Prometheus - A DCAU Fanfic.

8

12:03 - Himalayan Mountains.

 It had taken a flight lasting nearly 16-hours and another day and a half of scaling the rocky terrain, but soon enough, Bruce and Cassandra had arrived at their destination: Nanda Parbat.

Utilizing all of his contacts, Bruce had figured out that Lady Shiva, possibly the most skilled fighter on Earth, and also one of the remaining few people alive, who had previously held the title of Elite League member, was currently residing in the abandoned temple that used to act as the League's main compound.

Stepping up to the large oak gates, that acted as the entrance to the hidden city, the two vigilantes were surprised to find them disconnected from their hinges, and lying flat. While also being littered with arrows and burn marks.

"What happened here?" - Cassandra questioned, watching as Bruce kneeled down to inspect one of the doors.

"A civil war," - He answered, plucking one of the arrows out of the scarred wood. - "Between a faction defending the sacred temple, and Nyssa Al Ghul's faction."

"Nyssa Al Ghul?"

Bruce held up the projectile weapon. - "Hers is the only faction to dip their arrows in black tar poison." - He remarked, spinning it so the head, which was covered in a hardened glittering crystal-like black substance, was faced up. Before he discarded it.

Heading further into the hidden city, it seemed that the gates weren't the only thing damaged during the war. The numerous stone buildings littering behind the main wall, the barracks, the armoury, the commissary, were all various degrees of destroyed. Some were still mostly intact, a few had roofs blackened by fire, some had been completely flattened.

Cassandra was almost amazed at the amount of damage done to the compound, she had always thought of the League as a force of nature, one which was old as humanity itself, and one which would last until it ended. But looking upon the ruins, she could see how that wasn't the case.

"Who did you think won?" - She questioned, as the two headed towards the large temple which made up the bulk of the League's lair and training centres.

"It doesn't matter, either way the League is finished."

"Why do you think that?"

"The only reason the League was so successful to begin was, was that it was led by Ra's, none of his children had the skills it took to lead. Talia was savvy, yet she was power hungry and selfish, and though Nyssa was committed to the League's core values, she didn't have the support or the intellect her Father had."

"Is that why Ra's wanted you to take over?" - She questioned, stepping over a discarded sabre, which was stained by blood.

He nodded. - "Even though I opposed the lethality of the League, he saw me as a perfect heir. So he used my DNA as well as Talia's to make Damian." - Though he said his son's name coldly, he couldn't keep the regret out of his eyes.

"Why did Ra's even need an heir? Thanks to the Lazarus pit, wasn't he immortal?" - She questioned, deciding to move the conversation on.

"Ra's had been alive so long that the pits had lost almost all effect on him, it could still heal small wounds, but it wouldn't resurrected him any more."

"He was dying." - Cassandra remarked, earning a nod from Bruce. - "So using genetic rewriting, he created Damian to be an almost perfect specimen to take place as the new Ra's Al Ghul."

"Almost perfect." - The two turned to see Lady Shiva exit the large temple, wearing a bloodied green and gold robe and missing one of her eyes. - "He was too emotional, just like his Father."

---------------

 Bruce, Cassandra and Shiva sat in a large training room in the remnant of the main temple, which while intact from the exterior, was actually just as decimated as the rest of the city. The three drunk tea brewed from a pot over a small fire the Ex-Elite League member had built with the remnants of other buildings.

Though the room had partially collapsed in on itself, Shiva had still made a home of the shrine, with a bedroll having been laid out, and beside it, was a collection of various weapons, all polished to perfection.

Shiva and Bruce chatted to each other, a mutual respect evident between them, after all, though the two had taken different paths in life, they had trained together at the League, they were friends, so that meant Bruce immediately recognized the difference in the martial artist's demeanour and appearance.

"So who beat you Shiva?" - He asked calmly, before taking a sip of his tea.

Before the Woman in question could answer, her daughter did. - "You lost a fight?"

Shiva pursed her lips. - "I thought your Father had taught you the customs of the League?" - She lifted her right hand, and rested it on the socket of her missing right eye. Two large, pink, jagged scars ran over it, making it look like a tiger had scratched it out. - "In the event that a victor of a battle decides not to kill their opponent, for either respect or pity, the loser must take their own eye as a sign of weakness."

"So was it Prometheus who defeated you?"

"Prometheus?" - Shiva repeated, a small smile creeping onto her face.

"He's a gun-for-hire, and most likely an ex elite member of the League. Showed up in Gotham a few weeks ago. I need to stop him." - Bruce explained.

She poured some more tea into her cup. - "Yes it was him." - She answered, blowing on her  boiling drink.

"Do you know his real name?"

"Yes. I do." - Her eyes snapped from her tea to Bruce. - "And so do you." - She took a sip from her now cooled tea. While Bruce narrowed stared at her. After a moment she placed her cup back to the floor, and wiped her mouth. - "His name is Ibn al Xu'ffasch."

Crack!

Cassandra turned to see Bruce had crushed the ceramic tea cup in his his now shaking fist, and even though she had been tutored in the art of reading body language, it wouldn't have taken an expert to know Bruce was furious.

"No." - He remarked, in a tone that sent chills down Cassandra's spine. - "It's not him."

"Ibn al Xu'ffasch." - The girl repeated. - "Who is he?" 

Bruce swallowed. - "Ibn al Xu'ffasch. Son of Bat."

Thanks for reading Ch.8 of 'Prometheus', big reveal! which isn't really a reveal because you knew it if you read my previous Damian-Centric fanfic, or just read the synopsis of this one. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and also hope you comment, vote, follow me, and read Ch.9 - MM