Disclaimer: This story is fiction. There are two celebrities who will appear from time-to-time. The other characters are fictitious. Any similarities to persons living or dead are completely coincidental.
In this story, I have continued the adventures of Batman, my Batman, which his story first began in "Tales of a Real Dark Knight" in the Boy Band section of this archive. It spanned 250 chapters. You will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this.
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. I do hope that you enjoy it!!!
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Chapter 25 Stranger
Preston typed away at Oracle thinking his fingers would work faster than his voice. "Are you sure that's everything you've experienced?" Preston asked after finishing up the last item Ryan dictated to him.
"Yeah, as far as I can remember. Isn't the list long enough?"
The two looked at the two-page list of everything Ryan could think of that he's experienced, from unconscious and conscious dreams to black-outs and visions.
"Then let's start the search," Preston said. Turning to Oracle, he stated, "Oracle, cross-reference these experiences with any and all known mystical arts."
"Beginning," Oracle said.
"Now what?" Ryan asked.
Preston turned and leaned against the console. "Now, we wait."
I followed Orin along the shoreline...I guess shoreline would be the best word to describe it even though it wasn't a beach or real shore. He was quiet, so I decided to engage him.
"So, Orin, you're from Atlantis?"
"I am."
"How long has Atlantis been underwater?"
"Roughly 11,600 years ago a great catastrophe triggered the fall of Atlantis. Volcanoes and earthquakes as well as rising waters caused the great nation to sink into the ocean. Neptune granted my people the ability to breathe underwater so that our great civilization could continue."
"There wouldn't be any chance of you telling me hot to find Atlantis, would there?"
Orin looked at me and the look in his eyes told me there was no chance in hell.
I found it interesting that he referred to the God of Water, Neptune, as the god granting the Atlanteans water-breathing ability. I wondered if the Roman god Neptune was the same God of Water as the Greeks, Poseidon. I'd have to compare notes with Orin and Diana.
The ground shook and we both balanced ourselves.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Search complete," Oracle stated and the resulting information came up.
Preston and Ryan looked up at the screen and saw the readout.
"Looks like there's more for us to sift through than you thought," Ryan replied.
"I guess so." Preston walked over to the keyboard and typed in several parameters. "We need to narrow this down some."
"You think?"
"Don't be a smart ass. Nobody loves a smart ass."
"Speak for yourself," Ryan replied with a grin. "Intelligence is always something that catches my attention."
"Oh really? I'll have to keep that in mind."
Ryan smiled and Preston turned back to the keyboard.
"Do any of these remotely sound like something you investigated in your spiritual or magical exploits?"
Ryan scanned the list and appeared puzzled. "All of them, I think."
"That really doesn't help any."
"It's weird that all of these would be connected, unless, spiritually, they are the same thing."
"No, they are distinct," Ryan answered.
"It's surprising that they all share such common attributes."
"Most religions do. That was what I found interesting."
"Could it be that one of these higher beings called you or connected with you in your exploits?"
"Actually, it was all of us," a voice said from behind.
The two young men turned to see the cavern filled with beings. Each one had a distinct aura around them.
One stepped forward to Preston and said, "But it isn't for you to know." Touching his forehead, Preston relaxed as if he fell asleep. The being caught him and eased him to the floor.
Ryan stood and tried inching away. But he found himself surrounded by them.
"Do not be afraid," another said. "We mean you know harm."
"Then what do you want with me?"
"All will be made clear."
Orin ducked as the creature flung one of it's tentacles at the Atlantean. Orin ducked and rolled away from the attack. As he rolled he pulled the weapon from his back and spun it around. On one end was a trident; on the other was a harpoon. The way the harpoon was shaped, it could be used to slice like a sword, and Orin used it like that.
The creature's tentacle came around again. Orin did a back flip, and, at the epoch of the flip, he swung the harpoon side around and sliced off the end of the tentacle. The creature let out the most ear-splitting screech I had ever heard.
"I could use some help," Orin called back.
I grabbed the purple double-bladed lightsaber that I often carried with me and ignited it. I ran and swung at the nearest part of Scylla. The blade sliced clean through it and the creature screeched again.
"Wow, you go for the weakest spot, don't you?"
"What do you mean?" I asked Orin.
"You just sliced off Scylla's reproductive organ."
"Oh," was all I could say.
The creature immersed itself into the water. We watched as the wake moved away from us.
"Come on," Orin said. He aimed his harpoon and shot a line into the stone roof above.
I pulled out a line and shot it near his. Together, we swung out as the creature came out of the water. We landed on Scylla's back and pulled the ropes in as it submerged in the water.
It was a good thing I had a breathing mask attached to the inside of my mask. Or I would have drowned. The creature dove down into the water and went deeper and deeper entering into a tunnel underneath the large pool of water. I had no idea where this creature was taking us.
Jessica stepped back as a fist came flying at her. She put her hands up and flipped forward. She wrapped her legs around the neck of the vampire and twisted. Hearing the crack of the bone, she knew she had done the damage she set out to do. The vampire, however, kicked her and caused her to release her grip. She tumbled over and then got to her feet to see the vampire trying to come at her. The fact that his head now hung to the side and was twisted made it difficult for him to gain balance. Jessica pulled out a stake, dropped down and kicked the vampire's legs out from under him. She shoved the stake into his heart and the battle was over.
Green Lantern used her ring to chop up the fallen branches on the ground into stakes. She then picked up the stakes and hurled them at several vampires. Two were staked and turned to dust and the others dodged the flying wood. She created a large sword and chopped off the heads of two more.
Flash punched one so fast that he was able to knock it over. He staked it and then ran around staking several more which were coming toward him.
Superman used his heat vision and set a few on fire. Several more jumped on top of the Man of Steel and overwhelmed him causing him to hunch down. He stood up at full force and threw his arms out causing the vampires to go flying everywhere.
Two vampires pulled out knives and prepared to attack Diana. One swung his knife and she blocked with her gauntlet. The other attacked as well, and Diana blocked her attack. She ducked under a swing and grabbed the head of the vampire. Twisting, she pulled it clean off and it turned to dust in her hand. The vampire behind her hit her and knocked her forward. She grabbed a small branch and turned as the vampire attacked. The branch penetrated the vampire's chest, but wasn't long enough to penetrate the creature's heart. Diana smiled and kicked the creature's chest. The force of the kick sent the vampire flying across the park. The kick also pushed the stake clean through the vampire's body and it turned to dust in mid-air.
Once the vampires were dealt with, the group became more anxious about contacting their mentor.
"Batman, come in!" Jessica said over her communication link. "I'm not getting anything." She turned and saw Sarah looking a little disturbed. The older Huntress walked over and put her hand on the shoulder of the younger Huntress. "I'm sure he's okay. There's probably something blocking the way."
"It's mystical in origin," a voice said from behind.
The group turned to see a young man wearing a blue suit, blue cloak, and blue fedora. The brim of the hat cast a shadow over his eyes making it appear that he was wearing a mask.
"Demon's Gate is underneath this water. Namor knows how to open it."
"A Demon's Gate?" Namor said puzzled. Then the pieces fell together. "Of course, the children were coming here. Charybdis and Scylla would not normally be able to survive in this water unless there was an access portal to the rest of the waters.
Namor turned to the others. "We must go in the water. Once inside, I will access the gate and we can enter."
"We can't all go in," Sarah stated. "What if the vampires come back? Or what if the creatures come through to get more kids? Or the creeps controlling the creatures decide to get away through here?"
"All very good points," Jessica stated. "Some of us do need to stay here."
"Who will stay and who will go?" Flash asked.
"Superman will stay. The Flash will go," the mysterious phantom stranger said. "Wonder Woman will stay. Green Lantern will go. Both Huntresses will stay. Black Canary will go."
"Who are you?" Jessica asked.
The young man smiled. "I'm merely a phantom stranger. I will remain here while you enter. I can open the portal once Namor is inside."
"How do you know all of us?"
The Phantom Stranger smiled but did not respond.
"We're wasting time," Lantern replied.
Namor, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Black Canary made their way down to the water and entered. GL created a bubble of air around Flash and Black Canary so they could breathe. Once under the water, they swam behind Namor. He approached what looked like a crater of sorts at the bottom of the lake and held open his hands. Muttering an incantation, a glow appeared inside the crater. He turned and motioned for them to follow. The four swam into the crater and the light blinked out.
Scylla surfaced and Orin and I took advantage of it. We climbed off Scylla's back, swam to the nearest land mass and climbed out. We turned and watched as Scylla moved slowly toward a cavern under the water.
"Scylla is harmed. It searches for a place to rest and recover. I believe that is its cavern."
"Then we are where we need to be," I said.
"I wouldn't say that," a voice replied behind us.
We turned to see two men standing on a shelf above us. One looked strikingly like Orin. The other wore a slimming purple and black suit. His skin was pale as a corpse.
"Thanatos! Slizzath!" Orin replied.
"Yes, your majesty. It is us."
"Your majesty?" I said looking at Orin.
"He is a prince. His father is the king of Atlantis."
"And he's my nephew," Slizzath replied.
"I understand this now," I replied. "Someone is a bit jealous of his brother and wants revenge for not being king. God, will people never grow up?"
"How dare you speak to me like that?" Slizzath replied as he jumped toward me.
Thanatos grabbed and stopped him. "Not yet, Slizzath. We will have our moment. Once Atlantis has fallen, we will have the rest of our lives to make these people pay."
A screech echoed throughout the cavern.
"Ah, Charybdis has arrived."
The creature known as Charybdis emerged from the water and headed toward the opposite shore.
"Atlantis won't fall," I stated.
"Who are you, surface dweller? You have no authority down here."
"I may be a surface dweller, but I won't stand by and watch you destroy a city. If it takes me dying to stop you, I will."
'What manner of creature is this surface dweller that is willing to put his life on the line for a city of people whom he does not know?' Orin thought. 'Maybe not all surface dwellers are as barbaric as father has led me to believe. I must spend more time with them to learn of them.'
"Then you will die," Slizzath stated.
The ground shook and slowly skeletons emerged from the water.
"Slizzath is a necromancer," Orin stated. "He's called on the dead to attack."
"Then we'll attack back," I stated.
Orin pulled out his trident/harpoon and I ignited the blades of my lightsaber. The skeletons had weapons themselves, mostly swords and knives. These weapons were no match for my lightsaber. It could cut through solid steel. They didn't have a prayer.
As the first skeleton approached and readied to defend his self, I swung the lightsaber. Instead of slicing through the metal, the steel blade stopped it as if it were another sword. 'This isn't good,' I thought. I parried and brought the blade around. The creature blocked and swung at me. I ducked and flipped backwards kicking it as I went. The skeleton stumbled backwards.
Once on my feet again, I went after the creature full assault.
Orin was fairing much better than I. He blocked a skeleton's attack with his trident and spun the harpoon end around and sliced right through the skeleton. The bones crumbled and he turned to block another attack. Flipping forward, he dove over a skeleton and rolled passed another as they both tried to slice him in two. As he rolled up, he took the trident end of his weapon and stabbed a skeleton in the ribcage. Normally this attack would have killed the being, but this being was already dead. Then, to my surprise, the trident shot out a bolt of electricity and the skeleton blew to pieces. Orin rolled backwards and wrapped his ankles around the neck of a skeleton and twisted until the head popped off. Then he flipped to his feet and spun around slicing the skeleton in half with the harpoon end.
The prince of Atlantis looked up to Thanatos and saw something which made him hopeful.
"Batman!"
I turned to him as I sliced a skeleton in half.
"Thanatos has an amulet! He uses it to control Charybdis and Scylla! If it were destroyed, I would have the ability to control them with my telepathic powers!"
"You never said you had telepathic powers?" I called back.
"It is merely to communicate with the creatures of the sea! I cannot speak to human beings via telepathy! You have nothing to fear!"
I looked around and saw the skeleton army continuing to grow. The sea appeared to be giving up her dead. There appeared to be no way to defeat them all and get to Thanatos to destroy the medallion. There was nothing more we could do except fight to the very last. But I intended to fight until then. There was nothing I could do otherwise.
To Be Continued...