Chapter 95: War in Valhalla 4; Human potential

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Batman and Stargirl vs Bastet

Batman was throwing explosive batarangs towards the cat goddess, which she nimbly dodged like the feline goddess she was. Her dexterity and agility was one of the highlights. Her speed was not to be trifled with either. Bastet, without a doubt, was a fighter to be reckoned with, and Batman knew it more than well.

Bastet, goddess of cats, and a revered figure in ancient Egypt. Beloved by all, she was arguably a benevolent goddess. However, from the information recapitulated by the Amazons, it was widely known that, just as she could be benevolent, she could also be chaotic and threatening. Someone to be feared by her enemies.

For the saying is well known: don't step on the lion's tail if you don't want to feel its fury. But he had chosen her for this very reason. Batman certainly has experience fighting mischievous cats.

Batman expertly launched explosive batarangs, even surpassing Oliver's marksmanship. With each launch, OMAC, his customized operating system, analyzed each launch trajectory, and corrected even the smallest error so that the next launch would be better, making it impossible for the goddess to counterattack.

Yes, no batarang hit the target. But they were so accurate, Bastet had to use all her skill and reflexes to defend herself. In short, Batman was keeping the beautiful feline goddess at bay.

<PIP, 3 PIP. TRAJECTORY PLOTTED. COORDINATES SET. TIME TO IMPACT, SECONDS>

At that, a robotic voice came over his communicator. Batman said nothing. He simply mentally counted...

'3, 2,1...'

Just as he said the one, a golden beam was fired at unparalleled speed, intercepting Bastet's trajectory. This was Batman's strategy, as the batarangs were not meant to injure, but he was making her head to a specific area where Stargirl was waiting for her to launch a powerful beam at her with her cosmic staff.

Surprisingly, Bastet was able to dodge it. Just before it hit her, she, with her great agility, was able to somersault backwards and dodge the beam by the skin of her teeth. Not without consequences, because you could see that her arm had a slight bleeding wound.

"GRRRRR" Bastet growled as she felt the characteristic burning of the wound. Despite being mentally compromised, her pride was still there. A god, wounded by a mere mortal, was inconceivable. The anger she was feeling, was completely genuine.

However, just when she thought the incessant attacks from the humans had stopped, and she was thinking of counterattacking, a loud, crisp "PIP, PIP, PIP, PIP, PIP" was heard from her back, from a pair of miniature bombs stuck to her back. Without being able to react, there was a loud explosion

"BOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

"NOW, STARGIRL" commanded Batman.

This was the opportunity they needed. Without a moment's hesitation, young Courtney (Stargirl) moved. Bastet was lying on the ground, wanting to get up, but Stargirl threw the most powerful beam she had ever thrown.

The beam was so powerful, that, for a moment, in that area, it seemed as if it had become daylight. As if the gold of the city was mere gray before the color of that light.

The lightning was slowly damaging the back of the fallen goddess, leaving her with multiple wounds. But also, it was holding her back from getting up.

It must be said that Stargirl was not chosen because she was particularly fast or strong. For, in terms of strength and speed, they fell short of monsters like Superman or Wonder Woman. Nor was it because of her experience, as she was relatively young. Of the youngest members at only 24 years old.

But because of her power. Her staff, which she could use because of a lineage, had some cosmic radiation. Her lightning was powerful, but that wasn't what was special. It was that her power could hurt the gods. And she was proving it.

However, her body was also suffering from such power. The more she held the lightning and Bastet down, the more she felt unparalleled fatigue. Gradually, the grip on her staff was weakening. So she said to Batman

"Mr. Batman, I can't hold her any longer. I'm running out of power" her body ached. Power was not free, and she was mortal. Simply put, she was running out of energy. But she would not give up, until she was told, she would continue to hold the goddess.

"Don't worry, it's all set"

To her good fortune, Batman didn't hold her back anymore. He simply braced himself. He put on a combat stance and his suit, with OMAC commanding it, glowed in a signal that he was actively ready.

Finally, he gave the signal, signaling Stargirl to let go.

'Finally...' with that said, Stargirl released her power. Because of her fatigue, she had to land, albeit a bit far away so as not to interfere with Batman.

However, she was still keeping an eye out in case the strategy didn't work. A few feet away, she watched as Bastet stood up, and how, despite being injured, where her back suffered numerous bleeding wounds, she still had aspirations to fight.

She had to give it to her, the goddess was a tough one. But Batman was more so. And this was what he had prepared.

The whole fight, about 4 minutes or so, had to end here. This was how they had planned it. That's how Batman wanted it...

"Come on Mr. Batman, you can do it" with those words of encouragement, she looked at the spectacle that was coming. A fight that would be etched in her mind for all posterity and that would put the bat detective as her ultimate Justice League idol.

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Bastet stood up. She growled and looked at her 'prey'. Surprisingly, her black pupils intermittently switched between her normal eyes and that characteristic color of Ares' brainwashing. Batman did not miss that detail.

Just like Superman, he was already analyzing that perhaps, there was an easier way to end this deadly fight. Without the need for casualties on both sides. But first, he had to beat her.

"HUMAN, IN MY 10,000 PLUS YEARS I HAVE NEVER SUFFERED SUCH HUMILIATION"

"There's always a first time for everything"

"WHAT INSOLENCE. BUT I ADMIT IT. YOU ARE VERY GOOD FOR A MERE HUMAN. TELL ME YOUR NAME. I WANT TO KNOW THE NAME OF THE PERSON I'M GOING TO TEAR APART WITH MY CLAWS"

"I am... Batman"

With that said, they both moved. The speed of the two, surprisingly, rivaling.

Batman had prepared himself. Data obtained, data analyzed, strategies planned. In the end, his suit not only gave him an extra technological edge, but also in power. His suit, a suit made to rival the gods in strength and speed and level the playing field.

He, a mere human among gods was rivaling these beings in power because of his suit. There the dance began. A dance that Stargirl was sure she would never see again for quite some time.

They were both throwing punches, kicking, dodging and attacking with all their might. Batman wasn't the most dangerous human in the world for nothing. And Bastet was suffering from it. She could swear, even this human, this mere human with no divine power was a better fighter than many Egyptian gods she had fought.

And this could only be conveyed by one word. EXPERIENCE.

She could not come to understand how a mere human, with such a FINITE lifespan, could come to have experience to rival her in combat. NO, it wasn't just experience. It was talent. It was hard work. It was dedication and training. She could only wonder

'Is this the famous potential that humans had and for which Ra himself even came to fear?'

That potential for which the front line gods, i.e. Zeus, Ra, Odin, and so on, made them fearful of the human race. She always thought it was far-fetched for such a weak race to be feared, but now she understood.

Yes, it was the strength and speed was because of his suit. The technology was incredible. But the abilities were there. Batman, quite simply, had earned the respect of the goddess, and even, a little fear.

The fight went on, but Batman proved he had the extra to win. TECHNOLOGY.

While throwing a punch, Batman activated some sort of syringe built into his bracero, and injected it into the goddess' back. She couldn't dodge it. Then it was another, and another, and another.

Each syringe she injected made the goddess slow down. She could feel it. The liquid he had injected her with was slowing her down. Her vision began to blur, and her senses, those senses that were unrivaled, began to falter. Finally, she could take no more. After a minute, she fell....

Like a rag, she just stared at Batman's feet. In the end, she could only feel one last shot before her mind went black.

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'It worked' thought Batman. Looking down at the floor at the fallen goddess. Slow breathing, indicating on her scans that she was asleep. Sedated from the multiple injections previously injected.

Without pausing for breath, Batman quickly requested the scans from OMAC. OMAC without waiting a second, told him everything he needed to hear.

<PIP, 4 20 55 405 PIP, Fight time: minutes, seconds. Drug dose administration 3xk, mm. Estimated sedation minutes>

He had done it. He had been the first to take down a god. A mere human. The only one in the group with no special powers or abilities, and he had done it. Yes, with a great deal of help, but the credit was there.

However, Batman was not happy about this. And all for one simple reason. His analysis had been wrong.

'Tch, it was longer than expected. And I had to inject 1 more syringe than calculated. The gods are quite deceptive in predictions' he thought. He was angry that he had failed to calculate everything accurately.

His prediction was that they would last only 3 minutes fighting the goddess. A strong goddess but they had a lot of advantage over her. Plus the drug synthesized especially for her should have been effective with only 3 injections. It was 5. That means that the goddess' metabolism, as Batman had predicted, was wrong.

One might ask, so does Batman have a sedative for everyone?, and if so, why not use it and put everyone to sleep?

The answer is NO. Batman did not have a sedative for everyone. Yes, he had some general sedatives that, by his prediction, would work, but that would only make the gods slower or more vulnerable. Without having the effectiveness of these sedatives he had just injected.

This drug was special. You see, when he was researching and pulling data, there were several DNAs of gods that he was able to analyze that were left on the beach of Themyscira. Among them, Bastet's. The goddess was vulnerable in that fight.

And his research yielded a rather interesting result. Apparently, Selina and Bastet had a certain blood relationship. His hypothesis is that Bastet was the cause of Selina's powers, namely her superhuman cat abilities. Perhaps some decendency that was caused a mutation and that Selina awakened in time of stress.

He didn't know. And Selina didn't either since she only remembers a black cat and how she almost died in an alley in one night. And the next day, she already had certain superhuman abilities.

However, knowing the nature of her powers was not the important thing. What was important was that he could use that inbred characteristic to obtain a synthesized sedative particularly effective against this goddess.

He knew that a sedative would be practically nullified by the strong metabolism that all the gods presented. So he gave him a dose so high that he could put even a whale to sleep. The result was not as expected. Bastet held out longer than he should have.

'I have to work on a more precise algorithm. For the good of the world…' 

He was looking ahead. He was sure there would be more dangerous threats ahead. He wanted to have more accurate predictive technology going forward so he could avoid future catastrophes. That was his goal. That's why OMAC was built.

But hey, he would update his data later. For the time being, he would settle for this result. Excitedly, Stargirl came up to him to hug him. But Batman deftly sidestepped her.

The superheroine had forgotten she was with the least expressive person in the League. Barely, she apologized.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Batman, but I got excited about that fight. I've never seen a fight with as much skill as yours. You are my idol"

"Don't get excited. This is far from over. There's still work to be done"

"You're right, I'm sorry" Courtney said apologetically. Batman was right. His fight had been won. But there were much more difficult and evenly matched fights still to come. Bastet was a low-level goddess in Batman's ranking. There were gods whose power would have destroyed them even with their technological advantages.

(AN: I have always said that the hardest thing, as an author, is to establish a level power level. The gods, ALL of them, are strong. Batman all he established was that there are more 'MANAGEABLE' gods for their combat characteristics. At the end of the chapter, I will leave you with a list of how I, as the author, view the strongest to the weakest of the group. MY OPINION)

Batman quickly activated his intercom and communicated with Martian Manhunter. He had asked him to investigate, along with Doctor Fate (Madame Xanadu), the type of mind control. Now with this fight, he had learned a few things and was anxious to hear the results of Martian's analysis.

//Martian, status//

//We haven't been able to investigate yet. Amaterasu is proving to be a more formidable opponent than we anticipated. Her mind is also a safe. It will take me time and maximum concentration to get into his head. Time and concentration I don't have since we are in a tough fight with her///

As he spoke, Martian continued in his fight with the Japanese sun goddess. Her sun power was powerful. And dangerous for Martian. But that's where Doctor Fate came in to help. She kept this goddess at bay defensively, while Martian took it upon himself to use his power of metamorphosis to attack her unawares.

As he did so, he attacked her mentally, but Amaterasu proved that she had good mental defense. All gods had it, but there were gods more vulnerable than others. And, unfortunately, this goddess was not one of them. This could never have been foreseen.

Batman clicked his tongue at what he heard, but showed no further disagreement. He understood that, in this fight, not everything would go as they had planned. Ares alone had given them the first surprise of many to come.

However, he still gave his conclusions to the Martian

// Understood, focus on the fight. Just a tip. Try to use temperament to work your way into the mind of the goddess. Maybe that's the answer to ending the mind control///

// Temperament..., yeah, that might be a good idea. Give me a few minutes and I'll give you feedback on that// with that said, Martian Manhunter cut the communication. There was a fight he needed to focus on.

However, Batman's advice was good. He couldn't force his way into Amaterasu's head, but he could, subtly, establish certain angry feelings in the goddess that would make her more unstable. Make her mind play against her. 

However, time was pressing. So he turned to Stargirl and said.

"Stargirl, go help Martian and Doctor Fate. It is priority, as they are tasked with ending the mind control of all the gods. Your help will give them a break and with your power you will be an addition against the goddess"

"Understood, Batman. where are you going?"

"I have a dome to analyze..." said Bruce, as he looked off into the distance at the dome erected by Ares. Time was running out, and Batman now had the task of seeing how he could either breach or destroy the dome to get to Ares and stop him from whatever he was doing, which was sure to be up to no good.

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When he arrived, he was surprised that he was not the only one there. In the same dome, also analyzing the situation, was Wonder Woman, and Thor. The surprise, however, did not last a couple of seconds. He had predicted that if there was anyone who would easily defeat her opponent it was Wonder Woman.

If Batman was level with his technology, Diana was already on another level. Her heritage, plus the golden suit, simply put, had made her a powerhouse even among the gods. Batman, inwardly, was anxious to analyze what kind of power was Diana's newfound heritage.

Divine power, cosmic, or something else... But it wasn't time for that, they had another task to do. Quickly, without asking, he activated OMAC and started scanning the dome.

"I see you've made it, bat-man" the thunder god said in a loud voice. He was very carefree, and there was even joy in his voice. Being a fighting maniac, he had surely enjoyed the fight against Perun. Very level, but in the end, Thor apparently proved his hierarchy in power.

Batman simply nodded, and turned to look at Wonder Woman. "Wonder Woman, I'm glad you defeated your opponent, Ishtar is..."

"Relax, Bruce, she's not dead, just knocked out. But she's pretty beat up. She was a good fighter, but her strength was no match"

Ishtar was a great warrior, but her strength was in the illusion and desire she could provoke. Being a goddess of love she had the power to illusionize or make both genders feel feelings of desire. Which, with Diana, due to her new heritage and the protection of her costume, she could not accomplish, which gave her the disadvantage. Simply put, Diana overpowered her.

Batman nodded. "Any dome theories, or anything you know?"

Thor was the one to answer. Nodding, he said, "Yes, defensive dome by my father's power and backed up with the city's power core. As long as the city 'lives' the dome is indestructible. This was the last line of defense against our enemies like giants and titans. I don't know how we can shatter it without being inside…"

"Neither do I, Batman. We even combined our strength in a coordinated attack, but Thor and I couldn't even scratch the surface. What I can say is that there are a couple of layers of protection" Diana added, to which Batman just nodded.

Thor and Diana's words were not at all favorable. However, all was not lost for the heroes. For, just at that, the OMAC analysis came back to him. When Batman saw the results of the analysis, he concluded.

"There is someone who can destroy the dome"

"Who?" asked Thor curiously

Batman only turned to look at Diana, who only opened her eyes when the realization hit her. She, quickly, turned to see a smaller dome far away, but just as dense to Ares' dome. It was Tezcatlipoca's dome of pure darkness where Edgar and the god of night were fighting.

"We must see how to help him" Batman said, but Diana quickly shook her head.

"We can't, the resistance of that dome is about equal to this one. Tezcatlipoca is sacrificing his life force to erect it. As long as he lives..."

"Then..."

"We can only hope, and trust that Edgar can defeat that deceitful god soon. I don't doubt that he will, but..."

"Yes, Tezcatlipoca is the hardest to defeat, and the one with the most tricks up his sleeve, it won't be easy..."

Of all, Tezcatlipoca was in Batman's highest ranking. Not because of his strength, but because of his power. Of all, he was the most troublesome. His power was both defensive and offensive. Superman would even suffer against him, as he can make himself intangible.

He can create clones of himself or simply trick the mind with illusions. Of all, Batman believed, from his analysis, that Edgar was the only one who could defeat him.

'Come on Edgar, you can do it' they all thought. They just had to wait for Edgar to succeed. The fate of the world depended on his success.

[10 min for Ares to fulfill his transformation]

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AN:

Ranking of gods (from the best to the worst)

1 – Susanoo

2 – Tezcatlipoca

3 – Nüwa

4 – Ares

5 – Amaterasu

6 – Morrigan

7 – Lugh

8 – Bishamonten

9 – Olorun

10 – Seth

11 – Illapa

12 – Perun

13 – Pele

14 – Bastet

15 – Ishtar