room since he couldn't understand the Dark Knight.
"So, we have a big problem," Batman started once they'd all arrived.
"Yeah, we're out of twinkies," Flash agreed.
"Not that," Batman snapped "while we were indisposed, Ras launched over a dozen missiles that were carrying an unknown pathogen to further his goals,"
"Where did they hit?" Green Lantern asked.
"That's the thing, they exploded in the upper atmosphere. Ras virus contains nanobots that prevent a person from speaking normally or understanding others through verbal communication," Batman said "Case and point," he gestured to Alucard.
"I find that hard to believe," Wonder Woman said.
"Kujwyogtyeo4y397uoqaj p -op" Alucard chimed in, his head looking between everyone at that table.
"Oh…that's bad," Flash said.
"It is, it's bad enough all written languages have been scrambled but now verbal commands have been to," Batman stated.
"And we weren't there to stop it," Wonder Woman said angrily while slamming her fist on the table.
"To be fair, we were all preoccupied," Flash pointed out.
"That reminds me. Batman, how did you know that removing my ring would cure me of my blindness when it was shaft's fault?" Green Lantern asked.
"Because it wasn't shaft who blinded you but me," Batman admitted.
"Um, I don't get it," Flash said scratching his head.
"You were attacked in a way that targeted both your physical and psychological weakness," Batman stated "those plans could only come from someone who knew you all. The plans were mine,"
"Yours?" Hawkgirl asked in shock.
Batman nodded "as you all know I have contingency plans for each of you, to neutralize or stop you all encase any of you succumb to brainwashing or turned evil," Batman explained "When we went to the Justice Lords' world it proved how much they were needed. But my plans were never designed to kill any of you. Take you out of the fight, yes, but not kill,"
"Batman none of us had a problem with your plans," Wonder Woman started ", especially after the Justice Lords incident. We already talked about this,"
"But letting them get stolen was dumb and irresponsible," Flash stated "and that's coming from me,"
"I don't know how they got stolen, they were on the bat computer and had several layers of encryption on them," Batman claimed.
"Isn't the bat computer all but unhackable?" Green Lantern asked.
"It is, but in the case that it ever was hacked or I ever had files stolen. They would automatically send the location they were decrypted back to the Bat computer; it's how I found Ras after he attacked me,"
"You have a contingency for everything," Flash whistled.
"I do. I also saw Ras's computer and he didn't have any missile launch programs on it. He was observing the world but that was it,"
"How do you know he didn't," Green Lantern asked suspiciously.
"Because all my Agamemnon files also contain a virus. Not only do they call home when decrypted but the virus uploads a copy of all programs, computer functions, details and anything I could need directly to the bat computer. It takes a few hours to complete and the upload finished 20 minutes ago," Batman claimed "I had Oracle on standby and go through the data as soon as it was done. They've confirmed that Ras had no missile launching programs,"
"Which means someone else had the trigger," Green Lantern said.
"Agreed, I doubt Ras would trust Shaft with this. Since we have to assume he is as technologically illiterate as Alucard is," Batman continued, ignoring the interruption.
"The pathogen the missiles unleashed isn't fatal, and everyone on earth will be able to speak normally again in a few days," Batman claimed "Flash I suspect will be able to in a few hours,"
"But I'm not sick," Flash pointed out.
"You're not sick yet," Batman corrected
"Exactly, which means Ras doesn't intend to keep humanity from being unable to communicate with each other for very long. However by the time it does wear off, it will be too late," Batman said gravely.
"The world leaders must be close if not already on the brink of war," Wonder Woman realised.
"Exactly. There is rioting in the streets, traffic accidents and with no language, the hospitals and emergency services won't be able to provide the help needed as it is," Batman claimed "and it won't take much to set that war off either. If all those nukes go off there won't be much of humanity left," Hawkgirl added.
"Ras always said that Humanity was doomed to destroy itself," Batman claimed "and now he's proving it,"
"Is there any good news?" Flash moaned. He could tell it was going to be one of those days.
"Yes, I already have the plan to stop Ras," Batman said and he pulled a small USB drive and plugged it into the projector on the table. The image showed earth with several satellites "Ras is using satellites to emit sonic waves to scramble Everyone's' perspective of written language. If we take those out we can communicate his plan to the world and then it will be a case of everyone waiting for the pathogen to leave their systems,"
"Green Lantern, you, and Wonder Woman head out into space and take care of the satellites. Try to use them to find Ras," Batman instructed "Alucard and I will go down and confront him and shaft while Flash races around the world summarising everything and telling all world leaders, generals and anyone in charge of mass weapons not to launch any attacks on any country"
"But won't that still expose you and hotshot to the virus?" Green Lantern asked.
"It's not fatal and Flash has a hyper-charged immune system. Plus with written language back, we'll be able to communicate again," Batman reasoned "It's why Ras took J'onn out, if he wasn't on death's door we'd be able to communicate with a psychic link,"
"Even if we won't be able to communicate with each other we need to stop Ras before a war starts, where's the first satellite?" Wonder Woman asked as she stood up.
"About 60 miles from the watchtower's current position," Batman informed.
"then let's go take down those satellites and kick the bad guys back to last week," Flash cheered.
"What about the others?" Green Lanterns asked.
"We can't wait for J'onn, Superman and Hawkgirl to recover," Wonder Woman said "they'll be out for days at least,"
"I could just keep you all in a protective aura, that filters out impurities in the air," Green Lantern suggested "that way Ras virus won't affect you,"
"Can you keep your concentration up and fight at the same time?" Batman asked "if not we will go with my plan,"
Green Lantern didn't answer. He was good, but not that good. It was all the League needed.
"Sounds like we have a good plan," Flash smiled, he then turned to Alucard "right Al?"
"Xuybetklugwihu hjiojlkj 448|85\7" Alucard responded.
"See he agrees," Flash smiled.
Batman ignored Flash. Green Lantern and Wonder Woman headed out to start destroying the satellites while Batman flew the Javelin with Alucard and Flash down to earth. On the way down, Green Lantern's voice came over the radio.
"Batman, we've got a problem. There's some kind of force field around the satellite. I could try to break through but I don't know how long it will take," Green Lantern reported.
"witheouoewhnaknco hfoejrml miowo," Alucard said. Flash looked at Alucard and smiled.
"hey GL, Al says to turn it on and off again," the speedster joked.
"Really?" Green Lantern responded.
Batman rolled his eyes. "Ignore Flash, he's no longer allowed on the coms,"
"Hey," Flash whined.
"Lantern stands by, we're approaching Ras's hideout. I'll try to shut down the shield from here," Batman instructed. He turned off the com and looked at Flash.
"Change of Plans, I need you to fetch something as soon as we land," Batman said.
"Sure, what am I fetching?" Flash asked.
"A small clay idol with 3 rubies around a large dark amethyst," Batman described "it's in Nanda Pa bed, specifically Ras's treasure vault. The door won't be locked,"
"wait…. isn't that the headquarters for the League of Assassins?" Flash asked.
"Don't tell me you're not fast enough to get in and out," Batman goaded.
"I can get it but how's it going to help us?"
"the idol is supposed to store magic once all 4 gems are full it explodes and the explosion only affects inorganic matter. We have a magic user who can't cast spells," Batman stated and glanced back at Alucard "call it a last resort,"
Flash stared at Batman as he realised what Batman was implying and nodded. The Javelin reached its destination after another fifteen minutes. They arrived at their destination, near the top of Mt Everest and standing in front of them was a large metal tower transmission tower. Batman supposed it was a fitting place for Ras tower, after all, it would not be noticed and be extremely hard to reach if you didn't know it was there. Thanks to Batman's virus that his Agamemnon files carried, he did learn of its location.
The area around the tower was a flat surface of snow and there was no one in sight. But that didn't mean Ras's men were not out here, they were assassins after all.
"This wasn't here before…was it?" Flash asked.
"No, it wasn't," Batman agreed. He stood up and looked at Flash "are you ready? Once I open the back we won't be able to communicate,"
"Yep, I'll be back with that Idol before you know it," Flash grinned.
"Good then go do your part of the plan," Batman instructed. Flash positioned himself as if he were about to start a race and Batman opened the Javelins entry ramp. Cold wind flooded with a flask of Ice and snow and the moment the ramp was down Flash zoomed off leaving a trail of Red and yellow behind. Batman looked at Alucard and gestured for him to follow. They both walked down the ramp and out into the cold Batman could tell it wasn't bothering Alucard much, the vampire gave a small shiver but that was it. He made a mental note of this, Batman knew Alucard was immune to fire and he'd assumed the same about cold, but Alucard had never mentioned it. Batman would need to ask him about it once Alucard was able to communicate again.
Once they were on the snow Batman kept a critical eye on Alucard's movements the vampire tensed up a little and his eye darted from one part of the snow to the next, in total Batman counted at least five different areas. He got on guard, just because they couldn't communicate didn't mean Batman couldn't read body language and Alucard couldn't hear heartbeats.
As they approached the tower half a dozen men jumped dressed in heavy winter and survival gear out of the snow from the exact spots Alucard's eyes had fallen on. They started shouting at pointed their weapons at the two, though to both Batman and Alucard it sounded like gibberish. However, from the assassin's body language and the way they were positioned; Batman had to assume they had some kind of protection from the virus that Ras had unleashed. Maybe even an antidote.
Batman stood there and turned his head to the left, the assassins might have been confused however a streak of red and yellow suddenly appeared and instantly all the men were unconscious on the ground. Flash stopped in front of Batman.
"WIotheouo iwnk neho ojojoe he," Flash said and held out the idol. Batman took it and nodded; he gave a few short waves of his hand as if to shoo Flash off. Flash got the message and dashed off once more, this time heading out to complete the task Batman had set him.
Batman handed the idol to Alucard and the vampire took it, looking at it and Batman with curiosity. Batman eyed the gems, none of them seemed to light up or change in Alucard's hands. Batman knew Ras had paid good money for this relic, in one of his previous encounters with Ras, the man had bragged about holding a relic to destroy the foundations of humanity and it had been this idol. However, it hadn't worked at the time. Batman had followed up with Dr Fate about it in the aftermath of that case, and he'd claimed this idol would do what Ras had hoped and the only reason why it hadn't worked was Ras couldn't use the magical power the idol required.
Batman was hoping in Alucard's hands, a being who was naturally born with magic and was a master of it. The idol would react. But it still lay dormant, there was no change to the colouration of the gems. Perhaps it needed time to power up.
Batman quickly searched the bodies but didn't find any sign of an antidote, they'd probably been given it earlier. He did find a key card. Batman and Alucard walked around the tower until they found a sealed door with a console on the outside, Batman used the key card and the door opened. Inside it was much warmer, in front of them was a long corridor and the two followed it. Batman kept an eye out for any assassins however the ones he spied on simply looked at him and Alucard but made no move to stop or hider them.
Batman mentally sighed, this was very much like Ras, always allowing his opponents to come straight to him so Ras could deal with them himself. Making their way through the tower Batman made a gesture for Alucard to hide the Idol and thankfully the vampire picked up on it and put it inside his coat. It wasn't long before the two arrived at a large control centre where Ras stood in front of a large monitoring system. The screens showed rioting and mass panic around the globe. Shaft was next to Ras, also watching with a smile.
"Ah Detective, how lovely to see you again," Ras said and turned to face the two "ah but you don't understand me do you?"
Batman glared at Ras. "Wiotheoruonfl opjenaw hdfoierjo," he said.
"I assume that was some kind of demand to get me to surrender," Ras stated "however I cannot, after all, I am so close to achieving my goal," he then gestured to shaft "you remember shaft, yes?"
Batman sent them both a glare. Shaft returned it with a smile but his eyes were focused on Alucard.
"Greetings my prince," Shaft said in a condescending and mocking tone. "I hope you will forgive me for not bowing to you,"
"Aiteiohoh nofjjper jekojj opp,cpk" Alucard said with some venom in his tone and drew his sword.
"Ah, you cannot speak how… predictable. The fact that you succumbed to such a petty desire just proves how unworthy you are. If you were more like your glorious father and less like your peasant of a mother you would not be affected by it," Shaft claimed "oh such a shame you didn't have the intelligence or foresight to protect yourself,"
"Now shaft that is a bit harsh isn't it. After all the unworthy are the ones we have the greatest expectations for," Ras claimed and stared directly at Batman.
"There is truth in that," Shaft agreed "do you have need of Batman? Only I wish to remove this stain from my lords' line,"
"I would prefer to deal with Batman myself yes," Ras agreed "but do try to keep the damage to a minimum,"
"Very well," Shaft said. His eyes fixed on Alucard. He raised his staff and then pointed it at Alucard and slammed it down again. Alucard and Shaft vanished from sight leaving Batman and Ras alone. If Batman was concerned about Alucard, he didn't show it or make any reaction to him and Shaft vanishing.
Alucard and Shaft reappeared in another room, this one was empty and Alucard looked around for Batman; not seeing the Dark Knight he focused on Shaft and rushed forward with his sword drawn. Shaft grinned and created a shield around himself, the behind Alucard's sword created sparks as he pressed against the magic shield.
"Ah, so barbaric," Shaft said "once again you disappoint and prove to be unworthy of being related to Lord Dracula,"
Alucard jumped back and let go of his sword. It floated next to him as he launched himself in the air; shaft predicting an attack from above raised his staff and shot a lightning bolt from the tip. It headed straight towards Alucard and the Vampire quickly pulled out the idol and held it in front of him. The lighting struck the centre jewel and the first ruby suddenly lit up with a glow as it absorbed the spell.
Shaft stared up at Alucard in surprise, and Alucard looked down at him with a smile as he tossed the Idol up and down in his hand.
"So you have a trinket to counter my magic?" Shaft asked "Perhaps I underestimated you, but those types of relics have a limit. I will simply destroy it,"
Shaft Raised his staff and the world around them began to fade. The tower disappeared and was replaced with a hellish-greenish void, fireballs suddenly started raining down from the sky and they were all centred on Alucard. Alucard once again held up the Idol and it absorbed the magic attacks. However, there was one fatal flaw with this. The idol could be pointed in a single direction. While it absorbed Magic from above, Shaft unleashed a barrage of both lighting bolts and ice shards from below and the sides at Alucard.
Alucard did his best to avoid them but he wasn't able to while holding the idol and he mentally commanded his sword to block and protect him from the ice shards. The sword did so by spinning around creating a spinning razor blade that sliced the ice. The lighting however struck Alucard and went right through his chest.
Alucard cried out in pain and he lost his focus. He fell from the air, the sword falling with him as he was pelleted with a barrage of lighting, fire and Ice. Shaft dropped his spell and Alucard slammed into the tower's floor. The elemental barrage took its toll on him.
Shaft walked up shaking his head. As Alucard's body twitched on the floor
"Honestly, when you pulled this out I thought you would have a better plan," Shaft stated and nudged the Idol with his foot "Now then, in the name of your father I shall begin your execution,"
Shaft pointed the tip of his staff at Alucard and a large Ice spike formed. However, before he could unleash it Alucard suddenly jerked up and pushed the Staff upwards. The Ice spike was unleashed harmlessly at the ceiling. Shaft stared at Alucard in shock and the vampire glowed red before vanishing. Suddenly Alucard was behind Shaft and with one swift motion he called his sword to him and it stabbed the old man through his chest while Alucard punched him with all his might in the back.
Shaft let out a cry of pain as blood seeped out from the wounds and he felt his bones snap from the impact. The old man crumbled to the ground and Alucard took his blade from the air. He then walked past Shaft and picked up the idol.
All 4 gems were now alight and glowing. Alucard glanced back at Shaft. The old priest was struggling to cast a healing spell on himself. "You win this round Prince Adrian," Shaft struggled to say and a portal opened behind him "I will leave for now…after all, I already got what I needed," Shaft said and he fell through the portal. Alucard quickly reached out with his sword to finish Shaft off but the portal closed before the floating blade could make contact.
"Hosfofen sjo" Alcuad cursed. He had no way to follow shaft, instead, he turned and ran out of the room, cradling the Idol in his arm. He'd need to get back to Batman as soon as possible.
With Batman
Batman said nothing he wasn't worried about Alucard, the vampire may not have been able to cast spells but that didn't mean he was defenceless. His main focus was Ras, the leader of the League of assassins who continued to mock Batman's futile attempts to stop him. At least that's what Batman assumed he was saying…he couldn't understand Ras at the moment.
"Batman if you fight me you will die. I'm a hundred times stronger than you, a hundred times faster than you, and you have no tactical advantage whatsoever. You've been caught completely off guard. Even if you manage to stop me this time, which is doubtful, to say the least-" he chuckled, "then I'll be back again. And again. And again, until this scourge of a city is wiped clean from the earth and so is anyone else who stands in my way. You know this will be the case."
"Your friends in space will not break through the barriers protecting the satellites, for they are magical and spells Shaft crafted. Flash will not convince the world to not go to war with itself and once it starts it won't stop. I gave you a chance to join me Batman and you through your only salvation aside," Ras finished and drew his sword.
"Now Batman, I know you can't understand me but I am going to kill you. You're the biggest threat to my plans," Ras claimed. Batman had no clue what Ras just said but he suspected it wasn't good, the moment Ras drew his sword Batman lunged forward.
Ras was ready for him, but that didn't matter. What mattered as they parried and swung blows at each other was that Batman was full to the brim with seething determination against Ras's calm and collected form.
Ras swung his sword and Batman managed to block the blow, but it was a feint as Ras threw his fist, heavy with the power of Lazarus and punched Batman in the ribs. The Dark Night grimaced but kept fighting. He backed up and threw several Batarangs at Ras, but each one was blocked and swatted away by the sword. Even when they exploded they didn't bother the demon's head.
Batman used every tool in his arsenal. The battle was just as much emotional as it was physical, and the threat of world war fuelled Batman's desire to stop Ras. After several minutes of going back and forth, exchanging blows and dodging Ra's broke through. One kick Batman didn't see; one mistake, and he was sent tumbling across the room. The damage was done, and the fight took its toll on Batman's body. Ras walked over and held his sword at Batman's throat.
"Give up, and I will grant you a painless death," Ra's intoned, although the gleam in his eyes suggested otherwise.
Batman struggled up, coughing blood up as he staggered to his feet, he glanced around looking for something but didn't see it. Ras had over 600yrs of experience and his constant baths in the Lazarus pit made empowered him with everlasting youth. But that had never stopped him before. Batman swallowed, fists balling up. Alucard wasn't back yet, but that didn't matter. He'd just need to buy more time
Batman didn't need to win this fight always wins, and in this situation, once he was back on his feet he swung at his opponent again.
Ras grinned, he was pleased Batman would continue fighting, he wouldn't have such respect for the Dark Knight if he just gave up. However, Batman was barely keeping up with him; his injuries were finally starting to get to him. His reaction time was slowing; his hits didn't have the power behind them anymore, and suddenly Batman much to Ras's surprise just stopped. Ras waited for Batman to attack again but the Dark Knight just stood there.
"Giving up? How disappointing," Ras said and reached forward, grabbing Batman by the cowl in that moment that he finally realized what he could do and threw him against the mental floor of the tower, head-first.
Batman's vision went black for an instant, then returned with stars. He could not get up. He physically could not. Instead, he rolled on his side and looked up at Ras.
"Finally, I can kill you," Ra's declared happily, he raised his sword for the finishing blow but stopped when he noticed something.
Batman…was smiling.
It wasn't just any smile it was one that Ras had seen before, a smirk that Batman reserved for when he had outsmarted his opponents and tricked them.
"Htoeufsfh ifeorhoi iofj" Batman said weakly and he pointed behind Ras.
Ras whipped around and their eyes widened seeing Alucard standing just in front of the controls, he saw what the vampire was holding and his eyes went wide as all four gems were glowing. Alucard matched Batman Mans Smirk and threw the Idol on the ground.
The moment it hit the ground there was a sudden burst of light that emitted from the gems it was so bright that it blinded everyone. When the light cleared the tower was gone. Cold wind overtook all three and Ras looked around wildly. The only thing that remained of the tower was the idol that sat in the snow and was once again dormant.
Ras let out a cry of fury and slammed his sword down to kill Batman. Only it struck snow,
"Do you think you've won you haven't," Ras declared.
"We already have," Batman said.
"You…your talking…" Ras gasped "how?"
"The idol eradicates all inorganic structures," Batman repeated "including your nanomachines inside us,"
"How did you use it? Even I could never get it to work," Ras demanded.
"I am gifted with the ability to use Magic…while I could not use it under the effects of your virus…Shaft could. I simply used the Idol to absorb all his spells that were aimed at me," Alucard claimed.
Ras clicked his tongue and looked around. There was no sign of the old priest. "Where is he?"
"Gone," Alucard stated "teleported away upon his defeat…you have no allies left,"
Ras glared at Alucard and then turned his attention to Batman "so that was your plan, use my tools against me,"
"You gave me the idea. Even though I couldn't communicate with Alucard my plan his knowledge of Magical artifacts is vast and he's a lot smarter than he looks. I knew he'd figure it out on his own," Batman claimed.
Ras let out a small chuckle "it seems you have bested me once more Batman. However, you are still too late, that idol only has a set range, it will not purge the world of my virus. Humanity will still destroy itself,"
Batman reached behind him and pulled out a small book, he threw it at Ras's feet "read the title," Batman ordered.
Ras looked down and his eyes widened. He could understand the words.
"How…I took an antidote to the virus…yet I can still understand these words," Ras said "I shouldn't be able to,"
"You didn't take out all the members of the Justice League. Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are in orbit taking down your statelets," Batman stated "and Flash is passing out written explanations of what's going on. Once the world leaders can read again, they will all stand down. Now it's time to take you in,"
"I don't think so, deactivate," Ras said, he then turned and ran towards the edge of the mountain and before either Alucard or Batman could stop him he jumped off. Alucard and Batman ran to the edge and looked over it, but didn't see Ras at all. It was as if he vanished completely.
"Should I go after him?" Alucard asked.
"no, we have to make sure the world doesn't go to war," Batman answered. "What will you do with that Idol?"
"I will take you back to the castle with me," Alucard said. He then turned around and looked at the spot where the Javelin had landed. There was nothing there anymore and the only trace it had been there was small dents in the snow.
"Ah, Batman…I apologise for destroying the Javelin," Alucard said "it got caught in the idols range,"
"Don't worry about it, I'll have a new one built," Batman assured waving off Alucard's concern "let us get back to the tower,"
Alucard nodded, he placed a hand on Batman's shoulder and the two disappeared in a pillar of black flames.