Justice League of America - Batman: The Stone King by Alan Grant (best books to read for self development .TXT) 📕

if the real physical movement would allow her to see more in her mental picture. "There's someone at the top. He's surrounded by timber and brushwood. He's setting a torch to the pile and it's blazing up.

"Wait!" The word was expelled in a sharp hiss. "There's another light. A blue light. It's merging with the flames, like the whole pyramid is on fire."

A fire festival! The thought flashed through Batman's mind. At certain times of the year they were supposed to cleanse the energies of sacred sites.

Aloud, he said nothing, unwilling to disturb Cassandra's deep concentration.

"The whole sky is lit up with brilliant color," the empath went on. "People are cheering. I think some may be screaming. There's a giant figure growing out of the pyramid top. Wait . . . it's the bull-headed creature! People are afraid of him. He's a . . ." She paused, momentarily at a loss for the word. "King," she finished softly.

"The Stone King." A deep, husky voice spoke from behind them, and Cassandra's eyes snapped open in sudden fear. Batman had already turned, eyes narrowed under his mask, to face the repulsive being that stood there.

Its head and face were almost completely hidden by the bull's skull it wore, and the thick animal skin that covered its body stank of stale blood and corrupted flesh. Raw, red eyes bored into them.

"I am the king who was," it grated haltingly, as if finding the words it wanted was a distinct effort. "The king who will be. I am the Stone King, who completes the cycle."

"Far from it!" Batman said accusingly, his voice harsh. "You're Peter Glaston, a postgrad student at Gotham U. I don't know what's gotten inside your mind, Glaston, but–"

The sunken red eyes began to glow, and Batman moved with instinctive speed.

"Cassandra, look out!" he called, stepping sideways so that the girl's body was shielded by his own.

A searing beam of energy crackled toward them.

The bolt took Batman full on his chest-symbol, the triple Kevlar layer below cushioning the worst of its effects. That was one of the reasons Batman had adopted it–it made such a tempting target for any assailant to aim at.

The sheer impact blasted him off his feet and sent both him and Cassandra careening into a wall. He fell the thin plasterwork crack and give beneath him as his body smashed right through it.

Batman turned his uncontrolled fall into a roll, deftly springing to his feet. As the Stone King's gaze swiveled, its eyes once more beginning to glow, Batman grabbed Cassandra's hand and pulled her through the jagged hole into an adjacent display room.

She was barely through when a second, stronger energy bolt exploded around them.

Cassandra's body went limp and sagged against Batman. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was slow and shallow.

Batman cursed quietly to himself. She must have been knocked unconscious by the second bolt. Swiftly, he dragged her unresisting body behind a heavy oak desk. She would be relatively safe there while he dealt with this monster.

The dividing wall shattered suddenly, and the Stone King strode leisurely through the enlarged hole.

Batman didn't wait for another onslaught Phosphor grenades had stopped this thing in Gotham Cathedral, presumably because they interfered with its energy patterns. Maybe they'd do the same now. Batman moved away from the desk, decoying their attacker to follow him to a safe distance from the unconscious medium.

"Where's Superman?" Batman demanded. "And the others. What have you done with them?"

The Stone King snarled, an animal sound, spittle spraying from its mouth. Batman figured he wasn't going to get the answer he sought, and sent three small spheres spinning through the air toward the inhuman figure, primed to detonate on impact.

But the Stone King saw the danger, and a web of fine blue beams emanated from his fingertips. The energy net caught the grenades, lowering them gently to the bare wooden floor.

Batman had already pulled a half-dozen Batarangs from his belt. He sent the lightweight plastic disks whirling at his foe, faster than the eye could follow. Each Batarang had a solid lead core, and landed with enough force to knock out a champion boxer.

The Stone King ignored them as they thudded into him, ricocheting off with next to no effect. Tiny streaks of lightning sizzled around his fingertips before uniting into one massive bolt that split the air with a shriek as it hurtled at Batman.

The Dark Knight dived full-length to one side, feeling the heat of the lightning as it passed a foot above his head. There was a bright flash as it destroyed a display case full of silver and turquoise jewelry from the Peruvian tombs at Sipan, and Batman used the extra light to get his bearings in the unfamiliar room.

On his feet again, Batman bounded across the floor, coming to a halt beside a red fire extinguisher dipped to a wall. He snatched it from its strapping, the heel of his other hand slamming into its release button. He whirled and aimed the unwieldy cylinder, and the Stone King roared with anger as he disappeared in a curtain of thick foam.

It won't hurt him, but perhaps it'll blind him long enough for me to–

Holding the heavy cylinder by its end, the Dark Knight swung it into the mass of foam. There was a satisfying metallic thud as the extinguisher hit its target, and even though he couldn't see him, Batman felt the Stone King stagger under the blow.

He swung the cylinder again–once, twice, three times–striking home with unnerring accuracy. On the fourth swing, the Stone King stepped forward unexpectedly. A powerful backhand swipe sent the extinguisher flying from Batman's grasp. Then, before the vigilante could take evasive action, the creature followed through with a punch that almost took Batman's head clean off his shoulders.

Batman staggered, the small of his back catching against the top of a low display case behind him. Then the Stone King was on him, hands clawing at his adversary's throat, fingers tightening with