🚨🚨🚨Read my new story Peter Parker: To Think is To Choose.✅✅✅
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"Some hearts never stop beating — they only wait for someone foolish enough to listen."
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The Watchtower's lights dimmed as the holographic projection of the world map shimmered to life.
Volcanic tremors, psychic storms and spectral surges were appearing across the equatorial regions — all pulsing from one location as origin point: Dinosaur Island.
Superman's jaw tensed. "That's where the readings converge. The Lazarus energy should've been gone. You destroyed it."
King stood before the projection, hands clasped behind his back, gaze unshaken.
"I destroyed the fire, Kal. But embers linger in the bones of the Earth. And something has begun to stir them again."
Batman's eyes narrowed. "Who?"
King's expression hardened — a calm mask over old knowledge.
"Lu'un Darga. An ancient order long thought gone. They were enemies of the al Ghuls before there even was a League of Shadows. When Talia sent Damian on the Year of Blood, she wasn't sending him simply to collect trophies— she was collecting relics linked to the Lazarus Heart buried beneath Dinosaur Island."
Wonder Woman frowned. "The artifacts Damian stole were scattered, with no pattern."
"On the surface," King replied. "But their energies were the fragments of a single, slumbering core — the heart that once beat beneath the Lazarus fire. Now it calls to its kin."
Aquaman crossed his arms. "And Lu'un Darga wants it?"
"They seek to purge the world of life and rule over its rebirth. Their leader, Den Darga, has sent his son — probably Suren Darga — to awaken the Lazarus Heart using the Sorcerer's Helm."
Green Lantern scowled. "So that's our next crisis. How bad are we talking?"
King's tone remained level. "Not catastrophic. The Heart has no blood. The Lazarus Pits are gone. It cannot pump life or death."
"Then why not stop Suren before he tries?" Superman asked.
"Because," King said softly, turning toward the stars, "this is not my test to take. I want to see if Damian, Nika and Maya can save Soren — before destiny demands my hand again. Plus it's basically a pointless quest as the Lazarus heart cannot be activated."
Batman stared at him, silent. The room felt colder.
"You're using my son as a lesson?"
King met his gaze without flinching. "No, Bruce. I'm trusting him with one."
Elsewhere — The Mediterranean Sea, near Alexandria.
The submarine's hull groaned softly as it descended into the dark trench.
Inside, Damian, Nika, and Maya were sealing the last of the artifacts — the Sorcerer's Helm among them — into their containment crates.
Maya was still nursing a bruise from the fight in Egypt. "I swear, if another relic comes to life, I'm quitting this archaeological redemption tour."
Nika chuckled. "You say that every week."
Damian didn't answer. His hand lingered over the helm, his reflection staring back at him from its faintly glowing surface. There was something in its hum — a rhythm, like a faint heartbeat.
Then Nika froze. "Did you feel that?"
The submarine trembled. The lights flickered.
A shadow fell across the entrance.
"Ravi?" Damian called, hearing a muffled sound from the next chamber.
They found him slumped over the control console — unconscious, but breathing.
And standing before the containment crate — the Sorcerer's Helm in her hands — was Talia al Ghul.
"Mother." Damian hissed, drawing his sword.
Talia's eyes were cold. "You never understood the power you toyed with, my son. The Lu'un Darga will not wait for your redemption."
Maya lunged first, her blade catching Talia's staff mid-swing. Sparks flew.
Nika joined in, twin daggers whirling, matching Talia's speed with fluid precision.
But Talia moved like water — efficient, lethal. She flipped Maya over her shoulder, ducked under Nika's sweep and caught Damian's strike with the flat of her sword.
"You still hesitate." She hissed. "You're not ready."
"Maybe not," Damian growled, "but I'm not alone anymore."
He pressed forward — when suddenly the air rippled.
A burst of green fire exploded through the hull, and a skinny person draped in crimson robes, his face hooded yet beneath the hood eyes burning like molten glass.
Den Darga.
"You squabble over trinkets," He thundered. "While gods return to claim their due."
With a wave of his hand, the air tore open and unleashed beasts of smoke and molten sigils — sorcery-born horrors, writhing with life.
"Scatter!" Damian yelled, pulling Nika aside as the first creature's tendrils smashed through a console.
Maya rolled to cover, drawing her pistol, firing rounds that only slowed the things down.
Den Darga vanished into the smoke, helm in hand.
The submarine rocked as the creatures clawed their way through its walls.
In the chaos, Damian met Den Darga's gaze — feeling, for the first time, a shadow deeper than fear.
Den Darga's voice echoed like a death knell:
"The heart beats again, child of al Ghul. And your sins will be its pulse."
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🚨🚨🚨Read my new story Peter Parker: To Think is To Choose.✅✅✅
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