Supremedalekdunn
The Dark Knight - Heir to the Demon #2
Two hours earlier…
Deep down, I always knew this day would come. The day when Batman would destroy Bruce Wayne. Part of me always hoped it would never come to be, at least no with Alfred still around. I always knew that it would break his heart. Hell, it even upsets me and I’ve spent the best part of my life loathing the damn place. But it’s for the greater good, and Alfred knows that. If that weren’t the case, he would have almost certainly fought to stop me.
”Are you alright beloved?”
”As good as can be expected.”
”You’re worried about what my father will do to your allies.”
”What if we run? If your father’s anger lies solely with me, surely if I leave Gotham he’ll abandon this assault and pursue us both?”
”Even if we did do that beloved, you know my father’s ways, and my father knows yours. If we did flee, he’d destroy Gotham simply to draw you back. We both know there’s no way you could just look away from all the destruction that was being in your name. My father always intended to destroy Gotham whether you fell to Damian’s blade or not.”
”All to make a statement. No-one betrays the Head of the Demon.”
”And to lay to rest the rumours of his ill health.”
”Are they genuine?”
”It’s not my place to….”
”Talia, I need to know everything about him if we’re to stand a chance. Please….. tell me.”
”My father has been slowly dying for almost two decades. The Lazarus pit sustains him, but his body is reaching the point at which it cannot survive without daily exposure to the pit.”
”The very thing that’s keeping him alive is slowly killing him. That’s why he’s spent all this time trying to find an heir, his time is running out.”
As I utter those words I notice a single tear drop down the left cheek of Talia’s face. Her statement is genuine. Ra’s is running out of time. That’s why he’s choosing to act now. Damian’s place in the League is uncertain thanks to my desertion, so to demonstrate his rite to the title of Heir to the Demon, Ra’s intends for him to slay the one person he has been unable to.
Bruce Wayne.
Batman and Gotham are merely collateral damage in all of this.
Despite my best attempts to excuse all this, reality is hard to ignore. This is all my doing, what comes next is the result of my actions. It’s all down to me as to what those actions become. The only consolation to all this is that this fight will not be my own. No matter how much I wish it were.
With that thought racing through my head, I take a moment to wipe away the tear on Talia’s cheek in the hopes of cheering her up. She knows deep down that there’s realistically only one way this will end.
She’ll lose either her father or me.
Assuming Jason makes it to Gotham with the Lucifer in time that is. Otherwise, poor health or not, Ra’s will ultimately triumph. Even with my above normal physical endurance, it would only be a matter of time until I made one fatal error, and that’s all Ra’s would need.
”Hey. Everything’s going to be alright.”
”We both know that’s not true, Bruce. Like it or not chances are someone from my family isn’t walking away from this.”
”Not if I can help it.”
”If you don’t kill my father he’ll just bath in the pit´s waters once more and continue this crusade against you. Whether you like it or not, there’s only one way to end this.”
”I won’t kill him Talia, even after all he’s done to us.”
”You have no choice, Bruce. Even if you do somehow manage to miraculously defeat him without taking his life, unless you let him bath in the pit he’s going to die. And when you do, he’ll fight you again, and again, and again. Until one of you breaks the cycle. Like it or not, either you’re going to kill him, or your morality is going to kill you.”
I take a moment to pause and consider Talia’s words. They’re of course correct. It’s almost impossible for me to claim that I wouldn’t expose Ra’s to Lazarus if I were fortunate enough to take him prisoner. After all, choosing not to save someone is just the same as killing them yourself. That’s why to this day I still believe that Batman killed Harvey Dent. I chose to save his daughter, but not him. My own actions were the reason for Two-Face terrorising Gotham.
Whether we like it or not, all our actions have consequences. It’s merely a case of deciding which ones we can live with.
As Talia and I enter the house’s basement, I take a moment to inspect the fake wall my father had built long before I was brought into this world. My mind always wondered what his reason for building this wall was. Did he have a sordid affair that he chose to hide from the world? Was he a black-market dealer? Or did he just simply crave an area dedicated only to himself.
I may never know the answer as to why the wall was built, but it has proven to useful at times. On the day of my parents’ funeral, I came here to hide from Alfred intending to take my own life. Fortunately, I was never very good at hiding from Alfred. At least, not as Bruce Wayne. Since then, the room has become a hidden storage of sorts. My contingency in case I needed to destroy Bruce Wayne but protect Batman.
As I push the wall back to reveal the concealed entrance, I lay my eyes on the four gasoline cans that have been there since I first put the cowl on. A primitive method of erasing evidence, but that was the point. A well organised explosion would arouse suspicion, imply that something was being concealed. But a setup like this? You’d have to be Batman to know that it was a rouse.
Whilst I begin to carry two of the canisters out of the room and towards the front entrance of the house, Talia takes a moment to glance inside the room.
”Why is everything in here broken?”
”It’s a reminder.”
”A reminder of what?”
”Of the pain I felt that night. And a reminder of my promise. That no other child should have to feel that pain.”
”You came here that night?”
”I came here most nights after Crime Alley. It wasn’t until the day of their funeral that I decided to stop coming here.”
”That was the day you considered taking your life.”
”You see that rifle? I stole that from its mounting in the hallway and ran here with the intent on taking my life.”
Talia appears surprised that I would admit to that so easily, then again most people are always so hesitant about admitting to suicidal thoughts. Most people these days use it more as a joke than actually committing to the act itself.
”What stopped you?”
”It jammed.”
”Bruce….”
”Alfred stopped me. He reminded me that they gave their lives to save mine. To throw my life away as well would have been the ultimate betrayal. I owed them so much more.”
Without a moment’s pause, Talia picks up the other two canisters and begins to follow behind me. She says nothing, but she doesn’t have to say anything at all. Her actions speak volumes.
”How do you plan to detonate these?”
”A small breaching charge from my belt will suffice. We’ll put them in the front entrance of the house, that way most of Gotham should be able to see the explosion.”
”What then?”
”Well first, we give them a warning. Then we’ll use this as the proof.”
”A warning? From who? Batman?”
”No. From Ra’s Al-Ghul.”
The Dark Knight - Heir to the Demon #2
Two hours earlier…
Deep down, I always knew this day would come. The day when Batman would destroy Bruce Wayne. Part of me always hoped it would never come to be, at least no with Alfred still around. I always knew that it would break his heart. Hell, it even upsets me and I’ve spent the best part of my life loathing the damn place. But it’s for the greater good, and Alfred knows that. If that weren’t the case, he would have almost certainly fought to stop me.
”Are you alright beloved?”
”As good as can be expected.”
”You’re worried about what my father will do to your allies.”
”What if we run? If your father’s anger lies solely with me, surely if I leave Gotham he’ll abandon this assault and pursue us both?”
”Even if we did do that beloved, you know my father’s ways, and my father knows yours. If we did flee, he’d destroy Gotham simply to draw you back. We both know there’s no way you could just look away from all the destruction that was being in your name. My father always intended to destroy Gotham whether you fell to Damian’s blade or not.”
”All to make a statement. No-one betrays the Head of the Demon.”
”And to lay to rest the rumours of his ill health.”
”Are they genuine?”
”It’s not my place to….”
”Talia, I need to know everything about him if we’re to stand a chance. Please….. tell me.”
”My father has been slowly dying for almost two decades. The Lazarus pit sustains him, but his body is reaching the point at which it cannot survive without daily exposure to the pit.”
”The very thing that’s keeping him alive is slowly killing him. That’s why he’s spent all this time trying to find an heir, his time is running out.”
As I utter those words I notice a single tear drop down the left cheek of Talia’s face. Her statement is genuine. Ra’s is running out of time. That’s why he’s choosing to act now. Damian’s place in the League is uncertain thanks to my desertion, so to demonstrate his rite to the title of Heir to the Demon, Ra’s intends for him to slay the one person he has been unable to.
Bruce Wayne.
Batman and Gotham are merely collateral damage in all of this.
Despite my best attempts to excuse all this, reality is hard to ignore. This is all my doing, what comes next is the result of my actions. It’s all down to me as to what those actions become. The only consolation to all this is that this fight will not be my own. No matter how much I wish it were.
With that thought racing through my head, I take a moment to wipe away the tear on Talia’s cheek in the hopes of cheering her up. She knows deep down that there’s realistically only one way this will end.
She’ll lose either her father or me.
Assuming Jason makes it to Gotham with the Lucifer in time that is. Otherwise, poor health or not, Ra’s will ultimately triumph. Even with my above normal physical endurance, it would only be a matter of time until I made one fatal error, and that’s all Ra’s would need.
”Hey. Everything’s going to be alright.”
”We both know that’s not true, Bruce. Like it or not chances are someone from my family isn’t walking away from this.”
”Not if I can help it.”
”If you don’t kill my father he’ll just bath in the pit´s waters once more and continue this crusade against you. Whether you like it or not, there’s only one way to end this.”
”I won’t kill him Talia, even after all he’s done to us.”
”You have no choice, Bruce. Even if you do somehow manage to miraculously defeat him without taking his life, unless you let him bath in the pit he’s going to die. And when you do, he’ll fight you again, and again, and again. Until one of you breaks the cycle. Like it or not, either you’re going to kill him, or your morality is going to kill you.”
I take a moment to pause and consider Talia’s words. They’re of course correct. It’s almost impossible for me to claim that I wouldn’t expose Ra’s to Lazarus if I were fortunate enough to take him prisoner. After all, choosing not to save someone is just the same as killing them yourself. That’s why to this day I still believe that Batman killed Harvey Dent. I chose to save his daughter, but not him. My own actions were the reason for Two-Face terrorising Gotham.
Whether we like it or not, all our actions have consequences. It’s merely a case of deciding which ones we can live with.
As Talia and I enter the house’s basement, I take a moment to inspect the fake wall my father had built long before I was brought into this world. My mind always wondered what his reason for building this wall was. Did he have a sordid affair that he chose to hide from the world? Was he a black-market dealer? Or did he just simply crave an area dedicated only to himself.
I may never know the answer as to why the wall was built, but it has proven to useful at times. On the day of my parents’ funeral, I came here to hide from Alfred intending to take my own life. Fortunately, I was never very good at hiding from Alfred. At least, not as Bruce Wayne. Since then, the room has become a hidden storage of sorts. My contingency in case I needed to destroy Bruce Wayne but protect Batman.
As I push the wall back to reveal the concealed entrance, I lay my eyes on the four gasoline cans that have been there since I first put the cowl on. A primitive method of erasing evidence, but that was the point. A well organised explosion would arouse suspicion, imply that something was being concealed. But a setup like this? You’d have to be Batman to know that it was a rouse.
Whilst I begin to carry two of the canisters out of the room and towards the front entrance of the house, Talia takes a moment to glance inside the room.
”Why is everything in here broken?”
”It’s a reminder.”
”A reminder of what?”
”Of the pain I felt that night. And a reminder of my promise. That no other child should have to feel that pain.”
”You came here that night?”
”I came here most nights after Crime Alley. It wasn’t until the day of their funeral that I decided to stop coming here.”
”That was the day you considered taking your life.”
”You see that rifle? I stole that from its mounting in the hallway and ran here with the intent on taking my life.”
Talia appears surprised that I would admit to that so easily, then again most people are always so hesitant about admitting to suicidal thoughts. Most people these days use it more as a joke than actually committing to the act itself.
”What stopped you?”
”It jammed.”
”Bruce….”
”Alfred stopped me. He reminded me that they gave their lives to save mine. To throw my life away as well would have been the ultimate betrayal. I owed them so much more.”
Without a moment’s pause, Talia picks up the other two canisters and begins to follow behind me. She says nothing, but she doesn’t have to say anything at all. Her actions speak volumes.
”How do you plan to detonate these?”
”A small breaching charge from my belt will suffice. We’ll put them in the front entrance of the house, that way most of Gotham should be able to see the explosion.”
”What then?”
”Well first, we give them a warning. Then we’ll use this as the proof.”
”A warning? From who? Batman?”
”No. From Ra’s Al-Ghul.”