Chapter 2
While still a prisoner, Lea couldn't help but make small talk with the villains while moving.
"So, how long have you two been looking for a maiden pure of heart?" She questioned. "Because I couldn't be just your first try on this, could I?"
"You're right, you were not," Clock King said. "We've been searching for a little over a week."
"That coupled with having to wait for the proper time, thanks to some stipulations. It was hard trying to find a maiden pure of heart," Gentleman Ghost said.
Clock King shook his head. "So many of the maidens were just so ill-mannered," he said.
"Or tried to marry Clock King on the spot for his money," the ghost said, rolling his invisible eyes. "Honestly, whatever happened to have honor and class?"
"Ouch...," Lea muttered, cringing at the thought of what the villains described. "That must have been hard to deal with. And you pulled it all off without Batman and or Green Arrow noticing? I know you both have some history on the following heroes, from what I read and saw."
"True, we did have to be careful not to alert those two," Clock King said. "But those two will not stop us now! We shall have the treasure we seek!"
"That's right," Gentleman Ghost said. "None of the heroes know where we are going."
"How can you be so sure about that?" Lea asked, growing worried on the inside yet still hopeful about the heroes coming any moment to save her. "What makes this different compared to your previous plans when the Dark Knight is involved?"
"Because we took precautions to make sure we would not be followed by the two, nor draw suspicions," Clock King said. "What do you take us for, brainless idiots?"
"Clock King is a meticulous planner," Gentleman Ghost said. "Besides, thanks to intel, we learned that the Dark Knight and Green Arrow are on the other side of town dealing with Joker. It was perfect timing, thanks to Clock King."
"Indeed!" The clock villain said, laughing. "Though not planned for Joker to keep the two busy, I was not about to, as you say, look a gift horse in the mouth."
The blonde teen was stunned by this news. With Batman and Green Arrow busy dealing with a heavy Arkham villain like Joker, there's no way they'll ever realize that Lea was in danger in time.
I guess I am on my own, she thought to herself, trying to still be hopeful.
They soon reached a submarine in the water. "Let's go," Gentleman Ghost said, as he opened the hatch. Clock King went in first and reached up for Lea as the ghost villain lowered her, rather gently, down to his companion, who equally set Lea down gently. Gentleman Ghost looked around and nodded before closing the hatch and turning the wheel to secure it. "We're ready."
"Take her to the holding cell and come meet me back at the control room," Clock King said, before walking down a hallway.
A holding cell? That should give me the privacy I need to warn Batman about my whereabouts in being kidnapped with my Lantern ring, Lea thought, seeing a silver lining. Since they never removed nor stole it, I still have a chance.
Gentleman Ghost took Lea to a room that was furnished, to her surprise. It looked more like an actual sleeping quarter than a holding cell. The ghost villain set her down and loosened the bonds around Lea's wrists and ankles, not enough to let her escape easily, but enough to let her get out of her bonds once the door was shut.
"Stay put," he said. "We'll reach our destination soon."
With that, he shut the door, locking it firmly from the outside.
Seeing that she was now alone, Lea went to somewhere comfortable to lie down on her back and had her hands near her chest before closing her eyes.
I've never tried this before, but I think I can send some kind of psychic construct of my Blue Lantern self in sending a message to any nearby heroes in Gotham,Lea thought to herself, steadily on her breathing while focusing through hope. Let's hope this works perfectly in reaching out to Batman.
Despite feeling scared, Lea kept calm in focusing her hope energy where her ring was glowing in a rhythmic heartbeat.
Meanwhile, back at Gotham…
Batman and Green Arrow were currently dealing with Joker, who laughed manically. "I can still best you both!" He boasted as he held the trigger to a bomb planted on a car that had two hostages inside.
"Bats, does this guy ever stop laughing?" Green Arrow asked.
"No," Batman said before seeing Joker was looking to get away on a pogo stick. "Can you immobilize that pogo stick and make Joker crash into the police net? I need to get the hostages to safety before the bomb goes off."
"You got it, Bats."
The two heroes moved fast, Green Arrow shooting off arrows with nets and one that would release oil to make a surface slippery. As Joker's pogo stick got tangled up in the nets and hit the oil slick, making him fall right into the police net that he had been heading for, Batman grabbed the two hostages, who were husband and wife, and ziplined them to safety before he went back and grabbed the bomb, throwing it up in the air. "Green Arrow, send this one up more!" He called out.
The green-masked man nodded and aimed carefully, firing an arrow that flew true and turned into a boxing glove with a spring, sending the bomb up higher before it exploded, causing a loud noise, but no damage. Joker was furious that his plans had been ruined, but could do nothing as he was in the back of a police van.
"Well, another threat stopped," Green Arrow said with a smile. "Still, what was Joker's real plan? Or was he just trying to stir up trouble?"
"Probably the latter," Batman said.
"I'm heading out, Bats," Green Arrow said. "Call me if you need anything."
After Green Arrow left, Batman started hearing a voice.
"Batman?...Can you hear me?"
Batman lifted up his head, seeing Lea in her Blue Lantern form, but she was transparent. "Hope?" He asked.
"Bats! Oh, wow. It really worked," Lea/Midnight Hope responded happily, trying to keep on task. "Batman, listen carefully. I'm in trouble. Clock King and Gentleman have kidnapped me as a regular civilian where I'm now in a submarine leading to somewhere that involves a maiden pure of heart in getting some rare treasure. I can't fight them where I'll expose my secret identity in the process. You got to do something before things get worse!"
"I'll see if I can locate you. Can you send me a ping of your location?"
"How and with what?" Hope remarked. "No offense, Bats, but I normally use my Lantern Ring to send pings to other known Lanterns with those same rings in sending coordinates. Most of them on Earth are at Oa on a galactic mission. And I just learned how to do this construct of myself to you."
"How can I find you then?" He asked.
"I already told you about their plan involving a treasure and a maiden pure of heart being the key to it all while using a submarine to travel underwater," Lea/Hope reasoned. "If anyone can piece together all of this, it's you."
Batman took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, I'll get to the Batcave and see what I can find," he said.
"Do what you can and, please, hurry! I don't know how long I can keep this up without Clock King and Gentleman Ghost realizing what I'm up to," Lea/Hope warned, as her form was starting to fade. "Uh, oh...I'm losing you..."
"Sit tight, Hope, and conserve your ring energy," he said. "I'll be there soon."
Nodding, the Hope construct vanished. The real Lea woke up from her deep meditative trance where she gasped while getting up half. She breathed steadily until getting in a fetal position.
"With my fear levels rising, I can only hope that it does not stop me from believing someone will come to my rescue," Lea muttered to herself, trying not to cry. "They have to..."
Batman rushed to the Batcave quickly, piecing together the clues Hope had given him. "A submarine would mean they are underwater somewhere and a treasure that involves a maiden with a pure heart," he said aloud. "What could that be?"
Alfred, who had been nearby, froze for a moment and looked at Batman. "Sir, can you repeat that last part again?" He asked, hoping he hadn't heard what he thought Batman had said.
"A treasure that involves a maiden with a pure heart?" Batman said, looking concerned as Alfred went pale. "Alfred?"
"Sir...there is an old tale about a grand treasure that is so well guarded that only the pure of heart can reach it," the butler said. "It is a very large green Emerald, as big as the palm of your hand. It's worth quite a fortune."
"Is it underwater somewhere?" The Caped Crusader asked.
"That is what is rumored, yes," Alfred said. "It's deep in some caves under the water. One would need a submarine to get there, but from the tale, it's quite a dangerous trek to get to the Emerald. Those not pure of heart get lost in the caves while those pure hearted can follow the path straight to the Emerald."
Batman at once checked the maps and found a few underwater caves. Marking them, he stood up. "Alfred, keep watch on the monitors for me. I'm going underwater."
"Should I send out the call to Aquaman or one of the other heroes?" Alfred asked.
"Only if I send you a signal for help," Batman said. "One of our own is in danger and if the villains get wind of me or the others being there...,"
The butler understood at once. "Very well, sir," he said. "Be careful."
What the Caped Crusader, or anyone else, didn't know was that someone was already on the villains' trail underwater. Wearing a high-advanced swim suit and having a device to help swim faster in catching up. But not too close. Otherwise, they'd risk putting the prisoner/Lea in worse danger.
Back on the sub, Clock King soon spotted the caves they needed. "There," he said. "We've made it." He checked his clock. "And right on time. Our lovely maiden will have one hour to get through the cave before the Emerald is revealed for fifteen minutes."
Lea looked over to notice that the submarine stopped. She felt scared on what was about to come next.
"Come on, Bats. You'll find me," Lea stated, still not giving up hope.
Just as she said that, Batman had pinged the signal of the submarine Clock King was using and was moving over there as quickly as possible. "Hold on, Lea," he said softly.
Will Batman reach Lea in time? Or will the mystery person get there first? We shall see. :)
Please leave Redbat132 and myself a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418