The Lone Knight (Under The Cowl Book #1)

CHAPTER 45

"Lookie there, she's coming to." Stephanie heard a voice say out loud, attention apparently all on her as the obvious focused attraction.

On her back, Stephanie opened her eyes to face the dark sky riddle with black lighting. A storm was brewing. Thunder roared behind the twisted curl of clouds overhead. Thick was the fog that flooded and circled her surroundings, coating her tongue with taste of charcoal and salt.

Ash?

Stephanie felt her eyes begin to burn. She lifted her head with her whole body to follow as she picked herself up off her back. In front of her she found her audience looking across at her. As if she was on display, there was nowhere to go.

It's through the fog where she could see somewhat of a frightening group of mismatched individuals of various shapes and sizes, almost cartoonish in an odd way. Was this the real world or a construct of a nightmarish imagination?

Raising her hand onto her waist, Stephanie looked down at her torn tether from her belt once hooked onto Leslie's.

But where's Leslie?

Stephanie looked around in search for Leslie when a wicked voice behind the fog asked, "Are you looking for her?" The voice pointed toward Leslie's limp body held in the grasp of a large rock forged hand far from human. "You are not from around here." the wicked shrill of a voice teased, as if he's speaking to her with a smile on his face.

"I recognize her." another voice, hard and rugged, said from behind the fog where Stephanie noticed the movement of a levitating cigarette light behind the fog. "She's Stephanie Brown."

"I do not believe I had one of those on my earth?"

"I did. Not much to talk about, she was an easy kill."

"We have we what we've been looking for." a new voice said aloud. "I say we kill her." a woman emerged from behind the fog with a massive trident in hand, wearing what looks like the suit of Batman.

"Not true." the wicked voice corrected. "We were expecting a fellow compatriot; instead we get his mask. Tells us girl, where is the previous owner of this mask?"

Are they talking about the Bruce Wayne who wore the Mask of Ruin?

"You know what likely happened." the Batwoman made clear. And by her tone she was far from in the mood to make jokes.

Stephanie turned her head to face the center of the fog as the Mask of Ruin is toss onto the ground through the fog. "What use do we have for this now?" the wicked voice shouted.

The Mask of Ruin, like it's waiting for her to grab. It's the one tool that may be her only way back to her earth.

It's through the fog where Stephanie watched a tall slender man dressed in bondage leather and chains dangling from his waist emerged to reveal himself to her. The bat cowl on his head with a ring of spike around his eyes highlighted the wide clownish grin and lips coated in smeared red. He looked exactly how a madman would. Dare she say a clown? "We do not need you, although I think I would enjoy adding you to my troupe." he said before placing his foot on top of the Mask of Ruin and crushing it under his boot. "We have the good doctor after all." he laughed feverishly. "You see, Miss Brown, doc here has been quite the thorn in our side with her ridiculous Argus misfits who just don't know how to laugh. Do you like to laugh?"

Never in her life had Stephanie felt such evil when looking upon one man. His voice, twisted and disturbing as it was could hear the voice of, "Bruce." she said faintly under her breath.

"Oh, no one has called me that in such a long time. Think of me as... the Bat who laughs."

A light expelled behind Stephanie, an opened breach.

Gun fire followed as the twisted versions of Batman scattered away from the light.

On the back of her belt Stephanie felt the hook from a grappling gun grab hold of her.

Pulled towards the breach, it's at the same time Stephanie watched the massive creature carrying Leslie in its hand race after her.

The ground shook and a beast unlike anything she'd seen before emerged from behind the fog. 

Rushing past the light and bullets the ground cracked under the monster's feet. His deafening roar pierced the ears of those around. He too looked as if he was wearing the Batman cowl on his head, but forged out of the rock like the rest of his body.

Into the breach she went.

Stephanie watched the breach close before the creature could grab hold of her.

There was direction this time, no spinning, no need to question if she was up or down. It's through another breach when Stephanie found herself smack dab on a steel bridge while looking up at a ceiling similar to the batcave.

Stephanie quickly rose up off the ground and grabbed hold of her baterang.

She froze at who stood before her.

"... Tim?"

"Stephanie Brown aka Spoiler, aka Robin, of Earth-One, I Timothy Drake, Collector of the Fifty-Two hereby place you under arrest for multiple counts of illegal dimensional travel, kidnapping, and disturbing the peace."

Surrounded from all sides by armed uniform Collectors of the Fifty-Two, Stephanie slowly dropped her hands to her sides along with her baterang.

"HANDS UP!" one of the Collectors shouted.

Stephanie eyed the Collector, choosing defiance over compliance with a challenging stare that questioned his authority.

"He said hands up!" another Collector shouted, gun drawn, it was Darla Aquista. 

You're alive.

And this time what followed was the removal of the gun's safety.

With no other choice, Stephanie removed her hands from her sides and raised her hands to surrender.