Justice League of America - Batman: The Stone King (18 page)

"Keep it trained on the open pages," he told her.

Puzzled, Cassandra did as she was instructed. She could read some of the titles–Lost
Civilization of the Stone Age, Ancient Voices, The Origin of Consciousness
– but they meant nothing to her.

Using some of the books as a prop, Batman leaned one volume against them and opened the cover. He closed his eyes briefly, using one of the many meditative techniques he'd learned during his research in Tibet to calm his mind. His eyes blinked open again, defocusing until he could see no detail on the pages before him. The black type seemed to become three-dimensional, standing out several inches above the white background of the page.

Cassandra watched in astonishment as he began to flick through the pages, turning them over at a rate of more than one per second.

He can't possibly be reading them,
she thought, but kept her silence as Batman sped through the books.

Less than ten minutes later, he closed the last one, pushed the pile aside, and got to his feet. Swiftly, he replaced the volumes in their positions on the shelves. He led Cassandra back out into the hallway, explaining as he went.

"The technique imprints the pages directly into the subconscious mind, making it available for later conscious recall."

"Oh. Right."

"Trust me. It works."

The items Mills's team had recovered from the pyramid were still under active analysis. They found them neatly filed in an unlocked examination room, cocooned in bubble wrap and plastic storage bags.

"Any preference?" Batman asked, reading off the handwritten label on each bag in turn. "Shard of pottery. Charred animal bone. More pottery. A jet bead."

His eyes flicked to scrutinize Cassandra's face. Her lower lip quivered slightly, and he reminded her gently that this wasn't compulsory, she could still back out any time she wanted.

"I'm afraid," Cassandra admitted, relieved to put the feeling into words. "Afraid I'll see something . . . evil again."

"Fear is the messenger, not the message," Batman told her. "If you feel you shouldn't do it, mere's no shame in that."

Cassandra forced an uneasy smile back onto her lips. "No, my mind is made up." She reached out to take a plastic bag from Batman's hand, and read the label aloud. " 'Burned rib. Aurochs.'"

"A type of primitive cattle," Batman responded to her uncomprehending glance.

The plastic seal parted easily as Cassandra tugged it.

"This is called psychometry," she said, more to try to calm herself than explain to Batman. "Picking up– for want of a better word–vibrations from inanimate objects. Psychometrists believe mat everything experienced by an object is somehow recorded into the structure of the object itself."

Batman nodded. He'd been taking an interest of late in the cutting-edge advances in quartz technology. Scientists had discovered that the near-infinite crystal lattices in a piece of quartz were capable of recording phenomenal amounts of data. Anything that might be of use in the fight against crime was a magnet to Batman.

"Normally it's not something I do," Cassandra was saying, "but after my experience in the cathedral . . ."

She let her words die away. Closing her eyes, her fingers closed gently around the three-inch fragment of blackened bone, teasing it from its clear plastic envelope. At once an electric tingle caressed her fingertips, then sent what felt like a thousand volts of electricity coursing up her arm.

A window opened to another world.

"I see . . . people dancing," Cassandra began. "A long time ago. It's night. They carry flaming torches, weaving in circles around the base of . . . something." She screwed up her eyes, trying to force the vision to become clearer. "It's the pyramid–the Gotham pyramid! Many of the people are afraid, others are dancing like dervishes."

She tilted her head back, her closed eyes squinting upward, as if the real physical movement would allow her to see more in her mental picture. "There's someone at the top. He's surrounded by timber and brushwood. He's setting a torch to the pile and it's blazing up.

"Wait!" The word was expelled in a sharp hiss. "There's another light. A blue light. It's merging with the flames, like the whole pyramid is on fire."

A fire festival!
The thought flashed through Batman's mind.
At certain times of the year they were supposed to cleanse the energies of sacred sites.

Aloud, he said nothing, unwilling to disturb Cassandra's deep concentration.

"The whole sky is lit up with brilliant color," the empath went on. "People are cheering. I think some may be screaming. There's a giant figure growing out of the pyramid top. Wait . . . it's the bull-headed creature! People are afraid of him. He's a . . ." She paused, momentarily at a loss for the word. "King," she finished softly.

"The Stone King." A deep, husky voice spoke from behind them, and Cassandra's eyes snapped open in sudden fear. Batman had already turned, eyes narrowed under his mask, to face the repulsive being that stood there.

Its head and face were almost completely hidden by the bull's skull it wore, and the thick animal skin that covered its body stank of stale blood and corrupted flesh. Raw, red eyes bored into them.

"I am the king who was," it grated haltingly, as if finding the words it wanted was a distinct effort. "The king who will be. I am the Stone King, who completes the cycle."

"Far from it!" Batman said accusingly, his voice harsh. "You're Peter Glaston, a postgrad student at Gotham U. I don't know what's gotten inside your mind, Glaston, but–"

The sunken red eyes began to glow, and Batman moved with instinctive speed.

"Cassandra, look out!" he called, stepping sideways so that the girl's body was shielded by his own.

A searing beam of energy crackled toward them.

The bolt took Batman full on his chest-symbol, the triple Kevlar layer below cushioning the worst of its effects. That was one of the reasons Batman had adopted it–it made such a tempting target for any assailant to aim at.

The sheer impact blasted him off his feet and sent both him and Cassandra careening into a wall. He fell the thin plasterwork crack and give beneath him as his body smashed right through it.

Batman turned his uncontrolled fall into a roll, deftly springing to his feet. As the Stone King's gaze swiveled, its eyes once more beginning to glow, Batman grabbed Cassandra's hand and pulled her through the jagged hole into an adjacent display room.

She was barely through when a second, stronger energy bolt exploded around them.

Cassandra's body went limp and sagged against Batman. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was slow and shallow.

Batman cursed quietly to himself. She must have been knocked unconscious by the second bolt. Swiftly, he dragged her unresisting body behind a heavy oak desk. She would be relatively safe there while he dealt with this monster.

The dividing wall shattered suddenly, and the Stone King strode leisurely through the enlarged hole.

Batman didn't wait for another onslaught Phosphor grenades had stopped this thing in Gotham Cathedral, presumably because they interfered with its energy patterns. Maybe they'd do the same now. Batman moved away from the desk, decoying their attacker to follow him to a safe distance from the unconscious medium.

"Where's Superman?" Batman demanded. "And the others. What have you done with them?"

The Stone King snarled, an animal sound, spittle spraying from its mouth. Batman figured he wasn't going to get the answer he sought, and sent three small spheres spinning through the air toward the inhuman figure, primed to detonate on impact.

But the Stone King saw the danger, and a web of fine blue beams emanated from his fingertips. The energy net caught the grenades, lowering them gently to the bare wooden floor.

Batman had already pulled a half-dozen Batarangs from his belt. He sent the lightweight plastic disks whirling at his foe, faster than the eye could follow. Each Batarang had a solid lead core, and landed with enough force to knock out a champion boxer.

The Stone King ignored them as they thudded into him, ricocheting off with next to no effect. Tiny streaks of lightning sizzled around his fingertips before uniting into one massive bolt that split the air with a shriek as it hurtled at Batman.

The Dark Knight dived full-length to one side, feeling the heat of the lightning as it passed a foot above his head. There was a bright flash as it destroyed a display case full of silver and turquoise jewelry from the Peruvian tombs at Sipan, and Batman used the extra light to get his bearings in the unfamiliar room.

On his feet again, Batman bounded across the floor, coming to a halt beside a red fire extinguisher dipped to a wall. He snatched it from its strapping, the heel of his other hand slamming into its release button. He whirled and aimed the unwieldy cylinder, and the Stone King roared with anger as he disappeared in a curtain of thick foam.

It won't hurt him, but perhaps it'll blind him long enough for me to
–

Holding the heavy cylinder by its end, the Dark Knight swung it into the mass of foam. There was a satisfying metallic thud as the extinguisher hit its target, and even though he couldn't see him, Batman felt the Stone King stagger under the blow.

He swung the cylinder again–once, twice, three times–striking home with unnerring accuracy. On the fourth swing, the Stone King stepped forward unexpectedly. A powerful backhand swipe sent the extinguisher flying from Batman's grasp. Then, before the vigilante could take evasive action, the creature followed through with a punch that almost took Batman's head clean off his shoulders.

Batman staggered, the small of his back catching against the top of a low display case behind him. Then the Stone King was on him, hands clawing at his adversary's throat, fingers tightening with unbelievable pressure as they began to squeeze.

Batman gasped for breath, sickened by the stench of decay, already beginning to feel light-headed, unable to breathe from lack of oxygen. In vain his hands struck at his opponent, seeking a pressure point or a weak spot. Whatever he did, the Stone King seemed invulnerable to it.

With a sudden crack the glass display case shattered, and Batman seized what might be his last chance. He brought his legs up, positioning his feet against the Stone King's chest. Exerting all of his remaining strength, he straightened his knees, at the same time yanking hard at the creature's pelt.

The Stone King howled with anger as he went sailing over Batman's head, impacting against the door frame with such force that the wood splintered.

Batman leaned against the wreckage of the display
case,
massaging his rasping throat, striving to get his breathing back to normal. Scarecrow's fear gas was still in his Utility Belt, if he could only reach it in time.

But the Stone King recovered first, a new hatred glinting in his red eyes as he prepared to renew their battle.

Desperately, Batman flung himself aside as the Stone King lunged, sweeping his fist in a downward arc that disintegrated what remained of the cabinet.

All right, Manhunter,
the thought flashed from Batman's mind. I
could use a little backup now.

"Excuse me." The Stone King turned at the sound of a new voice.

J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, stood a dozen feet away.

Before the Stone King could react, J'onn dived at him, grasping the hairy, reeking body in a near-unbreakable bear hug.

Even as the Stone King flexed his muscles, exerting all his strength to try and break free, J'onn's grip tightened around the creature's chest. Suddenly, he brought into play his Martian ability to change the density of his molecules. In an instant, each brawny arm weighed half a ton.

The pressure he exerted was phenomenal.

A high-pitched scream of intermingled rage and pain burst from the helpless Stone King's lips as his body began to disappear. Hands and feet dissipated into thin air, the effect quickly raveling through his entire body until it swirled like mist in a wind.

Then he was gone, and J'onn unfolded his arms. The sudden silence was broken by glass shards breaking underfoot as Batman moved to where he'd left Cassandra. She was still unconscious, but was she okay?

With one hand Batman checked that her pulse was still steady; with the other he hit the emergency button on his tiny cell phone. He spoke a few words into the receiver, then thumbed it off before turning to the green-skinned Justice Leaguer.

"Thanks," Batman said. "Though you might have saved me a few bruises if you'd joined in earlier."

J'onn was surprised. "You knew
I
was there? Even though I was invisible?"

Batman shrugged. "From the moment you followed us into the building."

J'onn should have guessed. Batman was the greatest detective in the world. His senses were honed to an incredible degree. During their career with the League, J'onn had seen him do a hundred things that no other man could.

"I wasn't sure what you were up to, so I decided to tag along," Manhunter explained. "I tried to contact Superman and the others when I returned from Mars. When I failed, I came to Gotham. My Martian vision revealed the Batmobile's hiding place."

Batman nodded. He'd been wondering how Manhunter found him.

"I wasn't sure if your actions were a deliberate ploy to attract the Stone King," J'onn went on. "So when he appeared, I thought it best not to interfere unless I absolutely had to."

"And I didn't want you to interfere," Batman admitted, "unless it was necessary. I did still have one trick in my book, but I couldn't get to it in time."

Just then they heard the distant dick of a key in a lock, and a security guard shouting, "Who's there? Come out with your hands up. I'm armed!"

Batman took one last look at Cassandra, lying as if asleep, then motioned J'onn to follow him through another exit.

They left the building and vanished into the night, the wail of an approaching ambulance telling Batman his call to the emergency services was being answered.