Meanwhile at... (1/2)

=The Hall of Doom, Two Years Ago=

 

Lex- The Justice League... The world calls them heroes. *Tut* They're a band-aid, here to ease our pain, relieve it, but never to cure it. And yet, does that stop the everyman from building statues, holding festivals, from building damn museums for them? No, they look to the skies, not a care in the world, holding onto false promises, the lie that Superman and his insipid allies will always be there to save the day, upholding outdated, naïve values. Truth, Justice, The American Way, straight out of a 1940s serial. Their promises and their lies have made our world complacent. Lazy. Mankind can't progress, it can't evolve, when there's a blue boyscout holding our hand every step of the way.

 

Bane- So you propose genocide?

 

Lex- A virus, yes. One that breaks the delusion that the Justice League has used to fool all the patriotic nobodies. The truth, one you, and I, have learnt long, long ago, is thus- you can only ever rely on yourself to truly move on. And the heroes? Some will, I admit, survive. It's unavoidable. But they'll have a hard time finding anyone that'll still trust them. The rest of our Society believes I mean to kill all life, leaving us the sole survivors, why, how else could I appeal to their megalomania? I could never be so wasteful. I only want to give mankind the chance to rewrite their destiny.

 

Bane- You do understand the hypocrisy, don't you? Your proposal shifts humanity's future in a way even Superman has not.

 

Lex- Of course I do. The difference is, Bane, I am human. I have a right to change our destinies.

 

===

 

Luthor was right. You can't rely on anyone but yourself. He may have learnt this lesson as a young boy, left at the mercy of his father, but I learnt it in Peña Duro, in my cell, struggling to breath as each night, the tide came in. The guards used to bet how long it would take before I would give up, and let the ocean swallow me. When I took Santa Prisca as my own, I repayed their hospitality. They died on the first night.

The Hall of Doom is all but abandoned now, masked by cloaking technology in a Louisiana Swamp. It was where I, Kuttler and Thawne made our stand against Luthor, before he teleported out. He may have wiped the computer banks, but there are still many secrets left here, unguarded. Secrets that I will need-Red sun emmiters, Kryptonite gauntlets, all assets Lex left behind in his escape, weapons he planned to use against Superman. My target? A Kryptonian of a different breed. It is time I get to work.

 

"We've found him. Shall I make the call?"

 

"No need, Kuttler."

 

It's a hypersonic emmitter. In five minutes time, the Moon will align itself with the Hall. In five minutes, he will hear my signal and, after another thirty seconds, he will land here, and he will demand to know which human dared to attack *him*. No Superman, no Supergirl. They are in deep space, tangled in a web of New Gods and Source Walls. That leaves just him, and I. The man, and the god.

 

===Arkham City===

 

"Honey, you-"

 

*Miranda slaps him cleanly across the face*

 

Drury- Ok, you do that again and I'll-

 

Miranda- Deathstroke, Drury? You went up against Deathstroke?

 

Drury- Hey, he came onto me. What's... What's up with Rigger?

 

*He gestures to Firebug, who's wrapped himself tightly around his waist, hugging him*

 

Miranda- He doesn't much like Batman.

 

Chancer- Heh. Who does.

 

*Batman walks past Sharpe, who breaks into an unconvincing fit of coughs and splutters. Bruce and Selina lock eyes for just a moment, but then, back to business*

 

Batman- Reardon, how many men do you have?

 

Ten- I- Uh- There's us, Charles... Needham, the painter- Dekker, maybe a dozen others...

 

Batman- Good. Good. I need you to gather as many people as you can, spread the word. "Arkham isn't safe-"

 

Chancer- No shit.

 

"Arkham isn't safe, you're getting out of here." Can you do that?

 

Ten- They... Batman, they won't listen to me.

 

Batman- Yes. Yes they will. Just have faith, Ten. Have faith. Take Rigger, Chancer. Go.

 

Ten- I- Yes, sir. Look after him, won't you?

 

"I will"

 

Ten salutes, nodding at Drury one last time, and then the trio departs.

 

Batman- That leaves you four. Gaige, you worked with Ra's. Can you tell us anything you might know, anything that can help?

 

Miranda- Only that he'll be at the end of his life span, needing a dunk in a pit, or else. That he'll... That he'll be more dangerous than ever.

 

Batman- And that's why he's here. He wants to heal himself and he wants you, Walker, to pay.

 

Miranda- But there *are* no Pits in Gotham. Not after Meagan blew the last one to hell

 

Batman- Not Lazarus Water, no, not that I know of. But Dionesium, yes. When I first investigated the Owls, I learnt that they'd been using the sewer systems... With the aid of your father. It led me to their lair. To their labyrinth... Once I escaped their torture, I returned with the League to find it empty. Not the first time they've made themselves "disappear." Far as I knew, they'd abandoned the site. But now? With everthing that's happened, and with everything Reardon's mentioned, it seems like they've returned to their nest.

 

Drury- So what, we just waltz in there, guns a- no wait, that isn't your thing.

 

Batman- Gaige, Wasp and I will go in, confront Ra's. Alone.

 

Drury- Oh, come on!

 

Batman- Look at yourself Walker. Deathstroke could've killed you. The Talons would have killed you. After Blackgate you can't even walk straight.

 

Drury- That's not fair, Bane broke your back, you were fine.

 

Batman- And for months, I sat at the sidelines, unable to do a damn thing-

 

Drury- That's what I'm saying- I don't want to be powerless, not anymore!

 

Batman- I'm not sending you down there so you can be killed, it's out of the question

 

Drury- And is that why *she's* not coming?

 

...

 

Selina- I can stand up for myself, Walker.

 

Drury- Or is it because she killed a man, because guess what-

 

Batman- Walker-

 

Miranda- Christ, Drury.

 

Drury- Because, look, yes she killed someone, but from what I know, she didn't have a choice

 

Batman- There's *always* a choice.

 

Drury- No. Not always. Sometimes you do all you can, but you still have to make those decisions. I know he was your friend once. But he was also Hush. He's the guy who cut out *her* fuckin' heart for godsake, and you're going to say she's wrong for shooting him? Love matters Bruce. It's what's kept me going that's for sure.

 

...

 

Batman- Life isn't always a fairytale Walker.

 

Miranda tries to pull Drury back, but she knows better... he's in the middle of a rant, very little can stop him once he gets started.

 

Drury- I know! Are you really going to tell me that, after everything that I've been through, what we've all been through? I understand more than you think.

 

Batman- No. No you don't.

 

Drury- I killed Garth ok? Jim Garth. The Blaze. I threw him out that window, ok?

 

Batman- Why are you-?

 

Drury- And Music Meister! That was me! Did I eat him alive? No. But I did cripple him so he couldn't run! And Carson. Ted Carson. I didn't mean to kill him the first time. But I watched as Charaxes dragged him away. And... And I smiled. I laughed. That's not even going into the cops I'd have killed back in the day. Cops with jobs. Families. They sure didn't vote for me. Blaze and Carson, they had kids... Getting that job at City Hall may have helped me out a ton, 'specially with empathy, but it didn't stop me killing. So if you're going to blame her for Hush, you have to blame me. For all of them. Like I have.

 

...

 

"I don't blame her. I blame myself."

 

Selina- Bruce, that's not your decision to make.

 

Bruce- But it is. I don't blame you... But I can't be Batman, I can't do my job, protect Gotham, if I'm not absolute in my convictions. I *can't* support murder, not even Hush, not even *him*, because if I am lax on just one thing... It's becomes a slippery slope, a dark path I am not able to come out of. And I've seen that path in action.

 

Selina- We're not talking about the Dark Knights, or the Crime Syndicate, and do you know why? Because they aren't you. They were never you. Because if they were, they never would've crossed the lines they have. That's Batman. Not your absolute conviction, your humanity.

 

*She puts her hands on his cowl, and she takes it off. He stands in the ruins of Arkham, unmasked for a minute. Then, he smiles. Faintly, before pulling his mask back on, not as Batman, but as Bruce Wayne*

 

...

 

Bruce- I just hope no one saw that. Let's go.

 

 

Done