Chapter 8: Chariots and Chasers

*Themyscira, 1000 years ago*

Diana was walking through the garden, she had managed to slip some food with her, and was currently bringing it back to her room for William Trevon. She kept thinking that he looked like one of the Greek heroes, maybe Odysseus, or Theseus, with the beard and handsome hair.

Night had just fallen and the moon was beginning to rise. The marble architecture and the moonlight resulted in the buildings shining like pearls in the night. Lanterns were alight on every corner, and guards always patrolled the streets. It didn't matter that no outsiders had been to Themyscira since Hercules, the streets were patrolled.

The princess kept thinking of what she would ask the outsider, what was his home like? Did he have a family? What was it like out there on the sea and beyond?

She greeted and passed many Amazons, some of them out for walks in the night air, others for late night swims, or a late night snack. It was peaceful on the island of paradise.

Diana walked with a smooth dignity, a smile perpetually on her face, with the white gown she wore trailing softly on the ground behind her.

Finally, she got back to her room, she opened the door while starting to speak, "It's pretty busy out haha, so I wasn't able to grab much but this should…."

Diana stopped as she realized no one was in the room, the balcony doors were opened though and a steady breeze was filling the air, the curtains seemed to look like ghostly hands in the moonlight as they danced. Diana shivered as the area seemed bare and empty.

Then, she heard a bell ringing, it wasn't a bell she had ever heard, then more, and more after that. She started to hear other Amazons shouting and moving to the streets.

Her eyes widened, Oh No!

Diana turned, dropping the forgotten food as she raced out of her room.

Out on the streets she found Phillipa, captain of the guard, "What's going on!"

"I don't know, but the queen is in Danger! The first bell came from the temple of Zeus! Diana you stay behind, Dia…." Phillipa's words were lost though as Diana started to sprint ahead of her other sisters.

Please be alright William, she thought.

She had one thought on her mind. They had found him, and they were going to kill William.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bruce walked out again into the coliseum, the sun shining on him and making his vision disappear in the brightness for a split second. When it returned, Bruce could again see the throngs of Amazons screaming and ready for more of the game events. It looked like they were even more excited than before. It made sense though, this was the first time a man was returning for more as the main contender.

The other slaves behind him seemed rather timid but tried their best to shake their spears and shields and work the crowd. They had seen the games before, they knew what to do, even though they were expected to die.

They reached the center of the coliseum and Bruce turned to the men, "Quickly, do any of you know all the men here?"

Three men raised their hands, one of them was John.

Bruce continued, "Ok Good, what are your names you two? I know John."

The first man was older but seemed to have a good sense about him and stood a bit taller than the other men, "I'm Maximus, I'm not much help in a fight but I can tell these boys what to do if you tell me."

Bruce nodded, and turned to the other man, pointing his staff at him, "And you?" Bruce's eyes widened though as he recognized this man too.

He was younger, and almost unrecognizable to his look on Bruce's earth but now, up close, Bruce could see it. Before the young man could answer, Bruce answered for him, "Richard...Dick?"

The man seemed surprised and paused before answering, "Yes...to both. How do you know me?"

Bruce was at a loss for words, his adopted son, looking him right in the face, he thought he'd never see him again. "I, uh…."

Before he could answer, a horn sounded out again and the calls for silence rolled out. Bruce turned up and saw that Queen Diana was once again standing at the edge of her platform, a hand raised, to address her subjects.

"My Amazon's...Are you ready for more of the Great Games?!"

The stands erupted in cheers.

"Easy easy," Diana said while motioning her hands for them to settle down, "My council has discussed and now they will let me know their choice for the next event."

On another part of the stands off to the side of Queen Diana's, a dark haired Amazon stepped forth with a scroll, "On behalf of the council for the queen, I, Evandre, inform you that the man, Bruce Wayne/The Batman, will face the Vanguard from the Battle of Alexandria!"

Cheers once again erupted.

Bruce looked up and saw that Queen Diana wasn't looking pleased, instead just staring at him. He just furrowed his eyebrows though, and when he looked back at his men they looked white as ghosts, "Um...John? Battle of Alexandria?"

John seemed to be sweating too, "Uh...A man named Alexander, his forces at a city named Alexandria. The Amazons separated the infantry with chariots, it was more of a massacre than a battle."

Bruce sighed, "Fantastic, any idea what to expect?!" Bruce had to shout now to be heard over the crowd.

John shook his head but the older man, Max, chimed in, "They always scale down the battles but keep ratios the same. For about a dozen men being the army of Alexander? Um… I'd reckon about 15 chariots or so, each with two amazons."

The other men were already starting to panic and Bruce knew that this was going to be a mess. All around the colosseum, gates were opening, he knew company was going to be joining them any minute.

"Alright!" Bruce yelled, "Dick, you take those three, John, you three, and Max, the rest." he said, gesturing to the groups as he split them up. "Listen to your group leader alright, leaders listen to me!"

The men looked nervous but nodded fervently, it was one of the only times a leader was trying to coordinate a group plan in these reenactments, the slaves knew, it was usually a free for all. Suddenly, chariots were galloping out of the gates at full speed. The Amazons on the chariots whooping and cheering as they started riding along the perimeter of the coliseum at first.

Bruce was sweating, these men were only here right now because he ended up getting blasted to this world. "Listen, we don't have much time. Max, John, once the fighting starts, form a circle with your men, lock shields, and extend spears, it will give you the defense you need. Dick, you and your men will be on the inside of the small circle, lock shield overhead and create a ceiling, to block arrows and spears."

One man spoke up, "Lock shields?"

Bruce grunted in frustration and grabbed the man, "Like this." He yanked the man next to him and showed the others how to hold the shield up and overlay it a bit with the next shield. "With your free arm, hold your spear out."

The men seemed to get it and started to lock shields.

Bruce facepalmed himself, "Not right now you IDIOTS!"

Just then, the horn blew out again and the chariots ceased their driving and waited, the crowds also quieting down.

This time though Diana didn't seem as intent on a big speech, opting only to recognize the chariot Amazons. With one more "Good Luck." The horn blew out again. As soon as the horn sounded the chariots started moving again, faster now, and closing in on the small group of men.

"Oh gods, oh gods, we're going to die!" One man called out.

Bruce was fed up with his "team," he turned to his three smaller group leaders, "Shut him up!"

Bruce had to turn to his men, "John your men the.. No not there! There, yes good, same with you Max….Hey! Let Dick and his men in, ok!"

The chariots were starting their first assault. Bruce was still focused on his men, "Good, good, lock shields! Yes, spears out."

Just as they finished one of his men called out, "Arrows!"

Bruce looked up to see a line at the far end of the coliseum had launched a volley of arrows. "Cover yourselves!" Bruce yelled, as he threw his own shield up overhead and crouched.

*Thunk!*

*Crack!*

*Tunk!*

The arrows wedged themselves in, bounced off, and hit the shields with such force, every strike sending a stinging numbness into Bruce's forearms.

As the volley ended, Bruce turned to see if his men had survived. The shield formation had worked. In his hurry to see what had happened to his men though he had left himself open, and out of the formation.

*Smash!*

Suddenly, Bruce felt a war club slam into his shield. His training instincts had kicked in at the last moment and as the first chariot took advantage of his distraction he had seen the club moving towards his head. He had raised the shield in just the nick of time, but he was sent flying, his shield bent in and the war club of the female having broken.

John started to break out of the formation and come to Bruce's aid but Bruce held his hand up, "No! Stay where you are, keep those men alive!"

Another chariot was headed towards Bruce, this time though Bruce rolled back and sprung off his hands, flipping out of the way at the last moment. Running to grab his staff he avoided two more arrows and a spear thrown at him.

"Aghh!" Bruce turned to see a man recoil in pain as an arrow found his way to his shoulder.

Shit, Bruce thought, I have to act fast, I don't want anyone dying here today.

"Hyah! Hyah!"

Bruce looked up and saw that another chariot had begun racing towards him at breakneck speed. This time though, he was ready and took a fighting stance.

The wheels on the chariot were spinning and clicking against the wood as it raced towards the man in black armor. The stallions huffing and snorting as they sped along the sandy, hot ground.

This was when he was Batman again, his true self, trained to overcome obstacles that not many men could. He waited until the attacking Amazon unleashed an arrow, which was also when the chariot was almost right on top of him. He dodged, diving to the side, performing a shoulder roll as he hit the ground.

Gotta time this right, He thought.

There was no time to look back, at the end of his roll, as the chariot horses raced past, Bruce thrust his staff back, throwing it with as much force as he could.

*CRACK!*

He couldn't see it immediately, but he knew he had reached his target, his staff had gone straight through the wheel spokes. As he looked back he saw the chariot lock up and, due to the speed, flip over, throwing the amazons off and into the ground.

There were boo's left and right as Bruce ran quickly by the demolished chariot. He kicked one Amazon in the head, knocking her out, and then proceeded to punch the other one.

The horses were neighing as Bruce approached, using his signature gauntlet blades, he sliced the connection between the chariot, freeing one of the black horses. Jumping up, he was on the horse, riding bareback.

His bo staff was totalled in the wreckage so he grabbed one of the intact spears that was protruding from the dusty wreck he had created.

Some cheers were starting nearby and Bruce turned to see that some of his men had begun to cheer him on, they were surviving in their shield house formation but barely right now. Bruce raised his spear in acknowledgement and then pulled on the reins, his horse going to the two rear legs, before moving into a full gallop.

The next instant though, another chariot was on his ass, Shit, he thought. Arrows were flying around him as he maneuvered his animal with expertise from his time horseback riding in Asia.

The chariot was gaining on him, but he knew that it also needed more room to maneuver, suddenly he urged to horse to go towards his own men, the chariot followed, but once Bruce started to go around the huddled group of men, the Amazons realized they couldn't take the same route. The driver tried to pull away to a more advantageous position but then Bruce was around the circle and was approaching them fast from behind.

"Hyah, Go!" Bruce urged the horse on, sprinting to catch up and take out another chariot. When he was 5ft away he stood up on the horse, crouching as one hand kept the reins steady, the other hand holding onto the spear.

The Amazon at the back had also readied her own spear. Bruce stood up and threw his spear, a perfect throw. It sailed through the air and went right past the Amazon at the back, The girl looked at the spear as it impaled itself in the wood, "Ha, missed!"

As she looked back though she saw a shadow descending on her. The moment Bruce had thrown the spear he had dived off his horse, banking on the idea that the Amazon would look away. As he descended her face provided the perfect cushion against his boot.

"Augh!" She screamed out in pain as Bruce landed, Next she knew, she was being thrown out of the moving chariot. Bruce knew with the enhanced Amazon physiques and the speed of the carriage, she should have a few broken bones at most.

Bruce then turned his attention to the driver, the loud movement of his chariot though distracted him.

*Bam!*

Another chariot had crashed into the side of his and was moving parallel now together. Bruce had stumbled to the ground and he felt an Amazon land on him, "Oof" he groaned out.

*Skreeesh*

"Agh!" Bruce exclaimed in pain as he felt a sword tip strike his back armor. The armor held but the impact had jared Bruce and sent painful vibrations into his back, the sword had then scraped off, cutting a deep groove into the armor plating.

Bruce kicked back with a mule kick, pushing the new Amazon against the chariot side.

"Ugh! Die swine, this isn't how this battle is supposed to go!" She screamed at him.

Bruce ducked as she swung her sword, a wide arc moving fast over the spot his head had just been. Another downswing was blocked by bruce with his gauntlet blades and as he twisted a bit, he locked the blade in place.

"Uk! Get off!"

Batman slid his arm up the blade, closing the small distance and then headbutting the amazon hard with his helmet. Her own helmet was weak in the nose area and Bruce's hard helmet had easily broken her nose.

Another scream, another Amazon thrown from the chariot. The drivers of both chariots were now trying to fight him but they couldn't do much with their eyes on where the horses were going. Bruce pressed his advantage and with a punch to one Amazon and a batarang throw to the other, both drivers were incapacitated.

After tossing them off the carriage, which had slowed down considerably due to the two chariots' entanglement, Bruce threw another batarang to sever the lines of the other chariot and hopped into the other, taking the reins and now speeding off in his new vehicle.

Pushing the horses for more speed, Bruce looked and found a chariot that was getting ready to make a run at his men. With their focus elsewhere, they didn't see until it was too late as Batman drove his chariot hard into the side of theirs, so hard that the other chariot was pushed against the wall. The force ended up breaking one of the wheels and the Amazons were tossed from their chariot.

Not bad, Bruce thought. He managed to take out two more chariots that way before his own also broke from the continued stress.

As Bruce stumbled back onto the sandy coliseum, he saw that his men had seen his trick before with the spokes and had gotten lucky at taking out three more chariots with some spear thrusts.

Nine chariots out of commission. Six to go. Alright. Bruce thought as he raced towards his group of men.

On the way, he took out another two chariots, throwing the last of his bat bombs from his utility belt, taking out the wheels just like the other ones.

The crowd was full of cheers and boos, cheers for the pure excitement of the match, and boos for how Bruce was "flipping the script" so to speak.

Some Amazons from the chariots were now on their feet, swords, shields, and spears ready for close combat. There were four chariots left and about eightAmazons on their feet.

Bruce reached his men and saw that not everything was perfect, two of his men were in the center, already dead, arrows protruding from one, and a clear spear wound evident on the other.

"Dammit!" Bruce yelled.

John and Max looked at each other, "It's alright, this is the best I think anyone's ever done."

Bruce just nodded, an arrow ricocheting off a shield brought his mind back in the fight. "We have to take out those last chariots, the Amazons on foot are still recuperating, we have a window."

Dick nodded in agreement, "We're almost out of spears though, we can't just keep throwing them out from here."

Bruce couldn't agree more, they had to change it up, as he looked out of an opening though he saw that two chariots had lined up with some other wreckage and were planning on ramming the shield formation. It gave Bruce an idea though.

He quickly ducked back in, "Alright, John, Max, Dick! Listen up!" The three men stopped to listen, the other men working desperate to keep the shield walls up.

"You've got one minute, I'm going out there, to take out those two chariots," He said, pointing out where his targets were, "Once they're taken out, John, you take your men to the left and take out that chariot. Max, you take your men to the right and take out that chariot. Dick, split your men up and defend each group from rear assaults from the Amazon's on the ground."

All three men nodded in agreement, though looked very nervous. With his instructions done, Bruce grabbed one of his fallen men's shields and burst out again into the light.

The two front chariots just then were spurred into action, the horses moving to a gallop, fallen chariot debris scraping in the front as a makeshift battering ram. Bruce had felt the speeds of the chariots and he had a good feeling on how fast they moved. He would have to be precise again.

As the chariots approached he bent down in a ready stance, his shield down at an angle. Then, when the moment felt right, he took two hop-steps to build momentum and threw the shield with as much force as he could. The shield went flying up at an angle, and it looked as if it had obviously missed. The chariot drivers laughed as they spurred on their horses more.

Bruce held his ground though, Come on, Come on….

He saw the shield, like a frisbee thrown too high, stall out, and then start to fall back to Earth at a new angle.

Some of the people watching from the stands could understand now what was happening, shouts of "Look out!" were sent towards the chariot drivers. Their adrenaline was too high though and the horses were too loud. "I won't lose to a man." The first driver muttered under her breath.

It must have been cruel irony, that the next moment after she spoke those words, her head was slammed to the side as the shield grazed her helmet.

Dammit, Bruce thought, I meant to knock her out, but I missed a bit.

Luckily though, the strike was enough, the extra chariot debris had required extra focus and as the first driver fell off the reins for a moment, the horses had gotten out of sync, debris started to get tripped over, the chariots crashed together, and Bruce watched as both of the vehicles went flying into the side of the arena wall, destroying both chariots in the process.

Bruce looked and saw that his men had successfully taken down their chariots as well, but now in hand to hand fighting they were getting massacred, they just didn't have the training and direction to deal with the variables of individual combat.

*Thwuk!*

"Ah!" Searing pain was suddenly spiking in Bruce's shoulder, he looked down and could see one Amazon had gotten her shot to meet the mark, an arrow was protruding from Bruce's shoulder, and it hurt like hell.

Cheers erupted in the stands for the Amazon, who was apparently named Deidre, who had landed the blow.

She took aim again, letting another arrow fly, this time, aimed straight for his head. Bruce grunted in pain but responded with a batarang of his own, it flew through the air, the hard metal cutting clean through the arrow and then hitting Diedre's bow, cracking the wood itself.

As the Amazon looked down at her broken weapon, Bruce threw his only bolo, the three roped weapon flew straight for the Amazon and she was immediately caught tight and fell over, trapped.

Bruce took a moment, to snap the end of the arrow off, "Uhh!" but left the arrow tip itself in, he could do more damage to himself right now if he ripped the barbed end out.

Turning back towards his men he saw that another four of his men had been killed, with two others seriously out of the fight with serious wounds. That left four men, huddled around each other, defending themselves for all their worth.

They had managed to take out three Amazons as well, Bruce grimaced at the sight, death on both sides.

He had to stop any more bloodshed, he began running towards the group, only seven Amazons were left fighting. As he ran towards them, they saw him approach and Bruce could see fear in their face. They had never known one man who could take out ten chariots by himself.

Bruce threw a hard, blunt batarang at one Amazon, knocking her out cold as it connected with the metal helm, six left. The next one, he had to slide under a sword slash, coming up behind her to trip the girl and send her flying onto her back, five to go.

The next Amazon had a dagger out, Bruce pulled out a smoke pellet and threw it at the ground.

*Poosh!*

"*Cough* ugh!" The girl exclaimed as gray smoke went up in front of her face. Bruce then, while running at full speed, performed a jump side kick through the smoke, immediately connecting with the Amazon, sending her flying back into one of her companions. Three Amazons left.

His own men had killed another one of the Amazons. Two to go. As these Amazons hacked away at the men's shields Batman ran up and roundhouse kicked one of them, sending her flying sideways into the other. Enough force to knock both of them out.

All the Amazons were down, the arena was silent, This had certainly never happened before.

Bruce could care less about them though, as he looked over which of his men were still alive. John greeted him first,"I never thought I'd be a part of a real victory here."

Bruce just nodded, and put a hand on his shoulder, "Good work."

Among the dead, he saw Max. Bruce just closed his eyes and bowed his head, a new ally gone.

Then, he looked for Dick, and after some searching, he saw that he was leaning against a shield, a large cut along his leg.

"Hey, you survived, good job kid." Bruce said, kneeling down to look at Dick's wounds.

*Aoooohgaaaa!*

The horn blew out again, signaling the end of the game.

Cheers, boos, and lots of other calls could be heard throughout the stands.

Queen Diana had come forward. Bruce saw that she was again staring at him, a different expression on her face, perhaps *almost* glad.

"Well, it seems that history is changed for today's game."

The council women looked concerned, Evandre stepped forward, "My queen, please forgive us…"

Diana cut the Amazon off, "Quiet," She turned back to the crowds, "History is changed just for today, and I must say that if nothing else, we have seen one of the most enthralling battles we've ever seen in the Games. What say you?"

The crowds agreed, cheering for Diana.

"I congratulate the Amazons for their bravery and skill through the fight and...while it is not custom, I will say that the men did the best I've seen in hundreds of years."

All the while Diana was staring at Bruce, and he was staring back at her. It had only been about 20 minutes of fighting but Bruce was exhausted. The other men had provided much more stress for him.

The sun was hot, his sweat was running down his head, and his body was barely registering the arrow wound in his shoulder, he didn't even notice how much blood had seeped out, covering his armor in a crimson layer.

As Diana wrapped up her speech, Bruce could hear less and less, and finally, he felt his vision go as he collapsed from the blood loss and the end of his battle adrenaline rush.

The first day of games was over, he didn't know if he heard it or if it was just in his head but thunder seemed to boom once again on a cloudless sky. Then, his world turned to black.

End of Chapter 8

Hope you like this one, a bit longer than the others, had a lot of fun writing this action sequence. As always, review, let me know what you think of the story's progression.

Next Chapter: Checkmate, Gates Opened