For Martha and Kel, they were horrified by the strength of the machine, praying that Ra and Talia would still focus on them instead of Waylon or Poppy, with Bruce and Alfred shocked by the extremities Ra took to keep Dorji alive on that machine, yet it was too much for his elderly body, being too weak for it despite being very healthy within his diet and all.
Waylon and Poppy themselves were holding each other for life's sake, not wanting to let go of each other, with Waylon's Croc instincts deep inside his human brain roaring at the mouth to protect his future mate.
As the chamber of the machine wasn't far from the Pit down below, perhaps 6 minutes at quick pace, the family hated that Dorji is going to be subjected to Ra, this place again, as it is a whole version of hell in a sense.
A few minutes passed as Dorji's body dipped under the Pit's glowing green liquid, pulsing for a minute, and then Dorji busted out of the Pit's surface, giving out a shout of surprise, life, and lingering pain like his body remembered the machine faintly, suddenly looking younger again, maybe in his late 20s, very early 30s, yet still in his monk robes and bald.
Dorji panted as he swam to the edge of the Pit, his body slightly trembling here and there, and climbed out, muttering in Tibetan, like a blessing, and glanced up to see Ra, Talia, several League members, and the family.
He realized that he remembered everything he spoke with Thomas, and he made sure not to walk taller than Ra, as in his regained age, he is taller than him, and knelt before Ra, spoke in a hoarse, obedient voice, "I apologize for failing you, Demon of the Head...But my powers have changed for the good of the League, and the bad of your enemies...".
"Hmm, do tell me, Dorji...What happened in that machine?", Ra demanded softly yet echoing through the place, and Dorji replied, "I was weak...I couldn't stop it from taking my visions of your enemies around Asia, but I managed to save my visions of your League's future, and even if the future is not set in stone, I now see more things better than before.", technically lying as he has memories of his visions, and his eyesight more clear than it was in his elderly years, but having lost his power, just like Thomas said...A regular monk, indeed.
"We shall see...", Ra said. "As of right now, your abilities will not be needed for the time...", Ra wasn't taking a chance with Dorji's abilities, unaware of the truth or not. He himself knew very well the manner of side effects of the Pit. In time he would rely on Dorji again, but as of right now, there was not much need.
He had everything he needed before him and didn't need future sight to see what he himself had practically envisioned. The machine would work and then he would have the true untapped power of the She-Hulk at his disposal. Not that he wasn't thinking of other ways of perhaps using it; part of him desired the power himself, to become a hulking behemoth that would practically be invincible.
Dorji bowed his head, "Yes, sir...", getting up, still bowing, and slid back around some of the League who cuffed him immediately. Ra replied, "All the same, the machine needs to be double-checked before we have you in, Mrs. Wayne. Either tonight after your final sunset or tomorrow after your final breakfast, in case if you don't survive your dear Kel, you have several hours to make your final words with your family...Some of you take the dear family back to their cells, and oh, for good behavior, put the lovebirds back into their regular cells, to perhaps being more desperate and needy for each other, especially in the Jones boy's situation in due time.".
Some of the League members nodded, saluted, and Ra then looked at Talia, "You and the others take Dorji to his dear chambers while I overlook the machine's adjustments.".
"I still say you're making a mistake with this thing now...", Talia said. "Your concern has been noted, daughter, now follow my orders.", Ra simply responded. "Yes, father.", Talia nodded as she went to grab Dorji.
Martha stifled a sob as Ra's words cut to her heart, seeing that the machine was powerful than Leslie's gamma ray machine, enough to kill a human, yet she couldn't stop thinking of Kel's declaration to sacrifice most of herself, if not all to save Martha from the pain as she and the family was marched on by their escorts one way while Talia and some of her people escorted Dorji another way.
Martha automatically, mentally sat in her mindscape, in one of her favorite places from the manor, gazing at the outside pool in a beautiful summer day's view, and Kel's voice spoke softly as she sat next to Martha, "Do you hate me for saying all of that on that day, and doing it again yesterday? I love you, Martha...I...I just...Gotham needs your special compassion...They know you, Martha...They don't know me, they just know She-Hulk...And I can't let that night repeat around you in front of our children...It was one thing with Thomas, but for them to lose you too...And if Ra sees that we don't survive this, he wouldn't bring us back because as you saw just now with Dorji, he doesn't trust things at face yet, willing to take time, not trusting him until he can take a chance which would be a long time to wait, which would be tortuous on our family...".
"They'll just simply kill the lot of us...", Martha admitted. "Alfred and Bruce would serve no purpose to them so they do away with them. Same with Thomas and Caroline. Maybe Jane will have a chance, but they'll just raise her as a cold unfeeling assassin like the rest of them. Waylon would probably be killed the moment he impregnates Poppy... and she would only have probably just the full nine months or whatever before they do away with her; leaving just the child they desire...", Martha sobbed. "And all of this will be my fault because I couldn't just simply roll over and die when I should have...".
Kel immediately gathers her in her arms, "Don't...Don't you dare say that, Martha!", kissing her fiercely yet tenderly as she brushes Martha's hair. "Okay, I admit it was Thomas in the first place who suggested Leslie to cure that disease, but it was you all this time, to make that choice...If you hadn't, we wouldn't have Poppy...Hell, Waylon would be alone, not knowing that he had a soulmate in Poppy, and Caroline...Alfred would stay for Thomas and Bruce, but he wouldn't have known Caroline, or had Jane...I wouldn't have existed...I wouldn't have known what is like to raise a family, to be a mother, to be a lover, to be a woman...You made this family real, and you deserve to be with them...I...I know I would possibly fade away if I sacrifice most, if not all of myself, to give you all of my gamma energy to survive that atrocious machine, to escape with our family, to honor me in protecting and patrolling Gotham, and live so long with Thomas, seeing grandchildren, and perhaps great-grandchildren, and I'd be at peace knowing that, even if I don't have a real soul.".
"You have a soul, Kel...", Martha whispered. "All these years, you've proved it. I, deep down, thought maybe that this was just some sort of split personality, brought on by the trauma of the treatment, but... no... it was much more than that.".
Kel smiled tearfully, "You believe that?", and Martha nodded with tears in her eyes, "I really do...I love you, Kel Emerald Wayne...You're practically more than my lover, you are mine and Thomas's mate, and much more...", kissing her back passionately and lovingly.
Kel moaned and sighed in pleasure as she held Martha up, feeling her wrap her legs around her waist, their hands caressing and mussing through each other's hair and back as they kissed like a long minute before they broke away, looking at each other.
"I love you, Martha Rosalyn Wayne. It's nice that we can change anything here in your mindscape...I want to make love to you so bad, but you better get back before people start to notice that you're vacant in the eyes.", Kel whispered.
Martha replied with a sad smile, "I will go for a nap in a while, and if Ra decides to do it in the morning, you better get back to me after your adventure to get more parts and see to the temple tonight, I read stories how making love gets so intense after something big happens...Probably the same for Poppy and Waylon once we get home...Thank god that my mindscape is literally anything we want to imagine here.".
Kel nodded, "You got it...See you in a while...", and Martha returned back to reality fortunately enough before any of their escorts noticed as they arrived at the cell section, with Waylon and Poppy quickly sharing a kiss before being pushed apart, and marched back to their individual cells, and freeing the others of the cuffs in each turn of the next cells, with Martha as the last one.
After a while, to make sure that the escorts were gone and all, Bruce then spoke up, "Well, that was horrific, wasn't it?", and Alfred replied, "Definitely stronger than the other one...", with a frown, glancing over at Martha, "Martha, do you think you could ask Ra to bargain with going with Thomas and Caroline and Jane first to resurrect in the morning before you...you go into that machine, instead of his plan to get Kel?".
"I could try... but that'll be up to him...", Martha said as Poppy was silently working with Waylon covering her to make sure they wouldn't be seen. Poppy could feel that they were close to being ready with their chance to escape. It wasn't the most well thought out plan, but it was better than simply sitting around and just waiting for whatever Ra had planned.
Bruce exhaled softly, "I really hope he doesn't decide to get you into there tonight...That's...we're practically going to have some nightmares about today...I mean, I'm glad that Dorji is alright, and young again, apparently, but he's back in the same hell that treated him for decades...".
"I know...The best we can do is keep to our routines to keep fit and distracted from thinking about it...And for me...and Kel...I only can hope that he adjusts the machine to not kill outright on humans, but he apparently is intent on full power to get Kel up to really unreleased rage, giant She-Hulk mode, like that night, but more...", Martha sighed.
"I'm more surprised that the machine isn't... transferring...", Alfred admitted. "I was thinking what good would Ra have with a more uncontrollable version of Kel, and instead either infusing Kel into Talia... or himself.".
"I'll be honest, I'm surprised that hasn't been the plan.", Bruce said. "Maybe Talia deems it too risky, like she did earlier. But I can easily tell if she could have the chance, she'd take it in a heartbeat.".
Waylon snorted, "You and me both, brother...", as he crossed his arms, keeping cover over Poppy on her cell, feeling lonely a bit without her in his own cell, but he was glad that he didn't make trouble, though he can sense her simmering heat still somehow, realizing that the two cells are somehow paired up.
Martha replied, "He is still hoping that Kel would still be managed through leverage of Thomas and such, but yes, I am a bit surprised like you, Alfred, yet I think he needs to maintain his own control over the League, which I can figure is a hierarchy of sorts.".
Alfred sighed, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to use the bathroom and take a nap...Even being near that machine had given me goosebumps...", and everybody else nodded, with Poppy speaking quietly, "And to keep faith in ourselves too.".
Everybody else agreed again with that, and so, they went to keep to their routines, with exercising, napping, and anything else to keep occupied, with Poppy and Bruce using their bathrooms to work on more of the grenades secretly at separate times.
Meanwhile, like Thomas said, time is a breeze for spirits, and flight is literally the breeze under minutes, maybe 30 minutes, compared to airplanes and such, making it to Gotham, feeling the day tick closer and closer to the incoming day of Halloween in hours, with the magic getting stronger and stronger, but right now, he hovered above Gotham, near the rooftop of the highest building which is the Wayne International Plaza, sighing as he looked around, "Okay, maybe I am biting more than I can chew right now, but I can't give up...Dorji says that Doctor Fate lives in Gotham...Gah, I should have asked for a description of the guy when I had the chance...but that damn Ra, so quick to get Dorji to the Pit...".
"Trouble?", a female voice rang as Thomas turned to see Caroline. "Followed me, huh?", Thomas chuckled as she smiled.
"I suppose it's fitting, after all, if what Ra said is true... we'll both be back.", Caroline told him as he sighed, "If we so choose; just because our bodies would be restored doesn't mean we have to go back to them.".
Caroline replied, "You heard Bruce...Without our souls, our bodies would be zombies or something, and that...I can imagine the horror on Alfred and Waylon's faces...I couldn't blame them if they were feeling the guilt to kill our bodies again because they wouldn't want that, to think that we are in pain or something as zombies without our souls...not that they don't really know nor us, but yeah...The books were all over the place about that sort of thing...At least Jane is enjoying the ride...", glancing at the sling over her belly, seeing Jane snoozing in her tucked position, acting like she's in the womb, which has been this way for a while since Ra's people stitched Jane back into her womb within a synthetic baby bump, knowing the Halloween magic and the Pit would make her womb and baby bump real...
Thomas smiled wryly, "Ah, the little princess is asleep...Couldn't blame her...The flight sure is smooth and easy...Hmm, okay, Dorji said that Doctor Fate has been learning about astral projection...", trying to think.
Caroline replied, "Hmm, magic goes with astral projection...Back in Louisiana, we had those stories where sorcerers and witches line their houses with protection circles and such...So, maybe this Doctor Fate's place might be strange looking...".
Thomas widened his eyes, "Like on a high hill or something? Not the creepy kind, but like unique architecture?", and Caroline nodded, "Probably, yeah, why? You know something?".
"Three places, actually, two is ancient or somewhat old, while the third one is recently modern...Ready for some flying, sis?", Thomas grinned, as he had built a sisterly relationship with Caroline since she came to heaven, considering that Alfred had been like an older brother to him, next to being his best friend.
"As long as we take it slow, don't want to wake the passenger.", Caroline teased as Thomas chuckled before they moved. "Do you really think... that this Fate could help us?", Thomas asked. "I mean, you obviously have a life along with Jane that you could easily go back to; nobody would ever really know you two died... but me...".
Caroline replied, "First, only the hospital knew that I died, while only I knew with Jane's death, and that could be easily changed with me taking up Alfred's surname, along with a middle name for me, and of course, with the Pit, who knows, de-aging me considerably to manage the pregnancy without age complications and all. Second, maybe the hospital's memories could be changed considerably to think that I was a faceless homeless woman who got deadly sick, with no family to pay the hospital, with the gravestones erased off, crumbling into rocks or something...Only thing I'm honestly sad is about not going back to Louisiana to have my shack and tree to visit for at least the honeymoon or something, but I'd not rather catch attention again, like those League bastards...".
"I still can't believe any of this has happened. I thought I would be watching over the family for some time before they would all eventually pass on... I never once thought there would be a chance for me to come back, permanently speaking. Pity this chance comes at such a great cost... being that they're all prisoners to the League of Assassins.", Thomas sighed.
Caroline replied, "Thomas, this chance does not happen often...I mean, I would never have thought of this, not in a hundred years, until we did, because we love our family. And you know our family, they can't give up, to escape, to give us a chance, to make our family bigger, to live long lives...Honestly, the big guy could be more powerful than Dorji himself to see this, and he ain't stopping us from making our choice to go back to our bodies, and you especially deserve to be back with Martha, Kel, Bruce, and Poppy, even if you saw every little and big thing from watching over them, you deserve to make actual, personal memories again, Thomas.".