“Because of the noble lords that he had around him, each of whom considered himself the best and of whom none could have said who was the least good, Arthur created the Round Table, about which the Britons/Bretons tell many stories. The noblemen used to sit at it, all at favoured places, and all equal. They were seated at the table as equals, and were served their food as equals; none of them could boast that he had a seat of higher dignity than his companion.”
-Le Saux (trans.)

---

Five energy lances hit the green dome with a force rivaling a military shelling. Green Lantern gritted his teeth in concentration to keep his force shield up. Normally a mere pounding by five men in modified Rocket Red armor would not be enough to dent one of his shields but these particular modified Rocket Red armors were enchanted by powerful magicks.

The five knights spun in mid air and sped forward for another pass pushing their boot jets to maximum speed. Green Lantern swore and blotted out everything but the image of the igloo from his mind. It was all that was protecting himself, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the fallen Martian Manhunter and Superman from the energy lances.

Aquaman frowned impatiently, “I despise this. Letting the opponent take the initiative in a fight is always disastrous.”

Wonder Woman nodded in agreement, “I am with you, Arthur. I would rather face them head on than cower behind this dome.”

“Fine. Great.” Green Lantern muttered between clenched teeth, “How about a plan, though, first?”

Outside the emerald field the scarlet speedster had his own problems. The Flash ducked about, carefully dodging the five other knights and their lethal energy swords. A single wrong step and the blades would cleave through his body like it was butter. As fast as he was, there was only one of him and the knights were trained to move and act as one. Every time he made a move to take one out, two more appeared ready to intercept.

Wonder Woman frowned, “I will not stand here helpless while we are attacked.” She said angrily, “Lantern, open a door!” she ordered.

Kyle grudgingly accepted and focused for a second. As the green door opened the Amazon warrior took to the air and rammed through the knights. The nearest knight raised the deadly point of his energy lance and brought the cracking energy weapon to bear on the Leaguer. The knight’s boot jets kicked in and he shot forward at blinding speed. Wonder Woman spun around and brought up both arms to block. The lance connected hard with her indestructible bracelets and the air filled with a loud explosion. The knight was sent backwards as Wonder Woman barely flinched.

Wonder Woman smiled. “I guess we now know which enchantment is stronger,” she said with a small grin.

She flew through the air at the stunned knight and punched him hard in the chest. The reinforced titanium armor bent like it was a pop can from the blow, which sent the knight crashing into the ground, sending dust and dirt sailing. He didn’t get back up.

Two knights charged from opposing sides as Wonder Woman looked for her next target. She whipped around and tossed her lasso at the first wrapping the magical golden rope around the knight. She quickly spun around in mid-air, colliding the two Templars together with a loud crash of twisting metal. Sparks shot from their damaged suits as gravity took over and they plummeted to the rocky hillside.

The fourth knight came from above and slammed hard into Wonder Woman. Metal fists pounded at the Amazing Amazon. She shrugged them off – magic had no extra effect on her. She grabbed the suit’s arms and pulled hard. The knight fought back with remarkable strength and determination. They stood motionless, clay given life against a mixture of super-science and magic. The fifth lance knight came from behind, charging forward at the unsuspecting warrior.

Wonder Woman gritted her teeth. She felt the robotic arms give as the motors strained and pushed themselves as hard as they could. Inside the armor was a screeching sound of metal on metal. The knight sped closer; he was almost there.

J’Onn came from nowhere appearing in front of the knight. The knight blinked as he sped straight through the intangible Martian. The suit shot forward for a few feet before dropping like a stone from the sky and impacting with the rocky ground below. Dangling from his left hand, J’Onn held the slightly stunned Templar pilot.

“Thank you J’Onn.” Wonder Woman said still pulling on the artificial arms. “Glad to see you are feeling better.” She planted her foot in the middle of the knight’s chest and gave one last tug, tearing both arms from the sockets. The knight’s real arms flailed about helplessly as oil spurted from the stumped limbs and his boot jets sputtered and cut out.

“I was just stunned,” the Martian Manhunter said as Wonder Woman casually dropped the large robotic arms.

“Still, glad you are alright.”

“What is the situation?” J’Onn asked, looking around.

Flash dodged blow after blow. He may be outnumbered, but he was quick on his feet. A Templar knight swung at the Flash and connected, the energy sword sank straight through the speedster’s head. Then the Flash vanished. Two more Flashes appeared side-by-side and blades shot through them like they were vapor. The knights blinked. Flash appeared in the middle of them and waved, “Hey over here!” he cried. The knights dived at the scarlet speedster only to fall through him like he was a phantom.

Several meters away the Flash smiled. “Morons. Taken in by a couple after-images.”

The knights staggered to their feet, realizing what was going on. They had been lumped together. A golden lariat looped around them and pulled tight packing the five armored knights tightly together. Wonder Woman pulled hard and swung her lasso around tossing the knights into a nearby hillside. Metal hit rock with a resounding thud.

The Leaguers quickly regrouped. Superman was slowly waking up.

“So what’s the plan?” Green Lantern asked looking at the looming castle.

Superman shakily stood up and shook his head to clear it. “Thoughts? Suggestions? J’Onn, can you tell us what happened to you when you landed?”

The Martian Manhunter thought back, “I was talking with Batman when he doubled over and then suddenly attacked me.”

The Flash shook his head in disbelief, “I didn’t want to believe he’d betray us again but…” He clenched his fists in anger.

J’Onn shook his head, “Before the flames knocked out my powers I probed his mind, but only for a second. Something else was in there, controlling his actions. When he doubled over, the presence was taking complete control.”

Superman looked at the castle grimly. “So it was using us from the start. That’s why Batman paired us up as he did. To get us out of the way while he made his move. Whoever is in control knew exactly who to dominate.”

Wonder Woman frowned, “Do you have any idea who is controlling Batman?”

J’Onn shook his head. “It was a definite psychic presence that felt very familiar, but I am not sure where I have sensed it before.”

Superman scanned the keep with eyes that could see cells splitting, “I’m looking for any trails or signs of where Batman was in the keep. Do you see anything, J’Onn?”

“It is mostly shielded so it is hard to see though,” The Martian replied.

Green Lantern looked at the pair in wonder. “I thought he was being controlled. Why would he leave a trail?”

Superman smiled, “He’s still Batman.”

“Oh. Right. Forgot.”

“Kal, there it is.” J’Onn said gesturing to the left side. “A thin trail of hydrocarbons. He left his flare smoldering.”

“I see it, J’Onn. There’re our bread crumbs.” Superman said before his eyebrows knotted, “I see something else. Motion. Hard to pinpoint.”

Two large doors in the walls of the keep slid open and two dozen Templar Knights took to the sky. They circled about in a tight military formation in groups of threes.

The squad leader activated his lance and called out, “Stand where you are. We know what you want and we don’t intend to let you get it without a fight!”

“The first group must have been sent to delay us until the rest had suited up,” Wonder Woman said frowning.

Superman eyed over the knights, “J’Onn. You, Aquaman, and Flash follow Batman and stop him from getting the Grail. The rest of you, pick a target!” The Man of Steel took to the air.

“Dibs on the eight to the right,” Green Lantern muttered as he followed Superman into the sky.

The Martian Manhunter grabbed Flash and Aquaman and quickly flew towards the castle. He concentrated and phased all three of them, flying through the wall into the lowest reaches of the keep.

The knights charged forward as a group and were met by a platoon of flying monkeys. They met with a crash as the two small armies attacked without mercy. Superman flew low and scooped up a discarded set of damaged armor and flew into the fray. The nearest knight charged at the man of steel with his energy weapon. Superman backhanded him with the empty armor, sending the knight sailing though the sky towards the lake half a mile away.

Green Lantern flew through the air swinging his green broadsword back and forth while talking to himself. “Okay, what beats a knight? A dragon. No, knights beat up dragons regularly. There must be something that easily picks on knights.”

Wonder Woman blocked a half-dozen lethal swings from her opponents and responded with rock hard punches. Metal caved inward from her blows and the high tech machinery crumpled like it was made from tin. A knight swung hard at the Amazon’s face with the armored gauntlet. Wonder Woman’s arm shot up and caught the blow in her hand. There was a sound like a bullet hitting a rock face as the metal fist connected. The knight inside shook with the vibrations that threatened to shake his fillings from his bad British teeth. WW just smirked and crushed the robotic hand like someone would crush an apple.

The head knight charged at Superman. The man of steel twisted to barely avoid the lance strike. He could feel the crackling of the energy lance through his thin costume. The knight swung again and the tip cut through the man of steel’s crimson red cape. “We will not fall from our sacred duty!” he called out.

“I don’t think you have much of a choice.” Superman retorted as he let a barrage of heat vision make his point. Red hot energy burned away the red and white paint of the Templar armor while the metal began to smolder and melt. Circuitry shorted out and bubbled from the blast as the boot jets stammered and finally died. The knight swore as he dropped like a cannonball from the sky.

“Okay they stopped making suits of armor ‘cause of gunpowder…” Green Lantern reasoned, “So it’s people with guns.” The emerald gladiator smiled and his ring flashed. He hefted his two Gatling guns and open fire on the knights.

The ring worked on his willpower doing as much or little damaged as he pleased. Armor piercing bullets tore through the machinery and shredded their way through the complex circuitry. They cut through the metal like nails through cheese but stopped at the skin. GL smiled as he spun around firing Rambo-style into the crowd of knights.

The Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Flash phased down to the secure lower levels of the keep. The entire basement had been remodeled and fortified out of reinforced titanium and lead. It had been designed and built to withstand ground zero bomb impacts. The lower levels were sprawling complexes of rooms and chambers built to house the knights in the event that they had to abandon the actual keep.

“Which way J’Onn?” Flash asked as he looked about the identical corridors. “Want me to zip through all of them at light speed?”

“That will not be necessary.” The Martian said focusing his eyes. With some careful manipulation of the lenses and retinas, whole sections of the light spectrum that were normally unseen became as clear as day. “He went this way.” J’Onn said following Batman’s trail.

J’Onn led the way through the maze-like structure and winding corridors to a large vault. The doors to the vault were six-foot thick titanium and stainless steel. The lock itself had a retinal and DNA scanner with a time release and dual key card access. The nearby circuitry showed that it had been designed to scramble anyone who tried to phase, teleport, or vibrate through the walls. It looked like it had taken Batman ten minutes to get in.

Inside the large vault there was a single small water fountain and a large raised pedestal in the middle. On it rested a small, almost bland, cup. Batman was picking up the cup as the trio entered.

Flash took off at near light speed towards Batman. He made it two steps before his head felt like exploding and he lost all sense of equilibrium. The scarlet speedster rolled forward slamming into the far wall at mach 5. The reinforced concrete and titanium slowed him to a stop. J’Onn and Aquaman fought through the psychic assault towards the dark knight. Aquaman stumbled and fell after he had made it only halfway; he was bleeding from the nose and ears. J’Onn slowly trudged forward. Each step felt like he was walking into a hurricane. Batman staggered backwards, the strain of the psychic battery too incredible to maintain.

J’Onn lunged forward and grabbed Batman by the cape and tossed him against the far wall. Batman hit with a meaty thud and crumpled down.

“This ends now.” The Martian said as his mind cleared.

Batman propped himself up on one arm, “Oh that’s right,” he said in a raspy voice that was not his own. “Harm me and you just harm your associate.”

J’Onn stalled for half a second before moving forward again. But that was all the time Batman needed. The dark knight’s eyes flashed pink/purple and J’Onn was flooded with images of fire. The chaotic images flooded his mind. The lights danced across his cerebellum. He fought against it as he was drawn to the flames. They engulfed his mind and his concentration failed. J’Onn dropped to his knees, barely maintaining physical form. Batman stood triumphantly over the fallen Martian. He walked over to the altar and picked up the Grail.

Batman dipped the cup into the fountain and looked at the water in the container. It seemed to almost take on a golden glow inside the Grail. He brought it to his lips.

There was a loud crash as the rest of the League smashed their way into the underground complex. Superman scanned the area and spotted Batman. He took off towards the dark knight becoming a red blur.

Batman drank deep. His body grew weak and collapsed in a heap below the fountain. The Grail did not fall.

Superman sped closer.

The Grail floated in mid-air supported by a pink-purple mist.

Superman reached the vault.

J’Onn looked at the mist as it rapidly solidified. He finally knew where he had seen it before, where he had encountered their enemy. He also realized their mistake. The League had assumed their foe wanted the Grail for immortality, to become unstoppable. That was only half right. The Grail could do more than just grant eternal life to the living; it could restore life to the dead.

Superman reached the Grail at the same time that it became fully solid. There was a thunderous thud as a fist connected hard with a face. Superman shot backwards from the vault faster than he had come in. He smashed his way through the walls of the complex and impacted in a hillside a quarter of a mile away leaving a long crater behind him.

Wonder Woman and Green Lantern tore into the room only to have their heads feel like they were cracked open and filled with boiling lava. They doubled over clutching at their temples.

“Fools. You presume to stop the destroyer of worlds?!” the voice boomed through the vault. “My time in death has done nothing but fuel my hate!”

Green Lantern struggled to see through his red blurred vision, “Who?” he muttered quietly.

“I am the master of time and matter! I am your final nemesis!” he said as he brushed past the fallen Leaguers like they were but insects.

J’Onn looked up with fear and dread. He had hoped he had seen the last of him. He had almost killed the League several times before. “It’s Despero…” he muttered before passing out.

The pink skinned giant laughed triumphantly as his third eye in the middle of his forehead glowed with energy. He had won.

---

To Be Continued...

---

Previous Issue | Next Issue