Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 65: Ch.64 The Temple

"Look at these footprints; there were hundreds of people here just recently. This place is a tourist spot," Barry pointed at the ground near the canyon entrance, addressing the two walking ahead of him. "Also, the shop where I bought those things earlier is not that far away."

"So, what are you getting at?" Su Ming turned to look at him. He had, of course, noticed the footprints too, densely packed like an ant trail. These tracks wouldn't last long in the sand, no more than half an hour ago at most.

Barry appeared beside him in a flash of lightning. "So, if people are throwing some weird party in the temple, don't you think they'd be noticed?"

Bryce, hiding her lower face behind her Bat-cape to shield herself from the sand that kept trying to get into her nose and mouth, responded, "I can tell you a Bat-fact: Egyptians are very good at underground construction."

Su Ming patted Barry on the shoulder, throwing an arm around him as they continued forward. "The part of the Egyptian pyramids that you see above ground is only about two-thirds of the whole structure. For example, in the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Pharaoh's burial chamber is actually 200 feet underground, surrounded entirely by giant stones. It's not just buried by sand."

"Mayan pyramids were built by piling stones above ground, but ancient Egyptians were different. They also dug and built underground. This technique was also applied to their temples," Bryce continued, walking toward their destination without looking back. "I thought you would have figured it out when we went to so many pyramids and finally reached the burial chambers."

"Uh, it was all dark and cold, so..."

Barry spoke with his mouth full of sandwich, and Su Ming guessed he had probably eaten quite a bit of sand along with it.

Bryce ignored him and turned to Su Ming with a question. "The entrance to the underground should be inside the temple. What do you think?"

"There could be multiple entrances. Dark energy isn't something you can eat. They'd need supplies underground too," Su Ming speculated. This wasn't something he knew from the comics. "Look, the temple has security at the entrance. The Strigidae Priests can't just bring in large amounts of food and water every day along with hundreds of tourists."

"But an entrance inside the temple would be easier to find, at least better than searching for a needle in a haystack," Bryce squinted her eyes.

"Yeah, but if you don't want me to kill the guard at the entrance, then she's your responsibility."

Su Ming glanced at the guard, who was now running towards them with a baton in hand. It made sense; anyone would react this way seeing three people in costumes approaching an ancient monument.

"Hey! Visiting hours are over! You three freaks better leave."

"Oh, her tone isn't what I expected. I thought this was a scenic area," Su Ming turned to Barry, already reaching for his gun.

Barry immediately grabbed his hand, having to use the Speed Force because Su Ming moved too fast.

"Being called freaks is a bit much, but clearly, she's just a regular person. No need to kill her over it."

Bryce flicked her cape and knocked the guard out with a backhand punch. She had held back; being called a freak was something she'd heard a thousand times, and she felt nothing about it now.

There was a chance the guard had been enchanted, but she clearly wasn't part of the Court of Owls. If she were, she would have recognized Batwoman immediately. The bird tribe had been watching the descendants of the bat tribe for thousands of years.

Bryce could tell just by her eyes that this guard knew nothing, just a crude security worker.

Su Ming released his grip on his gun. Fine, he'd give Barry some face. As long as she didn't get in the way, it was okay. He just hoped she'd learn some manners when she woke up.

They stepped over the unconscious guard and entered the temple. Barry even kindly dragged the guard to lean against a pillar at the entrance, preventing her from being buried by sand.

The Temple of Set didn't have much of value left. There might have been gold or gems once, but much of it had been lost during the wars, leaving only heavily weathered statues and a few replica artifacts protected behind glass cases.

"Hmm, a pharaoh's golden staff. Too bad it's fake." Su Ming tapped on the glass. Under the spotlight in the display case was a glittering curved staff, resembling a candy cane, except this one was gold and blue, not red and white, and definitely not mint-flavored.

"How do we find the entrance?" Barry finished his sandwich and tossed the wrapper into a trash bin.

Bryce took a small metal ball from her utility belt. It was one of her Bat-smoke bombs, and she placed it on the ground.

"If there's a tunnel or cavity underground, the ground above will always sink a little due to gravity. We just need to find the lowest spot."

The small ball started rolling, skimming across the floor in a specific direction. She motioned for them to follow, weaving around statues and display cases, past various signs and plaques. Finally, the ball stopped at a particular spot.

Bryce checked a few more times, and the ball still insisted on this location.

She then pulled out a canister from her belt, which looked like a can of hairspray, and sprayed the ground in the shape of a Bat symbol. She explained to Su Ming and Barry as she worked, "This is Bat-shaped directional explosive gel. It can break the floor here. No need to hide too far; just cover your faces."

Barry looked at Su Ming, covered the lower half of his face with his hand, and mumbled, "I've seen this in our world, but I've always wanted to ask. It works just by spraying it like toothpaste, so why bother drawing a Bat symbol? Isn't that a waste of time?"

"..."

Bryce didn't answer, as if she hadn't heard him at all.

The gel dried quickly, and just as the two finished speaking, a powerful directional explosion occurred. But it wasn't very loud. The floor before them cracked open, and the three fell down with the debris into a dark passage.

Above them, the alarm system blared, and dust and powder rained down on them.

Su Ming wiped the dirt off his visor. "Did you really need to ask? Because she's Batman."

"Let's move. Save the chit-chat for later." Bryce tossed two Batarangs down the corridor on either side. They soon flew back to her hand, and she pointed left. "That way, auto-sonar has detected activity."

Barry hoisted the two of them, and in a flash of lightning, they were gone from the dark passage.

The next second, they found themselves in a space that looked like an opera box, looking down on a group of robed figures gathered around countless torches.

They wore giant, skeletal bird masks, their entire bodies hidden beneath hooded cloaks, hunched over as if mimicking ostriches.

This was the typical attire of the Strigidae Priests. The cat from before was just an exception. With over ten Strigidae Priests gathered below, this was going to be a challenge. These weren't just ten chickens; they were ten magic users. Killing them all would take some effort.

Bryce had no metal and didn't kill, so she could only restrain them. Su Ming would have to take them out one by one with his fists, which would take a lot of time.

The priests were chanting around a black well, from which strange smoke was rising. The language they spoke was completely unintelligible, not a known human language, but more like bird calls.

The three of them were in bullet time here. They could discuss freely without worrying about being noticed.

"There are too many of them. What's the plan?" Barry asked. He had to keep running in circles around the area to maintain their current state.

It was Su Ming who answered, not Bryce. "You use the Speed Force and lightning to keep them in check. Throw them to me one by one, and I'll deal with them. Don't let them raise their hands or speak, and avoid their light beams or any of their attacks."

Bryce said nothing, silently agreeing to this arrangement.

Su Ming turned to her, "While we're fighting them, find the Bat-Metal. It should be here somewhere, if it exists."

"What does it look like?" Bryce needed more details.

Su Ming thought for a moment. "It looks like copper but emits a red glow. It's a magical metal. The Strigidae might not have much, but if they do, it won't be smaller than a brick."

"Okay, let's do it your way. Barry, drop us in the middle of them." She made her decision immediately.

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