Chapter 39

Flames flickered through the light. The bloodshot eyes of the man who took on and stole the identity of both Bruce Wayne and Batman, Tommy Elliot's eyes ran over the books. Strained, angered, and agitated, with constant pressure from Lex Luthor to continue to keep up the facade.

The strain of being Bruce Wayne and Batman both started to get to him. Elliot found himself using a variety of medications to try and avoid the agony which was throbbing through his head. Several pounding headaches and nosebleeds made him agony.

So far, no one could tell the difference. Although Batman's very public murder of the Scarecrow rose more than a few questions. Elliot knew for a fact that James Gordon was very suspicious of the more extreme actions that Batman was taking. The former Gotham City Police Commissioner and current Mayor could not pinpoint things completely, but he did suspect something.

No proof yet.

'I'm a better Batman than he can be. And this should be my legacy.'

He rifled through the boxes of tissues and pinched his bloody nose. If the GCPD was not keeping such a close watch him, under both identities, he would not be this frustrated. Luthor assured him this was not going to happen.

Perhaps, Luthor's assets should fall into his hands as well, if he had an accident. That thought crossed Elliot's mind. Of course, with Lex Luthor being a known paranoid individual who had used body doubles and also ramped up security for the most trivial of things, it was going to be hard.

The cocktail of drugs and alcohol mixed together allowed Tommy to dull the agonizing pain caused by tapping into Batman's mindset. Tommy refused to admit. In the end, he would be the one to clean up Gotham City. He wiped the blood from his nose one more time, pulled himself from the research, and sank down on a sofa before turning on the television

Vicki Vale popped on the screen.

"Queen Perdita of Vlatava will be continuing her tour across the United States, joining the Kane Foundation and Kate and Bette Kane for a charitable effort to raise money for assistance of those who lost their parents due to gun violence."

Tommy wiped the blood from his nostrils and coughed. He caught a glimpse of the necklace which dangled from Perdita's neck.

The necklace seemed familiar. Tommy scrambled from the couch and made his way to one of the books. The book had been written by Professor William McElroy. He filled through the book and noticed the image of the necklace. He would have to find out more.

Time to access Bruce's files. Tommy Elliot was certain that the necklace would be what he would need to stabilize his mind and allow him to become the ultimate Batman.

The real question was how to get a hold of the necklace without arousing any suspicion or problems. Tommy's mind began to calculate a plan on how to deal with this particular problem.

Ruby Arias paced back and forth frantically. It was almost ten in the morning and her mother was still in bed. Her mother never slept in, not even this late. Ruby should know, because no matter how early she got up, her mother was already there.

"Ruby, it's Lena."

The door swung open. Not only did Harry arrive, but Nora did. The speedster followed her father from behind and could see Ruby's anxiety.

"You said there's something wrong with your mother?" Nora asked.

"She's not….not getting up," Ruby said. "She's breathing, I checked her, but I'm worried. She's been working really hard."

"I know," Lena said. "Perhaps too hard."

Lena had insisted Sam take some time off, she had more than enough help. Of course, Sam being a hard worker, tried to do the job, no matter how long it took.

"Sam?" Harry called.

"I'm up, Harry, just a minute," Sam said.

A long pause followed with Ruby nervously shuffling her feet. Almost a minute, even if it felt like it was longer, passed until Sam left the bedroom, dressed in a satin bathrobe. Other than the fact her hair looked slightly in disarray, she looked fine. Sam's eyes traveled from Lena to Nora to Ruby.

"What are you doing here so early?"

A few seconds passed as Ruby cleared her throat.

"Mom, it's almost ten in the morning," Ruby said.

"Oh, shit, I'm really sorry Lena, I'm so late for work!" Sam said. "You're not going to…."

"Relax, sit down," Lena said. "You missed the alarm. I'm just glad you're okay. You are feeling okay, alright?"

"Yeah, I am," Sam said.

"You're a little hot," Harry commented. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"I just need to sit down, get a drink, something to eat," Sam said. 'Would you like something…."

"I'll get it Mom, you'll sit down," Ruby said.

"I'd help, but I wouldn't want to burn your kitchen down," Nora said, trying to lighten the mood.

Ruby just flashed a smile. Sam looked at Harry and Lena, who was watching her very closely.

"If you need time off, just let me know," Lena said.

"You need...you need my help with…."

"If you're talking about the meta-humans, Karen, Caitlin, and Doctor Stewart have that more than handled," Lena said.

Sam yawned. She slept for what felt like fourteen straight hours and yet was still tired. The nightmares of what Black Beetle would do to her daughter if he met her visited Sam several times. But one of her dreams saw her hunt down Black Beetle and make him pay. Something which she would never have the nerve to do.

"Raincheck on Breakfast," Harry said. "I've got a call to take."

Harry moved over and pushed his ear piece in.

"Lyta and I found some more Reach Agents," Natasha said.

"Did they say anything?" Harry asked.

"No," Natasha said. "They're dead."

Harry just let out his breath in a low whistle.

"Black Beetle is one of them."

For a second, Harry caught Nora's eye. Nora moved into the room to look her father in the eye.

"Black Beetle is dead," Harry whispered. "Someone is massacring the Reach."

"Do you think Ruby will be in trouble?" Nora asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "But, it might be worth it to keep an eye on her, just in case."

Nora vigorously responded with a nod. While this was not the reason why she was concerned about Ruby, some Reach Killer would be a problem. They would not be able to determine the good beetles from the bad beetles.

Harry meanwhile resolved to keep an eye on Sam. His gut told him something weird was going on, even more so than usual. Although he did not know what.

Sam perked up after a good Breakfast. She insisted she join Lena and Harry on a trip, feeling like she was like a million dollars, and Lena and Harry agreed to let her come.

"So, Perdita should be missing us at Gotham City University," Harry reminded them.

"Along with Doctor Sandsmark and Mareena," Lena said.

Sure enough, the trio of women greeted them. Perdita smiled and moved closer to Harry.

"It's good to see all of you and thank you for your help," Perdita said. "I've heard you've had a lot on your plate, and...I would understand if this took the backburner."

Perdita fingered the necklace on her neck very casually. Harry just smiled.

"I wanted to find out about it just as much as you did," Harry said. "And I'm sure Mareena and Doctor Sandsmark would agree with me."

"Yes," Helena replied. "It turns out this necklace, or rather the stone on it may have ancient origins. Through different cultures, it's popped up throughout history."

The group moved into Gotham City University. Helena carefully took out an ancient and dusty looking book.

"It belongs to Professor McElroy," Helena said. "While he's currently in Arkham, after the work of his criminal alter ego, his work lives on."

Harry noticed a few notes in the margin. It appeared McElroy had been studying this gem or rather gems like it.

"From what I've been able to find on my own end, the gem can open the gateway to ultimate power," Mareena said. "This gem might be a key."

"So what's behind the gate?" Perdita asked. "Where is it?"

"Good question," Mareena said. "People have been trying to locate the gateway and the key. If this is the keyway, it could be a treasure beyond all reckoning, or it could be a dark force beyond anything. Either way, we have to figure out what it is."

"Yes, I want to know," Perdita persisted. "Because….."

Perdita had been cut off, by the power in the university flickering off.

"The backup generators should come back on in a minute," Helena said. "Or at least it should be."

The power did not come back on. Hairs stood on the back of Harry's neck and the windows blasted open. A trinity of AMAZO bots dropped in and one of them zeroed in on Perdita's necklace.

Harry spread his arms and caused the robots to push back through a barrier. A loud crack echoed as the robots cracked back from the impact.

"Get them out through the stairway!" Harry called to Lena.

"Let's go!"

Sam's blood boiled at this attack. She allowed Lena to lead her and Helena through the wall. Harry turned his attention towards the AMAZO robots along with Mareena. Perdita stood forward.

"You should run as well."

"No," Perdita said firmly. "I've been training. I'm going to stand my ground. They're after me and I want to know why."

Perdita's hand opened up and released a crystal dagger from her hand. It had been a trick Nora Darhk taught her. The AMAZO bot, one of them at least had been dinged. Magic had been the great equalizer them.

"Take the one on the right, I'll take the one on the left," Harry said. "And I have a feeling we've just scratched the surface."

Mareena engaged the AMAZO bot and sent him flying across the window. The good news was, they were not as strong as the AMAZO the team fought previous. They had the various League powers scanned into them, but they were slow to process, but why?

They had their answer thanks to a canister breaking open on the floor. Gas filled the room. Avoided a beam of red solar energy which would depower his Kryptonian abilities had it connected. He kicked up into the air and slammed down onto the back of the AMAZO bot.

The Bogus Batman stepped into the picture. And he was not alone. Kitten, the Terror Twins, Icicle Junior, Ronin, Grail, and M'comm showed up.

"What are you doing here, Elliot?" Harry asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "I'm Batman."

He spoke in a gravelly voice which sounded like he spoke a pack a day. Perhaps Tommy Elliot mentally became the Bat. Harry could tell by the look in the man's eyes that tapping into the psyche of the Bat had driven Elliot completely insane.

"No one needs to get hurt," fake Batman said. "If the pretty little Princess hands over the necklace."

Here, Perdita's expression grew a bit stormy and she stood up a bit taller, defiant for him.

"A Queen never bows to a pretender."

"Look, I don't know if you've done the math, but you're outnumbered," Tommy Terror said.

"Well, Tommy you're a bit smarter than you look," Harry said. "Or are you?"

A blink of light erupted and Impulse joined Aquagirl and Superman. Along with Blue Beetle, Miss Martian, Artemis, and Wondergirl. The Team stood off with the counter team, and the two sides rushed into battle.

"This ends now, M'comm!"

M'gann and M'comm locked on the astral plane in a very intense psychic battle. Bolts of energy erupted as the two Martians pushed back and forth, in an attempt to break down the mental barriers they had. They pushed back into her battle.

The Terror Twins rushed over and engaged Wondergirl in battle. Wondergirl dodged Tommy and hoisted him up before slamming him down to the ground, as hard as possible. Tuppence swung a punch. Cassie dodged it and came back to grab her around the arm. Cassie twisted her arm around and hoisted Tuppence over the top of her head before throwing the woman back with as much force as humanly possible.

Artemis and Ronin shot arrows next to each other. The resulting explosion sent Icicle Junior flying backwards.

The final AMAZO bot locked its attention onto Superman. It still could not read his power set, which made Harry pleased that particular flaw had not been ironed out. He dove through the AMAZO bot and with a violent attack, Harry pretty much tore it in half.

Kitten found herself flicked in the nose and she dropped down to the ground by Impulse.

"Ugh!" Tuppence groaned. "Why do we keep bringing her to a fight?"

The drive back attack by Impulse sent down Tuppence. Blue Beetle blasted Tommy back down to the ground and ducked and rolled.

Grail and Wondergirl squared off. Cassie thought she held her own well enough, but Grail was on another level. Several pounding punches dropped Cassie down to the ground before Grail whipped her back with by the ponytail and kicked her repeatedly into the wall.

Superman speared Grail away from Cassie and the two tangled with each other for a brief moment.

"Give it to me child!" fake Batman said.

Perdita knocked the phony Dark Knight's Baterang out of mid air. The next attack caused a miniature explosion to stagger her back right into M'comm who forced her down to a knee.

For a few seconds, right before M'gann dragged M'comm off and flung him off into the wall. The two Martian siblings engaged in a battle of minds. M'comm very nearly overwhelmed M'gann with help from the crystal impedded in his skull and tried to tear into her mind.

Harry entered the bond and teamed up with M'gann to shove him out. M'comm slammed hard into the wall, both mentally and physically and found himself breathing heavily.

"The gem is mine!"

Batman made a lunge, but a barrier of golden energy blocked it.

"No, you glorified flying rodent. It's my divine right! MINE!"

Everyone looked up, astonished to see what happened. Mordred of all people, stopped the imposter Batman.

"Isn't it past your curfew?" fake Batman asked. "Time to go to bed, old chum."

Somehow, he made those two words sound very sinister and deadly. Mordred fired up his latest magic attack only for Harry to jump in and blast them. Batman slid down and Modred locked into battle.

"I'm sick of you!" Modred yelled. "Everyone says how Superman is so amazing. Well, I should be King of this world! And once I get my hand on this necklace, I will."

"Oooh, but it's so shiny!"

Suddenly, and very astonishing, Magpie, appeared. The quick and nimble thief performed a backflip and dodged the resulting fire, before she reached over and snapped the necklace off of Perdita's neck. And then with the teleporter disc she held, she disappeared as suddenly as appearing.

For a brief second, the battle stopped. Heroes and villains alike stood, dumbfounded. A real sense of "what the fuck just happened?" had been shared as Magpie had come from literally out of nowhere and stole Perdita's necklace.

"So that happened," Impulse said.

"Retreat!" Grail called.

She activated a small box and opened up a portal which allowed the Counter-Team to retreat. Modred vanished in a blink of an eye.

Perdita's eyes widened.

"We have to get it back," Perdita said.

"I know," Harry said.

Thankfully, magic like that always left a trace to follow.