Fan Fiction: Crossovers
Lineage

  Bullets sprayed down in between Batman and Zorro. Batman grabbed the end of his Kevlar woven cape and pulled it across his body to protect himself from ricocheting shrapnel. He wasn't worried about a direct hit. It was clear The Shadow was not trying to shoot either he or Zorro. He was simply trying to separate them. Batman backed away from the gun fire. He watched as Zorro slowly stood up and ran out of the alley, his arm holding his broken rib. Removing the wall-penetrating grapnel from his belt Batman aimed it skyward and fired it into the roof of the building The Shadow was on. Once the grapnel connected he retracted the cord lifting his body into the air towards the roof. As Batman reached the roof, he quickly threw a bat-bolas at The Shadow. The weapon wrapped around Batman's attacker pinning his arms at his side. Even if the shooter had not tried to hit me, Batman thought, he had assisted a murder in escaping. Batman surveyed his enemy. The man seemed somehow familiar to him. Batman approached his enemy. As he did so, The Shadow stared at him with no reaction. He had no fear of The Batman. Batman walked up to him grabbed him by the collar and said, "Who are you and why did you help that man escape!? He is a murderer."

  The figure laughed. Batman responded by slamming him into the wall of the inner stairs saying, "I'm not going to ask again." The figure looked at Batman and spoke, "In answer to your first question, I am known as The Shadow. Despite what you may think, I am not your enemy but your ally. I know who is the puppet master behind this entire fiasco, but I am sure you have already figured out Ra's al Ghul is behind this. Given your history with Ra's, you probably already deduced from Zorro's involvement that this somehow relates to the Talisman of Cortez. What you don't know is how close Ra's is to opening the portal to Shambala or what Zorro's part to play in all of this is." Grabbing The Shadow's lapels tighter and leaning forward only inches from his face Batman said, "No. I don't know, but you're going to fill me in." With that The Shadow began his tale.

  Shambala 1957...

  Three beings stood around the pool of destiny. One was a woman wrapped in a white robe. She had once been one of Shambala's contacts with the people of Earth. She had given the sword known as Excalibur to Merlin the wizard, in order to set into motion the events which would lead to Arthur's ascension to the throne. The second appeared as a large snake with white bird-like wings. He had helped the Aztecs advance their culture during the height of their empire. He was known by the name Queztalcoatl. Both of these beings were immortal. While they had interacted with humans their immortality kept them separate from the human race in a way they could never breach. The third figure was not immortal, but his position was. He was dressed in blue from his neck down. He had on yellow boots and a yellow cape. However, it was his yellow helmet that was of significance. It was the helmet of Nabu, and it belonged to the greatest wizard of each generation. While each individual wizard was born with a human name they all died under the same title: Dr. Fate. He was kept in this trinity as the closest connection to humanity. He lived among humans most of the time. The other two had contacted him because they all sensed something terrible was about to happen on Earth. The three were now watching as the terrible event unfolded in the pool before them. They watched as Zorro the defender of the key to Shambala fell to his knees in front of a madman and was killed. The Lady of the Lake dropped her head as she watched Ra's al Ghul remove the talisman from the corpse of Zorro.

  She turned to the other two and spoke, "Our champion has failed. Zorro is dead and that maniac now is in position of the key." Queztalcoatl responded, "Yeessssss and the apprentisss of Zorro is too young to pursssssue him." Doctor Fate voiced what the other two were thinking, "Our only option is to send forth he who can see into the hearts of men." The Lady of the Lake answered, "I concur we must send The Shadow after this man." Queztalcoatl said, "The time has come for The SSSShadow to atone for his past ssssinssss." The three watched as a small boy stood over of the body of the deceased Zorro. They then left the room.

  Lamont Cranston sat in a small room closed on all sides. He was recovering from his latest exposure to the Pit. The Pit was what gave the citizens of Shambala immortality. The Pit was meant for mystical creatures. It had a slightly different effect on humans. It would bring the human aging process almost to a halt and grant them an extraordinarily long life. The side effect was it would also drive any human exposed to it temporarily insane. Cranston had only hours ago recovered his sanity. During his time of mindlessness, he saw what he had done in his life as a man. He had been known as the warlord Ying ko. Ying ko had come to power in the Far East shortly after the First World War. He had slaughtered thousands to gain land, wealth, women, and he slaughtered some simply or pleasure. One day he was taken from his castle and brought before a monk who possessed great mystical power. Cranston did not know at the time that this monk was the current Dr. Fate. The monk told Cranston he had done much evil and he must atone for it. He told Cranston of Shambala and that Shambala was in need of a man to perform certain tasks for them. Cranston laughed and threatened the monk. The monk responded by using his powers to make Cranston feel all of the pain he had caused others. He felt what it was like to be tortured, violated, stricken with fear and sadness. The experience lasted only a second but it was more then Cranston could bear. He realized the error of his ways and agreed to the monk's terms. The monk would teach him how to cloud the minds of men so they could not see his body. The only thing Cranston would be unable to hide was the darkness in his heart. While he would not be seen by men his shadow would always remain visible in the light. For this reason he chose to call himself The Shadow.

  The people of Shambala were peaceful and had a strict code against performing violent acts. They had used humans to fight their battles for them before. The Shadow would do the same as others but in a different capacity. He would remain in Shambala kept young by the Pit. He would occasionally be sent to Earth on special assignment after one of the Earth bound agents had failed in their duty. The three members of the trinity came before him. They did not speak to him; they mystically planted the information he needed in his mind. He was to find the man known as Ra's al Ghul, kill him and retrieve the Talisman of Cortez from him. If he succeeded in his quest he was to find the young apprentice of the slain Zorro and train him to be the talisman's new protector. If he accomplished this he would be allowed to die with his soul cleansed of all the horrors he had wrought on others. There was no option of failure in his mission. If he did not apprehend Ra's al Ghul he was to stay on Earth and spend the rest of his life in pursuit of him. Without the life giving power of The Pit his body would begin to age and one day he would die. The Shadow knew that if he died without cleansing his soul, Hell was waiting for him. To him this was not a thought as it was to most people but a simple fact. Not only would he go to Hell, but Ra's al Ghul would conquer Shambala and bring Armageddon.