91 Plot Revealed
Infinity Island, Indian Ocean
May 2006
Ra's al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins, and one of the oldest living human beings quietly awaits the arrival of death. He expected some form of retribution for his part in the plot yet still agreed to proceed with it due to the knowledge that even if he himself is killed for his actions The Light will not only have a superior form of human DNA to make use of, but also have a significant key in further evolving humanity. Alas, none of them expected for even the weakest of the adults to be more powerful than Klarion himself.
He remembers watching the recording of how Morgan easily disposed of Klarion, how his every spells were either dodged or turned against him, how the one named Azula turned Black Adam's lightning against him, and even how Scáthach who they thought was only a melee fighter made short work of Wotan. Those three were not supposed to be anywhere near as powerful as Ambrosius, according to Ares, yet they seem to have no trouble accomplishing feats of Ambrosius' caliber.
Ra's is no fool, he knows when he has made an error that will have grave consequences. As such, he knows that there is nowhere in the world to hide from the upcoming calamity. His only regret is that he did not make a harder attempt at persuading Vandal Savage against listening to Ares, of all people. They should have expected the god of war to provide them with faulty information. After all, while war may still happen around the world with The Light's existence, those wars are carefully planned and controlled from the shadows. The Light makes sure that it has a tight leash on any war going on in the world to make sure that humanity does not bring its own extinction because some fool of a dictator became trigger-happy with their nuclear or other advanced weapons. It should have come to no surprise to them that Ares, the god of war who prefers chaotic and brutal wars, would plot their downfall. His only hope is that Ambrosius leaves his body intact so that the Lazarus Pit may revive him.
"Father. There is no reason for you to worry." comes Talia's voice from behind. "There is no possible way for him to reach here as anything but a corpse. He may be as skilled as Shiva, but even she cannot face the entire League and survive. He is a mere mortal man." she says in an attempt to calm her father.
"There is nothing mere, or mortal, about that man Talia." answers Ra's with a shake of his head, his voice still calm and strong despite the situation.
"I do not understand. He seemed as mortal as the next man to my eyes." says a puzzled Talia.
"According to a source, he is in fact a demigod son of Poseidon." explains Ra's, shocking Talia.
"How could that possibly be? He did not exhibit any feats of strength, speed or even endurance above the peak of a normal man. Not even when Shiva caught him off guard for the first time." says Talia incredulously.
"Those were my exact same thoughts when I was informed of his heritage.�� answers Ra's. "He fooled us well." he says as thunder cracks overhead and the previously clear sky is enshrouded in storm clouds, blocking the moon and causing darkness to fall over the island.
"Ra's." says Ambrosius as he appears in front of Ra's al Ghul, his figure far more intimidating than Ra's taught possible and very much different to what he looked liked when he stayed on the island for a year.
Still standing one inch away from six feet tall and possessing the same brown skin as before, Ambrosius' previously short hair is now long enough to fall over his shoulder while the majority of it is tied into a topknot similar to Azula. It's formerly white and black pigmentation is now mostly white with a few strands of black by the looks of it will soon be replaced by white. His build that was once more slim than muscular has bulked up to a physique that is perfect for all forms of combat that is made even more apparent by the black and blue armor he wears that is split into multiple pieces.
The first piece is a sleeveless blue cuirass made of an unknown material with horizontal lines going down it and a single vertical line that travels through them, five black sea shells going across the chest. Attached to the cuirass are blue tassets to protect the upper thigh, and a cloth that hangs between the legs. On the left tasset are five purple sea shells, while the right has one.
The legs are one piece separated into two colors, with the division occurring just above the knee. The top is made out of the same scales as my previous armor, colored black, and ending at just above the knee. The bottom covers from the knee down to the ankles and made from the same materials as the cuirass.
The boots are colored blue, reaching just under the knee, with the part of the feet covered in a grey armor that makes it indistinguishable from the greaves that go over the part of the boot that covers the shins.
The pieces that go over the arm are similar to the old armor. There are two blue vambraces, with a single fin each, that go over two black sleeves that start from the biceps and end at the wrist.
The final pieces of the armor are two pieces of purple cloth that he wears over his shoulder as capes, a black belt that is in a similar shape of Aquaman's symbol, and a blue circlet over his head, no doubt to signify his status as a prince of the sea.
However, none of that is what truly intimidates Ra's. Rather, it is Ambrosius' eyes that make Ra's feel that perhaps he will not be coming back to life. Unlike his previously luminescent sea-green eyes that denoted his wisdom and intelligence, Ambrosius' eyes cannot be seen. Rather, where his eyes can usually be found, Ra's instead finds a black flame calm yet also full of rage that promises nothing but destruction and for the first time in his life, Ra's al Ghul experiences terror.
Standing behind her father, Talia does not fare any better. Looking at Ambrosius' eyes, she cannot see any sign of the usually calm and wise man that stayed on their island for a year. Rather, he seems to have been replaced by a vengeful God of War.
"Explain to me, in clear concise sentences, what made you believe that abducting my daughter for The Light's purposes was a valid and logical course of action." demands Ambrosius with a voice devoid of emotion as the flame in his eyes seem to flare momentarily at the mention of his daughter's abduction.
"I have no explanation." answers Ra's as calmly as he can.
"Do not play me for a fool, Ra's." replies Ambrosius with narrowed eyes. "I hear your thoughts and know what your reasoning was. I had hoped however that explaining said reasoning out loud would make you realise the folly you have committed and attempt to repent. However, despite knowing your foolishness, you feel no remorse and have no intention of repenting." he says as he glares into Ra's eyes, causing him to nervously swallow as sweat begins to trickle down his face.
"If I tried to repent, would you have spared me?" asks Ra's after taking a deep breath.
"No." answers Ambrosius as a pair of excidium beams fire from his eyes and pierce Ra's skull before Ambrosius stops.
Standing behind her father in complete shock, Talia is not able to properly process what has just transpired until her father's corpse falls to the floor with a thud, waking her from her moment of shock.
"You dare!" exclaims Talia in rage as she draws her sword and lunges at Ambrosius, only to meet the same fate as her father.
"I never did understand what Bruce saw in her." says Ambrosius to himself as he surveys that room before turning to a specific corner enshrouded in darkness.
"Show yourself." commands Ambrosius.
"Bravo cousin. Splendid performance, I could not have done better myself." says a masculine voice with a slow clap as a figure emerges from the darkness.
"Ares." says Ambrosius with a frown as his eyes begin to leak small amounts of excidium in the form of smoke that quickly dissipates once a certain distance away from him. "You are supposed to be imprisoned on Themyscira. What fool decided that freeing you was a good idea?" asks Ambrosius as he examines the god.
Standing at six feet ten inches, Ares would be an imposing figure had Ambrosius not faced foes of similar stature. He wears the standard hoplite armor of sleeveless cuirass, skirt, vambraces, greaves, and helmet over his midnight black skin. Unlike that standard armor however, his is blue and possesses spikes on the helmet and chains wrapped around his vambraces. And on his back he wears a similarly blue cape.
"I freed myself, of course. I do not need some mortal to free me like that weakling Hades." answers the god of war with a flourish of his arms.
"Huh. That lie was almost believable." replies Ambrosius with a chuckle. "You are not even here. This is an avatar." says Ambrosius. "You are still stuck in Themyscira and probably sent this avatar to the mortal world in the hopes of creating enough war and chaos to empower you for you to free yourself." speculates Ambrosius with a laugh and enraging Ares.
"QUIET!" bellows out Ares.
"You fed The Light false information in the hopes that they would go with this foolhardy plan and that in my rage I would retaliate by slaughtering all of The Light's board members." says Ambrosius as he ignores Ares' command. "The resulting power vacuum would cause wars and chaos worldwide as every remaining subordinate fights for every scrap of power left." continues Ambrosius as Ares becomes more and more enraged. "You most likely clouded their judgements by controlling their emotions and Klarion went along with it because he lives for chaos." says Ambrosius as he slowly walks towards Ares, like a hunter stalking his prey.
"Unfortunately, you didn't count on Morgan killing Klarion. The three of them were meant to die when they went to retrieve Mordred. I would then find out and slaughter The Light's board members before dying by Klarion's hand when I confronted him." explains Ambrosius as he recheases Ares and grabs him by throat. "Yet when Morgan killed Klarion your plan fell apart and all seemed lost until I came here to kill Ra's." says Ambrosius as he squeezes the avatar's neck. "So you came here in the hopes of using your powers as a war god to make me vengeful. You didn't count on the fact that the only reason I came here was because Morgan already dealt with the others personally. She left Ra's for me to deal with because she felt like it, not because she could not." finishes Ambrosius as he completely destroys Ares' avatar with a blast of excedium.
"Still… that plot was an admirable effort." says Ambrosius once he is done. "However, I would suggest that you leave plotting to the professionals and your betters."
As Ambrosius surveys the room one more time, a presence makes themself known to him.
"Cleverly done Ambrosius." says a woman as she appears before Ambrosius.
The woman stands at six feet tall, possesses brown hair tied into a bun at the back while some strands fall on her shoulders, grey eyes and a beautiful face. She has the physique of a warrior, wears a white dress with a hoplite cuirass over, vambraces that resemble amazonian bracelets, sandals that are tied around her calf, and greaves over them. She is Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom, war, the arts and craft, and the only goddess never bested in battle among her fellow gods and goddesses.
"Athena." greets Ambrosius with a respectful nod as he stops channeling excedium to his eyes, allowing them to return to normal. "How may I help you?"
"I came to see if you would need my help." replies Athena.
"No offense meant however, why would I need your help?" he asks.
"I sensed Ares' presence here and came just in case. I know that you are intelligent, however I did not expect you to see through his plot so easily." she answers.
"I see." replies Ambrosius "You have my thanks."
"No need. You are family after all." she says with a genial smile.
"Respectfully, I want nothing to do with our dysfunctional family." he says, causing her smile to slip a bit. "However, as you have not shown any hostility towards me or my family, I am willing to accept your invitation to know one another." adds Ambrosius.
"Thank you. You are the only being that I can have a worthwhile discussion with." she says.
"I know." answers Ambrosius. "Your siblings are idiots and the other war god cannot seem to appreciate a good tactic if it spears him through the heart." he adds as he goes about inspecting Ra's office.
"Very true." agrees Athena with a nod. "What are your plans for the League?" she asks.
"They will now work for me." he answers as he begins to go through some documents before stopping at one that causes him to frown.
"Is something wrong?" asks Athena.
"Ra's is more depraved than I thought." answers Ambrosius as he presents the paper to Athena for her to read.
"This… not even I would go through such lengths to create the perfect assassin." says Athena with a frown. "To hold a child in a solitary room and not allow for any contact with the outside world other than to train in combat or assassination is far too extreme. He did not even teach her how to speak or how to read!" she exclaims.
"And I have more files to go through from his years as the leader of the League." exhales Ambrosius in frustration. "What else has he done or was in the process of doing before I killed him?" wonders Ambrosius.
"Perhaps I can be of some use." says Athena as she places the paper before conjuring a chair and taking a seat. "How did you deal with the other members of The Light?" asks Athena as she begins to examine another document.
"Morgan has them all under her control. I believe there's some telepathy and magic involved." answers Ambrosius as he relates the information from the document to Scáthach and Azula over their communication rune.
"Efficient and almost foolproof." comments Athena with a nod.
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AN: I have no plan of making Athena his wife or lover. They're just going to have a sibling-like relationship. Athena only approached him because he can keep up with her mentally and it's nice to finally have someone close to as smart as her to talk to.
