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Batman: World Of the Amazons
Chapter 5: Enter the Arena
Bruce was dreaming, tossing and turning as his mind was replaying battles and past nightmares.
He saw a woman clad in a tight jumpsuit, staring at him sadly as she had been caught again, a bag full of jewels on her hip, "I'm sorry, you thought I could change, but I can't."
The images dissolved again, showing another woman. This time she was holding a sword, she was between him and another man, the other man had a white beard, black hair, and was draped in a green cloak. She seemed torn between the two for a second.
He saw her turn away from him though and heard her whisper, "I'm sorry beloved, I can't turn away from my father." She joined the man and handed over the sword to him.
The man sneered at him, "So sad, Detective."
XXXXXXXXX
Bruce woke with a start, the sun had just started to rise over the outskirts of the town. Probably around 6am, he thought to himself.
He stretched his body out and sat up. His joints cracking as he stretched. After Diana's outburst last night they had sent a healer. Olympian magic was pretty good stuff, it was how his ribs had been healed after his first meeting with the queen and how he was in top shape today despite the brutal hit Diana had given him yesterday.
Outside, drums were pounding at a stubborn rhythm, not too loud for now. Building the suspense for the coming games.
Pleione was on guard as he woke up.
"Good morning Bruce, nervous?"
Bruce raised an eyebrow, "No, being nervous about it doesn't do any good."
The man stared at his suit. No cape, the breast and back armor still intact, and the pants had had some more bronze plate armor added on. The sleeves had been replaced so now some shoulder armor and his gauntlets were used. Lastly, a metal helmet had been forged, exposing most of his face but still protecting his head, two metallic bat ears had been added, providing his trademark appearance.
While the other guards had mostly been content to just watch him or offer the side comment, Pleione had been the only one to really try conversing with him. She had been very interested in the different martial arts and had even tried to learn some of the basics for things like traditional Karate and Kung Fu.
As Bruce started to don the first layer of his armor Pleione continued, "I've been thinking about what we talked about, about those open forms and the meditation. I still don't understand what they have to do with defeating an adversary."
Bruce smirked and remembered his training from years ago, he remembered sitting and asking his martial art masters the same kind of questions.
"It's not all about fighting, it's true. The Kung Fu I showed you, well, Kung Fu doesn't really translate to fighting or martial arts. Kung Fu was the dedication to any aspect of life."
Pleione seemed even more confused, "But...then why would you use it for defeating your enemies."
Bruce tapped against his chest, "Those open forms, they really show off the extent of one's knowledge and discipline, but you're right, they're not really that useful themselves in a fight."
He paused before continuing, "As for meditation, deep thinking, all those…those are for the fights we have within ourselves."
Bruce turned and began to draw on a piece of paper. Pleione watched until he was done, he walked over and handed the symbol through the glass opening. He turned back and started to put on the rest of his armor.
Outside, the crowds were growing as people made their way to the coliseum. Women dressed in all kinds of clothes, young girls ran around. Male slaves and young boys followed meekly behind their female parties. Fine clothing, but each one had a small collar with a tag on their neck.
Batman grimaced at that view and continued putting on his gauntlets. He turned back to the guard as she looked at his drawing.
"The black is the bad in life. The white is the good in it."
He clipped on his utility belt.
"The black spot is the bad inside the good, and the white spot is the good inside the bad." Bruce grinned as he relayed the same teachings he once had, "Put them all together and you get Life. It's called Yin and Yang."
Before Pleione could respond though a sound cut through the air.
"THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
"THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
"THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
Bruce looked in the mirror and saw Pleione looking back at him through the glass, "Guess that's my cue." He said with a smirk, and turned to grab his helm and weapons.
Pleione had opened the cell and Bruce walked out of the room he had called home for two weeks. Amazon guards were lining the wall and Pleione gestured the direction for them to go. Bruce nodded curtly and began to walk with her.
It was a long walk, almost 10 minutes of moving down the corridors and up stairs, winding and turning for their destination. Finally, they stopped in front of an iron gate. Just beyond the gate Bruce could see a ramp and what looked like sunlight.
"Good Luck." Pleione said.
Bruce gave her a quizzical look, "Why were you nice enough to me? Compared to some of the other Amazons, I mean."
Pleione gave him a small smile, "I think some Amazons are ashamed of their attraction to men, and as a result they can sometimes be more mean to them," She shrugged, "Like Helena, she was horrid to you, but I heard her on more than one occasion talking with her other guard friends about you."
Bruce raised an eyebrow at her which made the girl laugh.
"Haha, but I am more partial to my other females, so maybe that's why."
Bruce just gave her a small smile, "Fair enough, thanks."
With that Bruce turned and moved through the gate and began to walk up the ramp. Eventually, he found himself walking on the floor of a Roman style coliseum. The sun made him blink as he adjusted to the bright light after being inside for so long.
Every seat seemed to be filled and they were all booing and shouting at him. The stands had large, thin sheets that provided a bit of shade as everyone sat next to each other on stone benches. In between the rows, people were selling food and other things to the crowd. On one part of the circle though was the largest balcony ever; large royal purple tents were over the area and Bruce could clearly see a throne with a familiar raven-haired queen on it. She was wearing a royal purple gown over her armor.
Diana was very excited about the games, it had been almost two years since the last one. The same old battles and reenactments were becoming stale, this man was the first interesting thing to happen in a long time.
The queen was still angry about the night before, and she couldn't help but scowl slightly as he walked out into the arena. She couldn't help but look over his new outfit though. Hmm, warrior and fashion designer, She thought with a small laugh. Even she could admit the outfit was a perfect blend of functionality and intimidation. She decided to let him wait a little bit longer in the bright sun, people were still coming in and the entire next few days had been cleared for the games. Every store had been busy getting people clothes, stocking up on food and sweets, and arranging anything needed for the day. Nothing was better for business before-hand than the games.
Finally, Diana stood and walked to the edge of her balcony, she raised her hands to the stands and the crowd erupted in cheers for her, with a smile she then held up one hand in a stop gesture, the people immediately fell silent.
"My fellow Amazons! Surely you will have heard the news by now!" She paused for dramatic effect, "There is indeed a stranger in our proud city, a man!"
At this the crowd began to boo again and even a few things were thrown at the man, who easily avoided it silently with a glare.
Diana smirked but gestured her hand for quiet again, "Not just any man, the lasso of truth has revealed that he comes from another world. A world where he is a warrior! Well, I thought, why not see what kind of caliber warrior his world offers. What do you all think?"
Cheers erupted in agreement with the queen.
The queen herself was getting fired up with the crowd, an old warrior bloodlust coming to the surface, "My ladies, I present to you-The Batman! Bruce Wayne of Gotham, a so-called Dark Knight!"
Diana gestured to the sky, "With the gods' blessing..."
Without warning, at Diana's words, thunder boomed once through the cloudless and sunny sky.
Everyone fell silent, even Diana. There hadn't been a sign from the gods since the beginning of the global empire, and that was a long time ago. Diana stared at the sky in disbelief for a second but then remembered her words. She turned her attention to the man, and stammered out her final words, "...Le….Let the Games begin!"
The stadium was silent for a few more seconds but then cheers erupted, even louder than before. Whispers were traded with excitement, "A blessing from the gods, this will be a day to remember."
The First Match
Bruce was still staring at the sky curiously. He knew the Greek gods were real, hell, he had even battled one; but he didn't know why they would make any indication to these games that he was a part of.
As he was still in thought he was scanning the coliseum. No easy exits. Too many eyes trained on him. He would have to play along until an opportunity came.
On the sides of the coliseum Bruce heard the other gates opening, out came a male slave from each one. Each of them had some sort of spear or sword or knife on them. They looked submissive still but there was a wild gleam in their eyes.
Above the stadium Bruce heard the queen's voice once more, "The first match! We've pitted the Batman against 10 of the best male warrior slaves we have. While not that much for us ladies," Bruce heard laughs from the stadium, "They are the best fighting men in our nation." She waved her hand as she sat down, "FIGHT!" She yelled.
All 10 of the slaves saluted her once and then began to close in on him. Bruce could see that they moved sloppily and had no coordination as a team. Two things he would exploit heavily. Bruce nonchalantly donned his helmet and got into a fighting stance, no need for his weapons here.
When the group was about 10 paces away from him he attacked. Wasting no time in letting them all corner him with their blades Bruce lunged at one with a spear, the man responded with a quick thrust, but Bruce was quicker. He sidestepped, the blade passed by him, and he grabbed onto the wooden part of it. Pulling sharply, the man let out a yelp as his tight grip meant he was jerked forward towards the man in armor. He was suddenly stopped as his sternum collided with a metal knee, "OOOF!" The man sounded out as his breath was taken away and he was left gasping on the ground.
"ARGH!" A sound came from behind and Bruce turned, bringing up the spear and using it to block a sword from descending on his neck. This man was swinging his sword wild and ferociously. Batman stepped back, over the first man, making sure to stomp on his head, knocking him out cold. The second man wasn't as careful with his surroundings and as he swung his sword he didn't see the body of the first man and fell flat on his face.
At the same time Bruce heard a grunt behind him and heard a blade moving straight through the air towards his head. He slipped it and saw the blade go past his face. Quickly, he reached up to grab the arm and with the man's palm up, pulled down hard, breaking the arm at the elbow. As the third man screamed in agony Bruce adjusted his grip deep under his armpit and proceeded to throw him over and on top of the second person, knocking those two out.
Bruce could hear the "Ooh's" and "ah's" from the crowd. He sneaked a peak at the queen and could see her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him with intensity.
Then, from the corner of his eyes Bruce could see two had approached at the same time, swinging their swords from both sides. With his gauntlets raised though Bruce was able to catch both blades. At his block, the looks of determination began to fade from the attacker's. Bruce moved close in between the two, making their reach with the swords less useful. With a quick pop he had jumped in the air, turning sideways he punched the man on the left while the man on the right got to feel his sidekick, a metallic boot making contact with his head. Both men crumpled to the floor.
Halfway there, Bruce thought to himself and it had only been about one minute.
The other five were now all coming at him together. Three spears, one sword, one knife, all pointed at him.
The three spears were all next to each other. Get close to them, the spears won't work and that other sword and knife will be on the outside, Bruce mentallly calculated.
Running full speed at the five, "RAWWWWR!" Bruce growled out, Making the five hesitate. Bruce took the hesitation and at the last second dropped, shooting in beneath the three spears Bruce reached for the middle one's legs, wrapping around and driving forward, performing a two leg takedown. In a second Bruce was on top and grabbing the man's collar Batman brought his helmet down on the screaming man's face with a head butt that immediately silenced number 6 as he too was now out cold. Rolling forward after that Bruce narrowly avoided the other two spears who had moved to swing at him on their fallen teammate.
Now though they were slightly separated from the other two. With this, Bruce jumped, flipping over one of the last spear guys. landing behind him Bruce kicked his leg in and dropped him to one knee before delivering a powerful right hook with so much force the man was drilled into the ground.
The last sword man was keeping wary and keeping his distance, watching Bruce carefully.
He watched as Batman blocked a knife and with a quick groin kick disabled his attacker, who was now writhing on the ground in pain.
Then he saw Batman parry the last spear, knocking it out of the man's hands and spinning to deliver a hook kick which snapped the man's head to side as the 8th one to fall unconsciousness.
8 unconscious, 1 writhing on the ground. And 1 left standing against Batman.
Somewhere in the crowds Bruce heard a voice call out, "Kill him Slade!"
Bruce saw and was surprised to actually recognize the man. DeathStroke, The Terminator. He had no eye patch and was not in shape as much, but there was a familiar wild glint in his eyes that seemed deadly.
"Huh, constants across dimensions, huh." Bruce muttered to himself.
Slade held up his hands and the crowd seemed to respond to him. Turning to Bruce he levelled his sword at him.
"A fine show so far, but these morons can't hold a candle to me. Prepare to die, from me, Slade, for our majesty, the Queen."
Bruce rolled his eyes, "Shut up and fight."
Slade responded by gritting his teeth and moving forward, thrusting out and slashing in well-timed attacks. Bruce used his gauntlets, deflecting each one.
Bruce responded with his own kick but Slade countered, catching the leg and pulling him forward to punch Bruce, which Bruce narrowly blocked, before freeing the leg.
In the second he did that though Bruce felt a small nick, looking down his arm he could see a few small drops of his blood on his bicep, right between his armor. Stupid. He thought.
Slade was grinning like an idiot at his success, he had drawn blood on this warrior. He was a man, he could be killed. Just like all the others.
With quick footwork Slade moved into attack once more, this time though as he swung the same move, Bruce caught his wrist and put his foot into Slade's stomach. Falling backwards Bruce threw the man over him, as Slade slammed on the ground though Bruce yanked on his armor and used it to roll on top of him in top mount position. Bruce delivered two punches to Slade's face and then the sword came swinging at him again.
A grin was on Bruce's face as his gauntlet caught the blade, his other arm trapped Slade's arm. Bruce yanked up and kept the man tight, with no room to escape as Bruce swung his leg over and fell into an arm bar.
As the man's arm went tight he grunted in pain.
"Give up?" Bruce asked.
"Never!" Slade responded.
Bruce responded by basing his hips up and pulling down, breaking the arm with an audible snap.
Slade howled in pain and barely registered as Bruce dragged him up. Slade was then surprised, in between the pain, as he felt the warrior's arms around his neck. Bruce had put on a rear-naked choke, and within seconds, the screams of pain subsided from Slade as he went unconscious.
The arena was silent as Bruce untangled himself from under Slade's body.
Bruce shrugged his arms up, "What Next!" He shouted at the stands. Then they erupted. It was a mix of boos and cheers, but the cheering was prevailing as most of the Amazons were very impressed by this man.
Even Diana was smirking slightly. She had no doubt that he would make it through this first round. She was surprised though that he decided to not use his weapons at all this time.
Diana stood and addressed the audience, "Well! The man prevails."
An amazon to the side struck a gong which reverberated through the stadium. The attendant then shouted out, "Stand for color presentation!"
Bruce looked as all the Amazons stood up, even queen Diana. Then he noticed an Amazon had entered the arena where he was and was carrying a purple flag. As she got to Bruce he asked her, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
The amazon cocked her head to the side in confusion, "Present it to the Queen of course."
With a roll of her eyes she turned and left, though she did glance in a bit of awe at the ten bodies on the ground.
Bruce was mad, first he was forced to fight, and now he was being forced to present this flag to the queen like it was his honor and privilege to not die here.
He heard Diana call out, "Bruce Wayne, approach and present the standard." When he didn't move she repeated herself louder.
Bruce slowly began to trudge his way to the area under the queen. His hand gripped the flag tightly. Then an idea slowly formed in his head. He started to roll up the flag so the pole was wrapped in the purple sheet.
Diana was standing on the edge, peering down at him with a smirk, like someone playing with the idea of stepping on an ant. She put her hands on her hips and haughtily said, "Well?"
Bruce then, without warning, threw back his arm and then launched the flag up. The flag flew so high and so fast, if Diana was normal she would have had her head taken off but Bruce knew how fast she was, besides she wasn't the target. The flag flew inches over the queen's head as she ducked and impaled itself as a bullseye on the design headstone of her coliseum throne.
Instantly the Amazons in the stadium had started to draw their swords, yelling insults and threatening to kill Bruce.
Diana stared at him in shock, then at the impaled throne. The defiance of this man. Somehow, in her anger, she found herself smiling and chuckling. She strode up to the balcony again and raised her hand, "SILENCE!"
Again, the coliseum paused, everyone knowing that the queen's word was law.
Diana was pacing and gestured to the man, "This one, wishes to fight against Amazonian ways, Amazonian LAW. There is no need for violence from all of you, my sisters. He wants to fight Amazons and he shall. For the first time in almost a thousand years, a man will fight in a duel to the death, with an Amazon."
Everyone cheered as the magnitude of what was going to happen was setting in.
The queen continued, "The second match of the games, is about to begin!" She gestured to a gate that was opening, where a familiar red-headed Amazon was emerging, "The commander that captured this man the first time, the legendary ARTEMIS!"
Diana finished her speech and the crowd was going nuts, she crossed her arms and looked triumphantly at the man.
Bruce sighed and stretched his neck, cracking some of the sore joints. Here we go again.