Batman and Wonder Woman were staking out the Iceberg Lounge, Wonder Woman sighing.

"Patience, Princess."

"Are you sure Penguin is involved in this?"

"There's been more activity in his lounge than usual, and I don't mean the heightened popularity. Red Hood has also been watching Cobblepot. Even had to help save him from Children of Hydra."

"Those creatures can only be formed from the Hydra's teeth. I helped Clayface slay the beast. I know I disposed of it properly. How did someone get a hold of its teeth?"

"And why do these creatures seem so interested in Penguin specifically?"

"It's just a mystery after a mystery," Diana said as she leaned against the gargoyle, looking down at the Lounge. She watched as couples left the building, the pairs enjoying each other's company. "Don't you ever wish you were down there?"

"I'm down there all I need to be. The party from three days ago should be proof enough."

"Even that party was just a job to you. You've been studying Veronica ever since, only taking a break to be Wayne Enterprise's CEO or to help with the monsters, and the petty crook brave enough to try and rob with the beasts roaming in the shadows. But when was the last time you've had fun, Bruce?"

"I had enough fun at the party."

"Well, maybe have some fun with... someone special?"

"Tried that. Several times. Didn't work out."

"Yes. I met one of your exes. Silver St. Cloud. She was very beautiful."

"Mm."

". . . Did she ever find out?"

"Maybe it's BECAUSE she never knew that she ended it."

"Well... maybe you should try it... with someone who knows?"

Batman looked at Wonder Woman. "1. Dating within the team always leads to disaster."

"Dating leads to disaster in most circumstances. But look at Ollie and Dinah. YOU were the Best Man at their wedding. Hera only knows why Ollie made you Conner's godfather."

"Says the woman Dinah made Conner's godmother."

"And it isn't just them. What about John and Shayera? Wally couldn't shut up about how beautiful their wedding was, being John's Best Man, and being Rex's godfather."

"And another Leaguer made you godmother. Surprising, with the bad blood you two had for a while."

Diana giggled. "Yeah. But Bruce, relationships always have obstacles. Don't you think we can handle whatever comes our way?"

"How about 2. You're a princess from a society of immortal warriors while I'm a rich kid with issues. Lots of issues."

"With plenty of people willing to help you through them. Dick, Jason, Tim; three sons who love you. Butt heads with you, yes, but love you all the same. If they can handle you, I most certainly can."

"3. If my enemies knew I had someone special, they wouldn't rest until they got to me through her."

Wonder Woman crushed a gargoyle, Batman looking at her to see her raise an eyebrow. "Next? Don't forget that I'm already on good terms with Dr. Fries and Waylon."

Batman stared at Wonder Woman before they both heard screaming... and roaring.

The two didn't hesitate to burst into the Iceberg Lounge.

Batman and Wonder Woman broke into the Lounge in time to see a man getting bitten by a serpent's head by his shoulder, the man screamed as he reached for who was either his date or wife as she screamed while reaching him in vain as guards were holding her back.

Batman didn't hesitate to throw an explosive Batarang at the serpent's eye, the creature screeching after the weapon pierced its eye, screaming after it exploded, the monster releasing the man. Wonder Woman caught him before flying down and handing him off to the woman, who immediately helped him out of the Lounge, obviously not even thinking about thanking Wonder Woman in the situation.

Wonder Woman turned toward her opponent, her eyes widening in surprise. "Scylla?!"

The head reeled back to join five others, all of them snarling at Diana. But the heads were connected to a body, the base of it being a beautiful woman. "Well, well, the Daughter of Zeus. I didn't expect to see you here."

"HOW are you here, Scylla!? You're supposed to be in the Straight of Messina with your sister!"

Scylla glared at Diana. "Charybdis is NOT my sister. You know damn well that is a misconception created by the mortals. I despise that abomination nearly as much as I despise your aunt for making me into this THING."

"I will admit that what Amphitrite did to you was cruel, but I cannot condone you taking the lives of innocents!"

"So you wish for me to starve?"

"What?"

"You see these things as higher beings, I suppose. Creatures deserving of life?" Scylla looked over at Batman. "I see them only as what they are: meat." One of her heads rushed over at Batman.

He easily jumped out of the way and threw bombs down the head's throat. When they exploded, it nearly destroyed the entire head, its jaw hanging loosely as blood poured from its mouth. Scylla herself even yelled out in pain as she looked at her ruined head in horror before glaring at Batman with absolute rage and hatred.

"I'LL MAKE YOUR DEATH SLOW AND PAINFUL FOR THAT, MORTAL," she roared as she sent her remaining five heads rushing and roaring at Batman.

Wonder Woman immediately flew up and punched Scylla in the face, and the monstrous woman retaliated by grabbing Wonder Woman and squeezing, Diana yelling out in pain. "You think I can't handle you, Daughter of Zeus, NIECE OF POSEIDON?!" One of Scylla's heads turned and was about to return, only to stop and go back to chasing Batman, who was able to just barely avoid the heads.

"No. I want to do this personally. After all, Diana, you're quite beautiful. As beautiful as Amphitrite. Biting off your head will almost be like biting off hers." Scylla's eyes widened. "What? . . . YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU- . . . I see... I see." Scylla giggled before she laughed. "OH, THAT IS TRULY INTERESTING!"

"W-What," Diana strained.

"Yes. I'll pledge my loyalty to you IF you allow me to kill Amphitrite. . . You can what?" Amphitrite then began... to cry. "You... You can do that? You can... fix me?"

Scylla then began to giggle before cackling maniacally. "YES! IF IT'S YOU, THEN YOU'RE MORE THAN POWERFUL ENOUGH TO CURE ME! TO FIX WHAT THAT BITCH DID TO ME! MY CURSE WILL FINALLY BE LIFTED! I PLEDGE MY LOYALTY TO YOU, NOW AND FOREVER MORE!"

Scylla then clasped Wonder Woman with both of her hands, squeezing even tighter, making the Amazon yell out even louder. She gritted her teeth as she looked up at Scylla's insane smile, tears flooding down her cheeks. "Glory be to the Goddess of Goddesses. She whom even Zeus fears."

Diana's eyes widened. "Whom... Zeus... fears?!"

"Farwell, Diana of Themyscira. May your soul know peace in the Elysian Fields... for the little time it will be in Hades' control." Scylla then opened her mouth wide, ready to bite Wonder Woman's head off.

BOOM

Scylla screamed after a rocket was shot in her mouth.

Wonder Woman then broke out of Scylla's grasp and kicked off of her, landing at a safe distance as Scylla's heads returned to her, roaring at who surrounded her.

Scylla shook her head before looking up in rage. "WHO DARES?!"

"Oswald C. bloody Cobblepot, ya wanker," Penguin said on a top balcony as he and his men surrounded Scylla from the upper floor. "I don't know what you are, but this is MY DAMNED CLUB, YA HOBKNOCKER! NO ONE MESSES WITH MY BUSINESS, LEAST OF MY PENGUIN'S SUPPER! LIGHT HER UP, BOYS!"

"What about the Bat, boss?!"

"SCREW THE BAT! KILL THE BITCH!"

"Wonder or the freak?!"

"Oh, for god's- KILL EVERYONE!"

The thugs began to shoot at Scylla, some shooting at Batman and others shooting at Wonder Woman, who used their bullets to ricochet back at Scylla. The monster was absolutely being hit by the bullet storm, but she looked more annoyed than hurt. In fact, her heads were actually killing many of Penguin's men, with Scylla herself swatting many of the men away. She even smashed some of them beneath her fist like ants, grabbed another one to crush him like a grape, and bit one poor bastard in half.

She then locked her eyes on Penguin himself, who stood in place using his umbrella like a cane.

"Oh, come and get it, love," Penguin challenged.

Scylla roared as she actually reached toward Penguin.

"COBBLEPOT," Batman yelled out in worry.

Penguin then held up his umbrella and unleashed a wave of fire, Scylla yanking back her hand while yelling in pain, looking at her smoldering, smoking palm.

"THE DAY I NEED YOU TO WORRY ABOUT ME IS THE DAY HELL FREEZES OVER, BAT! NOW DO YOU DAMN JOB AS A HERO AND GET RID OF THIS THING!"

Scylla looked at Penguin, Wonder Woman, and Batman before she roared in absolute rage. Her cry of hatred was so powerful that it shook the entire lounge, shattering glass and even making some of Penguin's men faint.

"ANYONE NOT SHOOTING AT THE SNAKE WENCH IS ALREADY FIRED! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE BAT OR THE WONDER! KILL THE SCREAMING-"

Screeches were heard. Penguin looked up. "Oh, hell."

One man looked up in time to scream before a harpy fell onto him and began to tear him apart.

"SHIT," another thug went as he killed a harpy before he was bitten from behind, head first, by one of Scylla's heads and eaten.

Flying through the holes in the ceiling was a flock of harpies, Penguin's men now dealing with them instead of Scylla.

Penguin's eyes were shadowed, with only his monocle shining. "So, you're tryin' to take over my turf, eh? Tryin' to take over another bird's nest, are we? You want a fucking war of the birds? FINE THEN! BRING IT ON! LET'S HAVE A FUCKING WAR OF THE BIRDS," Penguin roared toward the flock of Harpies, most of them looking at him and roaring back as if accepting his declaration of war.

Penguin and his men were shooting at the Harpies. It was a full-on war, gangsters killing Harpies, Harpies slicing gangsters. Some harpies grabbed the thugs from behind to throw them at Scylla, the monster eating them. Others just flew up with their captured prey to drop them to the ground.

As this was happening, Wonder Woman was flying around Scylla, punching the main body. The monster glared at the hero before swiping at her in rage, Wonder Woman flying past all of her attacks, both from his claws and her beast-headed tentacles.

"YOU CAN'T AVOID ME FOREVER, AMAZON!"

"I know I can't, which is why I'm not. I'm distracting you."

"WHAT?!"

"You've been in the water this entire time, Scylla."

"AND?!"

"This entire building is powered by electricity. Enough to seem like it was powered by the Master Bolt itself. What would happen if that power were to rush to you?"

"What," Scylla asked with a confused look.

"NOW!"

Scylla looked around before she finally saw the mortal known as Batman standing near the pool she was in, holding a sparking cable. Her eyes widened before she roared as she lunged toward Batman along with her six heads.

Batman had already tossed the wire into the water.

Scylla then screamed in agony as she was electrified, the zapping sensation truly resembling the lightning from Zeus's Master Bolt. Her skeleton was even visible for a moment. The building's lights even began to flicker, showing how much power was being coursed through the monster's veins.

It was about a minute, but when the shock ended, Scylla's tentacles fell limply, the jaws of their heads twitching, with Scylla herself on her arms, panting heavily.

Then, she snarled before she slammed her fist on the ground, crushing the ground. "You think... this is... ENOUGH," she roared as she looked up, rage glowing in her eyes. "This... Can't... BEAT ME!"

"Is that right?"

Scylla looked toward Penguin's voice with a furious expression before her eyes widened when she saw one of Penguin's men standing next to the mobster with a rocket launcher. "Then maybe this can. Have yourself a nice meal, courtesy of The Penguin. FEED HER SOME DINNER, BOYS!"

Scylla then noticed that there were no more Harpies. She looked around to see all of them were dead. Then, she looked to see that more humans were pointing rocket launchers at her... before they all fired upon her.

Scylla screamed in pain and agony as she was blasted by the rocket launchers. She had never experienced such anguish, not even when she was slain by Hercules for the very first time. Then, she felt it: her life draining away.

She fell onto her back with a heavy splash and hard crash as her huge body did more damage to what remained of the lounge. She stared up into the sky. The NIGHT sky.

Weakly, she reached towards the endless darkness, not a star to be seen due to the city's lights.

'This... can't be. Am I... beaten?'

'So it would seem,' a familiar voice went.

Scylla then began to tear up. 'Lady Nyx. Mercy, my goddess.'

'Remember the deal, Scylla. Had you succeeded, I would have freed you of your curse. Yet, where is my Champion?'

'Please. I just need more time,' Scylla prayed as she began to cry.

'You are defeated, my dear. And by mere mortals at that. Sorry, my dear nymph, but you have failed. You will remain as you are.'

'No... No,' Scylla said as the light in her eyes began to dime.

"I was... so close... to being saved," Scylla said aloud.

Then, the light left her eyes and her outstretched hand fell to the ground with a building-shaking thud.

It was over. Scylla had been bested once again.

And yet, Batman and Wonder Woman couldn't help... but look at the female monster... with pity in their eyes.

Batman and Wonder Woman stood before the deceased Scylla, both of them looking behind them at the sound of footsteps. Behind them was Penguin and his men, all of the thugs aiming either bullets or rockets at the heroes.

"Well now, ain't this a right problem. Not even you can handle this much heat, Bat. As for you, Wondie, sure, you'll probably get out of this mess, but you're the type that wants to keep Bats safe, amirite?"

Both heroes just glared at the criminal as he lit up and puffed a cigar. "Now then... how do you plan on cleaning up that mess there," he said as he gestured at the giant dead monster.

Scylla then began to glow before she began to fade away. In mere moments, she was gone.

Penguin stared at the spot where the monster big enough to fit in the Iceberg Lounge's main attraction once was. "What the bloody hell just happened?"

"She was sent back to Tartarus," Wonder Woman answered as she sadly looked back at where Scylla was.

"Eh?"

"Scylla was killed once before. True, she was resurrected by her father, but she was slain once more by the acts of man. She was summoned into the mortal realm by someone... powerful."

"Is that right. . . Well then, with that out of the way..." Penguin turned his back to the heroes. "Get the hell out of my lounge."

The criminals were shocked by what the boss said.

"Sir, we have the Bat surrounded. This is the best chance we'll ever get to-HOOPH," the thug went after Penguin used his umbrella to smack the guy's crotch.

"Don't question me, boy! We've dealt with enough for one day. You lot have my damn lounge to fix! Get those overgrown chickens out of here!"

"Uh, boss, they vanished too."

"THEN START FIXING MY DAMN BUILDING! THAT ISN'T MAGICALLY FIXIN' ITSELF RIGHT NOW, IS IT?!"

The thugs nervously and scaredly ran around trying to clean up the building. Penguin then began to walk away.

"Penguin," Batman called, making the crime boss stop. "Thank you."

". . . Teh. The bloody hell are you thankin' me for, hero," Penguin asked as he turned his head toward the two. "You think we're mates now since I helped you take out that oversized bucket of fish? Bollacks. This city has always been a magnet for weird nonsense. Croc, Clayface, Hatter, the bloody Joker; we don't need no monsters straight out of that one's history book," Penguin said as he pointed at Wonder Woman. "So do this city a favor: deal with it! I don't care how you do it or how it gets done. I don't wanna wake up in me bed with some snake woman coiled around me."

"You defeated Scylla, Penguin. I doubt a Lamia would pose a threat to you," Wonder Woman said with her arms crossed.

"Bloody hell, I WAS JOKING ABOUT THOSE THINGS! THEY ACTUALLY EXIST!?" Penguin let out a yell that sounded like a screeching penguin. "Bats! . . . It's obvious that things are only going to get worse from here on. This city has always been ripe with monsters, but we don't need any more. So whoever is behind this mess, deal with them, got it?"

"We intend to," Batman answered.

"Mm." Penguin then turned around. "Wait a tick- Oi! You'd better pay for all this-," Penguin began as he turned around, only to see no sign of Batman or Wonder Woman. "HOW THE BLOODY HELL DOES HE DO THAT?!"

Later, the heroes were together in the Bat Cave, Batman at the Batcomputer typing away.

"What are you looking for, Bruce," Diana asked.

"Some kind of pattern," he answered. "In Sicily, it was obvious they were trying to release Typhon, but there shouldn't be anything in Gotham that the enemy could want. In fact, these last few fights were targeted. Meant for us."

Diana looked down. "Maybe... Maybe not US."

Bruce looked at her. "Do you know something?"

Diana stared at the ground before looking at her current partner. "I might have an idea about who we're facing." Bruce turned his chair toward her. "Scylla... she mentioned she would pledge her loyalty to the 'one who Zeus feared'."

Bruce's eyes narrowed before he turned and typed into the computer. "In all of Greek Mythology, there has only been one being Zeus has ever been truly afraid of. Not the same fear as he felt when he angered Hera, but true fear."

Batman pulled up the information.

Diana gripped her arms as she stared at what was on screen.

"Nyx, Goddess of the Night," Diana said as she stared at the image of the beautiful yet terrifying goddess.

"She's the only deity Zeus has ever truly been afraid of. One of the Primordial Gods of Greece. She is said to be far more powerful than Zeus himself. The personification of Night itself, none of the other goddesses could even compare to her."

"I don't wish to believe it, but is she truly whom we're facing," Diana asked nervously.

"She's the only one it could possibly be," Bruce answered stoically.

"But that can't be right," Diana began. "Lady Nyx is one of the Primordials. The only one who could possibly ever defeat her would be Chaos himself. Why would SHE be our enemy?"

Bruce thought for a bit. "All of our enemies, including Scylla, kept mentioning something. A Champion." He then looked at Diana. "What if she's after you?"

"Me?"

"You're the daughter of the leader of the Greek Gods, an Amazon with awesome power, and have proven time and time again to be one of history's greatest heroes. Your power alone makes this hypothesis seem valid. Why wouldn't she be after you?"

Diana looked down. "Am I... the cause of this madness?"

Batman looked at Wonder Woman before looking back at his screen. Looking at the screen with the data he pulled up. A thought then came to him before he began to type away.

"Hm? Bruce?"

Batman then brought up footage of his fight... against Polyphemus.

Wonder Woman's eyes widened. "You recorded your fight."

"My cowl has recording capabilities so that I can research past cases, to see if I missed anything. I was stupid to blame you."

"What?"

"I remembered what Polyphemus said." Batman played the recording.

'You're him. YOU'RE the one she spoke of.'

Wonder Woman's eyes widened. "Nyx is after you." Batman just grunted in agreement. "Wait, I don't understand. Why you? I mean no disrespect, Bruce. You're undoubtedly one of the most skilled warriors I have ever met. Your strategic mind and brilliance had me convinced you were a disciple of Athena herself when we first met. Your bravery is second to none. Not even Clark can impress me as much as you have, but in the end... you're... mortal."

"I understand what you mean, Diana. I don't have any meta-abilities. I'm not superhuman in any way. You could kill me with a single punch if you don't hold back. Barry could run around me fast enough to peel the muscle off my bones. Aquaman could drag me to the very bottom of the ocean without any negative consequences to himself. And Clark? The myriad of abilities he has stifling. Making any of them Nyx's so-called 'Champion' would make perfect sense. So why go after me?"

Wonder Woman thought for a moment. "When I fought the Minotaur and placed the Lasso of Truth around him, he said something." Batman looked up at Wonder Woman. "He said that the Champion would lead the Black Army. And that the gods would fall at the hands of the Champion."

Batman glared at the information. "Nyx wants a general."

Wonder Woman sighed. "And I can think of no better general than the Batman."

Batman sighed. "We need to prepare. We have theories of Nyx's plans, but we have no idea how she would execute them."

"Well, we know for certain that you're at the center of it all, but not even I know what methods she'll use to seduce you to her side."

"Mind control?"

"That is a possibility. Not even you are immune to such tac-"

The alarm on the Batcomputer blared.

"The Bat Signal's been activated. Gordon needs me."

"Any idea what for?"

Batman quickly checked the local news. "Gotham Bay is suffering from... freak whirlpools."

Wonder Woman's gaze hardened. "It can't be."