(((JOE)))
DCU: The Batman #4: sign of the zodiac 5/5 (final issue)
On board the dangerously unsteady airliner, a falsely triumphant zodiac hops about the plane taunting passengers as he kicks the bats in moving body. Bruce does not move a muscle in response to this but after making the correct calculations clings on to Jeremy’s swiftly moving leg as it swings back to deliver another pointless blow. He then pulls him to the ground sending a blow of his own into Jeremy’s face allowing a minor nosebleed to trickle down the zodiacs crooked nose
Jeremy: how...*spitt* is this possible. You bled batman....oh fake huh? That’s clever. That is very very clever. I will use that somewhere in the near future. Probably. But not now because right now. Right this moment, I have to kill you mr batman....again....now, how do y...
Before Jeremy finishes what might be his last of many many monologue, Bruce lands a blue to his stomach causing him to let yet more blood spurt violently from his flaming nostrils
He then begins to quickly tred backwards leading Bruce to the back door of the sky high airliner. With a few gunshots and a heavy kick, the door swings right open. Jeremy lifts yet another gun to Bruce’s face and as he straps himself into a parachute he says the words: damnit! You bought one too that’s cheating
He then jumps from the plane and Bruce follows, using his wings to glide slightly. For what seems like hours, they battle the wind staring each other in the eyes as they drop down side by side. Knowing what’s best for him, Jeremy gives in and pulls his parachute. It doesn’t work. He pulls it again
In seconds he will be dead if he can’t get it working. Bruce can’t let this happen so reluctantly takes hold of Jerry’s frantically swinging arm and after pulling the toggle of his own parachute takes them both down to the nearest plot of dry land, a small desolate island which lies in the river between Gotham and metropolis.
The minute they land Jerry sends an angered fist into the bats jaw and makes a run for it. Gun tightly held in his palms, he rolls carelessly to the bottom of a small but steep hillside and quickly, Bruce follows
They now stand roughly ten meters apart but on level ground
Jeremy lifts his gun to Bruce’s face, looks about them and then grins
Jeremy: oh I know where we are...how fitting. Do you? No didn’t think so. Roughly 50 odd years back these plagued grounds were home to a band of neo Nazi pagan cultists. Yeah crazy right. Here in Gotham. And y’see this was where they liked to perform what you or I might call sacrifice! And it was those who weren’t pure that...got it! They were wiped from the very face of the earth! Now I’m no Nazi, you know that...but I am here to wipe the impure from the face of the earth... and that’s why this a very very very fitting setting for your execution mr. batman
Bruce: Jeremy. This is where it ends. You failed. Drop the gun and turn yourself in.
Jeremy: mr batman! You disappoint me! I’m aware we’ve only known each other for the best of ten minutes, but I think that you should know by this point, that I’m not going to prison. That’s that amigo! and even if I do, I’ll soon leave. Wether it be in body bag or not!...now how about a fight to the death? Yeah? How’s that sound you dirty winged bastard...
———————————————————
Gotham airport
Jim Gordon arrives at the airport to find exactly what he expected but dreaded.
A dead cops body and a shivering middle aged man who he had once thought to be the culprit behind the airplane plot
The man trembles as he speaks: it...it wasn’t me...I swear
Jim Gordon: Jeremy....not so long ago you admitted to hijacking a plane...you were a hell of a lot different then. You’ve changed your tune to say the least
The man: I’m not Jeremy...I never was...but he did this! I swear he did!
Jim Gordon: what’s your name if not Jerry?
The man: Irving...Irving Norbert
Jim Gordon: you were under the name Jeremy Seinfeld on our database
Irving: he lied! Jeremy did. Messed with the birth certificates. Messed with me. My brain. I don’t know how but He did for something like 48 hours I wasn’t me. Completely gone. I became him, I was just here to waste your time and eventually-it makes me sick to my stomach- kill whoever I needed to and it was this man-In cold blood-and I don’t even know why? Or how? If I did, I’d say...
Gordon: I can’t say you won’t do time Irving, but there’s a chance it won’t be much if you can tell us everything you know about Jerry back at the station. You’ll get your head checked out too to be sure you’re yourself again and to see what Jerry did...if he did anything that is
Gordon takes out a pair of cuffs and chucks them into Irving’s quivering hands
Irving: you’ve got to be kidding?
Gordon: nah. I’m just being safe. Put em on.
———————————————————
A few hours later on the desolate island, Jeremy has made his escape from Bruce who scales every crack in the island to find him.
Diary of the zodiac master
“I’m writing this final entry as I’m living it. Hidden away in a mere crevice on the island with a bat on my back, i wonder wether anyone can save my soul now. Wether it’ll be the stars or some darker presence, I don’t know. But it doesn’t really matter because I don’t believe in any of that fairytale crap anyway. Never did, never will”
Bruce refusing to reveal himself, calls out from the shadows: Jeremy? You write at a time like this?
Jeremy: merely documenting this precious moment for the generations ahead. And a precious moment it is too mr.batman. Along side all the other deaths you’ve seen no doubt. Blackfire....punch...and Tensil. That’s everyone so far right? Yeah I’ve been following your career. Though I mean who hasn’t?! You’re the goddamn batman after all.
Bruce: Jeremy...
Jeremy: NO! Don’t Jeremy me... I have something important to say, let me say it. Got that?....Good...But that always was your problem mr.batman wasn’t it? You never were one for patience? Nah. No subtlety either. Especially what with that pointy eared fancy dress hat of yours. Not subtle at all. Now I know what you’re thinking, “what does this man, have against me, mr batman? I thought I was perfect?”...well you’re not perfect little batboy!! Are ya?! No you are not. Not one bit. Look...we both want the same thing...to cleanse the streets of...well...scum. Let’s be honest that’s what they are. The beggars, the thieves, prostitutes and the like. All of them scum. The hippies too and the greasers, the rockers, the mods and the goths. The punks, the emos, New Romantics?! Whatever they are. They’re scum. They dirty the streets with their fads and trends. Stupid clothes and stupid drugs. But the details don’t matter. All that matters is we both wanna rid the city of their leechy type. You just don’t know how to do it properly and that’s where we disagree!
Bruce: said it once, I’ll say it again
He then lurches from the shadows, disarming Jeremy and getting him in a headlock
Bruce: you talk too much
Jeremy: you don’t talk eno....argh!! Fine fine... I’m not gonna resist
Batman: what is this app for Jeremy. All this death for what? To clean up Gotham. There’s more
Jeremy: no mr bat there isn’t. There never really is. Well dig and dig to find a cause for somebodies problems. We act as though we care as if we worry. But it’s all just a simple lie. We do this for one reason batman, a selfish reason too, and that’s to hide from the truth. The hard, cold truth. It’s all our fault and the only solution is to stop hiding like the rats, or bats, that we all are when you peel away the flesh and find a solution. Years on years of gotham scum drove me outta town and what did I find? Just a different breed of scum. So what did I do? I took my own advice. I stopped hiding. I found a solution! A brutal one albeit. But what must be done, must be done...
Bruce then lifts him up, cuffing him and attempts to contact Alfred with his damaged comm
As he does this however, Jeremy strategically plucks a batarang from Bruce’s belt and kicks away from him
Bruce knows what he has planned and dashes towards Jeremy but it’s too late. Jeremy lifts the batarang to his own chest and....
Bruce: no Jeremy. You don’t want to do this. Just put it down and come with me
Jeremy: f*ck that...
...he thrusts it into his chest and allows himself to roll like a rag doll down past the rocks and into a nearby stream
Bruce, knowing the batarang is blunt enough for Jeremy to have a chance of life, jumps down to where Jeremy is and pulls him up from the cold stream, hurling him over his shoulder with the intention of carrying him all the way to Gotham general if that’s what he must do...
END
DCU: The Batman #4: sign of the zodiac 5/5 (final issue)
On board the dangerously unsteady airliner, a falsely triumphant zodiac hops about the plane taunting passengers as he kicks the bats in moving body. Bruce does not move a muscle in response to this but after making the correct calculations clings on to Jeremy’s swiftly moving leg as it swings back to deliver another pointless blow. He then pulls him to the ground sending a blow of his own into Jeremy’s face allowing a minor nosebleed to trickle down the zodiacs crooked nose
Jeremy: how...*spitt* is this possible. You bled batman....oh fake huh? That’s clever. That is very very clever. I will use that somewhere in the near future. Probably. But not now because right now. Right this moment, I have to kill you mr batman....again....now, how do y...
Before Jeremy finishes what might be his last of many many monologue, Bruce lands a blue to his stomach causing him to let yet more blood spurt violently from his flaming nostrils
He then begins to quickly tred backwards leading Bruce to the back door of the sky high airliner. With a few gunshots and a heavy kick, the door swings right open. Jeremy lifts yet another gun to Bruce’s face and as he straps himself into a parachute he says the words: damnit! You bought one too that’s cheating
He then jumps from the plane and Bruce follows, using his wings to glide slightly. For what seems like hours, they battle the wind staring each other in the eyes as they drop down side by side. Knowing what’s best for him, Jeremy gives in and pulls his parachute. It doesn’t work. He pulls it again
In seconds he will be dead if he can’t get it working. Bruce can’t let this happen so reluctantly takes hold of Jerry’s frantically swinging arm and after pulling the toggle of his own parachute takes them both down to the nearest plot of dry land, a small desolate island which lies in the river between Gotham and metropolis.
The minute they land Jerry sends an angered fist into the bats jaw and makes a run for it. Gun tightly held in his palms, he rolls carelessly to the bottom of a small but steep hillside and quickly, Bruce follows
They now stand roughly ten meters apart but on level ground
Jeremy lifts his gun to Bruce’s face, looks about them and then grins
Jeremy: oh I know where we are...how fitting. Do you? No didn’t think so. Roughly 50 odd years back these plagued grounds were home to a band of neo Nazi pagan cultists. Yeah crazy right. Here in Gotham. And y’see this was where they liked to perform what you or I might call sacrifice! And it was those who weren’t pure that...got it! They were wiped from the very face of the earth! Now I’m no Nazi, you know that...but I am here to wipe the impure from the face of the earth... and that’s why this a very very very fitting setting for your execution mr. batman
Bruce: Jeremy. This is where it ends. You failed. Drop the gun and turn yourself in.
Jeremy: mr batman! You disappoint me! I’m aware we’ve only known each other for the best of ten minutes, but I think that you should know by this point, that I’m not going to prison. That’s that amigo! and even if I do, I’ll soon leave. Wether it be in body bag or not!...now how about a fight to the death? Yeah? How’s that sound you dirty winged bastard...
———————————————————
Gotham airport
Jim Gordon arrives at the airport to find exactly what he expected but dreaded.
A dead cops body and a shivering middle aged man who he had once thought to be the culprit behind the airplane plot
The man trembles as he speaks: it...it wasn’t me...I swear
Jim Gordon: Jeremy....not so long ago you admitted to hijacking a plane...you were a hell of a lot different then. You’ve changed your tune to say the least
The man: I’m not Jeremy...I never was...but he did this! I swear he did!
Jim Gordon: what’s your name if not Jerry?
The man: Irving...Irving Norbert
Jim Gordon: you were under the name Jeremy Seinfeld on our database
Irving: he lied! Jeremy did. Messed with the birth certificates. Messed with me. My brain. I don’t know how but He did for something like 48 hours I wasn’t me. Completely gone. I became him, I was just here to waste your time and eventually-it makes me sick to my stomach- kill whoever I needed to and it was this man-In cold blood-and I don’t even know why? Or how? If I did, I’d say...
Gordon: I can’t say you won’t do time Irving, but there’s a chance it won’t be much if you can tell us everything you know about Jerry back at the station. You’ll get your head checked out too to be sure you’re yourself again and to see what Jerry did...if he did anything that is
Gordon takes out a pair of cuffs and chucks them into Irving’s quivering hands
Irving: you’ve got to be kidding?
Gordon: nah. I’m just being safe. Put em on.
———————————————————
A few hours later on the desolate island, Jeremy has made his escape from Bruce who scales every crack in the island to find him.
Diary of the zodiac master
“I’m writing this final entry as I’m living it. Hidden away in a mere crevice on the island with a bat on my back, i wonder wether anyone can save my soul now. Wether it’ll be the stars or some darker presence, I don’t know. But it doesn’t really matter because I don’t believe in any of that fairytale crap anyway. Never did, never will”
Bruce refusing to reveal himself, calls out from the shadows: Jeremy? You write at a time like this?
Jeremy: merely documenting this precious moment for the generations ahead. And a precious moment it is too mr.batman. Along side all the other deaths you’ve seen no doubt. Blackfire....punch...and Tensil. That’s everyone so far right? Yeah I’ve been following your career. Though I mean who hasn’t?! You’re the goddamn batman after all.
Bruce: Jeremy...
Jeremy: NO! Don’t Jeremy me... I have something important to say, let me say it. Got that?....Good...But that always was your problem mr.batman wasn’t it? You never were one for patience? Nah. No subtlety either. Especially what with that pointy eared fancy dress hat of yours. Not subtle at all. Now I know what you’re thinking, “what does this man, have against me, mr batman? I thought I was perfect?”...well you’re not perfect little batboy!! Are ya?! No you are not. Not one bit. Look...we both want the same thing...to cleanse the streets of...well...scum. Let’s be honest that’s what they are. The beggars, the thieves, prostitutes and the like. All of them scum. The hippies too and the greasers, the rockers, the mods and the goths. The punks, the emos, New Romantics?! Whatever they are. They’re scum. They dirty the streets with their fads and trends. Stupid clothes and stupid drugs. But the details don’t matter. All that matters is we both wanna rid the city of their leechy type. You just don’t know how to do it properly and that’s where we disagree!
Bruce: said it once, I’ll say it again
He then lurches from the shadows, disarming Jeremy and getting him in a headlock
Bruce: you talk too much
Jeremy: you don’t talk eno....argh!! Fine fine... I’m not gonna resist
Batman: what is this app for Jeremy. All this death for what? To clean up Gotham. There’s more
Jeremy: no mr bat there isn’t. There never really is. Well dig and dig to find a cause for somebodies problems. We act as though we care as if we worry. But it’s all just a simple lie. We do this for one reason batman, a selfish reason too, and that’s to hide from the truth. The hard, cold truth. It’s all our fault and the only solution is to stop hiding like the rats, or bats, that we all are when you peel away the flesh and find a solution. Years on years of gotham scum drove me outta town and what did I find? Just a different breed of scum. So what did I do? I took my own advice. I stopped hiding. I found a solution! A brutal one albeit. But what must be done, must be done...
Bruce then lifts him up, cuffing him and attempts to contact Alfred with his damaged comm
As he does this however, Jeremy strategically plucks a batarang from Bruce’s belt and kicks away from him
Bruce knows what he has planned and dashes towards Jeremy but it’s too late. Jeremy lifts the batarang to his own chest and....
Bruce: no Jeremy. You don’t want to do this. Just put it down and come with me
Jeremy: f*ck that...
...he thrusts it into his chest and allows himself to roll like a rag doll down past the rocks and into a nearby stream
Bruce, knowing the batarang is blunt enough for Jeremy to have a chance of life, jumps down to where Jeremy is and pulls him up from the cold stream, hurling him over his shoulder with the intention of carrying him all the way to Gotham general if that’s what he must do...
END