==Van Cleer Manor. Morning==

 

Miranda- Ok, sweetie, that's me off to the office now.

 

Drury- Oh, don't worry, don't worry, I'll drive you. Gotta drop off Cammy at the Pre-School anyway! Look at you! Look how big you're getting!

 

*Drury scoops up his youngest, and the doting parents kiss him*

 

Miranda- Aren't you mommy's special guy?

 

Cammy- Look! Look!

 

*He proudly presents Miranda with a crayon drawing of the family*

 

Miranda- Oh Drury look what he drew! Aren't you talented?

 

Cammy- It's mommy and daddy, and Simon and Kitten and Axel and me!

 

Drury- Oh! And is that a little Moth costume you're wearing?

 

*Gaige strolls in, a copy of the Gotham Gazette in one hand, a mug of Irish coffee in the other*

 

Gaige- Statistically, kid sidekicks don't have the most illustrious careers.

 

Miranda- Yeah, tell the kid that dad.

 

Drury- Don't listen to pip-pop, you can be our Robin if you want! Is that what you want?

 

Cammy- Yay!

 

Drury- Then let's get into the Mothmobile and do some cri- Let's get into the Mothmobile and stop some crime!

 

*Drury and Miranda leave the lounge with their son in their arms, passing a very tired looking Simon as they leave*

 

Drury- Say did Gar say when he'd be back?

 

Miranda- He'll be back soon! Don't worry!

 

Drury- I'm just saying, Mick's a bad influence!

 

Miranda- Mick's the bad influence?! Look, I'm sure he misses you too, let's go.

 

Drury- Right behind you!

 

==Arkham Asylum- Now==

 

Jim and I have been talking. About the Arkham City redevelopment scheme. Neither of us exactly think it's a good idea, but when the alternative is the asylum, it's hard to argue against it. The best term to describe the asylum is a "revolving door" for the worst killers and madmen around. I'm not the first person to call it that- most of the inmates would certainly agree. I keep hoping that one day, one day Jeremiah Arkham will finally do his job and help these people. Contrary to what some at the GCPD believe, I don't enjoy beating up the mentally ill. Yet, with Strange reinstated, I can't help feel that there's a reason behind these more frequent riots. Grange is mayor now, and despite Selina's protests, I'm of the mind Walker deserved a second chance. Though I'll never admit it, I voted for him, and despite his occasional recklessness, I believe that he truly wants what's best for Gotham. Grange meanwhile, is an old school mayor. Graduated Harvard same year as Harvey did. I can only hope she learned something from Walker's administration. The so-called Son's of Scarecrow have seized control of the Asylum- kids who worship Crane as an idol, a saviour even, for his role in the Society's chemical attack last year. They're young, but dangerous, and their delusions are going to get people killed. I have to get to Crane before they do.

 

Batman- How many escapees?

 

Captain- Ten, fifteen, at most. Opportunists mostly, none of the big players- those radicals only want Scarecrow. They're holed up in the Pacification Chamber. Six hostages, including Doctor Arkham. We haven't had a good look, but it seems they found some of Crane's old formulas?

 

Batman- Arkham didn't destroy them?

 

*No. Of *course* he didn't*

 

Captain- Huh. I guess not. You'll be careful right?

 

Batman- Yes, captain. I'll get those hostages out safely, and put an end to this.

 

==Van Cleer Manor. Morning==

*Simon sits down beside Gaige in the kitchen. Tiger Shark mutters words to the effect of "Y'know, there are plenty of other chairs here"*

 

Simon- Hey, could you pass the orange juice?

 

Gaige- Oh yeah. Sure.

 

...

 

Simon- Just the two of us?

 

Gaige- Just me actually. Go buy yourself a beer.

 

*He throws $20 Simon's way, in an obvious attempt to make him leave. Not aware that Simon was under age, or that it was eight in the morning*

 

...

 

Simon- So mom's got an office job?

 

Gaige- You're still here?

 

Simon- How long has that been going on?

 

Gaige- A few months. Needed to step up didn't she? Walker in prison, you striking out. That new bint's in office too now, so your old man ain't getting his job back anytime soon. She's smart. She's got herself a good job mind.

 

*Simon wanted to desperately change the subject*

 

Simon- Yeah, I'm sorry. About everything

 

Gaige- What're you apologising to me for? I wasn't the one crying.

 

*Simon nods, then very suddenly grabbing and hugging Gaige who immediately grabs a knife out of habit*

 

Gaige- Are we hugging now? Is that a thing?

 

Simon- I just... missed you.

 

Gaige- And a good morning to you too

 

==Arkham. Now==

 

*The one in the middle is Thomas Shift. A paranoid schizophrenic. I can't say that Scarecrow's gas helped him out much, it made him even more of a wreck, but even worse, now he thinks he has a purpose*

 

Shift- You non-believers will pay for your insubordination! You will be enlightened, as we have, in the name of our lord. Praise be the Scarecrow!

 

Sons- Praise be the Scarecrow!

 

Shift- *Doctor* Arkham, where is he? Where is the master- you said you'd arrange everything!

 

Arkham- I *said* we could talk this out, Thomas. Now, let me out of this ridiculous device and perhaps we could sti-

 

Shift- No! No! You said you would bring us Scarecrow! Where is Scarecrow!

 

Arkham- We keep him underground. Let me go, and I'll-

 

Shift- Kill me?! Is that what you were going to say? Is it?

 

No, you-

 

*Crane's held in "The Hole"- at Strange's request. One of the most remote cells on the island, second only to Bolton's (who can't be kept in a regular cell, he knows just about every lock out there). They used to keep Joker there, before deciding, in the wake of the City of Fear incident, that Crane was the bigger threat. It requires three different eye scans to get in and out, and food is sent in through chutes, not unlike the system in place for Croc. It also violates several human rights- something I'll have to talk to Arkham about. But the Sons don't know that or even care, and they'll start executing hostages if I don't interfere. Now. A well placed batarang will cut the wires attached to Arkham. A smoke pellet will distract them while I take down Shift. Their screaming deafens the sounds of my punching, as I take them down hard and fast. The main threat dealt with, I can head to maximum security and check on Crane. Or that was the idea until I heard the sirens go off*

 

Tannoy- Alert. Alert. Metahuman dampeners offline. Extreme Incarceration on lockdown. May all staff evacuate to the upper floors.

 

*Seems like someone wants to keep me busy. Sorry Selina, I can't risk Grundy or Phosphorus getting out tonight, or even- A guard, Michaels, slides through the closing doors towards me. Strange, that opening seemed too small*

 

Michaels- Batman, you got to help me, Ivy just shot up through the floor, Freeze just burst through that wall- all the metas are running loose!

 

Batman- Stay calm officer I-

 

*The next thing I know, "Michaels" knocks me down the hallway*

 

Michaels- There's a sucker born every minute huh Bats?

 

Batman- Hagen.

 

*Michaels laughs, then morphs his body back into that of Matt Hagen- The second Clayface. The star of a reality TV show who fell into a pool of protoplasm filming his last survival show. The same chemicals Daggett had been using in his illegal Renew-U formula for years. Karlo was fueled by rage after his accident. Hagen just saw a quicker route to fame*

 

Hagen- I'm getting better, ain't I? Admit it, I had you fooled.

 

Batman- Michaels has green eyes Hagen.

 

Hagen- Well, y'know showbiz, it's a constant learning process!

 

*A mallet. It's always a mallet. And yet, I still think something's off. Hagen has never been one to stay behind. He's stalling for something- or someone. A lead pipe answers my question. The cowl takes the brunt of the force but I'm still disoriented. And then he comes in, while I'm stunned. He's a good fighter, good enough to take me on while I'm this at least. It's like he knows the moves I'm going to make. Wrath? Prometheus? Could it be Strange, even? Before I lose consciousness I look back up to see my own face staring back at me.*

 

Bruce- Tommy.

 

Hush- Hush, Batman. Hush. Now prep the cell. Time he had a taste of his own medicine

For anyone who didn’t know, yesterday, the first teaser trailer for The Batman was released at DC Fandome. For a movie that had barely started filming, it was awesome to see. Here’s the trailer: youtu.be/-FZ-pPFAjYY. If you don’t want spoilers, you should leave.

 

L-R:

James Gordon - Falcon hair, GCPD officer head, TLBM CMF Jim Gordon torso

The Riddler - Black hood, custom trench coat, knockoff duck tape

The Batman - Ocean Master head, Night Monkey legs

Catwoman - Catwoman mask, Michelle Jones head, Black Panther torso

The Penguin - Bruce Wayne hair, Bifur’s head, Spider-Man Noir outfit, black umbrella

 

So now I’m going to talk about the trailer and what I could fix about the figs.

James Gordon - In the trailer, he wears pretty plain clothing but this worked so I went for it! The old Lando head from Star Wars would have worked better but I don’t have that. The hair would be pretty good too but I think that if Lego made the old man hairpiece in reddish-brown and black that would be perfect

The Ridder - During the trailer, we only see the Riddler once or twice and he’s where if some kind of disguise the whole time so we never see his face. He wears bandages and glasses similar to the Invisible Man and a dark green jacket. Rey’s hood from Star Wars would be pretty good but I feel that it’s too bright for him. I also don’t have that

The Batman - This is probably the one that I’m most proud of out of this showcase. The batsuit in this movie feels much more mechanical and it’s very different from past suits. I love the design but the helmet is a bit oddly shaped. I might consider shaving mine down to have the same shape as the one in the trailer. The Ocean Master head works well because while we didn’t see his eyes glow in this trailer, we have seen it before and it looks awesome. The torso could probably be better as the suit doesn’t have any gold in it but this was the best I had.

Catwoman - We don’t see much of Selina in the trailer either! What we do see is her with a very different mask that looks like a hat pulled over her face with eye holes cut out. Nothing else on her outfit is shown though. If there was a face print that matched her mask I would use that with Black Panther ears. But there isn’t a face print like that so I worked with what I had.

The Penguin - This Penguin is before Ozzy became a sophisticated crime lord and was more of a creep. I considered using the old man hair again because he’s balding but I decided on this instead. The Hobbit dwarf head worked because it looked very brutish and it had scars and deformities on it, just like we see in the teaser. We again, don’t see his outfit other than his face so I just gave him some generic black clothes.

 

So all in all, I am VERY excited for this movie to come out! The action seems solid, Riddler is the main villain, the GCPD is actually doing something for once, and oh my god Colin Farrell disappeared under the prosthetics. This is gonna be awesome. See you guys later

As Lucius presses ahead attempting to synthesize Lucifer on a large scale so that we can weaponize it, I decide to make some last minute preparations to the Batwing. Given how I intend for Alfred to make us of it as his way of monitoring all of us, it can’t help to be certain that all the systems are prime condition. The last thing I want is to put Alfred in more unnecessary danger, especially given how willing Ra’s will be to use him against me.

 

Still no alarm from the Batcave’s security system yet, which is surprising. If Ra’s is going to make his move in a couple of hours, I would have anticipated that he would have attempted to liberate Damian from the cave by now. If anything, that’s even more worrying. As it means he’ll likely have something planned in order to divert my attention away from the cave whilst he moves to free Damian.

 

That is of course assuming that he knows where I’m holding Damian. But if I know Ra’s as well as I claim to, he’ll have known I had imprisoned Damian in the cave from the moment I defeated him at City Hall. I just need to remember all that he taught me, as that will give me insight into his thought process and hopefully, it will allow me to anticipate his moves.

Hopefully, the suit will help to neutralise the possibility of him using his experience from training me to his advantage. He’ll likely expect me to favour my gauntlets as my primary form of defence, having used them heavily during my time in Nanda Parbat. What he should be unaware of, are the many other ways the suit is designed to assist me in combat.

 

After I complete the full systems check for the Batmobile, I begin to make my way over to the testing range where Talia went to trial various pieces of armour she could wear for when the League makes its move against us. I can’t help but feel concerned by the fact that since her body has not been exposed to Lazarus for such a long period of time, the bullet wound she received hasn’t healed, it will make her a seemingly more vulnerable target to attack, and the League are unlikely to show restraint against her. Especially given how she killed one of their members, thus outright choosing to align with me.

But it’s as I walk past the Batcomputer interface that I’m caught by surprise. There I find Tim scrolling through all the live CCTV camera footage of Gotham. Clearly he’s hoping he can catch some footage of the League making their preparations in the hopes of giving us an advantage. A commendable thought, hoping to aid us by tracking the League’s movements. But unfortunately, the League are trained to avoid detection just as well as he is.

 

Bruce: Trouble sleeping?

 

He seems surprised to hear my voice. No doubt he thought that he was the only one awake aside from Lucius.

 

Tim: I’d ask the same of you, but I’m not sure you even sleep.

 

Bruce: I usually save that for when I’m stuck in board meetings.

 

Tim: And Lucius is ok with that?

 

Bruce: No. But when you’re the CEO and own the majority stake, you don’t really have to worry about what others think.

 

Tim: Sounds like a fun life.

 

To most people it probably would be. Being your own boss, having no-one to answer to other than yourself…But that couldn’t

be any further from reality.

 

Bruce: Oh it couldn’t be more boring. Sleeping during those meetings is the only way I keep my sanity.

 

Tim: I’m not sure Alfred would appreciate hearing you say that, especially given how much effort he went to protecting your shares in the company whilst you were away.

 

Bruce: He’s never happy with what I do. He’ll never truly be happy until by some miracle I have a change of heart, settle down and have kids.

 

Tim: Well….you seem to have

succeeded with the last point.

 

Did I? Damian may be my son based off genetics. But if I’ve played no role in shaping his life and helping him to become the man he is today, is he truly my son? Am I truly his father? Or does that title now pass to Ra’s?

 

Bruce: I spoke to Selina a few minutes ago.

 

Tim: Is Steph alright?

 

Bruce: She’s out of surgery and she’s stable. Doctors want to keep her in for at least two weeks to monitor her recovery.

 

Apparently she lost a lot of blood. Would have been fatal had pressure not been applied to the wound so quickly they reckon.

 

Tim: Thank goodness.

 

Tim’s relieved to know that Stephanie is alive and the surgery was a success, but I see the doubt in his eyes. He blames himself for what happened to her, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It wasn’t him who put her in danger, it was me. I put them both in danger. But Tim will never accept that. Nothing will stop him from blaming himself. That’s mainly why I held off on telling him that she was out of surgery when Selina called me two hours ago.

 

Tim: So what happens now?

 

Bruce: Selina will stay by her side until the crisis has passed. Given how both of you were attacked, I can’t be certain that they won’t target her when they make their move.

 

I’m doubtful that they will target her given how the assailant that pursued Tim is currently incarcerated in the GCPD so the League should be unaware of her, but I’d rather be wrong about her being a target, than be wrong about her not being one.

 

Tim: And you think the infamous Catwoman can hold the League of Assassins at bay?

 

Bruce: If you know Selina even a fraction as well as I do, you know it’ll be the League who will struggle to keep her at bay.

 

Tim: Especially if there’s a big payday guaranteed.

 

Bruce: I have the scar to prove it.

 

As well as the ripped suit.

 

Tim: I’m sadly not so lucky.

 

Bruce: Maybe you are.

 

Tim: Hmmm?

 

Bruce: Come with me. There’s something I need to show you.

 

Tim: Bruce?

 

I turn and make my way towards the suit vault where most of my old suits that were stored in the cave now reside, including a certain suit that I asked Lucius to prepare following my first encounter with the now infamous ‘Crimson Knight’. For a while, I had intended this simply to be a suit to replace Tim’s current one, give him additional armour padding and a cape similar to the one on my suit. But with all that’s transpired in Gotham, and with the future so uncertain, now feels like the right time for Tim to become his own person.

With Tim following closely behind me, I come to a stop in front of one of the few sealed chambers left in the vault.

 

Tim: Bruce? What’s going on?

 

Bruce: It’s time.

 

Tim: Time? Time for what?

 

Without saying a word, I place my right hand on the control panel and let it scan my handprint. After a brief pause, the doors open to reveal the new suit. Oddly, Tim appears surprised. What else did he expect to find in the suit vault?

 

Tim: A new suit?

 

Bruce: And much more.

 

Tim: More?

 

Bruce: You’ve accomplished something neither Dick or Jason managed to accomplish.

 

Tim: Make it past three years?

 

Bruce: Make it to the end.

 

The natural end that is. Not an abrupt end as both of them experienced. It oddly seems right that of all three of them, Tim is the one who makes it to the end.

 

Tim: Wait…you don’t mean?

 

Bruce: I have nothing left to teach you.

 

Tim: Bruce that can’t be true. I still know barely anything compared to Dick or Jason, never mind compared to you.

 

Bruce: But what Dick and Jason know now cannot be taught. It can only be learned. I had to learn it when I began all those years, and now the time has come for you to learn it as well.

 

There are some things in life which can never be taught. You can only learn them. The streets of Gotham are a good catalyst for such lessons, but only if you’re willing to listen. But I’m sure that of all the Robins, Tim will have the fewest problems dealing with them, and that’s not just because he’s the only one to leave my side on good terms and with access to my equipment.

 

Tim: So do this mean…..I’ve graduated?

 

Bruce: It means you’ve outgrown me. You’ve accomplished all you can under me. So I suppose, in a sense, you have graduated.

 

Tim: Does this mean I can’t be Robin anymore?

 

Bruce: Only if you choose not to be.

 

Tim: You’re not planning on taking on a fourth Robin?

 

Bruce: I’m not planning anything for the future.

 

I probably could have phrased that better. The brief amount of discomfort it causes Tim to hear that remark is difficult to overlook.

 

Tim: So……this is my graduation present?

 

Bruce: A little. I’d had Lucius start work on it soon after our first encounter with Damian at the shipyards.

 

Tim: Where he brought the house down. Literally.

 

It’s rather worrying that I somewhat anticipated him to make that remark.

 

Bruce: But since then I’ve started to notice something I never saw in Jason or Dick.

 

Tim walks up to inspect the finer details of the new suit as I continue.

 

Bruce: I saw independence. I saw intelligence. I saw kindness. But most of all, I saw a young man who has come a long way since he first turned up at the doors of Wayne Manor demanding a job.

 

Tim: Bruce….I…..I don’t know what to say.

 

Bruce: You don’t need to say anything. Your friendship is all I’ve ever needed, and I know that no matter what becomes of me in all this, Gotham will be in safe hands.

 

Before Tim can respond, I pull out one of the burner phones I used to contact Jim in the past prior to mastering the art of scrambling my calls. These days, the only use I have for the phones are to help me get out of company meetings. Nobody bats an eye when the CEO has to walk off to take a call.

 

Bruce: You should call her. Make sure she’s alright……We might not get another chance.

 

The only number programmed into that phone now is Selina’s number. If she’s done as I asked, it should be Stephanie who answers the phone when Tim calls. I had intended to give the phone to Tim later after he’d caught some sleep. But there’s no time like the present. As he turns to see the phone in my hand, I pass it to him with the contacts page open.

 

Bruce: Your father would be proud of you. I know I am.

 

Tim: Thank you, Bruce. For everything.

 

Bruce: No, Tim. Thank you.

 

With that, I walk off to the testing range to meet up with Talia. It takes a few minutes to make it over to the testing range where I find Talia almost falling asleep.

 

Bruce: Tired?

 

Talia: Not at all.

 

Bruce: That makes one of us.

 

I walk up to one of the tables and remove my gauntlets before hanging my cape up.

 

Talia: Did you have fun planning with your little plane?

 

Bruce: I was about the same of you with your sword.

 

Talia: Did you?

 

Bruce: I barely did anything to it.

 

Talia: Oh? Then where were you? You didn’t use that as an excuse to get away from me did you, beloved?

 

Bruce: I found Tim awake.

 

Talia: I thought they all went to get some sleep.

 

Bruce: Do did I. He couldn’t sleep, kept worrying about Miss Brown.

 

Talia: His friend in the hospital?

 

Bruce: Yeah.

 

Talia: You think he has feelings for her.

 

Bruce: No. It’s mutual.

 

Talia:

They grow up so fast.

 

Bruce: ….

 

Talia: Beloved? Are you alright?

 

Bruce: I’m fine.

 

Talia: Are you sure? You don’t look like yourself.

 

Bruce: It’s just…..

 

I’m not entirely sure what’s come over me. I was perfectly fine not too long ago when I was talking with Tim. What’s wrong with me?

 

Of course.

 

Seeing the happiness in Tim’s eyes when he heard that Miss Brown was out of surgery. Noticing the playful relationship between Barbra and Dick. The looks that Jason and his partner give one another.

 

I’m feeling…..regret.

Regret for the decision I made over a decade ago, choosing to leave Talia behind with father rather than taking her with me. I’ve often wondered whether I made the right choice that day. Choosing to spare Talia the pain of losing her family having felt that pain myself. Of course, the circumstances couldn’t have been more different. But to know now what transpired since I returned to Gotham, to know the horrors she had to endure. Thrown into Pagan Mar, believing herself to have undergone a miscarriage, now learning that all this time her own child was alive and had been raised by her father in secret…..It’s a wonder she’s still standing.

 

Bruce: Leaving you, was the biggest mistake of my life.

 

Talia’s perplexed by my response. No doubt Tim, Dick and Jason would be as well. Ever since I first donned the cowl, I made it a point to distance myself from my own feelings as much as possible. After all, there would come a time where Batman would have to come to the aid of someone Bruce Wayne cared for dearly, and I couldn’t risk exposing myself by reacting as Batman as I would as Bruce Wayne.

 

But right here, right now, I decided to drop the façade and confess.

 

Talia: Bruce, I…..I don’t know what to say….

 

Bruce: You don’t have to say anything. I just….just wanted you to know.

 

Talia: Thank you.

 

Coming from you that…..that really means a lot.

Before either of us can say another thing, we walk forward and embrace one another.

 

Bruce: I’m sorry.

 

Talia: Sorry for what?

 

Bruce: Everything.

There’s a long pause before Talia pieces together what I think this means.

 

Talia: ….You really don’t think we’re going to make it out of this, do you?

 

Bruce: I don’t know, Talia. I really don’t know.

 

We hold each other tighter as the clock slowly ticks down to Ra’s’ arrival....

 

Jean observed the faceless man from his perch above the street. He prepared to strike when suddenly, he found himself on the opposite side of Hub City.

"What the Hell?" he said.

"Jean-Paul Valley," said a warped and distorted voice, "I know that you murdered Irons."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, looking around for the source of the voice. Then, he saw it. For a brief moment, he saw a yellow streak, and inside it was a man in a yellow suit.

"Don't try to pretend. You are the only other person on Earth who uses a weapon identical to that of the Dark Knight."

"I know who you are," Valley said to the streak,"and that means I know you're not working with the police."

The streak stopped moving. "How do you know whether or not I'm working for them?" the man asked.

"Because I know about you, Thawne, I know you're rival is a member of the CCPD, and I know that you would never put yourself in any situation that would make you even remotely similar to him."

"Then I presume you know why I came to you?"

"No, actually, I don't."

"I came to you for your assistance."

"Why would you need me? You're the fastest man alive."

"The task I need you for doesn't require speed," Thawne told him,"but it does require someone with adequate knowledge of the Batman's lair."

"What's in this for me?"

"I can clear you for Tim Drake's murder. I have a connection in the GCPD."

"I'm interested," replied Valley.

"Just one thing I need to ask you," Thawne said,"if you didn't murder Irons, why were you attacking Question?"

"He has information about my father. I need to know what happened to him, and what his connection to Dumas is."

"I see," Thawne said,"we should get going. My appearance hasn't gone unnoticed."

He was right. The HCPD was closing in on them.

"Where are we going?"

Thawne smiled and said,"You'll see."

 

Sorry it took so long to put up the second episode. I'll try to post these more frequently from now on.

Several weeks have passed since the Joker, Harley Quinn and Riddler attacked Wayne Manor. Although most people in Gotham have already forgotten about the incident, the event is still fresh in the mind of Bruce Wayne himself. Although he did manage to save Alfred and Barbara from succumbing to their wounds, this was not without a cost. Alfred decided to quit working for his family and retire after that night while Barbara, now paralyzed from the waist down after getting shot in the spine, has cut off all contact with him and moved to Blüdhaven. On top of that, the guilt of not being able to save Duke from getting killed by the Joker is getting worse with the day.

 

Without anyone to rely on now, Bruce’s mental state is rapidly declining. As a result of deciding to quit being Batman as well, his days and nights are now mainly spent aimlessly wandering around the Manor without doing anything. Along with that, he became too depressed to take care of himself, not even having the motivation to eat at times. After experiencing several mental breakdowns, he finally decides to do something about it and checks himself into a mental hospital.

 

After getting evaluated by a psychiatrist in order to determine a proper treatment plan Bruce gets appointed to Professor Hugo Strange, supposedly a master in the field of psychology. He gained some attention after managing to cure the son of crime boss Carmine Falcone of his mental problems years ago, but Bruce has never heard of him before. A bald man with a thick gray beard and round glasses introduces himself as Professor Strange and welcomes Bruce into his office. Before he offers him a seat Strange asks if he wants a cup of tea, to which he agrees. He grabs a bright pink teapot from his desk and pours him a cup of tea as he starts asking how he feels. Bruce begins describing his current situation while drinking from the cup, but he gets cut off by Strange after a while. He tells him that he thinks he figured the cause of all of his psychological problems as he opens one of the drawers in his desk. Bruce is unsure of what to think of it until he takes the cowl of his Batman costume out of the drawer and puts it on the table, leaving him in a state of shock. He burned his costume in the fireplace of Wayne Manor after failing to prevent the murder of Duke; how did Strange recover it and find out his identity?

 

He tries to jump out of his seat to question the professor, but his legs suddenly feel very heavy. As he falls out of his chair and smacks on the cold tiled floor, he hears the door opening behind him as Strange welcomes someone else into his office. Despite his blurry vision, he can make out a man dressed in an old-fashioned outfit and wearing a big top hat introducing himself as Mad Hatter, who pours him another cup of tea. Then it hits him; the tea was drugged. He hears Strange telling the man to prepare him for something before everything goes black for him.

 

When he wakes up, Bruce finds himself strapped to a hospital bed in a surgery room with a bright light pointed at his face. Because he does not know how much time passed since he got knocked out by the tea or if he is even still in the same building, he begins calling out for help. Upon realizing nobody is hearing him he manages to grab one of the sharp surgery scalpels laying on the table next to him to cut himself free. As he stands up he notes how awfully quiet it is outside. Bruce opens the door and finds a seemingly endless and dimly lit hallway in front of him, without any doors or windows on any side. He begins walking down the hallway hoping to find some help if he manages to reach the end.

 

After walking for what feels like an eternity, he finally spots another room on the right side of the hallway. Bruce makes his way inside, only to find a dark archive room on the other side of the door. He opens some of the file cabinets and discovers that they are all filled with items from his own past; newspaper clippings from the night of the murder on his parents, family pictures taken before the incident, police reports about a man running around dressed in a bat costume and more. It's almost like somebody documented his entire history and archived it in this place. He walks over to some of the other cabinets and opens them, only to find them filled with items relating to events that happened not too long ago; News reports about the events at the GCPD Fundraiser Ball along with the incident involving the Joker shortly after and even gossip magazine items speculating about him checking into a mental hospital. Upon closer inspection he notices the items detailing the events wrong though; every single one of them blame Batman for causing all of it to happen, with one even going so far as to say he could have saved Duke but consciously chose not to.

 

One of the lights in the back of the room flickers on, drawing Bruce’s attention to a rusted, old file cabinet in the corner of the place. He walks over and opens it, but finds it almost completely empty in contrast to the full drawers from the other cabinets. It’s a death certificate of him, dated 2041, stating that he passed away after breaking his back. A doctor noted at the bottom of the document that nobody showed up at his funeral and that not a single soul cared about his death.

 

After having looked at everything in the room, Bruce decides to walk out of the door to continue his trip down the long hallway. However, as soon as he opens the door he finds that the hallway is nowhere to be seen anymore; instead, he finds himself in what seems to be a dimly lit morgue. Before him are two tables both with a bodybag on them. Bruce walks over to the tables and opens them, only to be met with a gruesome sight. Inside the bags he finds the dead bodies of his parents, looking almost exactly like how they did on that fateful day in 1996. Before he can properly process the sight before him, the corpses start speaking and berading Bruce for not standing up to the criminal who shot them and allowing it to happen. He turns around and tries to run out of the room, but is stopped as the silhouette of a young man blocks the door. One of the lights near the door suddenly flickers on, revealing that the person standing there is Duke dressed in his Robin suit. Bruce slowly walks over to him as his eyes start to fill with tears, wanting to sincerely apologize to him for allowing the Joker to murder him. As he gets closer to him though, he notices all of the severe wounds inflicted by the Joker’s crowbar slowly appear on his skin as it starts decaying more and more. He tries to look him in the eyes, but only sees empty sockets while his face is dressed in the same clown makeup Joker wears.

 

The shock of seeing this gruesome sight is enough to snap Bruce out of his drug-induced hallucination. It takes him a short while to calm down, but when he has himself under control again he notices he’s not in the same wing of the mental hospital anymore. He finds himself sitting on a comically small chair in what seems to be a decaying basement, with a coffee table filled with teacups in front of him. As he looks in front of him he sees a mannequin with the cowl and cape of his Batman costume sitting on the other side of the table. He suddenly notices someone talking in the room upstairs, prompting him to put on the cowl over his hospital gown and walk up the stairs to investigate. As he peeks through the door at the top of the stairs he sees an abandoned room of the facility, with Strange sitting in the middle of the space. He seems to be calling someone, unaware that he has already awakened, giving Batman the perfect opportunity to strike him down. However, as he listens closely to the voice on the phone he notices it sounds a lot like the Joker’s voice on the other end of the line. Strange is desperately trying to arrange a deal between the two, boasting about how he has the identity of the Dark Knight and how he is willing to tell it in return for a huge sum of money. The tone of Joker’s voice suddenly shifts as he tells him to piss off, stating that nobody cares about that now that his identity is starting to become an open secret within the criminal underworld.

 

He hangs up the phone, waits for a moment, and then addresses Batman asking if he seriously thought he did not notice him standing there. Strange stands up from his chair and turns towards him, slightly amused at the sight of the Dark Knight dressed in a hospital gown before him. He begins talking about how obsessed he has been about finding out what makes him tick ever since Batman first made his appearance in Gotham back in 2008, and claims to be the only one who truly understands him now. However, he thinks that the way he does things is deeply flawed and believes that somebody should replace him. After news broke out about the tragedy in Wayne Manor, Strange took the opportunity to break into his house while he was away, save the cowl which he threw into the fire and repair it without him ever knowing. He opens his lab coat to reveal a homemade dark blue Batsuit underneath, reminding Batman of the cheap halloween costumes people started wearing during that holiday after his first appearance. He expresses his desire to become the Batman himself, saying that he will not hesitate to kill Bruce if it means being able to take over the role. Despite this, he grabs a Batarang for himself and slides one towards Bruce in order to make the conditions fair for one another.

 

He pushes the chair he was sitting on away, and starts walking towards Bruce. Batman throws the batarang towards him but Strange manages to dodge it. He grabs the thrown weapon from the ground with his one hand and hurls the batarang towards Batman with his other hand, successfully striking him in the arm. Before he can recover, he feels the other batarang piercing into his chest before Strange kicks him to the ground. Batman tries his best to counter his punches, but soon gets overpowered by him. Because of his aged and fragile appearance from the outside Batman severely underestimated the abilities of the doctor, and quickly realizes that with his current physical condition he could actually manage to beat him if he does not act fast. He pulls the batarang stuck in his arm out and stabs Strange with it in the leg, distracting him just long enough to plan out how to make it out of this alive. He turns around and makes a run for the basement door, closing and locking it behind him right before the doctor catches up to him.

 

Batman takes a look around the basement to look for anything he can use to beat Strange, and quickly remembers the teacups and teapot which are still standing on the small table. Right after he makes it down the stairs, he hears the door getting kicked open behind him. He’s barely able to jump out of the way just before the door flies out of the opening and hurls against the wall. Strange jumps down the stairs and throws the batarangs towards him again, and while one slices through the side of his leg he manages to dodge the other one. He tries to grab something to defend himself against the doctor, but Strange grabs him by the cape, pulls it towards him and punches him in the face as he loses his balance. Batman feels his head slamming against the coffee table as he falls to the ground while Strange pins him down. He pulls off Batman's mask and puts his hands around his neck, preparing to end the Wayne legacy once and for all. Despite his efforts to get the doctor off him, Bruce simply doesn’t have the energy in him anymore to overpower him. As he feels his consciousness fading he recalls the teapot standing on the table. He reaches out, wraps his fingers around the handle, and uses the last of his energy to strike Strange with it in the face. The pot bursts apart upon impact, leaving dozens of tiny shards in the face of both Bruce and Strange and knocking the doctor off him. Bruce gaps for air as Strange tries to recover from the attack, but he finds himself unable to stand up. He brings his hand to his mouth and feels that some of the spiked tea used to drug Bruce got into his mouth. He attempts to grab his broken glasses from the ground and reaches out to Bruce, muttering something about him never being able to take on the mantle of Batman after this before passing out.

 

A severely wounded but alive Bruce emerges from the abandoned hospital wing, finding his way to one of the operational wings and alerting one of the nurses working there at the moment. He explains how Professor Strange along with another man drugged and attacked him while leaving out the details of why this happened, leading to the police arriving at the scene. While they quickly find the unconscious Strange still in his Batman outfit, they turn up empty-handed after looking for the Mad Hatter.

 

A few weeks have elapsed since the event at the mental health facility now. As Bruce is visiting the grave of Duke on a cold morning he gets approached by a strange woman on the street. The woman takes off her coat and sunglasses revealing she’s Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman, someone who Bruce has a long and complicated relationship with. In his first year of fighting crime she was one of the first who figured out his identity after Alfred found out, but he hasn't seen her since she joined the Gotham Sirens. Selina offers her condolences to Bruce for Duke, telling him she heard what happened through rumors in the underworld. The two decide to grab some coffee at a nearby place to catch up. Bruce begins talking about how the past months have gotten him to think about if Batman actually does more harm than good to Gotham, with him considering retiring for good. Selina tells him that she has been considering the same thing since neither her life of thievery nor her life of vigilantism seems to be working out. She proposes that the two give their relationship another chance and retire together. It takes some time for Bruce to consider the offer, but he eventually agrees.

 

The two decide to settle down on Corto Maltese, leaving their lives in Gotham behind. Before driving away to the airport, Bruce takes one last look at the skyline of Gotham City, the city he was born and raised in. If a threat arises in the future that only he can defeat, Bruce will be the first in line to respond. But for now, the city will have to save itself without the Batman being around to protect people.

-------------------------------

  

The young boy lays on the med bay, such a fragile thing, injured by a hardened man, torn apart from this damned city. Bruce walks over to me, looking rather grim.

“Hello sir, Harvey was apprehended by the GCPD, right?” I ask, god if they didn’t get him, the horrible possibilities.

“Yes, I beat Two Face down and he was out” he looks back at Dick everyone and a while, he’s worried for the boy, I just hope he doesn’t do anything stupid to him after this.

“Two Face won’t be seeing anything but his cell for a long time” I then notice that he’s been calling him Two Face, normally he calls these “Super Criminals” by their actual names.

“Sir, you’ve been calling Harvey Two Face, did something happen, back in that warehouse” I get worried, what did Harvey do to him.

“When Harvey was beating Dick with the Bat, he yelled out that Harvey Dent was dead, Two Face would avenge him, his obsession with dualities, it runs straight to the core, he’s gone completely mad, I want to save him but after what happened to Dick” Bruce goes silent, he’s scared for the boy’s well-being.

“I think bringing Dick along with me on my fight against crime was a huge lapse in judgement” I have been worried for the boy, and I don’t feel like this needs to be his occupation, but he loves it now, and I’m worried for the repercussions this would cause.

“He won’t be Robin anymore, he’ll pretend that he never knew I was Batman, and life will go on I still love him as my son, and believe me we’ve bonded recently, but bringing him along as Robin, it was fun while it lasted” Bruce walks away and sits on his computer. I begin to bring Richard to his bed, on my way up Bruce tells me to bring him Dick’s suit. In a couple minutes I have him comforted in his bed, I hope he rests comfortably, he’ll need it for when Bruce gives him the news.

_____________________________

Yeah this was pretty short I figured I needed something giving Alfred's thoughts and showing you where this story will be going

Having dealt with both of their guards who were assigned to protect their tower from intruders, the Outlaws were quick to track down the controls for the tower’s dispersal system. At first, the trio were rather taken aback by the simplicity of the controls as well as the poor condition of their maintenance. Clearly, they had not been used much if at all in a long, long time.

 

Red Hood: Hey, focus! We’re up against the clock.

 

Arsenal: If you think you could do it any faster than by all means, be my guest!

 

Scarlett: It’s not a race you two.

 

Arsenal: You can bet it will be if Grayson gets his tower offline first.

 

Red Hood: Assuming he has any idea how to take it offline.

 

Arsenal: He won’t have to, Barbra will have their tower offline the moment she gets her hands on the controls if she hasn’t already.

 

Scarlett: Just…try not to mess this up. They’re counting on us to take this tower offline before it makes it to Blackgate or Arkham.

 

Arsenal: Don’t worry I’ve got this, just make sure you’re covering my back. The last thing I need is a sword sticking out my chest.

 

Red Hood: Relax, we’ve got you covered. Just focus on shutting this thing down.

 

Arsenal: Hearing you say that doesn’t exactly put me at ease.

 

Scarlett: Just….focus…..

 

Arsenal: But knowing that you’ve got my six as well does.

 

Red Hood: Are you calling me a bad shot?

 

Arsenal: Wouldn’t dream of it. I’m not one to call people names am I, Moody?

 

Red Hood: ....Don’t get carried away, Last Place.

 

Scarlett: Grow up you two.

 

Red Hood: Sorry, Mom.

 

Rather than rise to the jibe, Scarlett chose simply to roll her eyes instead. It was obvious to her that Jason and Roy were simply joking with one another to try and lighten the mood between all of them. After all, with how uncertain things were, it may well be one of their last times together. All the more reason to make it a good one.

 

Scarlett: That’s the wrong lever.

 

Arsenal: Very funny.

 

Scarlett: No seriously, you want the one on the left. The right just controls the airflow in the pipes.

 

Arsenal: ….

 

Without saying a word Arsenal realises the reason it’s been taking him so long to shut down the tower’s output is because he’s been lowering the airflow in the pipes rather than sealing the loading chamber off from the rest of the system. As quietly as possible, he reaches over to grab hold of the left lever and slowly moves it towards him.

 

Before either Jason or Scarlett can say anything a loud creak echoes throughout the room causing the pair of them to instinctively draw their guns. It’s only after quickly surveying the room and finding nothing that they slowly lower and holster them.

 

Arsenal: Itchy trigger finger?

 

Red Hood: You could say that.

 

Scarlett: It’s a side effect from when Pyg abducted me. Can’t help it.

 

Arsenal: I take it your’s is from the clown?

 

Red Hood: No, it’s just force of habit. It’s one of the first things Bruce drilled into me.

 

Scarlett: Didn’t Ollie ever teach you stuff like that?

 

Arsenal: Oh he did, I just didn’t feel worried. I knew you guys had my back.

 

Scarlett: And the fact that your bow and quiver were out of reach?

 

Arsenal: There’s also that.

 

Red Hood: Well warn us next time you’re about to do something like that. We’re on edge enough as it is.

 

Arsenal: Don’t worry, all I’ve got left to do is put this stuff Lucius gave us into the loading chamber and I’m done. Have you guys inoculated yourselves?

 

Scarlett: Yeah, we’re both good.

 

Arsenal: Alright, get ready. I’m opening the chamber now.

 

Though confident in Lucius’ ability to synthesise an effective neutralising agent, the three of them still choose to put their rebreathers back on before Roy proceeds to open the loading chamber and drops the canister containing the neutralising agent into the chamber. Almost immediately, the former side kick quickly slams the chamber shut and jumps back expecting a large explosion.

 

The trio race through the door back into the hallway where the two league agents who were tasked with guarding the tower remained, still unconscious. As Roy slams the door behind him, the trio patiently wait to hear a loud explosion erupt from the control as their heartbeats race uncontrollably.

 

Any second they thought.

 

Any second now……

 

Yet nothing happened.

 

All that could be heard was the familiar sound of the pipes groaning once again as all the gas in the system was neutralised rendering the tower worthless to the League.

 

Scarlett: Is that it?

 

Red Hood: Looks like it.

 

Scarlett: I thought there be an explosion or something.

 

Arsenal: Makes two of us.

 

Red Hood:Not all of Lucius’ toys end up going boom. I hope.

 

Arsenal: Just the best ones.

 

Scarlett: I know that look on your face….he didn’t give you more exploding arrows did he?

 

Arsenal: You never know, they might end up being useful.

 

Scarlett: In the right hands maybe.

 

Roy slowly climbs back onto his feet as he seemingly appears to take Scarlett’s remark as more of an insult than a joking remark.

 

Arsenal: You got something you want to say, Scarlett?

 

Scarlett: Relax Roy, I’m just trying to keep our spirits up.

 

Again, Roy remains silent for a few seconds before steadily walking towards Scarlett with visible anger on his face. Jason steps forward to try and put himself between both Roy and Scarlett but his fiancé stops him, clearly intent of dealing with the angered archer herself.

 

Coming to a stop just two steps away from her, Roy lifts his left arm up for both of them to see it clearly.

 

Arsenal: This is what happened when Ollie and I were too busy trying to keep each other in a good mood to actually focus on fighting Prometheus. We were arrogant, silly and above all reckless. Acting that way in the face of life and death situations puts all of us at risk. I’m lucky it only cost me my arm.

 

Jason was a tad bemused by Roy’s remarks. It was not often that Roy spoke positively of his cybernetic arm which he couldn’t help but find somewhat unsettling. The former Speedy had changed significantly since his time serving under the Green Arrow but Jason hadn’t realised how serious all of this was to him.

 

Arsenal: I’m not optimistic about our chances tonight. With how Ollie used to take about Bruce, the fact that we’re apparently up against an army of him scares the crap out of me. So we can’t afford to foolish. We can't afford to be stupid. But most of all we can’t afford to be reckless. They’ll tear us apart if we pull another stunt like you when you ran in here alone.

 

Scarlett: I know. I wasn’t thinking. Guess I’m lucky to have you guys.

 

Red Hood: We all are. Alone we’re vulnerable, we can be defeated. But together? I think we’re unstoppable.

 

Arsenal: I wouldn’t get carried away like that…

 

Scarlett: Yeah…..saying something like that is just daring them to destroy us.

 

Red Hood: Guys, I’m serious. Together we’ve accomplished things others could only dream of. We toppled Flamingo, we beat a privately financed militia and possibly found the only substance in the world that can take down the League of Assassins. Don’t see what that all means?

 

Scarlett: We should apply to join the Justice League?

 

Arsenal: I’m sure Bruce could put in a good word for us.

 

So much for remaining focused and not fooling around, Jason thought to himself as Roy blatantly contradicted what he’d just told Scarlett about the need to take this seriously.

 

Red Hood: No, it means as a team there’s nothing we can’t do. Hell, Batman trusted us with what could maybe be the thing that decides whether Gotham stands or whether Gotham falls. The goddamn Batman!

 

Scarlett: Did you seriously just call him that?

 

Arsenal: Christ, he must do some form of conditioning on you Robins if you call him that. Suddenly losing an arm doesn’t seem so bad.

 

Scarlett: I may take you up on that offer.

 

Alfred: Bunker to Outlaws. Please respond.

 

Red Hood: Outlaws here, go ahead bunker.

 

Arsenal: (quietly whispering) You sure you don’t mean the goddamn Outlaws?

 

Scarlett: Could be worse, at least he hasn’t started calling himself the goddamn Red Hood yet.

 

Arsenal: Yet.

 

Jason couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he awaited news from Alfred on the team’s next assignment. Great, he thought. This won’t be going away anytime soon.

 

Alfred: We believe the League of Assassins are moving to instigate chaos by targeting key parts of the city.

 

Red Hood: Do we have intel on where they’re hitting?

 

Alfred: Not at present I’m afraid, but Master Bruce believes their targets will be Gotham General, the GCPD and Arkham Asylum. Given your current location, Master Bruce wants the three of you to secure Arkham and stop the League from releasing any of the convicts out on to the streets.

 

Red Hood: Have we heard anything from Arkham recently?

 

Alfred: I’m afraid not. The camera footage has been altered so we suspect the League are already there.

 

Red Hood: Crap. We’d better hurry. Red Hood out.

 

Arsenal: So what’s the goddamn butler got to say?

 

Red Hood: The League’s moving to the next stage.

 

Scarlett: So what does that mean for us?

 

Red Hood: We’re going to Arkham.

 

ArsenaL: Arkham? That place where all those psychos Bruce has fought are locked up?

 

Red Hood: Yep.

 

Scarlett: Is....he there?

 

Red Hood: He should be.

 

Scarlett: Then...are you sure we should go there?

 

Red Hood: We don't have a choice. Bruce is counting on us. He wouldn't be sending us if he didn't have any other choice. Come on, we've got to move. The League might already be there and the last thing we need is a riot at Arkham.

We got back in the Batcave. Azrael feels better after some painkillers and we just sit down to discuss our next moves.

 

Hntrs: "How do you feel Michael?"

 

Azrl: "I'll manage."

 

Alfrd: "Anyone wants something to drink?"

 

NW: "No thanks, Alfred."

 

Hntrs: "So, what's the plan?"

 

NW: "Let's just overlook the territories for now. Alright, the GCPD, Wayne Manor, Arkham Asylum and the Steelmill are still ours. The Iceberg Lounche, City Hall and Gotham's First National are in the hands of the Penguin and Two-Face. Black Mask lost a lot of territory since we took the Steelmill, his territories are Ace Chemicals, Blackgate and Gotham's second National. Several scouts from the GCPD have found Joker and Mr Freeze. Joker's territories are the storagelockers and the amusementpark. Freeze only has the mall. My guess is that Freeze doesn't want this war at all, and he just wants place to work. To find a cure for his wife."

 

Hntrs: "Maybe Freeze can help us. I mean, he's one of the villains who doesn't want Batman actually dead. He just wants to be alone. If he helps us stop this war, we can arrange something for him in Arkham so he can just keep working on the cure for his wife."

 

Azrl: "When are we going to the mall?"

 

NW: "How's that leg of you doing?"

 

Azrl: "If you're asking if I can go to the mall with the two of you, than yes, I can go now."

 

NW: "Alright, let's go."

When a beast like Man-Bat is terrorizing the sky's of Gotham, it's up to Batman and the GCPD--with their trusty Blimp--to take him down.

There's trouble in Gotham City and only one man can save the day! Get to the top of the GCPD and help Commissioner Gordon activate the bat signal. - Out of the darkness comes a quite stillness, not even a rustle or a murmur. Has he arrived yet? You feel something near you but there's no one around. Suddenly it appears the shadows have moved closer and closer until you make out a shadowy figure, a dark silhouette with a warrior like stance. A man who has nothing to lose, who fears no one, a brave solider, a watchful guardian,a dark knight. Yes he is here. Batman.

As the Batmobile roars out of the cave and towards Gotham I set the scanner to pick up any and all GCPD transmissions. If Standler or the Knight make an appearance I'll know. Fortunately it doesn't take long before something comes in fro the Batcomputer. A silent alarm was tripped at the old refinery just moments ago. The old refinery hasn't been in service since my parents were gunned down in Crime alley, primarily due to Gotham's gas stores being depleted. Since then all of Gotham's gas has been supplied by a facility twenty miles out of Metropolis and whilst the pipes that connect the facility with Gotham are buried underground , the old refinery is used to distribute the gas supplies to the various districts of Gotham. As such the old refinery has tight security consisting of automated security drones armed with tasers. If the silent alarm has gone off that means the drones have been disabled which is anything but good.

 

If someone is able to ignite the gas within the pipes at the old refinery there's no telling what damage they can create in Gotham or on what scale. With this high level threat in mind I choose to make a turn on my journey towards Gotham. I turn left instead of right at the usual junction and head towards the old refinery. Given Wayne Manor is only a couple of miles away I'll be the first responder on the scene. Then again when aren't I the first responder these days?

 

In less than five minutes I make it to the refinery. Given how I'm unsure as to who or what I'm dealing with I park the bat mobile out of view and engage stealth precautions meaning it will only engage something if it's been compromised. In the meantime I quickly grapple up to the security booth where the unconscious maintenance worker resides. He's the only person who should be here in the refinery so with that in mind I quickly activate the pressure sensors in the facility. It only takes a couple of seconds for me to find where the intruder is. He's at the main pipeline and according to the pressure it's just one guy. This may be easier than I thought.

 

With that I make my way to the main pipeline choosing to remain hidden in the support beams above. I currently hold the element of surprise. It's a powerful advantage and I don't wish to dispose of it until I know what I'm dealing with. To my shock though it's not what I expected at all. You'd expect someone hoping to hold the city for ransom, heck maybe even Garfield Lynns given his love for pyrotechnics not Buddy Standler or all people.

 

Stander's presence here has me immediately suspicious that this is possibly a trap of some sorts. After all the Crimson Knight chose to spring him from the medical centre for a reason, but what is it? With all the various options racing through my head I scan the area with my thermal and there's no visible sign of a trap, but still what sort of trap would it be if I could see it coming?

 

The only option really is to spring the trap and see what happens as a result. As a precaution I engage the emergency bat mobile controls in my gauntlets so if it is a trap I can call the bat mobile to me by placing my hands over my head as if I were surrendering. With that I pounce from the shadows and glide down towards Standler. Just before I make contact with Standler I readjust my body and place my legs out in front and they connect with Standler's torso with the full force of my body behind them. As Standler falls to the ground and drops both of his condiment dispensers I charge forward at him immediately.

 

I want to know why the Crimson Knight chose to recruit him of all people....

The first move has been made, and it’s not at all what I expected.

 

Knowing the tactics of Ra’s Al-Ghul as well as I claim to, I anticipated a direct assault on the cave as the first move of attack against Gotham. But the security systems at the cave have yet to be triggered. Instead he has deployed a form of warfare he previously viewed as cowardice.

 

Chemical warfare.

 

According to the Waynetech satellites, the League of Assassins have repurposed the old guardian towers that stand on the outskirts of the city and are using them to pump out a toxic gas that is quickly covering the entire city. From the sample that we’ve been able to obtain, the gas appear colourless in low concentrations but when it’s in sufficiently high concentration it has a faint yellow appearance. Whilst the production of more Lucifer is essential to our success in combating Ra’s, I’ve been forced to task both Lucius and Alfred with analysing the gas and developing a neutralising agent.

 

From what little additional information the satellite feed has been able to provide us, it appears that due to their age, the towers output of the toxin is slow so we have the benefit of time in our favour before it makes it into the heart of the city. Either way, we can’t afford to waste this brief window. Wayne Tower may be capable of producing an airtight seal to prevent toxins from getting in, but the likes of the GCPD and Gotham General do not.

 

Given how Gotham General still holds the fifty or so patients that were deemed to critical to move, it’s imperative that this toxin is stopped before it has a chance to make it to the hospital. So we have no choice. We’ve got to go out into the toxin. Fortunately, what both Alfred and Lucius have already been able to determine is that though the gas is toxic if inhaled, it is unable to corrode a rebreather meaning that it’s safe for us to traverse Gotham.

 

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the members of the national guard that the President and Governor deployed to assist in ‘maintaining security’ as they call it. It’s likely that this gas attack was developed solely to remove them from the theatre of combat so the League need only concern itself with us.

 

Yet, I can’t help but feel some guilt. My aim with creating that false terror threat video was to limit the number of lives that would be caught up in this battle between ourselves and the League. Instead, I’ve ended up trading the lives of civilians for the lives of soldiers. They were heroes. They unwillingly gave their lives trying to defend the country that they love. I shall not let their deaths be vain. I will make Ra’s pay for this.

 

Dick: This….this is horrible….

 

Scarlett: Do you think any of the national guard managed to make it to safety?

 

Jason: I don’t know Scarlett. I really don’t know.

 

Tim: Do we know just what’s in this gas?

 

Bruce: Alfred and Lucius are still working to analyse the gas and synthesize a neutralising agent.

 

Roy: This isn’t right. What sort of monster gases people without a second thought?

 

Barbra: One who believes himself above all others. A man who thinks it his right to decide who deserves to live, and who deserves to die.

 

Bruce: This cannot be allowed to continue.

 

Dick: What are you suggesting?

 

Bruce: The gas is toxic if inhaled, but the tests that have already been performed show it is unable to corrode a gas mask and rebreather.

 

Tim: You’re saying we go out there and try to shut the towers down ourselves?

 

Bruce: Without a neutralising agent, there is little more we can do than simply prevent the gas from covering all of Gotham at present. We must ensure that the gas is not able to make it towards the GCPD or Gotham General.

 

Scarlett: But what about the soldiers? How do we help them?

 

I say nothing, simply turning towards the live satellite feed looking over Gotham. Tim, Dick and Jason all recognise what my decision to not answer Scarlett’s question means, and they say nothing. It doesn’t take long for Mr. Harper to realise as well, much to his disgust.

 

Roy: You’re just going to ignore them? Leave them to die?

 

Bruce: They’ll all die anyway if we don’t stop this gas from covering all of Gotham.

 

Scarlett: They’re innocent in all this! This whole attack is only happening because of you! We have to save them!

 

Jason: Scarlett…

 

Bruce: We have to prioritise. Say we’re successful, say we save what? Ten of them? How do you then justify saving ten of them and dooming the hundred or so police officers in the GCPD to death? How do you justify to Barbra that her father died needlessly because you chose saving one man over an entire city? How do you justify to Tim that his friend died in Gotham General because you let your emotions overrule your head?

 

I’m no doubt coming across as far too aggressive in this situation, but it’s necessary. They need to know how essential it is to place the decisions of the head before the decisions on the heart. It’s the only way we’ve got any chance of making it out this alive.

 

Roy: Ollie would try to save them.

 

Bruce: I’m no Oliver Queen.

 

Roy: That’s for sure.

 

Dick: Thank goodness.

 

Bruce: Given that the towers cover all four corners of Gotham, we’ll have to divide our forces in order to neutralise them simultaneously.

 

Barbra: So we split up into teams? Who goes with who?

 

Bruce: Barbra, you and Dick take the east tower.

 

Dick: The one closest to GCPD?

 

I notice a momentary pause from Barbra. It’s short, but noticeable. No doubt concern for the safety of her father.

 

Barbra: We’re on it.

 

Bruce: Jason, you and the Outlaws will take the southern tower.

 

Jason: Roger.

 

Roy: Wait, how the hell are we supposed to stop those towers anyways?

 

Bruce: Alfred will be feeding us all live information including the tower’s schematics when we arrive.

 

Dick: Good old Alfred.

 

Tim: So which tower does that leave me with? North or west?

 

Bruce: You and Talia will take the western tower.

 

Tim: Talia?

 

Bruce: She’s a skilled combatant. We’d be foolish not to make use of her help.

 

Tim: Then why’s she going with me and not you?

 

Bruce: I need someone I can trust to keep an eye on her.

 

Tim: You don’t trust yourself?

 

Bruce: Not unless it’s necessary.

 

Talia: He’s always been like that, I’m afraid.

 

Dick: You don’t need to tell any of us that, we’ve had to live with it.

 

Jason: Wait, it doesn’t make sense that three of us are going to the southern tower but you’re going alone to the northern tower. Doesn’t it make more sense for Roy to go with Tim and Talia go with you?

 

Bruce: I’ll be fine. I have the sword.

 

Scarlett: What sword?

 

Tim: You know how every member in the League has a chemical in their body that gives them an unnatural healing factor? He's got a magical sword that neutralises it.

 

Dick: Then why haven’t you tried giving all of us one of those swords!?

 

Bruce: Because I had to do a deal with Hephaestus, and he would only forge me one blade.

 

Roy: That’s why you had us retrieve that stuff from Greene’s mansion.

 

Bruce: That was only intended as a contingency for this very scenario. The blade was the product of desperation.

 

Barbra: What did you have to promise him in return for it?

 

Bruce: Far too much.

 

Before I can say just what it was that I pledged to Hephaestus, an alert appears on the monitor. The gas cloud is beginning to move further into the city. We don’t have much time.

 

Bruce: Suit up.

----------------------------------

 

One Hour Later...

 

We all depart from Wayne Tower, slowly making our way towards our respective towers. I suspect they all know the reason I decided to take the northern tower. It's the closest tower to Wayne Manor, or at least what remains of it, as I'm all but certain this gas attack is a cover for the League's attempt to free Damian from the cave. As much as I want to prevent them from releasing him, I have to follow the same advice I gave all of the team in the bunker.

 

Head over heart.

 

Right now the gas is a far greater danger not just to Gotham, but to the entire eastern seaboard, so neutralising it takes priority over preventing Damian's release. Ra's is aware that I will prioritise preventing the spread of the toxin, and no doubt he'll have precautions waiting for all of us at each sight. But if I know him even a fraction as well as I claim to, he'll have anticipated my intention of dealing with the northern tower.

 

Just what he's prepared for all of us though, is a mystery. But whatever it is, I faith that the others will be able to overcome it. Though the gas is seemingly incapable of corroding our masks, I do not want to risk any unforeseen consequences from deploying both the Batmobile and Batwing to transport each of us to our towers. Thus, we have no other choice but to do this the old fashioned way.

 

Rooftop running certainly is a lot easier in a mostly abandoned city. But it's as I leave the Diamond District and enter Otisburg that I notice something down on the street just in front of Striker Clothes and opposite the Stacked Deck ,

 

I quickly make my way down on to the streets and find the bodies of two members of the National Guard.

 

Both decapitated.

 

They died long before any gas could make into their bodies. Evidently this gas attack is intended not only to distract us from their likely imminent attempt to free Damian, but also to remove the rogue element introduced by the President federalising the National Guard.

 

It pains me to see their lifeless bodies in such a state, Scarlett was right when she said all that this is transpiring here is my doing, and they all know it. They just don't want to say it to my face. But despite that, I have no choice but to press on.

 

Whether I chose to fight or not, Ra's and the League have always had their sights set on destroying Gotham.

 

At least, that's what I like to keep telling myself.

 

No.

 

Come on, Bruce.

 

You cannot start thinking that way.

 

He wants you to doubt yourself, to question all of your moves.

 

You cannot let him.

 

These men gave their lives seeking to defend the country they loved. You it to them to stop all of this.

 

If not for yourself. Then for them.

 

I take a moment to break one of the display windows of Striker Clothes and decide to cover both of their bodies. No-one should have to see them like this.

 

Ra's will pay for what's done to them.

 

With that, I retrieve the grapple gun from my belt and continue on my path to the northern tower, all whilst waiting for that dreaded alert.

 

The warning that the Batcave has been breached...

 

November 21st, 2042

 

A couple of hours after getting taken away by the Court of Owls, Batman awakens in a cell at an unknown location. Before he’s able to recover from the effects of the sedatives he got hit with and regain his strength two people dressed in black clothes, wielding sharp and gold-colored weapons, enter his cell and order him to follow them. As he struggles to stand up he notices that the exoskeleton from his suit has powered down, making it much more difficult to move around at all and leaving him in no shape to stand up against them. He complies and follows the one figure as the other one takes position behind him. After walking for a short while they end up in a long hallway, with a red carpet on the floor, expensive furniture on either side of the hall and large paintings hanging from the walls. Batman takes a look at the wall decorations and notices that every single painting features a person holding a strange owl-shaped mask in front of their face. There’s a door at the end of the hallway, guarded by two people wearing the same outfit as the ones escorting him. They open the door for them, giving way to a spacious and empty courtroom. Behind the judge’s desk stands a giant wooden statue of an owl, decorated with gold accents and lit with candles around it. On the sides of the room are several giant windows, all covered with dark red curtains which prevents any natural light from entering the place. Only Helena is sitting in the room, tied to a chair at the defendant’s table.

 

Batman gets escorted into the room and forced to sit on the chair next to Helena as he gets restrained as well. Before he can ask his daughter if she’s okay, the gates of the courtroom swing open as a group of masked individuals march into the room. They all silently take a seat on the public benches behind the two right as the jury enters the room as well, conveniently all wearing the same owl-shaped mask too. As they all sit down at the exact same time Helena begins nervously looking around her, intimidated by the situation she is now in. A door inside the giant owl statue opens, out of which a judge appears. Batman notices the judge seems to be the same person who appeared in the Wayne Tower and ordered them to come to the Court in the first place. He takes a seat, breaks the silence by slamming his hammer on the table and demands order in the courtroom, starting their trial against Batman and Robin.

 

The judge starts by telling about the Court of Owls, explaining how they have been around since Gotham was established decades ago. For years they managed to rule the city from the shadows, killing anyone who found out about their existence or opposed them using a group of specifically trained assassins called the Talons. When a certain masked vigilante began running around Gotham they didn’t see him as a threat at first. Finding that having him assassinated by the Talons would be a bit excessive they instead opted to orchestrate a series of events which would lead to a deranged serial killer by the name of Zsaz escaping from Arkham. Knowing that the Batman would take it upon himself to go after him, they hoped that he wouldn’t stand a chance against the killer and get killed while fighting him. However, they found themselves astonished as Batman managed to defeat Zsaz with ease, something they had not taken into consideration. Realizing the danger of him running around Gotham they considered ordering the Talons to murder him, but changed their mind after he coincidentally started targeting several of their opponents. The Court then decided to willingly let Batman fight the criminal world of Gotham without interfering, only stepping in if he accidentally stumbled upon them or started targeting them. All the while, the Court continued to influence the city from the shadows.

 

Roughly 5 years later, a long series of unfortunate events led to the Dark Knight retiring. With the Batman no longer being a possible threat to the Court, they decided to start spreading out their influence more while making certain their existence was kept a secret. Over the decades, dozens of wannabe vigilantes hoping to step into the footsteps of the Dark Knight started to make their way onto the streets. As rumors of a secret underground society who are secretly controlling Gotham started leaking, many of them started to seek them out and found their way right on the doorstep of the Court. In order to preserve their secret they were forced to murder everyone who stood in their way, having to cover up the assassinations to not arouse any suspicions. After decades of doing this the Court of Owls decided they could not continue covering up the disappearances of teen vigilantes, deciding to take action by making a statement by taking down the Dark Knight. Upon discovering his identity and tracking him down using the help of a deranged Edward Nigma and a frail Hugo Strange, they began orchestrating a long plot in order to get him to put on the suit again. One of the Talons assassinated Selina and left behind evidence to make him suspect the Joker, knowing this would motivate him to return to Gotham to investigate. By using a tiny improvised explosive device hidden within the playing card they hoped to detonate it while he was holding it within Arkham. However, they did not account for Batman giving the card to Joker himself, which allowed him to survive the blast and only killed the Clown Prince of Crime along with the other Arkman inmates. After so many years, they decided enough was enough; it was time to put him on trial in front of the Court of Owls for standing in their way too much.

 

Batman barely has any time to process what he just heard as the crowd and jury start shouting how they think they are guilty. There’s no way they would win a case against a kangaroo court like this; their decision was already made way before the trial started. The judge slams his hammer down again, silencing the chaos as he prepares to read his verdict. Due to being found guilty of interfering with the plans of the Court of Owls, Batman and Robin get sentenced to death at the hands of the Talons right now. The judge asks if he has anything to say about his verdict, but cuts him off right as he is about to speak up. The spectators and jury start cheering and clapping as two of the Talons walk into the courtroom, each entering on opposite sides of the room. They take their positions in front and behind the two, unsheathing their golden weapons to prepare for battle. One member of the Court gets ordered to untie the Dynamic Duo in order to make the odds more fair as the rest of the crowd prepares to watch as the Batman finally gets taken down by the Court of Owls after so many years.

 

The Talon behind Batman strikes first and stabs him in the back, but his armor prevents the blade from piercing through his skin. He manages to reactivate his exosuit and turns around, ready to fight again as he pulls out a Batarang from his belt. His enemy strikes again, aiming for the exposed skin around his mouth instead, but Batman manages to deflect it with his own weapon. He uses the opportunity to slice the Talon in the arm, although this doesn’t phase him. Batman holds his hand in front of his face and casts a glance at the spectators, seeing they are all silently toasting for their demise with expensive drinks in their hands. His short distraction gives the Talon an opportunity to successfully hit him, but Helena deflects the attack at the last moment with her own weapon stick. He compliments her for being able to stand her ground against their opponents before continuing the battle. The Talon starts attacking more and more fiercely, slowly managing to weaken Batman’s defenses while coming closer to getting a successful strike on him. He tries his best to keep up with him, but Batman slowly starts to become weaker and weaker with every attack. Right as he is about to slash the Dark Knight in the face, the leader of the Court suddenly commands the assassins to stop attacking. Unsure of what to do, the Talons lay down their weapons for a moment as they watch what their leader’s intentions are right now. He mutters something about hearing a weird noise outside as he walks towards the window and lifts up the curtains. Batman tries to get a glimpse of the outside world to locate their hideout if they manage to get out, but he soon picks up the sound outside too; he hears the loud revving of an engine in the distance slowly coming towards them, accompanied by the sound of a car horn. The crowd gathers around the window to see what the commotion is about, but quickly runs away in terror as the Batmobile crashes through the wall at full speed.

 

Pieces of debris rain down everywhere as the vehicle comes to a screeching halt right in front of Batman and Robin. Chaos ensues in the room as each member of the Court desperately tries to make their escape, terrified of the imposing black vehicle which just crashed through the wall of their hideout. The door opens as the person driving the Batmobile beeps the horn, prompting them to jump inside. Batman kicks the Talon in front of him to the ground and hits the other one in the chest with several batarangs to give them a window to escape. He and Helena jump inside the Batmobile as he takes control of the steering wheel, closing the door right before the Talons can make their way inside. He puts his boot on the gas pedal and activates the rocket booster in order to make their escape from the Court. As they are driving through the streets of Gotham early in the morning, Barbara appears on one of the screens of the console, asking if they are alright. She explains that she left the Wayne Enterprises building for a short moment to check up on her case at the GCPD, but when she returned she saw the camera footage of them getting abducted. Although it was impossible for her to track them down at first since the Court of Owls covered up almost all of their tracks, Batman reactivating his high-tech suit set off a GPS signal which allowed her to pinpoint their location. With the help of a new modification to the Batmobile she was able to remotely control the armored vehicle for a while to reach the place and to help them escape.

 

Helena sighs of relief, tired of the confrontation they just went through when she says that they must’ve escaped the Court by now. However, right after she says this the two feel something landing on the roof of the Batmobile. Before they can react, one of the Talon’s golden weapons cuts through the armored material like butter, making an opening for himself to enter the vehicle. Batman stands up from his seat and orders Helena to drive despite her not having any driving experience yet as he deals with the Talon standing in the cramped open space in the back of the Batmobile. He makes his way towards him, feeling the cold morning air cut through his skin while he begins punching his enemy. After hitting him a couple of times the Talon catches his fist inside his hand, landing a couple of strikes on his face and damaging his cowl before Batman kicks him right in the stomach. The impact of the kick makes him land hard on the cold floor of the Batmobile, but before he can recover Batman leaps on top of him and starts pounding him in the head. He stops for a short moment to charge up his exosuit for a bigger punch, but the vehicle suddenly making a sharp turn to get outside of Gotham, makes him miss the Talon and denting the floor instead. While he recovers and tries to get another punch in, the other Talon lands on the front of the car and begins damaging the engine. Helena makes a couple more sharp turns in an effort to get him off the car but all it does is make Batman lose his balance, giving him a disadvantage in the fight. As smoke begins coming from the engine Helena loses control of the vehicle, prompting Batman to abandon the fight to prevent them from going off the road. However, he is too late; before he can do anything, the Batmobile crashes through the guardrail on the ride of the road, sending them all tumbling down a hill.

 

When Helena regains consciousness, she feels herself getting dragged out of the wreckage which was once the Batmobile. Pieces of wreckage are scattered everywhere as the smell of smoke fills her nose. Once she is at a safe distance away from the wreck, she is able to properly see the damage; the Batmobile is laying upside down with a fire having erupted in the engine as several important components of the car have been damaged or broken off. Suddenly, she notices one of the Talons crawling away from the wreck. His outfit has been torn and burned, with him being unable to walk because of the crash. Batman sees him too, and begins slowly walking towards him. The Talon notices this and for the first time he hears one of them speak as he begins pleading for him to put him out of his misery. Batman stays silent for a while before telling him to go back to the Court. He wants him to relay a message to them, warning that it will take much more than this to take down Batman. They tried their best to get rid of him, and they failed. If they try this again, he won't be taken by surprise like this time and warns that he will do whatever it takes to take down the entire Court by himself. The Talon begins crying out that the Court of Owls will just murder him for this fiasco, but Batman ignores him and turns around leaving him on his own. He calls Barbara to pick them up as he puts an arm around Helena, complimenting her for what she did today as the Batmobile continues to burn down behind them.

 

Roughly a week has passed since the incident with the Court. Despite Bruce and Barbara’s best efforts, they haven't managed to track down the Court again; upon returning to the place where he was taken to to be put on trial, he only found an empty and abandoned building with all of the furniture and decorations taken away. Barbara has taken the wreckage of the Batmobile back to the Wayne Enterprises building, developing plans to rework the vehicle into something else instead of simply rebuilding it.

 

During a boring evening at the Wayne Building, the regularly scheduled tv programme gets interrupted by a newsflash; A terrorist going by the name of Bane, suspected to be the person responsible for getting a majority of Gotham addicted to Venom, has attacked the Gotham Stock Exchang. In a publicly broadcasted video he revealed to have gotten his hands on a decaying neutron bomb which is set to detonate this Christmas Eve. In his video he directly challenged the Dark Knight, saying that he is only willing to stop the bomb from exploding if he manages to defeat him. Confident that he can save Gotham once more, Bruce suits up and sets out to bring down Bane. Helena offers to join to help take him down, but Batman declines as he fears not going to him alone could have severe consequences. Without being able to use the Batmobile to get around for the time being, he climbs to the top of the building and decides to make use out of his new experimental cape glider. He leaps off the structure as he spreads out his cape, which folds out in the shape of the wings of a bat allowing him to glide to the financial district.

 

After gliding for a while, Batman lands on top of the glass roof of the Stock Exchange building giving him a good look at the situation. Right below him he can make out the figure of Bane, surrounded by several of his goons, all guarding the neutron bomb. He uses a Batarang to cut a hole into the glass to grant him access into the building. After jumping down the hole he lands right in front of Bane, quickly alerting him of his presence. This is the first time he has gotten a good look at the terrorist; before him stands a very big and muscular man, wearing a black luchador-esque mask which conceals his face. Batman catches a glimpse of a big tank filled with Venom on his back with tubes attached to it, all injected straight into his skin and mask. His goons, all having taken some of the strength-enhancing drugs as well, point their guns at the Dark Knight but Bane tells them to lower their weapons. After telling them to step back he stretches out his arms, challenging the Dark Knight to a one-on-one fight. Batman agrees, taking off his utility belt and preparing for the fight. He laughs, his voice muffled by the mask, asking himself if he will be a match to him or if he will go down as easily as his other opponents as Batman charges towards him.

 

Batman strikes first, getting in several powerful blows, but it doesn’t even seem to phase his opponent. He pauses for a short moment and tries to continue the fight, but Bane catches his hand before it can hit him. Batman hears something crack when he clenches his fist, feeling that his glove has been damaged. Before he can recover, Bane grabs him with both arms and headbutts him with a lot of force. The blow almost makes him lose his balance, but his opponent grabs him by the throat before he falls to the ground and punches him right in the face several times. Batman starts to taste blood in his mouth but is unwilling to give up so easily. He releases himself from Bane’s grip and tackles him to the ground, using all his strength to kick him in the face several times. Again, his opponent is unperturbed by his attempts to fight back, simply taking the blows without flinching. As Bane doesn't fight back Batman becomes overconfident for a moment, not noticing as his arm reaches out for his leg. He grabs a hold of it and janks it towards him, making him fall to the ground again.

 

‘’You know, I used to admire you. Hearing all about your heroics back when I was growing up motivated me to be better than I already was. But now that I am not a bright-eyed and naive child anymore, I’m finally able to see you for what you really are; A pathetic elderly man, having to rely on some high-tech suit to even attempt to compete with me!’’

 

Bane raises his fists in the air, bringing them down with full force on the chest of the Dark Knight. Although his suit absorbs most of the strike to prevent his ribs from breaking upon impact, Batman still feels the pain from his attack and notices the armor on his chest having shattered.

 

‘’Over the years, I've dreamt of being the one who would kill the legendary Batman. However, I have recently come to the conclusion that killing you would only end your agony and silence your shame.’’

 

He attempts to fight back again and gathers his strength to reply to his opponent’s comments, but Bane silences him with a nasty kick in the gut before he can do so.

 

‘’I don't think you quite know who I am. I’m not some scarecrow or a riddler. I’m not a jester or a clown! I’m not a flightless bird nor a cryogenic scientist! And most importantly, i am not some rich guy playing dress-up!’’

 

Bane begins continuously stomping Batman in the face, slowly cracking open his mask more and more with each kick. By the time his cowl has been completely destroyed Batman has been knocked unconscious, having collapsed after all of the attacks.

 

‘’ I AM BANE! AND I WILL BREAK YOU!’’

 

As his goons cheer him on, Bane picks up the defeated body of the Dark Knight and raises it over his head. He slowly spins around like he’s showing a trophy to his friends, reveling as the realization that he has become the one to truly break the Bat begins to set in. Batman regains consciousness, but only just in time to feel himself getting driven down towards the ground as he collides with Bane’s knee.

 

With one nasty snap, he quickly finds his body in anguish as his spine has completely shattered. Bane drops him to the ground and commands his henchmen to take the bombs and go away, taking the broken mask of the Dark Knight with him as a trophy before leaving himself as well. Batman tries to move, but becomes terrified when he notices that he is unable to even move. With this one attack, Bane has paralyzed the Bat.

 

Quite some time passes before someone arrives to pick up the wounded Bruce. He gets taken to the Wayne Building instead of a hospital in order to preserve his secret identity, where he gets hooked up to some medical equipment to keep him alive. As the days pass by, Gotham begins to decay more and more into chaos as the threat of a neutron bomb decimating the city gets closer. Each attempt made by the police force to disarm the explosive has led to nothing, leading to many of the city’s residents deciding to get out while they still can. Despite Bruce being in no state at all to fight back against Bane, he stubbornly refuses to leave the city as he believes his back will he recovered enough before the bomb is set to go off. Along with this he also feels personally responsible for letting this happen and does not want Gotham to fall under his watch.

 

Less than a week is now left before the bomb is set to go off. Bane had taken his bomb to the city centre, where his henchmen are guarding him all day to prevent anyone from interfering with his plan. With no sign of his spine recovering in the slightest, Helena and Barbara are urging Bruce to leave the city with them, as they know nobody else is left to stop him. Barbara is close to converting the damaged Batmobile to an airborne vehicle and tells him it could be fit to get them out of there. However, he does not want to hear any of it and keeps insisting that he can find a solution. In an old scientific report about the Venom drug he read some time ago, he noticed it stating that taking the drug can completely heal severe wounds within moments. With his mind set on this new opportunity to save Gotham he asks Barbara to get him a sample of the substance, hoping this will put him in a position to fight back again. Despite her hesitation she agrees to do so, although she warns him that this is only a short-term solution for a permanent problem for him.

 

When she returns, Bruce has removed the armor from his arms and prepared a new suit to help him control himself while under the effects of the drug. Barbara reluctantly hands him a syringe filled with Venom, but before she does so she tells him that the scientific reports he read left out some important details. It's true that taking Venom can heal severe and permanent injuries in a matter of moments, but the catch is that once the drug’s effects have worn off the injuries will just return, sometimes getting even worse as a result. Bruce tells her he is more than willing to sacrifice himself if it means that he is gonna be able to save Gotham once more as he grabs the syringe out of her hand. Before any of them can react, he slams the needle into his skin and presses the plunger down allowing the substance to enter into his bloodstream. Bruce feels the effects hitting him almost instantly, and before he knows it he finds himself able to stand on his own again. While he struggles to keep himself from succumbing to the drug’s effects he puts on a new suit; an outfit plated with a gold-colored metal and with a reinforced cowl and cape. Ready for battle, he makes his way to the newly designed Batwing to take himself to the city center to face off against Bane.

----------------------

   

Given the short notice, it’s difficult for the League to muster everyone to the call, but eventually the League manages to assemble in Gotham. What catches all six of them off guard though is the reason I called them in. They all expected that I was hoping to use them to oppose Ra’s and his forces. It is a logical conclusion, but that’s not what I called upon them for.

 

They’re crowd control.

 

Given West’s reluctance to Jim’s warnings, the GCPD is unprepared for leading the evacuation of the city. So if it’s going to be successful we need more than just the police. We need the Justice League.

 

Superman: Bruce, I really think we have more pressing issues than crowd control given the threat made against Gotham.

 

Flash: Especially given the escalation caused by the deployment of the national guard. How long before they get here, Vic?

 

Cyborg: Last reports had the estimated time of arrival at just under two hours.

 

Superman: Not a huge window to evacuate a whole city.

 

Flash: Worried you’re too slow, Clark?

 

Superman: Just because you got lucky during our last race Barry, doesn’t mean you’ll get lucky again.

 

Flash: Is that a challenge?

 

Aquaman: Stop it, both of you. We don’t have time to indulge in your rivalry.

 

Green Lantern: It’s always a weird day when I agree with Arthur.

 

Wonder Woman: Perhaps a more reasonable strategy would be to anticipate where this Ra’s Al-Ghul will make his first move from, so we can halt this assault with a preemptive strike.

 

Aquaman: Diana does raise a valid point. Severing the head of this beast before it has a chance to take root would be the best course of action.

 

Flash: Not to mention it sounds like an easier job.

 

Green Lantern: Not up to the challenge, Barry?

 

Flash: What? No, I was just pointing out that it’d be a damn sight easier taking on a small unprepared army than it would be evacuating a whole city.

 

Cyborg: Not to mention it would avoid us potentially overstraining the Watchtower’s systems in the process.

 

Inevitably, they all come to the same conclusion. My decision is the foolish decision. Understandable given the circumstances.

 

On any other day, I’d be obliged to agree.

 

Why make more of a challenge for yourself when you can end a problem when it’s only in its infancy?

 

Thankfully, I have an appropriate answer to that question.

 

Batman: No. We press ahead in leading the evacuation of the city.

 

Green Lantern: I thought he was the supposed smart one here? Even I can tell you that’s the wrong move to make.

 

Batman: Usually yes, it would be. We’ve faced countless villains with ambitions of taking lives on a large scale. But in this case, we’re facing something different. This is a man who knows full well his capabilities as well as those of his opponents. If he suspects your involvement, he’ll go to ground again. Or worse still, he’ll have ways to combat you all.

 

Superman: We can take him.

 

Green Lantern: We’re the Justice League. We can take anyone.

 

Cyborg: Don’t tempt it. You know how well things work out when you say something like that.

 

Flash: Especially after that mess with Hades.

 

Wonder Woman: You mean Ares.

 

Aquaman: Not to mention Amazo.

 

Superman: Guys, this isn’t the time.

 

It’s funny really. Clark was always one of the most reluctant members to join the League following the conclusion of the Star incident, and yet to the public he’s the one who leads us. The reality of the situation couldn’t be further from the truth. There is no leader of the Justice League. At least, not one that the seven of us are aware of.

 

Some would say that’s crazy, for a team with such diverse abilities as ours you’d need some form of a command chain to stop the clashing of egos. It’s a valid point. But probably the main thing that’s kept the Justice League together for so long is its flexible command structure. Given the diversity of problems we encounter, it makes perfect sense why the structure would change accordingly. After all, someone such as Diana and Arthur are more adept at combating magic users than Barry and I. Just as Clark and Hal are more experienced in combating threats from space.

 

But every once in a while, one of us has to take charge and usually, whether he likes it or not, that’s Clark. Well….when it’s not me that is.

 

Batman: Thanks Clark. Look. This fight isn’t your fight. It’s my fight. Ra’s hasn’t come all this way for the Justice League, he came here for Bruce Wayne, and that’s exactly what I intend to give him.

 

Wonder Woman: You can’t fight him alone, Bruce. As you said, he has an army of followers at his command.

 

Batman: So do I.

 

Flash: A few birds don’t really count as an army Bruce.

 

Green Lantern: No matter who trained them.

 

Batman: Who says that’s all I have?

 

Wonder Woman: Sounds like you’ve been busy.

 

Cyborg: When you’ve actually stepped out of your cave that is.

 

Eventually, they relent and agree to focus on safely evacuating people from the city. It’s clear as day that they’re not content with this, hoping instead to do more as is there, I couldn’t be more honoured to call them my friends. But they cannot be a part of this. This my battle, and mine alone.

I’ve known it was coming for years. I didn’t know when, I didn’t know how. But I knew what, and that gives me an unusual advantage.

 

Often warring armies would rely upon the genius of their generals to lead them to victory. A similar situation is now presenting itself here between Ra’s and myself. The sole difference? We’re aware of each other’s methods to some degree or another. So then the question becomes what separates my tactics from his? The answer to that question is simple.

 

Home field advantage.

 

Not to mention the fact that whilst Ra’s’ tactics are unlikely to have changed given how he’s spent hundreds of years refining them, mine have evolved. Where Ra’s will rely on the Lazarus Pit’s restorative powers to keep him in prime physical condition, I shall be relying on the arsenal I carry in my belt, as well as the blade Hephaestus forged for me. I had also hoped to be able to use the sample of Lucifer I tasked Jason with retrieving, but it appears he won’t be back before Ra’s gets here, assuming he’s still alive. I hope he’s alright.

 

But I can’t worry about him right now.

 

The battle ahead will be difficult, and it needs my full attention. They’re counting on me. They need me, and I need them.

 

I can’t guarantee that any of us walk away from this unscathed.

 

I can’t even guarantee if anyone of us will walk away alive

 

As I active the war room protocol for my office, I walk outside to greet the team. To my surprise, there are two extras I didn’t expect. A man and a woman. The woman appears familiar for some reason.

 

It’s not until I look at the man that I realise why she seems familiar to me.

 

Batman: Jason?

 

It’s at that moment that it all becomes clear to me.

 

Whilst the odds are not in our favour, we have one advantage that Ra’s does not.

 

His army are simply soldiers. Loyalists. Servants.

 

Mine are family, and we will do anything to help one another.

 

Some come with all that you can muster, Ra’s.

Your fight isn’t just with me.

 

Your fight is with us.

 

All of us.

  

(First, I really want to apologize for not posting GCPD for like 7 months and i have been a lazy ass so i really want to apologize, though this and chapter 7 are ready to be posted. Also I really didn't really edit it that good.)

 

2:30

 

GCPD Building

 

Gordon’s Office

 

Bullock, Gordon, and Bilbao have been sitting for the past 30 minutes talking about their plan to break into Sionis Industries.

 

Bilbao: “Ok, but what if we get caught, I mean we would all be suspended of our badges and would get kicked off the force!”

 

Gordon: “I know but this is an opportunity to finally get some solid evidence to catch the False Facers, if we do it any later, the evidence could already been moved. We have to take this chance.”

 

Bullock: “You do know that if this fails, you will have no chance of becoming Commissioner.”

 

Gordon sighs and leans back in his chair. He has always wanted to become Commissioner to become a better one than Loeb.

 

Gordon: “Like I said, we have to take this chance.”

 

Loeb walks into Gordon's office

 

Loeb: “Good afternoon gentlemen, what is this all about?”

 

Gordon: “I am debriefing about a case of a suspicious drug flowing through the streets of Gotham. I need Bullock to partner up with Bilbao to cover this, if that’s fine.”

 

Loeb: “Of course, I just need to see Bilbao for a couple of seconds.”

  

Loeb eyed Bilbao with a smug look, contrasting Bilbao’s terrified expression, he then starting rubbing his neck. Gordon examined this suspiciously.

 

Bilbao: “Alright I'll be back.”

 

Bilbao and Loeb exit the room leaving Bullock and Gordon.

 

Bullock: “Something seems off with the new guy. Everytime he sees Loeb, he shakes and sweats.”

 

Gordon: “Loeb is a pretty intimidating guy, could’ve got to his head.”

 

Bullock: “I don’t know, it seems like it’s something that he told him.”

 

Gordon: “I'll ask him later, go over to the garage to get the car.”

 

Bullock: “Will do.”

  

Bullock walked out the door leaving Gordon reflecting the past hours. All the weird things he saw, the Judge sweating, Jalone's explanation of the mole operation, and now Bilbao’s nervous expressions. Something is off he thought, He looked at his notebook which he scribbled the time of breaking into Sionis industries.

 

Gordon: “I have work to do.”

 

He closes his notebook and grabs his coat.

 

6:00pm

 

Big Belly Burger Parking lot

 

1 mile away from the Sionis building

 

Bullock, Bilbao, and Gordon sit inside a cop car, eating burgers and fries.

 

Bilbao: “Ok, why did we stop to eat again?”

 

Gordon: “Bullock ‘insisted’ on going here before we go to Sionis.”

 

Bullock: “Come on, I mean it’s like 3 miles away-”

 

Bilbao: “1 mile.”

 

Bullock: “Whatever. It’s right next to Sinois and we can eat.”

 

Gordon and Bilbao both stare at Bullock as he shoves a handful of fries in his mouth.

 

Gordon: “Let’s go over the plan.

 

Bullock: “Gordon, we talked about the plan back at the office, we don’t need to go over it again. Let’s just eat.”

 

Gordon: “I’m doing it just in case we forget.”

 

Bullock: “Whatever.”

 

Gordon: “The Building is closed for the day and will have no one in it but guards. Bullock and will be with me, asking to enter the building with a fake warrant. BIlbao then goes to the bathroom, and floods the toilet. You will distract the guards as bullock goes to the front desk to open access to level 54, which is the highest floor where the file will most likely be.”

 

Bullock swallowed his fries and burped incredibly loud.

 

Bullock: “Alright, what do I do after I open access to level 54?”

 

Gordon: “Hang tight and hide under the desk. I’ll go up there, retrieve the file, and head back down. Looks like going over the plan wasn't a bad idea at all.”

 

Bullock: “Shut up.”

 

Bilbao: “I don’t this is a really good plan, we’ll get caught instantly.”

 

Gordon: “It’s the only plan we got, there's only 3 days until the trial.”

 

Bilbao: “Then let's do it.”

 

Gordon, Bilbao, and Bullock got out of the car

 

Gordon: “Bilbao, can I talk to you for a second?”

 

Bilbao: “Sure.”

 

Gordon and Bilbao waked over to a tree nearby, away from bullock.

 

Gordon: “I have a question about Commissioner Loeb and you.”

 

Bilbao: “Ok.”

 

Gordon noticed that he rubbed his neck when he mentioned Loeb’s name to him. Just like he did back at the office.

 

Gordon: “Is everything alright with you guys, or is there some tension.”

 

Bilbao: “I don’t exactly know what you mean.”

 

Gordon: “I notice that everytime Loeb looks at you, you shake and start rubbing your neck.”

 

Bilbao: “Oh that, that’s nothing. My son likes to fish on the weekends, and Loeb offers to teach him how to fish. And I have a big rash on my neck.”

 

Gordon eyed Bilbao. He seemed very confident, but there was a scent of fear when he said that.

 

Gordon: “Didn’t know he liked to fish.”

 

Bilbao: “Yeah, I mean the more you get to know him the better right?”

 

Gordon: “Yeah… let’s get going. “

 

Gordon and Bilbao walk over to the car to meet with Bullock.

 

6:30 Sionis Building

 

Gordon, Bullock, and Bilbao go up to the front door

 

Guard: “Hello Officers, why are you here?”

 

Gordon: “We have warrant to search this place.”

 

Guard: “May I see it please?”

 

Gordon handed it to the guard. He looked at it and handed it back to Gordon.

 

Guard: “You may pass.”

 

The guard opened the door and all three of them walked in. Bilbao walked straight to the bathroom, Bullock walked to the guards, and Gordon started searching around, waiting for Bilbao to flood the toilet.

 

Bullock:“So, how are ya guys doing, must be a pain to be securing a building when there’s nobody there.”

 

Guard 1: “Yeah, I barely get to see my kids at all, I would rather they had a more non-faulty security system so we wouldn’t need to be here.”

 

Bullock: “Yeah, I mean the GCPD building has very few security-”

 

A giant pool of water rushed out of the bathroom, towards the guards.

 

Guard 2: “Damn man, what did that cop do in there?”

 

The 2 guards rushed to the bathroom to handle the situation while Bullock went over to the main desk and opened the computer.

  

Bullock: “That’s weird, the 54th floor is already open, i'm not sure why-”

 

Gordon: “We don’t have time to find out, I got to get up there.”

 

Gordon rushed to the elevator. He closed the door and a secret button popped out, revealing a 54 imprinted on it. He pressed the button and the door closes. He started to think why the 54th floor was open, he was pretty sure that everything would be secure. Unless…

 

The door opened and Gordon stood still, seeing Black Mask sitting in his chair, aiming a gun at his head.

 

Black Mask: “Damn I have been holding this gun for 40 minutes straight waiting for you to come. Though I guess patience is the best reward, especially for a guy like you.

 

Black Mask stood up and pulled back the hammer...

   

-GCPD Police Report-

 

•Date of incident: 11/15/1996

•Date of report: 11/22/1996

 

•Reporting officers: Harvey Bullock and James Gordon

•Location: Park Row, Gotham City

•Offense or incident: Double homicide

•Victims: Martha and Thomas Wayne

 

On the night of November 15 1996, Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne were found dead in the Park Row alleyway. The two suffered from fatal gunshot wounds inflicted by a currently unknown individual. Time of death was later concluded to be around 9:04 PM. According to their butler, Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, Thomas and Martha left their home around 5 PM to take their son, Bruce Wayne, to the red carpet premiere of the movie ‘’Space Jam’’. The movie would start playing around 8 in the evening, with Thomas telling Pennyworth they would go out for some dinner before the movie and would be back within a couple of hours.

 

Camera footage captured outside the theater from that night shows the Wayne family leaving around 8:55, despite the movie not finishing until around 9:30 in the evening. The reason for why they left so early is still unclear too. Due to their driver having parked their car a couple of blocks away because there wasn't any space left in front of the theater, the family made their way over to the parking lot by foot. They take a shortcut through a dimly lit alleyway next to the theater. Halfway through the alleyway, the family gets stopped by an unknown individual wearing one of the ‘’Bugs Bunny’’ mascot costumes used to promote the movie. The person hired to walk around in said costume during the premier itself has already been questioned about this, but due to his alibi it has been concluded someone else stole the costume after he was done for the day.

 

The unknown individual pulls out a gun and points it at the family, presumably threatening to pull the trigger if they dont give their possessions to him. Thomas quickly complies and throws his wallet and watch towards him, but the criminal takes more interest in the necklace of Martha. He reaches out for the necklace, prompting Thomas to reach for the gun. In a moment of panic, the criminal shoots him twice with his SIG Sauer P239 pistol and shoots Martha once right after. He points his gun at Bruce after this and tries to pull the trigger, but it doesn’t have any ammo in it anymore. He throws the weapon away and runs away, leaving Bruce Wayne alone in the alleyway.

 

Officers Gordon and Bullock arrived at the scene roughly 15 minutes later, following a 911-call from a neighbor complaining about loud noises. Gordon and Bullock find Bruce stuck in a state of shock, kneeling next to the bodies of his parents. As of this moment, the camera footage from outside the theater is one of the only clues to who did this due to Bruce refusing to speak at all ever since the incident and due to there being no other witnesses. According to the doctor working with Bruce, Hugo Strange, the kid is completely unresponsive to anything although he gets overwhelmed by sadness when exposed to pictures of Looney Tunes characters or Michael Jordan.

 

====================

 

Twelve years after the brutal murder on his parents, a young Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City. Despite him saying that he’s only here to put Wayne Enterprises back on the map in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis, the real reason is a bit different; to put an end to the rampant crime in the city. Despite crime rates dropping astronomically in most of the USA, they only seem to get higher with each passing day in Gotham. After seeing his parents getting killed right in front of him and having to deal with the consequences of this event, Bruce promised himself to do everything he can to prevent anyone from having to go through the same things he went through. Having spent the last 8 years training in material arts in a monastery in the mountains of Korea, Bruce takes his first step at becoming a vigilante.

 

Around the same time as when Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham, the GCPD starts getting reports of someone with a motorcycle helmet brutally assaulting criminals. The newly promoted Commissioner Gordon gets put on the case, and finds criminal after criminal severely beaten by this individual. After several nights Gordon manages to track him down in the red light district of the city, shooting him on sight and taking him away in his patrol car.

 

A wounded Bruce Wayne struggles to stay conscious in the back of the police car. His one-man war against crime so far is not going well, with him seeing that simply beating up criminals in alleyways for no good reason isn't the way to go. Although Gordon hasn’t removed his motorcycle helmet yet, he realizes that he may become the thing he swore to destroy if he gets taken to the police station. With some tools he manages to unlock the door of the car, stepping out of the moving vehicle and fleeing from the scene.

 

Bruce returns to Wayne Manor, barely able to stand on his own legs and refusing any help from Alfred. He takes a seat in his father’s favorite chair right in front of a big painting of him, asking for his guidance in his war against crime from beyond the grave. As he waits for an answer, he suddenly hears a swarm of bats outside the window. They fly over the Manor, with a couple of them crashing through the giant window in the living room and circling around the painting of his father.

 

Bruce recalls the time he fell down a well on the Wayne estate as a kid, discovering a gigantic cave underneath Wayne Manor. Before he could call out for help, a swarm of bats arose and attacked him. The event traumatized him, leaving him scared of bats to this day.

 

Bats terrified Bruce for years. Now, it's time his enemies will share this fear too.

 

Roughly a week later, Commissioner Gordon gets put on a new case after he failed to locate the person who escaped from his patrol car. A group of teens who were previously caught shoplifting, turn themselves in at the police station while rambling on about some kind of bat monster attacking them last night. Gordon believes these rumors to be nothing more than urban legends at first, but after a freelance Daily Planet photographer publishes a picture of the ‘’Bat-Man’’ in the morning newspaper he starts to believe the stories. Although the picture is very blurry, you can clearly make out a person in a gray bodysuit, wearing a black helmet and cape along with red gloves. A caption under the picture makes fun of his suit, joking that the red gloves signify the blood of the people he beats up on his hands. Upon further inspection, Gordon also notices a red symbol on the chest of the suit, resembling some kind of flying creature.

 

That same morning, a small mistake from an intern at Arkham Asylum causes some of the cells within the high security level to get unlocked. Although security manages to stop those who see this as an opportunity to flee the prison, one inmate manages to slip through the cracks and find his way outside; a man by the name of Victor Zsasz. He got locked up in Arkham after murdering eleven people in the span of a single weekend years ago. When the police tracked him down to arrest him, they found him in the middle of carving eleven tally-marks into his own flesh with a rusty pocket knife to keep track of his kills.

 

Despite the best efforts to locate the escaped inmate, he seems to have vanished off the face of the planet. The Arkham guards are about to call of the search until they get notified of several random murders across Gotham, with every victim having a number of talleymarks carved into them indicating this is the work of Zsasz. The search continues, but due to his victims all seeming to be randomly selected it becomes almost impossible to track him down. Commissioner Gordon hears of the search for this killer, and suggests doing something controversial in order to locate the escaped serial killer.

 

Batman is on another night patrol as he suddenly notices a bright, yellow light beam in the distance. He’s about to ignore it in order to continue his patrol until he sees a bat shape in the light, prompting him to investigate what is going on. He locates the source of the light to be on top of the GCPD building, with a figure standing next to the spotlight. Batman uses his newly developed grappling gun to get on the roof of the police station, with the figure standing there quickly noticing him. Bruce sees the person is actually Commissioner Gordon, the one who shot him a few weeks ago and almost killed him. He fears if the cop figured out his identity for a moment, but soon sees that he doesn't seem to have found a connection yet. Gordon introduces himself, talking about how he doubted if Batman would react to this call and saying how he didnt know another way to contact him. He explains the Zsasz situation to Batman, saying how the best officers of the Gotham Police force are unable to even locate him and asking for his help.

 

Batman considers the offer for a moment, but quickly agrees to help to locate the killer.

 

====Arkham. Ground Zero====

 

"Selina! Selina! I've got you!" Bruce fires a hook into a nearby support beam as he rushes to grab her, narrowly avoids falling debris as the floor beneath them collapses. With one hand tightly wrapped around her waist, he keeps his other hand on his grapnel gun, it's rope now the only thing keeping them from falling into the chasms below. "Batwing's en-route," he assures her. "We just... need to hang on."

 

"Well it's not like I can do much else right now," she hisses. "What the hell was that?!"

Bruce bows his head. "It was... It means Walker failed, it means- We did."

 

"No, no that, that-!" she exclaims pointing below them. Something very fast, and very powerful is searching the Belfry.

 

At last hearing them, the black blur stops circling the tower and speeds towards them, grabbing Bruce by his throat and leaving Selina to wrestle with the tether. Zod scowls, as he scans his vitals with his eyes. He runs his hand across Bruce's body. Armour. How disappointing.

"Hmph. Bane talks a lot about you. In fact... He takes great pride in being the only man who *broke* you... Well, *one* of the only men to break you," Zod grasps Bruce's ribcage, and with one slight motion, three of them snap in his hand. For the first time in years, Bruce screams.

"Now... We have more important matters to deal with."

 

"W-we? Who's we?"

 

=====Day Two=====

 

-The Justice League have returned from a mission in deep space to aid with the evacuation and recovery of inmates caught in the catastrophic attack-

 

-allegedly perpetrated by Gotham's elite and most influential-

 

-Mayor Grange surrendered to the GCPD after a stand-off in Chin-

 

-What I'm witnessing... It's awful, Tom, just awful-

 

-The official list of missing inmates has risen to 1367. Jonathan Crane, Harvey Dent, Charles Brown-

 

-I'm told The Wayne Foundation has pledged itself to-

 

-Alex Sartorius, Julian Day, Henry Ross-

 

-Riots, as escaped inmates have spread onto-

 

-Victor Fries, Waylon Jones, Kirk Langstrom-

 

-What seems to be General Zod was seen in the Belfry just moments before it fell-

 

-Awful-

 

-Massacre-

 

-Carnage-

 

- And Walker, Drury Walker still missing. Recent reports indicate that-

 

It started with the earthquake, but that wasn't the tremors alone that killed them. They were only the catalyst for what came next. The vibrations shook loose the Belfry's foundations, and all of it's one hundred floors. The Iceberg Lounge, Sionis Industries, Elliot Heights, all flattened, along with anyone who stayed behind. It took two days for the dust cloud to dissipate. Two days before anyone could even see the bodies.

 

=====Day Three=====

 

The last thing Charles Brown saw before he hit the ground was Sionis' black, skull-like face and his piercing red eyes staring back at him as he let go of his hand and threw him off the wall. The last thing he heard was his cackle, his sadistic, monstrous laugh. And the last thing he felt? Pain. Always pain.

 

"No, please!"

 

Someone else is here, calling out for help. Their screams echoes throughout the catacombs, then, the single, decisive stroke of a sword hitting bone is heard, and finally... Silence. Another inmate dead.

 

...

 

Chuck gets to his feet, slowly... That's four fractured ribs. "Hello? Anyone there-?"

 

The figure is clad in black, two pointed ears adorn it's masked face. It's yellow eyes gleam in the darkness.

 

"Batman?" Chuck asks.

 

No, not Batman, Batman doesn't carry a sword, and nor, now looking at the bodies on the ground, does he kill. "Who are you?"

 

The figure doesn't speak, it doesn't compromise. It has only one mission, to kill the survivors, and it won't be halted by anyone or anything, let alone a Kite-Man. It draws its' sword one more time, and then- BANG.

 

The figure falls down dead, and the gunman emerges from the shadows, pocketing his silver dollar.

 

"Dent, what- what was that thing-?"

 

Two-Face growls, then, picking up the body's sword, decapitates it. "A Talon." He removes the creature's belt and attaches it to his waist. "They're looking for survivors."

 

"Survivors? These are the things Penguin mentioned?"

 

Dent nods. "Correct. Undead nightmares that know only what they're told. Completely loyal to their masters. You've seen them before."

 

The Kabuki assassins... The Yakuza must've given those to Penguin to help fight against the Owls. And we killed them. The only things that might've posed a challenge...

 

"But why the hell would they-?"

 

"Doesn't matter... We just need to get to the surface. You still got a kite back there?"

 

"Yeah, but it's out of fuel."

 

Two-Face snorts. "What kind of kite needs fuel?"

 

===GCPD Holding Cells===

 

Before Arkham Asylum, and before Arkham City, it took years for the Gotham PD to develop a proper strategy for handling costumed criminals. When the first ones started popping up, the cops simply threw them in the drunk tank and called it a day. Not a sound strategy for those with powers- In one instance, Polka Dot Man simply teleported away in seconds- but, for the most part it worked, especially in the case of the lower tiers, the felons that were eventually branded C-Listers.

Chuck Brown started his career by crashing through a window, and into a cocktail party hosted by J Devlin Davenport and stealing a pearl necklace belonging to his girlfriend, or one of them at least. At the time, he had no reason to think that The Batman would take the theft so personally. It was his mistake.

 

"Hey, I know you, right?"

 

Chuck shook his head. "Unlikely."

 

"No, wait, give me a minute, Charlie's dad right? I-"

 

The man stopped talking as the realisation dawned on him. "I'm so sorry"

 

Brown nodded, staring at his feet.

 

The man spoke again. "So, what'd they book you in for?"

 

Chuck smiled faintly. "Flying a kite."

 

The man laughed heartily. "Flying a- Oh, that's brilliant!"

 

"Sorry, who are you?"

 

"Oh, right. I'm Axel's dad. He was a friend of your- My name's Drury, but you, you can call me Moth."

 

Moth... Moth. Why did that ring a-?

 

"You're Killer Moth?!" Chuck exclaimed, blasting to his feet.

 

Drury grinned and his cheeks blushed a deep red. "I surely am!"

 

"Hell yeah! You're great, I saw you on the TV with that friend of yours, your sidekick-"

 

"Partner," The dark haired man beside them mumbled

 

"Gar, play nice. This guy's special, I can tell."

 

"Sure he is," Lynns said, standing up. "And I bet that con artist was special too."

 

"Hey, Zodiac ain't so bad," Drury called back. "He's just upset. He was so sure he could *actually* tell the future. 'Bet a lotta money. Lost a lotta money..."

 

"Oh, that's *all* it was?" Lynns replied sarcastically.

 

"I told you we'd get some top talent, didn't I say so?"

 

====Day Six====

 

"Is there anyone out there? This is Charles Brown, please respond. Please is there anyone out there? If you can hear this, my name is Charles Brown. We've salvaged this radio from the wreckage of Sionis Industries, along with two weeks worth of food, but we're trapped down here, and running out of air. If there's anyone left, anyone, please-"

 

"Turn that radio off. Ain't no one coming, not for us."

 

Chuck sighs. "You don't-"

 

"Yes, we do, Brown. You have to face facts. They don't have the resources or the time. And, if they did, well... well this is America. They certainly wouldn't waste them on Kite-Man, and they sure wouldn't bother to save *us*." He sits down, opening a tin of carrots, today's rations, up. "Not after what I've done," he murmurs, his voice shifting back to Dent's.

 

"I'm a murderer Charles; a killer, a thief... I've beaten children half to death! Children!" he exclaims, Two-Face's growl seeping through.

 

"But you don't have to be," Chuck pleads.

 

"And how did that work out for you?" Two-Face snarls. "60 feet underground, living off of peas and carrots, abandoned- Abandoned just like we were!"

 

"We didn't even have the scars then..." Harvey whispers. "But Bruce betrayed us... For our own protection he said... Hnh. Do we *look* like we were protected?!" He slumps his back against the wall. "Gilda... He cost us Gilda," he says, his voice softening.

 

"Who was she?" Chuck asks, his hand on his shoulder.

...

 

"No-one," Two-Face growls, reaching for his gun. "No one that matters."

 

====Day Twelve====

 

"Where are we going-?"

 

Harvey finishes stuffing a makeshift harness into his bag. "Maroni had a series of underground caches across Gotham, nearest one's a mile that way, lined with steel in case something like this ever happened. We can access the elevator shaft through there, take us back up to the surface."

 

"Yeah, but how do you- Oh."

 

"Yeah. That's why."

 

Chuck swallows, one hand in his pocket, gripping the dead Talon's blade. "Why didn't it ever-?" he stops talking halfway through his sentence, and goes back to tying his own ropes together.

 

Harvey sighs. "Why hasn't it healed? Or why aren't we dead from infection?

 

...

 

"The Maronis were always good with chemicals... Acid, that was their specialty. It hasn't healed, it *can't* heal, because it never *stopped* burning. Never stops hurting." He turns away as he pulls his coin out of his pocket. Two-Face's voice is back in his head again. "We should have killed him. He's a liability..."

 

"No," Harvey replies. "He stays with us."

 

"Your choice, Harvey... Your mistake"

 

Chuck stands in silence, watching Dent argue with himself, seemingly endlessly, until finally, Harvey turns around to face him. "Gilda... She was my wife."

 

===Butchinsky's. Four Days Later====

 

The door slams open as Rigger barges in.

 

"Closed for refurbishment, it said," Len mumbles.

 

"Where the hell were you?"

 

Len ignores him, continuing to sweep the ground. Rigger scowls, kicking the dustpan out of his hand, emptying it's contents everywhere. Dirt. The one thing that makes Fiasko squirm.

 

"Drury's gone Len, and Miranda, and Chancer and Mayo and... And Chuck. And where were you?!"

 

"Dusting," Fiasko frowns as he wipes his hands with a paper napkin. He walks past Rigger as he enters the bar, stocking it with spirits taken from the Iceberg Lounge.

 

"Do you even care?"

 

Len places a bottle of wine on the counter. He doesn't speak.

 

"Good people... Good people are dead, missing they say..." Rigger sits on a stool, wiping his eyes.

 

"Walker still might've made it back."

 

"That isn't good enough! It isn't-" Rigger covers his face in his hands, blowing his noise so loudly he doesn't even hear the door chime. "It ain't fair..."

 

"No, it isn't," a weary voice mutters. "A drink please, Len."

A week has passed since Mike's funeral. I replay the events of his death in my head almost every moment. I could have been quicker. I could have shot the girl in armor sooner. Mike could still be here. Mike and those now 16 others.

 

Crews are still cleaning the wreckage from the crash. I have been contemplating visiting the site tomorrow, but I fear nothing good will come of it.

 

In the GCPD;s records, Michael Lane is officially dead. Cause of death unknown. Now, today, Gordon and his men are cleaning out his house in the investigation of his connection to the explosion. I called in sick today so I could fix the mess made from the fight between the birds and members of the Black Glove and to seal the trap door to cut off the draft from the bunker. Putting the putty on the ceiling was difficult with my shoulder getting hurt from the Sky Slayer catching the line I shot 11 nights ago. So many things I could have done differently to have avoided Michael's fate.

 

As I finally find myself sitting down in the computer chair, I hear the footsteps of the GCPD above me. I hear their voices, but I can't make out their words. Michael's identity as Azrael and my connection to him is unknown to the GCPD. Right now, I'm safe. I look at Michael's hood and hold my hurt shoulder as reminders of that fateful night. This is the second hero I've seen fallen during my vigilante career. I can't give this same pain to my family

To say things have been uneasy these last two weeks would be an understatement. Though he’s tried his best to hide it, deep down I can tell Bruce is more worried about what’s coming. It makes me feel as though I should be worried than I am, but life seems to be all good for me at this moment. Dad’s thinking of trying to buy a house here in Gotham and Steph’s been helping me on my patrols during the night. There have been numerous times we’ve been tempted to break up gatherings of the Crimson Cult but Bruce has insisted that we’re only to monitor them.

 

But there’s one way you can tell the pressure is absolutely getting to Bruce, as tonight he did something I never thought I’d see. He gave me the night off. Three years working with him, and I’ve never felt more concerned for him than when he told to take Steph to the fair. Most people would think I’m crazy and should be grateful he thinks I’m doing a good enough job to deserve time off, but most people don’t know Bruce Wayne.

 

He knows exactly what’s coming, and given how much it’s making him act out of character I’m not sure what to make of it. Alfred says it’s down to Damian that Bruce is so shaken up, and I can understand why. To find out you’ve spent over a month battling your own son whilst trying to protect Gotham would mess with, never mind someone who’s longed for a family since he was eight years old.

 

”You alright?”

 

”Yeah I’m just…”

 

”Worried about him again?”

 

”Is it that obvious?”

 

”Not really, I just know that look on your face.”

 

”Sorry. This is meant to be our moment of peace before it all goes to hell. The last thing you want is me moping about.”

 

”You’re concerned about what’s coming, I’d be concerned if you weren’t. An army of people with Bruce’s training isn’t exactly my idea of a fun time.”

 

”I’m just worried why I’m not afraid myself. If this is enough to unnerve Bruce, why don’t I feel that concern as well?”

 

”Maybe it’s because you know the truth. That deep down there’s nothing you guys can’t overcome together.”

 

I say nothing but pull a face at Steph, a subtler method of showing my distaste for her using such a cliché line to try and perk me up.

 

”Next thing you’ll know you’ll be saying with the power of friendship nothing is impossible.”

 

”Sorry for trying to cheer you up.”

 

With that Steph walks off the main street and into a nearby alley. Nice one Drake, you really put your foot in it there. As I race after her into the same alley I’m stopped by someone trying to sell me candy floss. It’s the second year where the Gotham county fair has been moved to inside the city following Joker’s flying fish incident two years ago. Boy I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget that stench. But it was following that incident that Mayor Lincoln March decided to relocate the fair to the centre of Gotham city, that way ensuring the GCPD can increase security at the fair and also be in close proximity to Gotham should they be needed.

 

It was actually a rather inspired idea if I do say so myself, especially when you consider that the nearest half decent patch of land for hosting a fair is ten miles away from the actual city. Last thing this city needs is less cops on the streets, even with Bruce and I patrolling the rooftops. Jim absolutely loves the idea of the fair being based in the centre of Gotham as well as it means he has a good excuse to attend the fair.

 

You’d never have guessed that a fifty-two-year-old police commissioner would love attending a county fair where there’s so much that could easily go wrong, but I’ll be damned Jim Gordon loves it here. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who suggested the idea of moving the county fair to Lincoln at the time.

 

As I enter the alley that Steph had walked into, I can’t help but notice the troubled look on her face.

 

”Something up?”

 

”I swear I heard someone calling for help.”

 

”From inside one of these buildings?”

 

”Yeah, sounded like a male’s voice.”

 

”If someone’s committing a crime in such close proximity to the county fair it can’t be good thing.”

 

I remove my bag and pull out a set of gauntlets, my bo-staff and a spare mask. Ever since Damian told us that Ra’s was on his way Alfred’s insisted you always carry at least some way of protecting myself, at first I thought he was crazy but it looks like the old Brit was right…as usual. It’ll be handy now to cover my face and allow me to not hold back if there is something going on.

”You always carry your bo-staff with you?”

 

”Can never too safe these days.”

 

”Still that’s a little bit weird don’t you think?”

 

Did she really just say that? We both put on costumes and go out at night to fight crime. To say that this one particular thing is weird is the oddest thing she could possibly say.

 

”Sorry, stupid question.”

 

”There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.”

 

”It’s worrying how like him you sound at times.”

 

”Thanks. Catch.”

 

I pass her a set of gauntlets and a pair of escrima sticks that I ‘borrowed’ from Bruce’s display of Dick’s spare Nightwing suit.

 

”Hoping for trouble?”

 

”Well you can never be safe these days, besides, we could use some excitement.”

 

She says nothing, but her smile says it all as she starts to put the gauntlets on.

 

”Alright, I’ll go in first. You stay back in case I need back up.”

 

”No mask for me?”

 

”Blame Barbra for that one. If she’d chosen to use a domino mask instead of a cowl I’d have brought you one.”

 

”I think you just want to have all the fun to yourself.”

 

”You can borrow mine if you really want.”

 

”No by all means, last thing I’d want is to spoil the one thing that’s made you smile all night.”

 

The sarcasm is blatant but I take her up on the offer and keep my domino mask on. With that I enter the nearby building with my bo-staff at the ready. The lights are off and without my suit to power it, the infrared on my mask is useless.

 

”Hello? Is there anyone in here?”

 

”Tim….Drake…..?”

 

Odd. Not everyday someone calls for help and then mentions you by name. That can’t be good.

 

”Who’s asking?”

 

Without a response the lights come on revealing that Steph’s been right behind since I entered the building. Damn it Steph this isn’t what I meant by watching my back. This must be what Bruce went through when he was training me, as boy did it wind him up badly when I interpreted ‘watch my back’ literally.

 

I look forward to see a figure clad in back wielding a katana, similar to the one used by Damian.

 

”Tim Drake. The great Ra’s Al-Ghul has scentenced you to death!”

 

He’s with the League.

 

I need to warn Bruce.

 

They’re here.

 

Before I have a chance to grab my phone out of my pocket the figure charges forward blade raised ready to strike.

 

”Tim watch out!”

  

--------------------------------------

 

Just a bit of a public information announcement, I'll be picking up Brandon's roles to see Heir to the Demon through, starting off with this Robin issue. Sam (The_Lego_Guy) will continue strong with his Nightwing series (which you really should read) and hopefully you'll enjoy the final product we have crafted along with Brandon.

 

Thank you for your time!

Shortly after the murder on Thomas and Martha Wayne, businessman William Earle took control over Wayne Enterprises. It didn’t take long for him to move away from Thomas’ morals and ideas for the company as he began focusing solely on making as much profit as possible. When the government of the United States asked Wayne Enterprises to create weapons for the military in return for a hefty amount of money, he immediately agreed. Lucius Fox was one of the people working on designing new military vehicles. He came up with the WE-278 “Trojan Horse” prototype; a heavily armored troop transport that can ram through enemy defenses and walls with ease in order to drop several troops right in enemy territory. The prototype was eventually actually produced and tested, but Earle shut down the project before it could be finalized and actually used in the military.

 

Years later, Lucius was demoted by Earle to the Applied Sciences Division. The “Trojan Horse” and other rejected prototypes of his are gathering dust in this part of the Wayne Tower. However, as Bruce Wayne reappears in the public eye again after years, Lucius is surprised about his interest in his division when he visits the Tower. Bruce especially takes a liking to the Trojan Horse, and after a quick test ride he asks if the vehicle also comes in black.

 

After replacing the spots to carry soldiers with compartments to store gadgets, a new paint job and a better engine the prototype has been dubbed the “Batmobile” and is now in use by the Dark Knight during night patrols. Although the vehicle lacks any actual weapons, the fact it can achieve a top speed of 45 miles per hour, can ram through almost any barricade and has very strong armor still makes the Batmobile very useful.

 

After returning home from a long shift at the Wayne Tower, Lucius Fox turns on the tv to watch his favorite show. However, the broadcast is interrupted by a breaking newsflash showing the mysterious vigilante known as Batman getting pursued by the GCPD in a tank-like vehicle. It doesn’t take long for Lucius to connect the dots as he sees his rejected prototype driving through the streets of Gotham.

——————————

My take on the Batmobile, heavily inspired by the Tumbler design from Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Enjoy!

===GCPD===

 

A pale man sat in the lock-up; his dark, chestnut-coloured hair thinning; his cheeks hollow. He watched as the policemen paced outside, barking out indecipherable orders at one another. Kept in a cage, isolated, and ignored, it was the only thing he could do. Watch. With glossy, glass-like round eyes, like an owl's. His fingers fidgeted, but his gaze never left the officers. "Gotham's Finest." His jailors. His captors. He'd been caged before. In Blackgate. In Arkham.

 

But that suited him just fine. He liked watching.

 

The door to the interrogation room swung open; Batman stormed into the room, his black cape billowing behind him, and without a spoken word to his green-haired prisoner, he slammed a tray of gingerbread men onto the metal table.

 

Joker eyed them up, a fleeting hunger in his eyes, then he slouched back in his chair. "No, thank you, I already ate,” he smiled. “But by all means, you go ahead! They’re homemade! Well, not my home, but that Swedish couple were very gracious hosts! Oh, you’ll like this; I used melted dark chocolate to make your little boots and cowl, thought it matched your inherent bitterness! I have got to give you the recipe!” he resolved, with all the enthusiasm of a mid-western house-wife.

 

“Why Walker?” Batman cut him off, his white eyes narrowing, his closed fists resting on the table.

 

Joker’s green eyes contracted slightly. “Why, Batsy, are you jealous?” he pried. "Should I be jealous?"

 

“He's been through enough,” Batman warned.

 

“Oh, I know. Dreadful stuff. And just think, you could've stopped Ra's years ago if you weren't so busy sleeping around with his daughter. You old fox, you! Always the ones in leather catsuits, Mrrrrrw!"

 

Batman’s jaw clenched, an instinctive response to Joker’s taunts.

 

"Yes, I know- The ol' 'Broke-Bat Mountain-Man' told me all about that nasty business between you two, in graphic detail actually... and there I was, wondering where the latest brat had come from! The sword should've been the giveaway, I suppose... When's his birthday, again? He must be 14, 15 now? Maybe I'll send him a card! Ooh! Maybe I'll send him Roger! Maybe I already did!"

 

“Enough. My people can take care of themselves.”

 

“All evidence to the contrary… Or are we side-stepping that little playdate in Ethiopia? Heh. Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A robin walks into a bar… A- heh. A crowbar- Ahahahaha-"

 

POW. A sudden blow to the face knocked Joker off his seat and he landed on the cold concrete floor face first. Before he had a chance to turn around, the door was already closing. Joker rolled onto his back, clutching his bloody nose and cackled: "When you change your mind, come find me! I'm not exactly going anywhere! Heh. Heheh. Ahahahaha!”

 

~-~

 

Just a few doors down from the interrogation room, a supply closet had been converted into a makeshift war room; Drury was sat behind a folding table, his butt planted on a plastic chair, reading through the GCPD records on the Outcasts Case; Batman now stood in the corner, his arms folded, his black cape draped over his shoulders; Gordon was chewing on a stick of nicotine gum and Chase was pacing back and forth around the room, a task made difficult by the room's narrow footprint; a fact that clearly added to his irritation.

 

"So, it was all a set-up?" he asked, running his hand through his dark hair.

 

"Appears so," Batman said stiffly, hiding his bloodied fist inside his cape.

 

"So, what do we do now?" Gordon pondered.

 

"Nothing," Chase answered. "He has no bargaining power, not without his bomb. We keep him in a secure wing, then we wait until we get the all-clear to send him to Slabside."

 

"And the hostages?" Batman disapproved.

 

"If we're lucky, we can negotiate with his partners. The Scarecrow's a smart man with a broken body, he'll surrender. He doesn't have a choice," Chase replied, an implied forcefulness behind his suggestion.

 

"Nuh-uh. We follow through."

 

The trio looked at Drury; he had finished reading and had now pushed a neatly stacked pile of police records to one side.

 

"He kept his end. Let's keep ours."

 

"Drury, with all due respect-" Chase attempted to dissuade his client.

 

"Look, the bomb was a fake. But we don't know if the next one'll be. Or the one after that. Or the one after- He's not going to stop until he gets what he wants: Me. And Zoom, Pirate, the rest... They'll tear Gotham apart. You know they will," he added, locking eyes with Batman. "Unless we comply."

 

“So I'm doing this. Not for me, but for the people he'll harm if I don't hand myself over. You of all people should understand that.”

 

A thin, involuntary smile broke across the Batman’s lip. It could have almost been mistaken for pride.

 

The Interrogation Room

 

Drury sat at the end of the table. He was shaking slightly, and against his wishes, his foot kept tapping the ground. He thought of the Misfits, his kids, Gaige… And though he was certain they could take care of themselves… He remembered that he had thought the same thing about Len.

 

Len.

 

He had been imprisoned in Arkham for over a month now, and Drury hadn’t even realised. ‘Stupid. You unperceptive, stupid ass!’ Yet through all his anxiety and stress, through his self-doubt and self-loathing, one thought repeated itself over and over; a stupid, frankly immature thought he seemed unable to get rid of:

 

‘This is one rotten Christmas.’

 

Behind the glass, in a utilitarian observation room, the Lawyer, the Cop and the Bat watched with bated breath, as the clown was escorted in on a metal gurney; the blood had been washed off his face now, but his nose jutted to the right at an unnatural angle. “This is a bad idea," Chase chastised Gordon, his arms folded in disapproval. Gordon smiled grimly and Batman immediately understood why; it had been a while since they had a DA in their ranks.

 

Joker took his place at the opposite end of the table, his pupils dilating as they locked with Drury’s.

 

And then he started talking.

 

“So! How's the wife?”

 

Silence. All remaining colour drained from Drury’s face, and he stared back blankly.

 

“Funny. That killed at the country club! No, sorry, I killed at the country club,” Joker explained. He scanned Drury’s face for the slightest hint of a smile, of amusement, of anger at the very least, and sighed disappointedly at his complete lack of engagement.

 

"Oh, come on,” he protested. “Don’t go all pouty on me now, we moved past pouty! Character development! Completed arcs! Doesn't any of that matter? I gave you time to eat away your sad, teary-eyed problems, even laid back while you sought out Fu Manchu! Where is Ming by the way, he stole my favourite tea pot!"

 

Drury exhaled sharply. "I'm just a game to you, aren't I?"

 

"No! No, not at all!” Joker promised with false sincerity. “Well, yes, I mean, I suppose you are. The truth is, you're one of my favourite hobbies. Putting on my slippers, falling into my armchair, pressing play on the DVD player, a plate of Kit-Kats by my side.

Love Arkham's new filing system, I have to say! All digital! I bought myself a new laptop as an early Christmas prezzie, and I've been having a lot of fun burning as many interviews as I can find. I call them my Moth Stories!"

 

"Don’t. You sent Julian and King of Cats and Zoom. You kidnapped Len, threatened my friends, and- And I know you bought Krill. You pay him to bring back Carson too?" Drury demanded answers.

 

Joker smirked at the accusation. "Actually no, that was pure happenstance. I really thought he was gone for good. But, when life gives you lemons, you have to squeeze the juice into your enemies' eyes... That’s the funny thing about all this, our dear little Arkham-Lite really did just want her daddy back. Of course, I poked the hornet’s nest a little, you set him up with the Calendar Man, and well, sparks are gonna fly!”

 

Again, nothing from his scene partner. This was not quite the reunion Joker had hoped for. "Oh, come on, give me something to work with, I get enough angst from that one, give me something fun!" The clown hissed.

 

"Fun? Fun?! My- My wife's dead," Drury said, aghast.

 

"Oho, and don't I know it," The clown whistled, turning to an imaginary camera, and adding under his breath, "Tch, doesn't everyone."

 

"You know, so is mine," he continued, "But I've never let it interfere with my social life. Mind, that may be less to do with the grief counselling, more to do with the very real possibility she was a figment of my imagination.... You'd be surprised how often that happens! Well, maybe not that surprised," he said, clicking his tongue loudly. "Bonkers."

 

~-~

 

“This isn’t working,” Chase murmured into Gordon’s ear. “We’re getting nowhere.”

 

“Batman?” Gordon waited for the Caped Crusader’s viewpoint.

 

Batman didn’t turn around, his eyes still fixed on Joker. “He’s stalling…” he murmured.

 

~-~

 

“Why me?” Drury asked bluntly, his fists clenching and unclenching in quick succession.

 

“Why not?” Joker shrugged. “You’re what he’s not.”

 

“And what the hell does that mean?”

 

Joker scoffed. The World’s Greatest Detective, he was not. Oh, well, he always knew Drury was a bit of a ‘fixer upper.’ “It means it’s time to up the ‘anti,’ my little profiterole.” Joker bared his teeth, casting his eyes upwards at the clock. “What do you think? Four seconds?”

 

"What?"

 

Joker leaned forwards, and winked, mouthing a countdown. And then it struck Drury.

 

"WE NEED TO EVACUATE RIGHT NOW-"

 

Batman, Chase and Gordon spun around: Standing behind them, Hunter Zolomon raised a hand in the air, and with a single snap of his fingers, it was all over.

 

The resulting shockwave reverberated across the precinct: Gordon and Chase were thrown backwards; Gordon struck the side of the wall and was knocked unconscious; Chase rolled over the table and smacked the floor. Batman got it the worst though; he went flying through the glass screen; if not for his armour, he’d have been torn to shreds. Before losing consciousness, he tapped a dial on the side of his gauntlet, then collapsed to the ground. Drury was thrown off his seat, as his ears started ringing, he scanned the room for any sign of movement. Nothing. Then he looked over at the other end of the table and his heart stopped: the gurney had fallen over, and it was empty.

 

~-~

 

“Krill. Krill, what’s going on?”

 

Abner Krill rose from his bed, nursing a heavy headache, and walked over to the right side of his cell, peering through the bars; between the klaxons and the screaming of soon-to-be dead police officers, he figured it was futile to try going back to sleep. Next door, Carson was whispering at him frantically, demanding an explanation. Krill elected to ignore him, instead casting his eyes to the man standing before him, dressed in a yellow suit adorned with red highlights. The cell door whirred open, and Zoom dropped a parcel at Krill's feet. The man smirked as he strapped the red belt around his waist, once again imbued with inter-dimensional power. "Fuckin' took you long enough,” he muttered, swallowing once he realised Zoom cared alarmingly little for his commentary.

 

"Which is not to say I'm not grateful."

 

~-~

 

Drury looked up; Joker was digging out a shard of glass that was two inches deep in his knee. He had an expression that seemed more inconvenienced than pained.

 

"And they say shiv-arly is dead!" he chuckled to no one in particular, waving the shard around like a knife. “Quickest DoorDash I’ve ever had! Impeccable service! Five stars!” he clapped patronisingly. A sudden flash of lightning signified Zoom’s return, and Drury instinctively ducked behind the table, an admittedly futile effort.

 

Zoom, cocked his head to one side. "Druryyyyyyyy. Isee you Druryyyyyyyy."

 

"You don't... You don't scare me," Drury lied, crawling over broken glass and splattered blood. “Either of you.”

 

Zoom shook his head, taking slow but purposeful steps forward. "Iamnot heeeeeeeeere to scaaaaaaare you Druryyyyyyyy. Iam hereto teaaaaaaaaach yooooooou,” he pledged, placing an assertive hand around the shoulder of Drury’s tattered orange jumpsuit. With all eyes on Drury, no one noticed Adrian Chase slip away.

 

~-~

 

Now fully suited up, Krill punched through a vending machine, and started helping himself to the contents. Then, a gunshot rang out.

 

A man in black, with white boots, red goggles and a blue "v" on his chest, was pointing a pistol at him. Krill frowned. ‘The fuckin’ audacity.’

 

"Can't get a moment's rest, can I? Which one are you, then?" he yawned with complete indifference.

 

"Vigilante,” the man warned. The gun stayed aimed at Krill’s polka-dotted forehead.

 

"Fuck off," Krill chortled. "You lot run out of names?"

 

The gun went off; but Krill was quick; a portal came between him and the bullet, and a second one redirected it into the Vigilante’s side. Krill smirked, hopped over the incapacitated vigilante, and continued on his way.

  

~-~

 

Zoom sped on ahead while Joker pushed Drury along in his own gurney, stopping to point at the occasional dead body or to sing a limerick. As they approached the cell block, Joker propped Drury up against the wall, picked up a flashlight, and ran it across the bars of Carson’s cell. Carson, leapt to his feet, snarling.

 

"Kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" he swore, sticking his hands through the bars and swiping at the clown.

 

"Mm. Who are you again? Kidding! Kidding, it begins with a B, doesn't it?" Joker smirked.

 

At this, Carson let out an animalistic, guttural roar. “YOU’RE ALL FUCKING DEAD!”

 

Joker stuck out his bottom lip in a show of false despondency. "Oh, dear Theodosia, what to say to you... You know what it's like, it's like missing out a season or two of your favourite TV show. You say "Oh, it's dragging on a bit, I'll just skip forward until it picks up again," Then suddenly, bam! The wife's dead, there's a dozen new characters, the city has a crater in it- and they didn't invite you to the musical- even though you killed Hamilton. And also killed Hamilton. Hill, that is. It was one of my campaign promises; I ran for president. You remember that don't you, Drury. Course you do; you endorsed me.”

 

"I didn't endorse you,” Drury said emotionlessly.

 

"But you didn't not endorse me either!" Joker giggled, squeezing his cheek playfully

 

A green portal opened, and Krill stepped through, his arms full of various oddities. “Believe these are yours,” he stated, handing Joker a large crate of confiscated goods.

 

“Wonderful!” he chirped, as he began filling his pockets with knives, playing cards and chewing gum. As he did so, Carson yelled out once more.

 

“Dead! You’re a fucking dead man! You and Krill and Walker, and-"

 

“Halibut you keep your hands to yourself, kiddo!” Joker warned, waving his fish around like a pistol. “Your father and I are talking!”

 

Carson flinched for a second, then stepped back from the door.

 

“Whaaaat about hiiiiiiiiiim?” Zoom asked, gesturing to the final occupied cell on this block. A bald man was stood by the bars, peering over at them.

 

“I don’t think he wants to play with us anymore, dear. Ah, kids today...” Joker sighed regretfully. “But don’t you worry, I’ve already found the perfect understudy!”

 

~-~

 

A pale man sat in the lock-up; his dark, chestnut-coloured hair thinning; his cheeks hollow. He watched as an orange portal opened, and four men emerged from the amber light; as the Joker stepped forward and sprayed acid across the lock of his cell door.

 

Joker held up a boxy, black mask, a circular lens affixed to the front, and smiled broadly. "I spy with my little eye..."

 

As Drury lay in the gurney, surrounded by monsters and madmen, one thought came to the surface:

 

'This is one rotten Christmas.'

 

Of course it’d happen on tonight of all nights. Not any of the fast four when I’ve basically locked myself in my office at the GCPD. It had to be on the one night where I decide to relax for a couple of hours at the county fair. You really should have known better Jim. Things never go wrong when you’re prepared to deal with them, they always happen when you least expect it. Now it’s all about to commence and I’m trapped here in Gotham General waiting to be relieved by one of Bruce’s contacts so I can prepare for a coming terrorist attack.

 

This would never have been a problem of that brat of his hadn’t killed Lincoln. He might have been hesitant to grant me full authority to a claim of an incoming terrorist attack, but he would have at least given me more resources for if such a situation became a reality. For all I know, they could making their first moves in Gotham right this very second and there’s nothing I can do.

 

What the hell am I doing?

 

I’m getting angry over the fact that I’m here having to look after someone who’s just been in a fight for their very life, and here I am moaning because I have to stay and make sure she’s alright. What would you think if it were Barbra in that operating room? You’d be beside yourself praying she comes out alright. Hell, at least you have someone who’d be concerned if it were you that had to go onto that operating table. The poor kid’s got no-one.

 

Her mom’s been missing for months at this point, and her father’s a wanted fugitive. Even if he did come to make sure she was alright we’d have to drag his ass to prison. Might not seem humane, and to some people it wouldn’t seem right but that’s how the judicial system works. Probably doesn’t help him that he’s been running from the authorities and resisting in the first place, otherwise I could probably coax West into letting Mr. Brown stay under guard.

 

Then again, if I can’t get West to take the threat of a potential terrorist attack seriously, I doubt he’d actually give a damn about Ms. Brown’s condition. Hell, he’d probably say that the reason she ended up in such a state was because of him which I can’t fully deny. Would Ms. Brown have chosen to become the Spoiler were it not for her father’s actions? It’s impossible to say, I don’t known her full history. It’s possible the reason she became the spoiler was the need for an adrenaline rush.

 

She certainly wouldn’t the first person to become one of Bruce’s agents because of it.

 

Maybe her feelings for someone else led her to it. She certainly wouldn’t be the first there either.

 

I’ll have to ask her when she comes around and find out. But I’d put my money on her father being the cause.

 

Damn it. Where is Bruce’s agent?

 

SK: I take it you’re the friend I’m supposed to help out?

 

That voice. It can’t be?

 

I turn around to see the ever so familiar face of Selina Kyle. A well known cat burglar that operates across most of the state, though her activities are focused primarily here in Gotham. Her hair appears to be blonde for some reason which implies that she’s back in Gotham for either a job or she’s just trying to keep a low profile. She is after all, wanted for countless charges of robbery, including from the GCPD itself.

 

JG: Ms. Kyle?

 

SK: Ms. Goldstein please. Last thing I need is my mark learning that I’m more than the single blonde he had eyes for.

 

JG: Working some poor fool I take it?

 

SK: You could say that, or you could say I’m simply liberating something he’s spent a lifetime trying to hide.

 

JG: I’d really rather not know.

 

SK: Don’t want to get charged for being complicit in my actions?

 

JG: No, more because I already have enough reasons to arrest you, I just don’t want another one.

 

SK: Why? Will they not sit well on conscience?

 

JG: A bit. But also because I’m weighing up if what’s coming is serious enough for me to let you walk free.

 

SK: Well it was serious for him to actually ask for my help. If that doesn’t say things are serious, I don’t know what will.

 

She’s right. Bruce is always hesitant to ask Selina for help, though he has been known to do so at times when he needs to hear the rumours circling around the Gotham underworld. He wouldn’t have called her in had it not been seriously. Plus she probably wouldn’t have abandoned her target were it not important.

 

JG: Tell me about it.

 

SK: So how exactly am I supposed to help then, Commissioner?

 

JG: You can start by taking that smirk off your face.

 

SK: What smirk? I’m merely showing how happy I am to be able to do my service to help out Gotham’s finest.

 

JG: Yeah well, this is only a temporary arrangement Kyle. Once this is all over I’ll be taking you in.

 

SK: So you like to keep promising, Commissioner. But given how many times you’ve made that promise and I’m still outside the confines of Blackgate, I think your bark is worse than your bite. So come on then, what’s so serious that our mutual friend would ask me to help you out?

 

JG: One of our friend’s….colleagues is in surgery.

 

SK: Oh dear. What for?

 

JG: A stab wound.

 

SK: It must be serious if they’ve rushed her through to surgery. Our friend wouldn’t send them to a hospital if it weren’t.

 

JG: She was stabbed with a katana. It pierced both sides of her body and she lost a lot of blood in the process.

 

SK: Do I want to know how?

 

JG: I doubt it. All you need to know is that it’s the reason why our friend has asked you to step in and replace me.

 

SK:…So I’m on babysitter duty basically?

 

JG: More or less.

 

SK: Isn’t this something for her parents? Not some stranger in a blonde wig.

 

So it is a wig. I couldn’t tell from this distance.

 

JG: She doesn’t have…

 

SK: Anyone, I should have known. They’re Bruce’s favourites are those ones.

 

JG: Not all of them are like that.

 

SK: True, the third one still has his dad right?

 

JG: Yeah.

 

SK: Good thing he was able to save him whole crisis at City Hall. I can’t remember, what was the cover story you gave to cover up the real reason he was taken?

 

JG: I don’t know what you’re talking about. The man was…unfortunately visiting City Hall at the time it was attacked.

 

SK: Ah, a professional to the end. You I mean. Not the idiot who stormed into City Hall guns blazing. There are so many other ways to get into City Hall without making such a disturbance. You just have to know the right person to manipulate.

 

JG: Do I want to know which guard you were able to convince?

 

SK: Maybe. Can’t promise you’ll want to know how I got him to give some tips about City Hall. Security guards have the most bizarre interests. Back in my day all they wanted was a pretty girl to talk to them to make their day less tedious. Nowadays they need someone to threaten to expose their deepest desires before they’ll help out.

 

JG: I don’t want to know.

 

SK: That’s probably for the best, as boy did he have some weird tastes.

 

JG: Can I trust you to behave here and keep and eye on her?

 

SK: I can promise the second part.

 

JG: And the first?

 

SK: A girl’s gonna do what a girl’s gonna do.

 

As she says that, she lifts the bag she was carrying onto the waiting room table.

 

JG: Brought something to keep yourself busy?

 

SK: In a manner of speaking. After all, if the poor girl was stabbed as severely as you say she was, I may be here a while. Last thing you two would want was for little old me to get bored now, would you?

 

JG: If any patients report anything missing, just know I’ll be adding it to your list of offences.

 

SK: You always think the worst of me.

 

JG: I’ve spent enough time chasing you to know that there’s almost nothing you wouldn’t do.

 

SK: I’ll do my best to behave of Mr. Policeman, sir.

 

JG: Stay out of trouble.

 

SK: I can’t make any promises.

 

As she says those words, she takes a seat in the private waiting room I was able to get us. I don’t exactly feel happy leaving Ms. Kyle on her own in a place where half the people aren’t able to keep an eye on her, but I have no choice. Hopefully the ends will justify the means. So with no other choice, I make my way outside the hospital and begin to call West’s office.

 

MW: Gordon? What’s so serious that you need to call me at this hour.

 

JG: I’ve had a tip off from my source Mr. Mayor. The attack is coming, and they’re target is the entire city.

 

MW: Gordon, we’ve talked about this. I don’t care what Batman thinks is coming, without hard evidence I’m not willing to put the city in to a state of…..what the hell? Gordon? Do you see that?

 

JG: See what?

 

MW: Wayne Manor. It’s….

 

I turn sharply to the hill that Wayne Manor sits a top and I see what I can only assume to be Bruce’s signal.

 

Jesus Christ, Bruce.

If you favorite, be considerate and comment your thoughts

________________________________________________

I make my way out of the cave, driving the Batmobile out of that same old road, it’s relaxing, it’s routine, it’s normal.

“Alfred, where did you say I had to go again?” I say into the microphone, Alfred takes a moment, but eventually gets the answer.

“A block down from the GCPD building, in the Jameson Paint Shop.”

“Alright Alfred, I’ll be there in a couple minutes” within no time I’m by the GCPD building, I find a good, shady place to park the Batmobile and then head out on foot. I grapple up to the top of the GCPD building, and begin, going from building to building.

“Sir, I may as well inform you this, Master Grayson told me that he faced your old foe the Electrocutioner.”

“Wait, was he one of the men taking a weapons crate?”

“Yes, he was, as Master Dick said, it wasn’t too hard to take him down.”

“I then look down to see some thugs, I recognize some of them, one was the man I was pursuing back at Lacey Towers, and the other was Mercenary Bronze Tiger. I wait a moment, listening on their conversation.

“So, Deathstroke wants me to help him out, in his big, scheme, well what’s in it for me?”

“You’ll get some payment, and we should be rid of the Batman” that’s my que.

I position myself so that when I jump down, I’ll take one of the criminals down without a struggle, then I’ll defeat the other thugs with ease, I breath in the cold, Gotham air, it refreshes me, now I’m ready, ready to bring vengeance upon those criminals.

________________________________________________

I had to make some continuity changes to the story back in issue one and two, since the original two and three got deleted, I would recommend reading those again, anyways i hope you enjoyed this, and have a good day.

===Over 20 Years Ago===

 

Norbert- Please... Stop.

 

*The assassin grimaced beneath his orange mask. He pulled Norbert up by his arm, then he hurled him over his shoulder, straight through a brick wall*

 

"Do you think your enemies will stop? Do you want them to? To take pity on you, to treat you like a weakling, so that you're just another nobody? So that you're just a waste of my time? Because I don't. Get. Up."

 

*They called him Deathstroke, even back then. He had still had two eyes, and his mask reflected that in it's design. The Injustice Society reached out to him almost as soon as he was out of the military. Slade Wilson was a war hero, and there was value in that. His own enhancements made the ideal handler and trainer for their newest weapon, The Killer Wasp*

 

Slade- The JSA will keep winning, I will keep winning, boy, if you don't get yourself a backbone! Understand?

 

*Through a tight and brutal training regime- a never ending barrage of insults and injuries, Wilson crafted the young, tender hearted Walker into the monster the Society needed. The Wasp rose to his feet, and nodded. The assassin, now unmasked to reveal his blonde hair and chiseled jaw, smirked, and handed him a file.*

 

Slade- Good. Your target is Richard Sionis, entrepreneur, business man, and arms dealer, currently staying in the Opal City Arms, room 237A. Recently, he found himself a new mask for his collection. The Mask of Sorrows. He doesn't understand it's true power. We do. Bring it back for us, as part of your... Initiation.

 

Wasp- Yes, sir.

 

====Now====

 

*20 years on, and master and pupil are reunited.*

 

Slade- Krill can be erratic. Moronic at times. But when he's in his element... Well, I'd almost call him brilliant. Why, he brought you both here without fail. To me.

 

Norbert- Where... Are the others?

 

Slade- The task force? On standby. They served their purpose, separated you from the herd. Your friends are just distractions. I've seen it in action- you two, you are the real trouble makers.

 

Drury- Oh, come on Slade, how much, how much are they paying you?

 

Slade- Don't insult me Walker. You could never pay my fee, not when you're working in... a fudge factory, was it?

 

*Drury looks at the ground, and scuffs his shoes on the concrete*

 

...

 

Drury- I'm trying my best.

 

Slade- Well, heh, we'll see about that.

 

*With a swift strike to the throat, Drury's coughing up blood on the floor. As he goes in for the kill Norbert reaches out, and catches Slade's sword in his hands*

 

Norbert- Leave... Leave him alone. It's me you want.

 

Slade- No, boy, it's really not. It's Strange who's really interested in you. Don't know why, I don't ask questions, but... I heard your last reunion didn't go so well. Heh. Me, on the other hand, I'm over you. You may've gotten your soul back, but, at the end of the day you're just another weak, insignificant speck.

 

*Norbert looked at his brother, still a stranger to him in many ways, and then back to Deathstroke*

 

Norbert- Drury....

 

Slade- Go on boy, show me what you've got.

 

====GCPD====

 

Miranda- Selina! You ok?

 

Selina- Well, was almost swallowed whole, but aside from that? Dandy. Where'd they even go?

 

*Selina brushes the grime and snake venom off of her catsuit, then stretches her back out, purring while doing so. "Do they all have to act like damn cats?" thought Miranda, thinking of Blake, and King of Cats*

 

Miranda- Krill took them. Norbert went after him, but... We don't even know where *he's* gone.

 

*Chancer looked into the distance, looking mature, for the first time in a while. "So, uh, what now?" he asked his companions, who simply shrugged, only for his question to be answered by a familiar voice. "Well, if you're not too busy, I was hoping you could catch us up," Ten said, him and Rigger ambling towards them, armed and weary.*

 

Chancer- Rigger! What're you doing here?

 

Ten- We saw the signal, wanted to check things out. Charles sends his regards.

 

*Miranda laughs relieved, pausing upon seeing the bone pertruding from Rigger's leg, and the sparks flicking around Ten's bionics*

 

Miranda- *Ahem* Looking a little worse for there, there fellas.

 

Rigger- Ah, it's just splintered. You, still look pretty as anything.

 

*But Rigger wasn't really paying all that attention to Miranda, having stared, unsure about the woman by her side, he'd concluded that she was not a mirage, and he would not waste this chance. There was a lump stuck in his throat as he hobbled past Tiger Moth, and towards Selina*

 

Rigger- You're Catwoman.

 

Selina- I am. And you're Firebug, right?

 

Rigger- Yeah, yeah. That's me. (She knows who I am.)

 

Ten- Congratulations.

 

=====Gar's House=====

 

*Gar came home laden with shopping, baby Josie tied to his back. He placed her in her crib, and opened his bags, just the essentials- bread, milk, cheese, and... a packet of firelighters. He held them in his charred hands, no recollection of having bought them. They called out to him, urging him to use them, and... He threw them in the bin, and collapsed onto the kitchen floor. The urges had become less frequent since his daughter entered his life, but every now and then, he'd wake up from a day dream holding something- A lit match, a tank of gas, a carton of fireworks. If there was a single doctor who *hadn't* gone crazy in Gotham, maybe he could have gotten therapy. Another bloody Monday, he sighed, rising to his feet, and picking his bags up. He opened the fridge, and- *

 

Gar- What the hell-?

 

*There was a tin-foiled package in there, and he was certain he hadn't put it there. Something, was wrong. He opened the living room door, the foil package under one arm, his revolver in the other, and pointed it at the gaunt, skinny figure sat in his chair, playing "Bop-It" of all things

 

Joker- Heh. Hello there. Decided to pop in to see you- you weren't in, but I thought I'd stick around.

 

Gar- What the hell are you doing here?

 

Joker- Simple! Heard you hated Mondays, so I brought you something to cheer you up.

 

*He points a long white finger at the foil tray and cackles. Making sure he isn't playing some kind of game, Gar takes a peak under the wrapper*

 

Gar- This is lasagna.

 

Joker- Yep. Made it myself Garfield! Well, technically Jon did.

 

Gar- Who the hell is Jon?

 

Joker- Heha. Honestly! When you read the paper, you don't read the funny pages? Ha! That's *all* I read! And the odd murder hoohoohahaha.

 

Gar- Get out of my house.

 

*Joker rises from the seat, and places a gloved hand over Gar's gun, brushing it aside*

 

"If the lasagna isn't doing it, how about a joke?"

   

Haven't posted anything in a bit. So I'll post this crappy picture depicting part of my GCPD SWAT Team members. Led by their corrupt leader, Lt. Branden.

 

- Lieutenant Branden

Leader of GCPD's Special Forces Unit. The Special Forces Unit is responsible for combined duties involving highway patrol and traffic enforcement, crowd control, and special weapons and tactics (SWAT) services within the city. Branden hand picks the members he wants in his personal SWAT Team.

 

- Sergeant William "Billy" Petit

After Maggie Sawyer transferred to Major Crimes, Petit was assigned to be second in command of the Special Forces Unit to balance out Branden's ruthlessness. Gordon didn't count on Branden's tactics rubbing off on Billy.

The Joker has been locked down for 4 months in Arkham Asylum .After a long time he has been killing several doctors that were trying to study his scars that appeared after the last show down between him and Batman.

 

"Hey you!!!Jack?Was your name I guess."

  

"What is it Joker?What now ,you'll ask me to open the the cell door for you to walk a little bit?I have been working here for a long time ,and I know what psychos like you think of.So you better keep your mouth shut until I end cleaning the floor ."

 

"Have you ever thought about how a person can remain the same way here he was before.The answer is simple ,he already was insane HAAAA ha ha ."

 

"Whatever you meant with that..."

  

"I must say you should not be this harsh to me ,maybe I will save your life one day.You must think of it!!! "

 

"The problem is you can't ,you see I am outside of the cell and you are not ."

  

"Believe me old man ,in a minute it won't matter who is outside as you all will die!!!GET IT??? "

  

"What are you talking about you freak? "

 

"In a few seconds the rooms of Arkham will be filled with a killing laughing gas ,you won't have the time to inform the guards as the Gas will fill the rooms in 5...4....3..."

 

"What are you talking about?!?!?"

 

"2...1 HAHAHAHAHA"

 

*FSHHHHH*

 

the gas starts to come from the pipes that are all over the corridors .

  

"You have nowhere"to escape ,the only way to save yourself is to get inside my cell.COME ON!!!"

 

"Oh the hell with it !"

 

Jack the cleaner opens the cell door with a remote control he gets from his pocket and gets inside by closing the door after him.Every guard starts to laugh and grin and after a few moments ,everyone looses their mind.

 

'LOOK HOW HAPPY THEY ARE!!!OK ,the gas will soon disappear so don't worry."

 

"How?"

 

"Don't worry my boys will turn on the conditionery and the air will change. "

 

"What is the point of doing all this ?You know you will end up in your cell as always ,I saw you enter this asylum too many times."

 

"I am settin' on a party Jack .Soon this place will be filled with the most dangerous criminals of Gotham City that the world has never seen .Just imagine even the GCPD won't have the gutts to enter this place ,and when my plan in sealing the asylum will be finished I will give Gotham a big punchline to the show and it is gonna be a DOOZY AHAHAHAHAHA"

*Frankie Lamar had always wanted to be a director. So naturally, when Delbert Billings announced he was looking for an assistant for his debut film, he said yes. It didn't even matter that Billings was once a notorious Supervillain, nor that he was even more notoriously impatient and rude. He was just happy to have the experience. On October 3rd, something changed. Billings disappeared into his trailer and when he came back, he resigned, and was admitted to a rehabilitation clinic. Stranger still, his prosthetic leg had gone missing. The next day of production, a Gorilla arrived on set. Grodd. At first, he toyed with the crew. Frankie, not wanting to be killed, or worse eaten, had little choice but to comply with the creature's demands. In the span of a week, they had transformed what was once Billings' ego driven passion project into a monstrous satire of the man. Frankie had no clue why Grodd was targeting Billings of all people, but he was just happy to keep his job. It was almost funny, the dialogue under the gorilla was much better. Over the next few days, Grodd grew impressed by Frankie's quick thinking, and when he left to attend to business elsewhere, he was finally put in charge of the film, just like he wanted.

The crew weren't quite so pleased. Lynns, the special effects technician was the most stressed of all. Turns out, the ape had killed a friend of his, a Joseph Martins. But Grodd was someone you couldn't say no to, and so, he showed up on time each day regardless. Monday was the exception. With Grodd occupied, Lynns was finally able to take his daughter out for the day. That was when *he* showed up on set. The Joker.

Two hours after he left, GCPD discovered Lamar's body hung up in the dressing room.*

 

====Gar's Basement====

 

*Gar applies a bandage around his eye and turns to his prisoner*

 

"I don't get it. Why Drury?"

 

"Well, if you don't get it, perhaps I won't bother. Why, that's the first... second rule of comedy. See, once you explain a joke... There is no joke. And there's nothing I hate more than a bad joke."

 

Gar- Heh. You must really hate yourself, then.

 

*He chuckles*

 

"Oh, obviously! But ya see Garfield, that's why I love the little bug boy! An anti Batman indeed! We all know there's only one person who *really* compliments Batsy. The Moriarty to his his Holmes, the yin to his yang."

 

...

 

"Me! He frowns, I smile! I kill, he refuses! He likes tights, I love silk! But that's the point, the little Moth has none of that, but bless him, he tries! And, he succeeds! Sometimes. Mayor of... Motham. That's something neither of us managed, though I certainly tried to! And he did it under the pretense of being redeemed. What a joke! There is no redemption! Just like my Arkham neighbor's last crime spree, like how Harley keeps crawling back to moi, like how Harvey's always scarring his face back to madness... there isn't anyone who escapes who they are! Just look at all the explosives down here, Mr Pyro No More. Got yourself a little baba and you still can't throw in the towel!"

 

Gar- Ok, new rule, don't talk about my kid.

 

"But it's wonderful! A miracle! Someone... Someone actually kissed you! Someone actually let you- Ha! Who's the baby mama? Not the red head?"

 

Gar- Yeah, her.

 

I can't believe I'm actually bragging to Joker...

 

"Hahahaha! Lynns, you devil! I always knew you two would make it work! Ever since we took down Snowflame together!"

 

*Above them, there's a knock at the door. Gar takes one look at Joker, and grabs a roll of gaffer tape, making sure to cover his mouth. Now sure he's restrained, Gar calls out "Who's there?"

 

Guard- Mr Lynns. This is the Stryker Task Force. We're here to ask you some questions

 

Fuck.

 

Gar- I'll be up in a sec, just come in.

 

====The Belfry. Canteen====

 

*The rest of Task Force XI is waiting for Deathstroke when he emerges from Krill's portal a little worse for wear. Copperhead pours himself a cup of coffee, then passes the pot to Prometheus, who empties it into his purple mug, nudging past Slade as he goes to refill it*

 

"Another successful mission, right, Slade?"

 

*Copperhead stirs his coffee, held by his tail, and hisses*

 

Copperhead- It'ssss dangerousssss letting them run about. Who'ssss to sssssay they won't come here? You sssssshould have finished the job.

 

Slade- And I might've done if *someone* didn't suck me through a portal. Bat's here. That's a complication.

 

*Krill ignores them as he puts a quarter into a gumball machine (that wasn't there a second ago) and indulges his sweet tooth.*

 

Prometheus- You, are just upset you didn't get to eat any of them, aren't you?

 

Copperhead- It... Would have been rather nice. I wassss fassssting just for thissssss occassssion.

 

Prometheus- That's your problem. Learn to live in the moment.

 

Copperhead- Easssssy to sssssay when you've got a helmet like yourssssss

 

*Slade groans. The company he has to keep...*

 

Slade- Just someone fetch Blake already.

 

====

 

The Captain's waiting for me. The guy who arrested Jules, Chuck and the rest. I don't much like him.

 

Captain- You see Mr Lynns, we have reason to believe that the Joker is targeting a friend of yours, Drury Walker.

 

Really... I would never have known

 

Gar- Joker? Thought he was in Arkham.

 

Guard- That's just the thing. We're not sure how, but, well, he's escaped.

 

Gar- Christ. He hurt anyone?

 

Captain- A group of men believed to be working for the Great White Shark, and the director of a film you were working on. A Franklin Lamar. ... Now, while we have heard reports that Drury Walker was sighted in Arkham City, there's a chance Joker does not know that. Lamar was likely killed to ascertain *your* whereabouts. If you could tell us why The Joker may wish to hurt Mr Walker, that would be greatly appreciated.

 

Something's off. Chances are that they *are* here because of Drury. But certainly not to protect him.

 

Gar- Wish I could. Really. But, I'll help however else I can.

 

Captain- Appreciate it. We'll be in touch.

 

*The captain stand up, and shake Gar's hand. Just as he's leaving, there's a clanging downstairs.*

 

Captain- What was that?

 

Gar- Rusty pipes probably. I'll check it out.

 

Captain- No. No, we'll investigate. Wilkins!

 

Gar- That's not necessary.

 

*He places a firm hand on his shoulder, holding Gar in place*

 

Captain- I *insist*

 

Guard- Sir, there's someone you should see!

 

*The Guards go downstairs, Gar chasing after them. But the damage is done. They remove the tape, and Joker takes in a deep breath of gassy air*

 

Captain- What the hell?

 

Gar- Well... Ahem...

 

Joker- Don't kink shame us boys! We've all done it!

 

*Suddenly the guards become much more hostile*

 

Captain- What... What has he told you?

 

Gar- ... Bad jokes mostly.

 

Joker- Ha! That reminds me! So, a moth walks into a bar-

 

Guard- Shut up. What, did he tell you?

 

Joker- The batman- sorry, barman says "what can I get you?" The moth says he'll have a silk stocking- that's a real drink, I assure you, and the bartender hands it a thimble with the cocktail within. Soon, the bar is filled with all sorts of fine folks. Among them, is a builder and his pals, fresh from seeing a new film... Let's say... Lord of the Rings! The moth, who's been sipping his drink throughout the night, pipes up "Oh aye, I loved that film."

The builder laughs. "You? You're a moth, what are you doing, seeing Lord of the bloody Rings?" The moth places his thimble on the table, and replies, perfectly calm perfectly casually haha "I liked the book"

 

===Further in the facility===

 

Blake- I need another hit, man.

 

*He hands the figure a mask through the cell bars. He swats it away, in a trance*

 

"They lived... They died. They lived, they died."

 

Blake- Fuckin' stop that. I was ready man. Like, ready to pounce on her, Gaige, and- just make it stop.

 

*The figure sighs, and places the golden mask onto his face*

 

Hayden- You. You, are fulfilled. You are calm. You are happy- very happy! Bells ring out in celebration, in honour of you! A year from now, those urges are gone, you are the specimen you knew you were. You don't attack anyone, not when they're coming *to* you. All is as it should be Thomas Blake. All thanks to you.

 

*Euphoria flows through Blake's body, and a big smile appears in his face. No longer is he a predator, he's at peace.*

 

Blake- Yes. Yes

 

====

 

Captain- Get his kid. You, don't move. This could've been so simple. But you had to fuck it up.

 

Idiot's pointing a gun at me. Me. I look at the pipes, Joker's only gone and let gas in...

 

Gar- You gonna tell me what the hell this all is?

 

Captain- Couldn't have just killed the bastard could you?

 

Joker- Love you too.

 

Captain- No, instead you had to let him talk.

 

Gar- He didn't *say* anything.

 

Captain- ...set The Joker loose, know he'll go after Walker's friends... And somehow neither him or they die...

 

They let him- Course they did. Never trust a pig. Drury's always been too kind to them.

 

Gar- You maniacs actually set him loose? Why? Why the hell would you-

 

Oh no they haven't.

 

Guard- Captain, we've got it.

 

He's got Josie in his hands. In his grubby hands. No wonder she's crying.

 

Gar- Her. You've got *her*

 

*Joker glances at the baby. Curious*

 

Captain- Let's try this again, what did he-

 

Joker- *Ahem*

 

Captain- I swear to god, I will shoot you.

 

Gar- Just leave her alone, leave Josie alone!

 

I turn to my daughter, to comfort her. Then I see the spark, almost in slow motion, and I realise what Joker was gonna say. Holy-

 

KaBOOM.

 

*The basement explodes into flames. With all the gasoline, the place is a powder keg. The captain is completely incinerated in the blast, the rest scream their heads off, as debris falls on them, a noise that blends with the Joker's own insane cackles. And for a couple of minutes Gar just stares at the blaze. It's beautiful. He picks his daughter up off the ground, holds her tight to his chest... and sees the fire in her eyes.*

Catwoman (2018-) # 1

I can't believe that I had missed this issue.

 

The wedding night’s barely over, but Catwoman’s back on the streets, this time to expose a copycat who’s pulling heists around Gotham City. As Selina cracks the whip on her former criminal cohorts, she’s attracting unwanted attention from one of Gotham’s most dangerous groups. The mob? Nope. Try the GCPD. And as if the Bat-Bride didn’t have enough problems, don’t miss the debut of an all-new villain determined to make trouble for all nine of Selina’s lives. Don’t miss the start of an all-new monthly series written and illustrated by Eisner Award-nominee Joëlle Jones!

 

Dazzler # 7 (1981)

"Fort Apache, The Hulk!"

 

Nikki Doyle Wild Thing # 1 Marvel UK (1993)

When Wild Thing, Nikki Doyle, meets up with Virtual Reality incarnations of Venom and Carnage, the destruction of the VR Marvel Universe becomes a nightmare all too real.

 

What If? # 46 - Spider-Man's Uncle Ben Had Lived

Classic issue from August, 1984.

 

X-Men vs. Hulk TPB (2009)

You're Colossus, the steel-skinned X-Man who can dish out some serious hurt. So when Wolverine wants to take you down a peg or two, who's he gonna call? If you're thinking mean and green, you're on the right track...! Join X-Legend Chris Claremont for a tutorial in pain you won't forget! Plus: a classic Claremont tale!

=====Arkham Asylum=====

 

Drury- Strange! Let us out!

 

Strange- No, no. I don't think so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a phone call to make.

 

*Strange turns away from the door, ignoring Drury's desperate thumps, he picks up his phone and calls the GCPD*

 

Strange- Hello, police? This is Professor Hugo Strange. Yes, *that* Professor Strange.

 

*An inmate takes a swipe at Drury, it's foaming at the mouth, Drury wondered if there was any light left in it, grabbing the first thing he can reach, a fire extinguisher, he hits it on the head*

 

Strange- -I know, I know. Please listen to me, there's been an incident at Arkham. Cell Block 4, an electricity shortage presumably, nothing too serious-

 

Gar- Here, give that to me.

 

*Gar activates the fire extinguisher and sprays it at the inmates. Many of them retreat to their cells, the rest slip on the foam*

 

Strange- -Oh no, maximum security is still locked down but all the same... Ah, thank you officer-

 

Gar- Strange!

 

*Strange turns back to see Drury and Gar standing triumphant over several unconscious inmates*

 

Strange- Now that's disappointing.

 

Gar- Yeah, so I've been told. Open the damn door.

 

Strange- Why? Because you managed to fend off some twenty lobotomized patients you think something has changed? It hasn't.

 

*Strange wanders down the corridor leaving Gar, Drury and Dekker alone*

 

Drury- *sigh* Uh, get this door open.

 

Gar- Oh get it open you say? Can't believe I didn't think of that!

 

Drury- Gar-

 

Gar- I'm on it alright? Ugh. I'm no hacker y'know.

 

Drury- I know... but I have faith.

 

Dekker- And I have faith in you too!

 

Drury/Gar- Fuck off Dekker.

 

Dekker- Would if I could m'boys. Would if I could.

 

======

 

GCPD- Professor Strange, we're here to help.

 

Strange- Cell Block 4 gentlemen. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must take my leave.

 

GCPD- Of course. Goodnight Professor.

 

======

 

Gar- Which wire?

 

Drury- What do you mean which wire?

 

Gar- I mean which wire, Drury.

 

Drury- Uh, the green one.

 

Gar- The green one... This better work.

 

*With a snip, the door bursts into action.*

 

Dekker- Genius! Genius! Congratulations are in order!

 

*Dekker looks at Gar and Drury's disapproving stares*

 

Dekker- What? You heard the man. I only made the costume.

 

========

 

*Strange has hastily stuffed his papers in his briefcase, he'd set his office alight, an inmate trapped in there, dressed in his clothes, so that he could make an escape. It was a matter of time until Danto Twag discovered he had told Walker all he knew. It was a fools errand of course, trusting Walker to finish off the Wasp but he had to hope. There was a passage, beneath the Asylum that only he knew about, the only problem was it passed through "The Hole", a lone cell, a form of extreme isolation for the flavour of the month. The shadowed figure smiled*

 

???- Leaving so soon Professor? I thought you were to help *cure* me of... what was it-? Ah, my narcissistic personality disorder?

 

Strange- I'm afraid I have more pressing matters to attend to Jonathan.

 

Crane- Afraid? What an interesting choice of word... Please, tell me, Professor, just what does keep you up at night? A fear of inadequacy perhaps? Yes?

 

Strange- I don't know what you're talking about.

 

Crane- Oh, these walls have ears Professor. We know all about your obsession... Yes, a classic case of avoidant personality disorder if I ever saw one... Shall I let Doctor Arkham in on... well, the joke? *Batman*?

 

Strange- ... Goodnight Jonathan.

 

Crane- Yes. Goodnight...

 

=====

 

*Drury and Gar were in pursuit of Strange, running down those endless corridors. At some point or another Dekker had vanished, presumably to make his escape. They were close, they had to be... then the guns cocked behind them*

 

GCPD- Get back to your cells

 

======

 

*Strange had to admit that encounter with Crane shook him somewhat. It was of no consequence though. No. He was on the home stretch and who would believe the word of that psychotic anyway? No rational man obviously, as he emerged from the passage, just by the pier he felt free. For a passing moment. Until the Killer Wasp grabbed him*

 

Strange- Y-you-?

 

Wasp- Hugo- Strange.

 

*This was sooner than expected. He hadn't prepared for this, and he was always prepared. He wondered, had the police not shown up, would he have survived?*

 

Bullock- Don't move bugboy!

 

Gordon- ... It wasn't Walker...

 

Bullock- Commish-?

 

Gordon- Dammit Harvey, look at that... thing.

 

*Bullock's eyes light up with realisation*

 

Bullock- Aw crap...

 

Gordon- Put your hands on your head. Now. No one needs to get hurt.

 

Wasp-... I agree.

 

*And with that, the Killer Wasp flew off into the night, Strange in his clutches*

 

Gordon- Hold your- Hold your fire! And get me Drury Walker.

 

= Desmond Pharmaceuticals=

 

Strange- This laboratory... it's where-

 

Wasp- It's where I was born.

 

Strange- So... You remember.

 

...

 

Wasp- I get flashes... now and then. Of what I did. Of what I was made to do

 

...

 

Strange- What exactly do you hope to accomplish here tonight? What do you want, Norbert?

 

Wasp- What I want-? What *I* want? I want you... to fix me

I've been super busy and haven't had much free time, but I've been meaning to post this one for quite some time. I still have a ton of characters to make, but I figured I had a good amount already made that I could post these guys. Anyways, time for the lineup:

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Detectives

 

1st row: Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya, Ethan Bennett, Ellen Yin, Abraham Arlington, Vincent Del Arrazio, and Caz Sallucci

 

2nd row: Stan Kitch, Joely Bartlett, Sarah Essen, and Crispus Allen

 

Uniforms

 

3rd row: Nathan Castle, Raphael Santiago, Kate Beckett, Siobhan O'Connell, David Kaye, and Alexander MacLeod

 

4th row: Hendricks, Michael Lane, Frank Welker, Charie Donovan, Ben Thomas, James Harmon, and Joseph Frost

 

Special Forces

 

5th row: Ryan Anderson, Seamus Doyle, Hugh Foley, Jackson Hunt, Jane Stark, Billy Pettit, and Maggie Sawyer

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Well that's it for now. These guys are only a fraction of what I have planned. Tons of other GCPD members I need to make.

 

C&C welcomed and appreciated.

I swing back just to see the tip of the gun retreat back into the vent. I tell a guard to get medical supplies, and another to gather everyone in a safe room for the time being, as I have a feeling the assassin won't leave until he's finished his job,or until we stop him. I go tell all the panicked people what's going on, quickly look around, then head back to protect the leaders from the assassin. As I go back to the stage, I notice the guard is already on his way with the supplies. That guard must be really- Wait, he got taller, and more fit...

 

Bruce: "DIANA! Stop him! He's not a guard! He's the-"

 

I jump behind a pillar as a bullet zooms towards me. He shoots at Diana as he changes from the guard costume, but she blocks the bullets with her gauntlets, then charges at him. I usher the Wakandan towards the room with the others, then start helping the Kasnian leader to a safe side away from the battle. The assassin shoots, hitting my belt, causing me to drop some batarangs, but we make it safely away.

 

Bruce: "Stay put, and keep pressure on your wound."

 

I turn to help Diana, but then I hear a grunt mixed with a metallic clink, and what sounds like a body hitting the ground. Footsteps cause me to halt, and duck behind the nearest pillar.

 

Deadshot: "Your friend here is alive, but she won't be for long. Give me him and I shall spare her life. Resist, and you all die. Your choice."

 

His slightly-metallic voice is unsettling. I glance over. His right hand has a gun pointed at an unconscious Diana, who looks a bit bruised but otherwise unharmed. His left arm reveals the cause of the glint, as well as how he beat someone with what seemed like super-human strength. His left arm is robotic. And next to him is... an idea. Rummaging through my belt I find it. A manual detonator. I press the button, and the batarangs explode. Quickly I run forth and going behind him, kick down the back of his knee. He falls on his knees, and I push him down, kicking away his gun. He swipes at my feet, but I dodge, and he gets up. He takes a few swings, but I dodge them. I return a few, and he dodges most, but I land one in his gut. As he leans over, I grab his head and smack it on my knee, rendering him unconscious. I turn him around and cuff him, then check on the waking Diana.

 

Bruce: "You okay?"

 

Diana: (Groans). "Yeah, but my jaw is sore."

 

Suddenly a squadron of troopers in blue and white uniforms come rushing in from all directions. I check the assassin, but he's gone. I run to the wounded Kasnian leader, but get blocked by troops who got there before me. They tell me to put my hands on my head and get on my knees, but Diana intervenes.

 

Diana: "No need, he's not a threat to us. Is everyone else secure?"

 

S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent: "Yes ma'am."

 

Diana: "Good."

 

We walk away, and she tells me she works for an organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D., and that they knew about how both me and this assassin who goes by the name "Deadshot". Apparently they're the ones who gave me the tip, for they were thinking of recruiting me to help them take down criminals. Skeptical, I ask for more information. If I did join, it may get GCPD and others off my back, and I could get new resources and allies. I'll just have to learn as much as I can about this "S.H.I.E.L.D."

 

Six and a half years later Diana and I work together at S.H.I.E.L.D., and she becomes one of the best friends I've ever had. However, with my new job, I'd be meeting more like me than I though there ever were, both on my side, and against me....

 

---------------------------------------------------------Thanks for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed the origin of his co-operation with S.H.I.E.L.D. The next issues of their series will be in the present-ish day. Thanks for reading, and have a great day.

Issue#10 "Hospital Visit"

 

I storm towards the Gotham General Hospital where the Joker is located, bullets zip past me but I just continue walking. My heart beats so loudly it drowns out the dialogue of the GCPD who attempt to stop us, I see King Croc tear a police car in half and lob the two halves at a group of officers firing at me. Ivy's vines tangle the cops discarding them like trash, I see a detective emerge out from behind a cop car in front of me his gun aimed at my head. "No!" I shriek swinging my sledgehammer into the side of his skull shattering it like glass, "I'm not dying today not until I kill the Joker."

 

Killer Croc smashes down the cars which obstruct my way as I storm ahead leaving Ivy with the remaining cops, she can handle herself. King Croc roars beating his meaty fists on his chest like King Kong as he lifts me up onto his back like a child then lumbers his way through a group of heavily armoured police officials who unleash a storm of bullets into him but they bounce off his scaly skin as if they were NERF darts. I watch over his shoulder as in one mighty swipe he sends the forces soaring through the air. I kiss his cheek leaving a faint outline of my lipstick on his scales, his large set of teeth stretch into a razor sharp smile "I love you Puddin'." I say whilst we make our way into the hospital.

 

"All done Honey." Ivy says breathing heavily whilst she walks up to me? I giggle and smile wider watching terrified civilians sprint past us screaming, Ivy is about to summon her plants to kill them but she sees me shake my head and let's them flee. "Puddin' it's floor 2 in room 106." I say reminding King Croc who stomps his way towards Jokers room as Ivy follows behind. King Croc busts through the door and I leap off his back gritting my teeth jumping on the foot of the bed with my hammer raised ready to strike down joker. That's when I see it's not him, I grimace down at the painfully wide smile and petrified eyes releasing its a victim of his "Humour Gas". "Honey-" Ivy begins to say but I shush her and lift up the note pinned to the mans chest, wild writing reads "Better luck next time, haha! Love - Joker xxx" I scream out in frustration bringing my hammer down on the mans head till it's nothing but mushy pulp on the pillows, his blood splatters then trickles down my face whilst I stare down blankly at the blood stained letter. "We'll get him Hon, I promise." Ivy says clasping my hand in hers.

 

====Gotham General====

 

Can't keep it up. He's twice my size, and he's not holding anything back. If I can counter his strikes, use his size against him, just maybe I can end this-

There. He's pinned down, but not for long, have to think fast- *Uhn* ribs are cracked, and I'm alone.

Cops are still outside, providing security. Could be minutes before they get here. Can't keep relying on them to bail me out, not if Batman is to succeed.

 

"The gunman spoke highly of you. I know better, your costume doesn't change what you are. A coward. This... Is a killer's world. And, you lack a killer instinct"

 

*Now* he starts to brag... Nothing I do seems to hurt him, he's wearing armour all over, some kind of iron. Wait... That's it.

I grab a nearby defibrillator, set it to 1000 volts, the armour's sure to be conductive enough. Just need him to swing, and- Down. He's down. I take a pair of batcuffs out of my belt, those'll hold him until Montoya arrives, and I wipe the blood from my mouth.

 

"You think these *ack* you think these will hold me?"

 

"They'll do you until you arrive at GCPD. Now, you'll answer *my* questions."

 

"Madre de Dios! Batman!"

 

Right on time.

 

Batman- Detectives Montoya, Bullock. Lock this one up, secu-uhn-rely.

 

I clutch my side.

 

Montoya- You're hurt, we should really get you to a- Well, get you some help. Doctor-

 

Batman- N-no. I've had worse. Just take me to the crime scene.

 

...

 

Montoya- You heard him, Harv. You two, take our new friend to lockup.

 

Bullock makes a lewd comment about Metalhead and leather as he walks us to the children's wing, leaving two GCPD officers to take him away. A broken rib and I've learned nothing. Let's not make this a habit.

 

Bullock- Same as all the others. Entered through the window here, grabbed the kid, and left the same way. Cleaners left their scaffolding outside, so there's no mystery how they got the kid back down... Hey, Doc, come over here.

 

Montoya- Batman, this is Doctor Wilson, she was in the staff room two doors down when our perp entered.

 

"A pleasure"

 

She's nervous, offering me a shaking hand. I accept it, and nod.

 

Doctor- Sorry, I just... Just didn't think you were real.

 

"That's the idea," I reply. I've activated my Infrared scanner, drawing me to a corner just under the window. Teeth marks...

 

Montoya- Find anything?

 

Batman- Over here. There's something strange about all this. Look at this, the silent alarm was cut, looks as though something chewed through the wires. And there, on the windowsill-

 

Montoya- Rat droppings?

 

Doctor- That's... not possible. We have cleaning crews, exterminators, in 7-8pm, every day. We don't have rat problems. Ever.

 

Bullock- Well, maybe you should consider cutting their salaries, because that's shit, clear as day.

 

"Hmm."

I put a sample into a bag, then slip it into a compartment on my belt. Montoya's in the middle of calming Bullock down.

 

Bullock- -all we know is he likes rats and he steals kids! Do I need to send a warrant to the Pied Piper of Hamilton? Bats?

 

=====The Batcave=====

 

"Analysis complete. 95% Rat Feces."

 

Bruce- Only 95%? What's the other five percent?

 

"Sample contains traces of sewage water."

 

Well, that's not surprising... Alfred looks up from his med kit, and muses to himself.

 

Alfred- You know, Master Bruce, when I suggested taking up a hobby, I meant fishing, not scatology.

 

I turn around from the Batcomputer, to catch his eye.

 

Bruce- A means to an end, a means to an end...

 

I resume my research, there's got to be something on a Pied Piper. Crazy as it sounds, there's something familiar about all this...

Bingo. "Ratcatcher Netted"

 

Bruce- Alfred, I've been looking into city records, trying to figure out what our kidnapper's after... Does the name Otis Flannegan mean anything to you?

 

Alfred- Funnily enough... It does. You would have been a toddler yourself when the news got out. He was a mob hitman for Carmine Falcone, the tabloids, well, they called him the Ratcatcher. He started out as a pest exterminator, the premiere exterminator if you can call it that. Highly recommended by Mayor Hill, and Commissioner Loeb. No one knows *how* he did it, but it was as though he could *control* the rats, like a real life pied piper. It's rather ghastly, but Falcone brought him into his inner circle, using his talents to eliminate the competition. He was operating for years until... until the bones were discovered. The rats, were eating the bodies. Everyone knew Falcone hired Flannegan, but of course, no one spoke up. He was written off as a lunatic, imprisoned in Blackgate for years until-

 

Bruce- Until Punch let him out. Dammit. Did Flannegan ever target children?

 

Alfred- No, never. Falcone would never allow it. He's always prided himself on some *base* level of honour.

 

It's *not* Falcone... Someone new. Another in a long line of puppeteers... I look at the cabinets, Blackfire, Punch, Zodiac. When does it end?

 

Batman- Send these files to Dent, tell him to put out an APB on Flannegan.

 

Alfred- You know you *could* send them to Commissioner Gordon yourself. You can't blame him forever.

 

...

 

Batman- Dent's a good man, Al, and he's got the connections to get it done

 

Alfred- And where will *you* be going, sir?

 

Batman- The sewers. And Flannegan better *pray* the GCPD get there first.

 

===GCPD, Outside===

 

"Ok, move it, Ugly"

 

They think he's incapacitated, that mere handcuffs can hold him. They think they've done a great job, that they're safe to deride and mock him. They're wrong.

Metalhead clicks his heel, and a blade retracts from his boot, tearing open the first officer's leg. Still shackled, he grabs the cop by his tie, and headbutts him, impaling his face upon his spiked crown. The second cop fires, but Metalhead kicks the gun from his hand, and, pulling him close, throttles him with his hand cuffs. Satisfied, he shrugs off his chains and disappears into the night. Soon, Batman, soon.

After much negotiation Diana is able to convince Hephaestus into crafting a weapon for me. He seems perplexed by my special request but I don't have time to explain why I need it. Every minute I'm away from Gotham could be the nail in the coffin. Despite that though I have no choice but to wait until Hephaestus finishes crafting the blade, the Knight took Jack to act as bait to give himself a field advantage. I need to be able to level the playing field.

 

It takes him only an hour to craft the blade, rather impressive really. Especially when you consider it takes the average man weeks to craft the perfect blade. I can't deny it has me calling into question the quality of the blade but if Diana has faith in him, then so do I. Diana returns me to the cave and like Vic she offers her help. Just as I did with Vic, I turn down her kind offer.

 

The next four hours roll by quickly as I resume my work making tweaks to an old batsuit. From every opportunity I've had to inspect the Knight's blade I know it's easily capable of cutting through my suit without reinforcement. Heck it was able to cut through Jim's hand so it would cut through my suit like it's made of paper.

 

After I'd completed the modifications to the suit I'm greeted by a recently awoken Alfred. Clearly he's noticed my bed sheets have gone untouched.

 

"Plan on sleeping at some point today?"

 

"I was busy."

 

"I can tell. Modified your gauntlets by chance?"

 

"Yeah. Hopefully they'll provide more of a defence from the Knight's blade than they have previously."

 

"We can only hope. Did you spend all night just working on your gauntlets?"

 

"No. I also paid a visit to the Watchtower."

 

"You've asked the League for help?"

 

"No. Vic was checking up on me. Apparently I missed monitor duty."

 

"That warranted going all the way to the Watchtower?"

 

"No. I also paid a visit to Hephaestus."

 

"Hephaestus? The greek forger?"

 

"Yeah. Diana was able to convince him to forge me a blade for when I go up against the Knight again."

 

"Any reason you went to a greek god of all people to make you a sword?"

 

"It's not an ordinary sword he crafted for me."

 

"Oh? What's so special about this sword?"

 

"Well, hopefully it'll give me an edge over the Knight."

 

"We can only hope. So what's the plan now?"

 

"I'm as ready as I'm going to be. All I can do now is wait."

 

"Good. Then perhaps you can get some beauty sleep. You really need it."

 

"Thanks Alfred."

 

"I'm just telling you how I see it Master Bruce."

 

"Fine. I'll get some sleep. But if an alert for the Knight comes in you need to get me up!"

 

"Don't worry Master Bruce. I'll wake you if such an alert comes through."

 

With that I concede and take the elevator back up to the house. Whether you're a multi-billionaire or a bat themed vigilante you need your sleep. Much to my annoyance. Heck even Clark needs to sleep and he basically runs on sunlight.

 

-------------------------------------

 

Eight Hours Later

 

Eight hours. It's been years since I slept that long. In fact it would of been longer had Alfred not woken me up. I don't even know what time it is. That's how disorientated eight hours sleep makes me.

 

"What time is it?"

 

"6pm. You've been asleep for eight hours."

 

"Eight hours? Christ, I can't remember the last time I slept so long."

 

"Indeed. I was concerned you'd slipped into a coma after four hours."

 

"So have we had a hit for the Knight?"

 

"No. We have a guest."

 

"We're on lockdown. Tell them Bruce Wayne is away on holiday."

 

"I would do. But Mr Gordon was rather insistent."

 

"Jim's here?"

 

"Indeed Master Bruce. He looks rather exhausted I must say."

 

"I'll be there shortly."

 

It takes me five minutes to freshen up and put some clothes on. By that time Alfred's led Jim into the reception room and given him a scotch. I dread to think what it is that's got Jim drinking such stuff this early in the night. Usually he doesn't have a drink until near the end of his shift.

 

"Tough day at the office?"

 

"Like you wouldn't believe. Are you okay? I couldn't help but notice some bullet holes in the walls as Alfred led me down here."

 

"Yeah, we had some unwelcome guests last night."

 

"They wouldn't happen to be some of those mercenaries you warned me about?"

 

"How did you know?"

 

"Apparently a group of them abducted Jack Drake last night. Witnesses say they saw Robin and another figure on the scene. I was worried that if they went after Tim's dad they might have come here as well."

 

'Yeah they did. Fortunately I was able to get back here in time."

 

"So where are they now? We never got a call to pick them up."

 

"They're under the floorboards."

 

Jim laughs to himself and takes a swig of his scotch. He knows full well I mean the cave but I like to think he's conjuring an image in his head of Alfred sweeping a load of bodies under the floorboards. I think I'd pay to see that.

 

"How come they're being given the premium cells? The cells at GCPD not up to standard for them?"

 

"If only. They know Jim."

 

Jim's facial expression changes from a smile to a look of concern.

 

"You mean?"

 

"Yeah. That's why I'm holding them here."

 

"Christ this day just keeps getting worse."

 

"Worse?

 

"I was having a meeting with the Mayor when you called me about the Knight. I asked Bullock to bring him in."

 

"The Knight escaped?"

 

"If only that was it."

 

"You don't mean....."

 

"Yeah. I do."

 

"I'm sorry Jim. I know how good a friend he was to you."

 

"Yeah. Harvey was the best. God rest his soul."

 

I reach into the drinks cabinet where Jim got his scotch from and fill a glass with my 'whiskey'. Well I call it whiskey, it's simply apple juice that has been tweaked to give off the smell of whiskey. After I've poured myself a glass I walk back over to Jim and raise my glass up in the air.

 

"To Harvey."

 

"To Harvey."

 

We clang our glasses together and empty our glasses. Jim goes to pull out a cigarette before remembering how much Alfred dislikes people smoking in the house, but given what's happened I let him do so anyways.

 

"I'll deal with Alfred."

 

"Thanks Bruce."

 

He lights his cigarette and takes in deep breath of smoke.

 

"So what's his next move?"

 

"For the moment all Tim and I can do is wait. He took Jack for a reason, I suspect it's to force us to walk into a trap of his own choice."

 

"How's the boy been holding up? What with his father being taken and all. I can't imagine he's happy to just sit by and wait."

 

"He's not. But he knows the protocol. No-one leaves the house until our identities are secured."

 

"So until the Knight is dealt with?"

 

"Basically."

 

"Well when you see him, do me favour."

 

"What's that?"

 

"Give him hell. For Harvey, and for me."

 

"I will Jim. I will."

 

"Thank you Bruce."

 

"How's the arm treating you?"

 

"Poorly. The only silver lining is that if I ever get in a bar fight I've got a weapon to hand."

 

"I'm sorry, for all he's done to you Jim. But I promise you, I'll make him pay. For all he's to you, and for what he's done to Harvey. Mark my words."

 

"Thank you Bruce. It really means a lot."

 

"Happy to help Jim. Happy to help."

==Gotham City==

 

December 24th. Thursday Night. 10:30 pm. Across Gotham, children were in their beds, eagerly awaiting Christmas morning; cookies were laid out beside their Christmas Trees, stockings were hung up along their fireplaces and grey clouds cast down perfect, white snowflakes onto their roofs.

 

The Misfits sat around the table, toasting their absent friends with mugs of boozy eggnog. Though Sharpe had initially struggled to win back Ito's trust after they had freed Dekker from his dungeons, their relationship had been mended with a 'brand-new' teapot Sharpe had covertly liberated from an Englishman's larder. Gar, stopped by Clair's residence, to hand over a stack of poorly wrapped presents, and left unsure if Clair was feeling festive enough to hand over the DVD boxset he had intended to gift Jenna. Bridget, nodded politely along to the Misfit's banter, thinking of her uncle's empty apartment, still furnished with the decorations she had placed in the vain hope that she might have been able to celebrate the holiday with her father.

 

Batman had shed his police officer disguise, but remained at the GCPD, keeping watch over the prisoners. The impending snowstorms had made the prospect of transferring them to a more secure location impossible. His Knights stood watch over several key locations around the city; Nightwing and Red Hood were positioned on a rooftop overlooking the GCPD itself, Red Robin and Spoiler surveyed the dockyards, taking keen interest in the Tiger Shark's penthouse while Robin and Batgirl observed the ISA headquarters from a rocky outcrop nearby.

 

Posted on the bridge opposite the Asylum, Needham's eyes squinted. It was currently rather difficult for him to think, what, with the constant scratching sounds on his left: Azrael, was tonight's chaperone, the one-time Caped Crusader and the long-time enforcer of the will of the Sacred Order of Saint Dumas, a secret order that had sworn righteous judgement on all criminals and heretics. For the last five minutes, he had been enforcing their will through an attack on Eric Needham's hearing, grinding his blade against the stone balcony to sharpen it, whispering a hymn as he did so.

 

Elsewhere, exhausted parents sat down in front of their TVs: The 10 o'clock news had just finished broadcasting, and the latest instalment of Jack Ryder's late night talkshow was up next. Ryder, mug of cocoa in hand, was dressed in a padded Santa suit, with fluffy fur lining around the wrists.

 

"To all of you folks just tuning in, stay right there. We've got an extra special show for you all! Later tonight, we'll be joined by fashion guru Mari McCabe, and we'll have music by- by-"

 

An ear-piercing noise burst through the speakers. Ryder winced, as he put his finger to his headset.

 

"I'm very sorry, folks, but there appears to be some kind of issue with the equipment, we'll try to resolve that immediately," Ryder pledged.

 

~-~

 

As they walked through the hallway together, Batman and the Commissioner came to a stop outside the breakroom, their eyes fixed to the TV.

 

"Some kinda issue with the audio," one of the cops inside was muttering to his friend.

 

"Well, it better not get pulled, this show's been the only thing that's gotten me through this rotten week."

 

"It could be that the snow knocked an antenna loose," Gordon suggested.

 

"Could be," Batman frowned, rejecting his friend's optimism.

 

Ryder's voice was crackling now, as the screen turned to static. "Huh. We seem to be losing our signal... That's weird. Bear with us for a few minutes, my team and I will be working hard to give you another thrilling show of 'You Don't Know Jack!'"

 

"tesssssting... tesssssting..." a different voice rasped, separate from the noises of Ryder's show. The feed cut to a lush green forest, or rather, a crude replica of one; the tree trunks were cardboard, the bushes were painted, and the blue sky was a creased shower curtain.

 

~-~

 

"Turn that up," Batman ordered the cops as he entered the breakroom. A mistake that their ears would pay for:

 

"GOOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM!" the voice boomed, as the camera panned out to reveal a familiar, pale man, dressed like an American G.I. "King Cong here with an extra special all points bullet-in! I know how you all like to be kept informed on matters of strife and death!" the man grinned, lowering his pair of sunglasses to reveal his manic green eyes.

 

"Drum roll please!"

 

The camera panned out further still, as The Joker pattered his palms across a cylindrical metal drum. But Batman's eyes were instead drawn to a small watermark on the corner of the screen: Bowman Consolidated.

 

"Tah Dah! It's the Cloudburst! Well, the fun size variety. Parps out gas faster than the Penguin on Taco Tuesday! Funny the kind of goodies STAR Labs just leaves lying around, isn't it? I would have been happy with milk and cookies.

Now, what kind of gas, I hear you ask? Dunno! I just filled the tank with a chemical cocktail and two teaspoons of lemon curd! I suppose we'll find out together!

And if you want to stop it, Batsy, 'cause I know you're watching, you little TV addict, then you'd better grab your Batreindeers and Batsled and get your Bat-Ass moving! Heh.

After all, I'm a Ryde or Dye kinda clown, so you can be absolutely sure I'm not bluffing. Of course, I also have a reputation as a general mirthster and prankmaster extraordinaire, so perhaps I am! What do you have to lose? Oh, right, the city. Heh. Toodles!"

 

"I have to find that bomb, Jim."

 

"You know it's a trap," Gordon advised him, as he removed his glasses and wiped them with a piece of cloth. As he put them back on, he turned to his right, and smiled thinly.

 

"Hm. Of course, you do... Just like I knew you'd be gone by the time I put these damn things back on."

  

~-~

 

Batman entered the Batmobile, then inserted a cable from his gauntlet into the USB port below the monitor. "I take it you saw it?"

 

"The watermark? What do you take me for, Baffler? First thing I noticed," Oracle's voice replied, her green avatar lighting up the screen.

 

"Good, then I hope you have something for me. What do we know about Bowman Consolidated?"

 

"Alright... Founded on March 15th, 2002, by Louis Bowman, it's a tech company, based in Connecticut."

 

"And Bowman himself?"

 

"He's a recluse. No public appearances, nothing."

 

"So, he's a ghost," Bruce said grimly.

 

"No. I know a forgery when I see one. But everything checks out, Bruce. I've got his birth certificate, marriage certificate, property deeds; he's got a mansion just outside of Metropolis. Seems like a lot of work for a shell company."

 

...

 

"Look, I know what you're thinking, but it's not Billings. Maybe it's not even Joker. Is it really too much of a reach to say they just... stole Bowman's gear to make their broadcast? Did Joker even take the aftereffects course?"

 

"There aren't any coincidences with him, if he let me see it, it's because he wanted me to," Bruce answered, steadfast in his assertion. "I need you to send the Batwing over here, navigate a flight plan to Metropolis,"

 

"You're leaving tonight? Now? With everything that's going on-"

 

"If this is what I think it is, then it's our best way of finding the Cloudburst."

 

~-~

 

Dick was perched on the edge of the rooftop, watching the yellow glow of the Batsignal break through the grey skies. "Bruce, Dick here. Babs filled us in, you need us to help find this thing?"

 

"Negative, Nightwing. No one leaves their posts, understand?"

 

"Yeah, because that's been working out great, so far. What, did Az put Spider to sleep with scripture? Joker got past them no problem," Jason folded his arms.

 

Bruce sighed. "I heard that, Jason. I'm chasing up a new lead. In case I'm not back in time, I'm sending each of you instructions on how to defuse the Cloudburst. If worse comes to wear, it's up to you."

 

"Yeah? And how'll we know when that is?" Jason asked pointedly.

 

Bruce answered hesitantly. "I'll be dead."

 

Dick pursed his lips. "Well, there's the Christmas Spirit we've all been missing."

 

Jason sighed and leaned his back against the fire escape.

 

A scraping sound broke the temporary silence, an ear-splitting screech of metal on concrete. Jason was the first to investigate, holding his pistol in front of him as he stepped behind the plastic tarp. The noise had subsided now, but his eyes were drawn to the source; a discarded, rusted crowbar, covered in dried blood, its' edges lightly charred by an explosion of some kind. He shook slightly as he knelt beside it, and though he came close, he couldn't bring himself to touch it.

 

An additional clattering came from the other side of the roof, quieter than the crowbar had been. This time, Dick checked it out. As he walked towards the fire escape, he froze: An orange and black domino mask had been placed on the top of the ladder, alongside two silver sai. "Jay, I think something screwy's going on here," he called back to his brother.

 

"You think?" Jason called back to him sarcastically, as the two turned their attention to a new challenger, a thin man dressed in a red and black costume with a matching cape and a golden mask.

 

The interloper raised his hand in the air and waved at them cordially. "Oh, hello! How lovely to see you!"

 

His opponents drew their weapons. "Don't take another step," Jason barked. His gun trembled, just slightly but enough for Dick to notice.

 

"Jay, it's ok," he whispered. "He's not here. He can't hurt you now."

 

Hayden stopped walking, and looked down at his shoes, like a child who had just been caught scribbling on the walls. "Oh. Alright," he obliged to Jason's request. "Did I do something wrong? Was it the presents?"

 

"Well, you could have wrapped them better," Dick joked, but there was a lack of confidence in his voice.

 

Beneath his mask, Hayden smiled sweetly. "I'll take notes for next year," he pledged, as he continued his approach.

 

"I said you're fine right where you are, Goldeneye," Jason warned.

 

"But you're anything but!" Hayden protested. "It's not me you're angry at, not really. Yourself, yes. The Joker, certainly. And of course, the family who let you die."

 

"Don't listen to him-" Dick interjected.

 

"Tsk, tsk. Still won't let you think for yourself, will he? Older siblings are always such a bore... Always casting their shadows over your achievements. Always father's favourite, hm? Not your real father though. He couldn't be bothered with you. Your mother practically guided you into your grave herself... Family. Who needs family. It's a fa-arce. A concept built to stop one another from tearing out each other's throats for the sake of blood or kinship. But you understand, don't you? You're not The Red Hood, not really. You're the Black Sheep. Because you see through the lies, don't you? Not like him, he's still telling himself the same old fantasy. 'Justice not Vengeance.' But the truth is, you want to kill each other. You want to rip each other apart. Why wouldn't you? Why haven't you? Because you've been told not to. By Daddy. But Daddy's gone away now. So, I am here, to tell you yes. It's alright, it's ok, it's what you deserve, it's what he deserves. Kill him."

 

"Hood..." Dick watched as Jason's hand rested on the handle of his handgun.

 

Jason's mouth was dry. "He's right," he answered with a voice that wasn't truly his own. "Why shouldn't I kill you?"

 

=Arkham Asylum. The Night Before=

 

Billings joined Crane on the grounds, two glasses and a bottle of champagne in hand. He offered one to Scarecrow, who immediately flapped his hand away dismissively. Unoffended, Billings popped the cork off and simply drank both glasses himself. "This is really it, isn't it?" he asked his associate. His voice wavered slightly, which did not go unnoticed by Crane.

 

"Do I detect doubt in your tone, Mr Billings? In this critical stage?" Crane pondered, his one good eye scanning the man's face for any sign of weakness.

 

Billings' eyes widened as the ramifications of what such a betrayal would bring played vividly in his mind. "No, no. Not me," he spoke, perhaps a little too quickly. Now he was chugging the champagne straight from the bottle. "Never. I think this is great. All of this."

 

Crane leaned back in his chair, an irritated grimace on his face. "Your sycophantic mewling is not endearing. It is exhausting. I am in no hurry to report your misgivings to the clown or the speedster, so if you have reservations, I suggest you share them. Now."

 

Billings scratched the back of neck, peeling off clumps of dead skin. "No! No, really, it's nothing like that, I'm onboard 100%. However! and this is not a criticism of you persay, or at all, but this stuff, with the Bats, I mean, it's ugly. Personal. And the only way you could know this shit, if you know know them."

 

"Ah."

 

Beneath his burlap, Crane smiled. The first sociopathic grin in months. "Once Two-Face divulged to me the secrets behind that cowl, identifying the Batman's brood was child's play. The acrobat, the runaway, the prodigy, the offspring... The daughters of assassins, policemen and overcompensating criminals. Yes, I know them well.

 

He gives them shelter and they serve him faithfully, like good little boys and girls... But their loyalty is a failing of its' own.

 

The Batman has coddled them, filled their heads with false purpose. Always there to catch them when they fall and drape his cape around their shoulders like a security blanket. But this is Gotham. There is no security. There is no safety. There is no refuge from the horrors that dwell in every corner of this damned city. Too long have they patrolled our rooftops with unearned confidence. Too long have they disrespected us and mocked us as though they are any better, in their pixie boots and masks. The clown wants them distracted. I want them unnerved. Off center. And above all else, I want the children of the Batman to be afraid."

 

~-~

 

Blam. Blam. Blam.

 

Gunfire lit up the rooftop, discarded bullet casings littered the floor. Dick flipped back and forth across the roof, dodging Jason's bullets as best as he could without hurting his brother. Jason, on the other hand, was not feeling particularly sentimental. He unhooked a grenade from his belt and hurled it Dick's way, blasting him off the roof; Dick extended his escrima sticks into a staff as he fell, hooking into the narrow gaps between the buildings; he used his momentum to flip up into the air, and then threw his baton at an air-con unit. The baton bounced off the sides, and struck Jason in the side of his head, cracking his crimson mask.

 

"You never trusted me! The Pirate's right! I was always the black sheep to you! To all of you!" Jason yelled, continuing to fire off rounds.

 

"Yeah, well, the bullets aren't doing a whole lot to dispel that feeling. Snap out of it, Jay, this is what Joker wants!"

 

Sitting atop the roof access' roof (how he accessed that, was anyone's guess), his legs hanging over the doorway, Hayden tittered. "I could watch you two forever! But there's a lot of little boys and girls on Santa's list tonight, and they all need a gentle sprinkling of Christmas cheer."

 

There was a fleeting burst of lightning, and then the Pirate was gone.

 

===GCPD===

 

Even with the chaos of the night's broadcast, the desk sergeant didn't seem to be particularly worried, on one monitor, he was playing online poker, on the other he was ordering a pair of diamond earrings for his wife with money he had not yet won. His attention focused squarely on the screens, he barely heard the sound of a man entering the precinct and ringing a bicycle bell for his services.

 

"Yeah?" the sergeant asked disinterestedly.

 

“I believe the Commissioner was looking for me," the man replied.

 

“Hn. Name? The desk sergeant, not looking up from their monitors.

 

“Kerr. Joe Kerr," the man answered.

 

“Funny," he chuckled under his breath, as he slid a clipboard over to the visitor. "That almost sounds like... Joker."

 

The sergeant finally looked up, and was met with the haunting white-faced, grinning visage that had been plastered onto every notice board and wanted poster in the station.

 

“Boo.”

 

The sergeant tumbled off their chair in shock, his face almost as white as the clown's, then he screamed into their walkie talkie. "Code Purple! Code Purple!"

 

"Code Purple?" Joker blew a raspberry. "Tell Jimbo I'm flattered! What's Scarecrow? Code Brown? Oh, as if that poor man hasn't suffered enough, tsk tsk."

 

The thundering of footsteps from every direction filled the air as the entire force of the GCPD mobilised towards the reception and leading the charge, was 'Jimbo' himself.

 

"Oh, there you are!" Joker clasped his hands together. "I'd like to register a formal complaint."

 

"Keep your guns trained on him," Gordon spoke calmly.

 

The youngest of the cops there, who had unfortunately ended up the closest to the Joker, shuddered nervously. "But- But, sir-"

 

"Don't waver, Wilkins, he's just a man. Flesh and blood," Gordon reassured him.

 

"But... But I heard... I mean, they say he can't die."

 

"C'mon, that's a loada bull!" Bullock derided the young man.

 

"And you oughta know, ya big hunka beef!" Joker giggled, delighted by the disorder he'd caused with his mere presence.

 

"He's b-been fed to sharks, electrocuted, f-fallen off buildings, washed out to sea... One of our own s-shot him in the face, remember? Bullet went through his jaw and came out his forehead. But he always returns."

 

"It's true! It's one of my many hidden superpowers! That and my inability to tan!"

 

“What do you want?” Gordon asked sternly, his arm was the steadiest of anyone's in the room. His history with the Joker the bloodiest of anyone's in the room. And his resolve was the strongest.

 

Joker's face scrunched up as though he was having to think long and hard about his answer, and then it came to him. “That's easy. Cuba! Actually, given the choice, I'll take an island the size of Cuba, but without the complicated political and socio-economic factors. But I suppose I could settle for, say... Drury Walker?”

4:00 am

 

GCPD Building

 

Evidence locker

 

Gordon put his hands over his face in frustration. He had been searching through files trying to find any useful evidence against the False Facers to prove that they were behind the attempt of murdering Mayor Hill. They arrested the man who tried to assassinate him; Jimmy Jalone, and hasn't said a single word since he left the City Hall and into the cell. Commissioner Bilbao opens the door.

 

Loeb: “Look Gordon, you’ve been up for 8 hours trying to find evidence, just go home and take the day off.”

 

Gordon: “Look, I have a meeting with Gotham’s D.A in a couple of hours, and need to present him with some evidence to prove that the False Facers are behind it. I only have one file that explains that once the False Facers attacked Gotham Harbor to steal a shipment meant for Mayor Hill, and that's it. I need way more to be able to prove that the false facers are behind this.”

 

Loeb: “How long towards the trial?”

 

Gordon: “4 days.”

 

Loeb: “4 days! That’s insane, how did that happen?”

 

Gordon: “I don’t know, just so happen that there wasn’t any trials on the schedule.”

 

Loeb: “Then I’ll leave you to it.”

 

Loeb walks out and shuts the door behind him, and Gordon keeps looking through the files…

  

7:00 am

 

D.A’s office

 

Harvey: “Pleasure to see you Lieutenant Gordon.”

 

Harvey Dent shook Gordon’s hand.

 

Gordon: “Indeed, I’ve heard a lot about you ‘Gotham’s White Knight’.”

 

Harvey: “Yeah, fun nickname. Though I do want to see the evidence that you promised to show me.”

 

Gordon: “Of course.”

 

Gordon pushes the folder onto Harvey’s desk. He picks it up to examine.

 

Harvey: “Is this is it?”

 

Gordon: “I know it’s not enough…”

 

Harvey: “You damn straight it isn’t enough. I mean it’s good, but not enough to put Black Mask and the False Facers into prison for a reasonable sentence.”

 

Gordon: “How much do you think I will need.”

 

Harvey: “At least a dozen more cases of The False Facers committing a felony or crime and a couple for Black Mask, and you also have to find and arrest these guys. It’s going to take a miracle to do all this in 4 days.”

 

Gordon paces around the office, looking at photographs of biggest successes and wondering if he would be able to pull this off in 4 days.

 

Gordon: “I’m going to try my best”

 

Harvey: “I’m not sure your best will be enough, but good luck to you, and hopefully I will see you in 4 days with this evidence.

 

Gordon: “Thanks for meeting with me Harvey..”

 

Harvey: “Anytime.”

 

Gordon leaves his office, the door shuts loudly behind him.

  

9:00 am

 

GCPD Building

 

Gordon gets out of his car and runs into the GCPD building. He goes into the evidence locker and sits in his chair. He ponders thinking of what to do. He needs to get enough evidence to convict Mr. Jalone, Black Mask, and the entirety of the False Facers. He then realizes that Roman Sionis file would have a lot of info regarding the False Facers and his other identity. He looks in the file cabinet and pulls out his file, there is nothing there, except a footprint imprinted on the back of file. Gordon realizes that someone broke into the evidence locker and stole some information on Roman Sionis, but where would this evidence be? The answer popped in his head, Sionis industries.

 

Gordon: “Officer Bilbao, Detective Bullock! I need to see you guys immediately.”

 

Bilbao: “Alright give me a second.”

 

Bullock: “Alright I’m coming.”

 

Gordon proceeds to walk to his office and sits in his chair. Bilbao and Bullock walk in.

 

Bilbao: “Yes Lieutenant?”

 

Gordon: “I’m going to fill out a warrant to go search Sionis Industries.”

 

Bullock: “Wait I know what you're doing; Gordon we checked Sionis Industries 4 times in the past 14 years searching for any file of Black Mask.”

 

Gordon: “I know, but this convinced me to it.”

 

Gordon pulls out Sionis’s file and places it on the table, with the footprint right smack on the back. Bullock examines it, while Bilbao stays silent.

 

Bullock: “The print is fresh, maybe it’s time to visit that hell hole again.”

 

Gordon: “Not yet, I still have to get this warrant signed by the Judge. I’m going to drive over to his office to have him sign it. In the meantime, go to the lab to have Sarah analyze it. I’ll give you more information on the case when I'm back.”

 

Gordon Grabbed his coat and his warrant and ran back to his car and drove to the Judge’s office.

  

10:30

 

Judge’s Office

 

Gordon rushes to the Judge´s office with the warrant in hand. The Judge greets him.

 

Judge: “Good morning Lieutenant Gordon, pleasure seeing you.”

 

Gordon: “I request for you to sign this warrant to search Sionis industries, out of potential information regarding to the attempt of the Mayor's assassination.”

 

Gordon hands the judge the warrant, the judge examines it. Gordon notices something weird about the Judge's face, it was covered in sweat, and his hand was trembling as he looked over the warrant.

 

Judge: “I'm sorry but I can accept any warrants in the span of 7 days before a trial.”

 

Gordon: “Wait, I-”

 

Judge: “I am sorry Jim, but I do have to get going.”

 

The Judge walks away as Gordon stands speechless. He looks at the Judge's hand as he walks away, he notices something else

His hand stopped shaking....

The batcave

 

Bruce, enticed In applying the finishing touches to a new birthday present from Lucius, hears Alfreds voice calling him and pokes his head up from behind a newly painted black jet planes sharp and slick wings

 

Alfred: I see you were quick with the addition of the bat logo master Bruce

 

Bruce: as you say Alfred. I’ve got an image to protect

 

Alfred: And one worth protecting it is too. The computers just picked up news that a Gotham airline plane has lost a large portion of its fuel and there’s a suspect in custody but the planes no closer to landing safely. The GCPD are there now, the radio picks up that a man named Jeremy Seinfeld is Behind it but has been apprehended. And one can only assume the control centre’s working on a landing as we speaking but i imagine there’s a better chance of that if you take the new bat-wing for a test drive and maybe save a few lives on the side

 

Bruce: on it Alfred I’ll take extra fuel to fill the plane up. Oh and chuck me those parachutes. Could be useful. They are black right?

 

Alfred chuckles: as always sir. You’ll need your cowl too.

 

Bruce: don’t need to remind me of that Alfred

 

Alfred: so you say. You might like to reconcile with Gordon too Bruce. The computer may work but I fear you don’t perhaps get the full story with this monstrous assembly of wires and scrap metal. Not to mention the man is one of the greatest friends you will ever have Bruce. In your right mind, you’d be clever not to put that to waste.

 

———————————————————

A small interrogation room at Gotham airport

 

Jim Gordon, followed by Montoya, rushes into the room trying not to spill his coffee as he does. The guard sees him and opens the heavy door to a smallish white tiled room. Gordon takes a seat opposite Seinfeld and a lawyer

 

Gordon: are you playing a part in the hijacking of the Gotham airlines passenger plane to Sydney that left 3 hours ago

 

Jeremy: depends. What colour was it

 

Gordon: white. No ones laughing. Did you do it

 

Jeremy: do what? Remove the fuel tanks mid flight

 

Gordon: so you did?

 

Jeremy: no. If your wondering how I know the tanks are gone....I saw it in the stars. I’m not the sender. I’m the messenger. don’t shoot me. I’ll shoot back

 

Gordon scoffs But soldiers on: is that a threat

 

Jeremy: yes but nonetheless I’m innocent.

 

Gordon: do you hear yourself. Saw it in the stars? Your wasting time. It’s a big plane and Hundreds will die. Don’t do this Jerry

 

Jeremy: please. Call me sir

 

Gordon: how did you drop the fuel tanks from the ground. And in a cell too I might add. Got people on the outside? People on the plane? Did you give them the go ahead or are you just a pawn?

 

Jeremy: were all pawns Jimbo. Some of us are just better than others

 

Jim: work with me. Let’s save these lives and your sentence will be a lot shorter or maybe you won’t get one...trust me...trust me

 

Jeremy: won’t get one? Won’t get one...you lying trough sucking bastard. Like I’m gonna f*ckin fall for that?! I’m going down anyway. I’d rather I reached my goal in the process! Those people are dying. That’s that. But the question is will you learn from your lesson. And listen to me so that no more need to die.

 

Gordon: you confess

 

Jeremy: I confess!! I f*ckin goddamn confess! Was that ever the question!....now...will you listen jimbo

 

Gordon: give up on those people? No. Now help me save them because in two more hours the reserves will be finished and we won’t be able to save them

 

Jeremy: two hours?

 

He pauses for a moment then stares harshly into Gordon’s eyes, lurching slightly and through gritted teeth come the words: I’ll wait

 

———————————————————

 

Within the cockpit of the so fittingly named bat-wing, Bruce follows a tracking device leading him to the airline. Luckily he owns the company that makes them so has no problem hacking the system.

 

He steers the jet towards the double decked hulk of an airliner and begins to mess around with a radio installed in the side of the jets interior. Eventually he manages to contact he planes pilots.

 

Batman: do you receive? Over

 

Pilot: recieving. Who is this. Over

 

Batman: look out of your window. Over

 

Pilot: the batman? We’re close to running out of fuel and can’t find anywhere close enough to land. The nearest is Gotham airport but we Other than that there’s the small possibility of farmland. Over

 

Batman: I bought enough extra fuel for you to make it back to Gotham airport. I’ll need access to the fuel hatch. Over

 

Pilot: it’s located on the bottom of the right wing but it’s too dangerous to access mid flight. Over

 

Batman: I’ll attempt it. After that I’ll need to get on board. There’s suspicion of there being a threat on board. In place as a back up plan. Is it possible. Over

 

Pilot: uh....it’s possible but tricky. Over

 

Batman: okay I can manage. Right now I’m going to fill up the tank. Over and out

 

The batwing quickly catches up with the circling aircraft. Moving at a constant speed it hovers beneath the wings as Bruce prepares auto pilot.

Once auto pilot is on he equips himself with a mouth cover to handle the strong winds and buckles himself into a parachute. After this he let’s the curved glass of the cockpit retire into the interior of the jet so that it is no longer seen. He begins to remove the panels on the bottom side of the great, white, solid wing which itself is double the size of the batwing, placing the panel carefully into the side of his cockpit. It barely fits so forced to secure it with his foot, the job is made 100 times harder for Bruce but he continues nonetheless. He begins to open the fuel hatch, lifting the fuel pipe from his cockpit and swiftly attaching the two. As he is pumping the fuel through the pipe, he spies a deadly splash of water arrive on the wing of the batwing. Within seconds, a storm ensues and Bruce knows he has to hurry up if he wants to make it onto the plane on time to miss the worst of what could be a fatal storm for not only him but the planes passengers.

Barbra’s distraction draws the assailant’s attention away from me as he’s forced to respond in order to block her attacks against him. With him distracted, I manage to reach over and grab both of my sticks before climbing up onto my feet. As both he and Barbra continue to clash with one another, I can’t help but notice something in how the assailant uses his sword.

 

Every single time that he tries to attack Barbra his sword is in his right hand. Now to some that doesn’t sound like anything at all. So what? He’s right handed, big deal. But the most telling thing is that he never even considers gripping the hilt of sword with both hands. For that to not mean something is impossible. If nothing else, it’s just common sense. Holding a weapon in both hands gives more grip, and that allows you to use more power. The fact that he refuses to do tells me that he uses the two halves of his body for different tasks.

 

Right to attack. Left to defend.

 

Definitely not a fighting style you see very often, but it’s not as rare as you’d think. You often see it used by knife wielders especially on the streets of Bludhaven. Then again, that’s probably because it’s difficult to hold a knife in two hands never mind how stupid you’d probably look doing so. As I ready myself, Barbra spots me on the corner of her eye and readies herself to restrain the guard.

 

I pause briefly to take in a deep breath whilst tightening the grip on my sticks.

 

With that, I charge forward.

 

Nightwing: Manoeuvre 7!

 

The assailant turns in response to my call out and tries to intercept me as I race towards him. Just as manoeuvre 7 intends. With his focus not on her, Barbra uses her bo-staff to disarm him by slamming the staff into his knuckles loosening his grip as I quickly follow up using both escrima sticks to force the sword out of his grip and send it flying across the room. Before he has a chance to react, Barbra delivers the follow up with a blow to the back of the guy’s legs causing him to collapse onto the ground, but not before I slam both of my sticks into his mask knocking him out cold.

 

Looks like manoeuvre 7 saves the day once again.

 

With Dick climbing to his feet ready to strike this guy from behind, I need to focus on keeping his attention fixed on me. The last thing I want is to unintentionally compromise Dick’s attack as he unwittingly did for my own just before. That being said, keeping his attention isn’t exactly difficult. With the continuous volley of rapid swipes he keeps taking at me, I’m amazed that one of them hasn’t somehow been lucky and managed to hit me. Either I’m doing a better job at blocking his attacks than Dick, or he’s luring me into a false sense of security.

 

I’d rather end this fight quickly than find out which one it is.

 

Come on Dick, hurry up and tell how we’re going to take this guy down.

 

Nightwing: Manoeuvre 7!

 

You have got to be kidding me. He has the jump on this guy and could easily take him down himself, instead he wants to go with manoeuvre 7? For goodness sake…..

 

Before I have a chance to question his decision, manoeuvre 7 begins. The assailant turns and spots Dick racing towards him with his arms raised ready to strike. Guess I have no choice. Manoeuvre 7 it is.

 

Thanks to Dick’s brief distraction, I slam my staff into the assailant’s knuckles catching him by surprise and momentarily confusing him. The next move is Dick’s and as you’d expect, he executes his favourite manoeuvre perfectly disarming the guard by following up on my strike on his knuckles. My next move is to unbalance him which is done simply by slamming my staff into the back of his legs causing him to lose his center of gravity. Dick then deals the knockout blow by slamming both of his sticks against the guard’s mask sending him flying down to the ground unconscious.

 

It’s difficult to see the smirk under his mask, but you can tell that Dick is pleased with how well that worked.

 

Nightwing: And that’s why I always go with manoeuvre 7.

 

Batgirl: Funny how it only ever seems to get used when the guy is focused on me.

 

Nightwing: That’s why we’re so well-rehearsed in using it.

 

Batgirl: You really need to work on your smooth talking.

 

Nightwing: We’re still by each other’s sides after all this time aren’t we? Clearly it must do some good.

 

Batgirl: Don’t get ahead of yourself Wing Ding.

 

Nightwing: It’s Ni……

 

I just fell for the bait hook line and sinker. Damn it.

 

Nightwing: Very funny.

 

Batgirl: I do my best. Speaking of which, what happened to you back there?

 

Nightwing: I’m clearly not destined to go on the defensive. Maybe trying to change up our styles to confuse them is doing more harm than good.

 

Barbra glances down at the cuts on both my legs.

 

Batgirl: We should stitch those up.

 

She reaches into her belt and pulls out her small medical kit. Before she has a chance to remove anything from it, I grab hold of it before holstering both of my sticks.

 

Nightwing: We’ve still got a job do. I’ll take care of this.

 

Batgirl: Dick, I don’t think it’s a good idea.

 

Nightwing: We’ve got to learn from our mistakes.

 

Batgirl: But not by making more of them. Especially not tonight.

 

Nightwing: Relax Barbra, I can handle this. You need to hurry and get this tower offline before the gas reaches the GCPD.

 

There’s a long drawn out moment of silence between as both. It’s clear as day that Barbra knows she needs to prioritise disabling the tower, but at the same time it’s clear as day that she doesn’t want to leave me on my own. Or she just doesn’t trust me to not screw up stitching up a pair of cuts.

 

Who am I kidding, it’s because she doesn’t trust my first aid skills no matter how much I try to kid myself that’s concern caused by pure love. I know her too well to kid myself.

 

Nightwing: Besides, I can’t make it any worse than it already is.

 

Batgirl: I wouldn’t say that.

 

Nightwing:Well I managed to not make your wound any worse did I?

 

Batgirl: No, but Alfred wasn’t exactly impressed with your sewing.

 

Nightwing: Wait how come Alfred knows?

 

Batigrl: …..I may have asked Alfred to redo the stitches when we were at the bunker.

 

Nightwing: Oh. Well for that betrayal you’re definitely shutting this tower off now.

 

Batgirl: Are you sure?

 

Nightwing: Barbra, I’ve at this gig longer than you have. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.

 

Batgirl: Right…….Well radio if you need any help.

 

Nightwing: Don’t worry. I won’t.

 

Batgirl: Just…..don’t tell Alfred I let you loose with the sewing kit again.

 

Nightwing: Scout’s honour!

 

Hearing that phrase brings a smile to Barbra’s face as she turns away from me and radios in to base for schematics. I doubt Clark would appreciate the fact that fake boy scout image he tries to project whilst in the cape is a joke between both Barbra and I, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

 

Now I just need to figure out how the hell I’m going to close both these wounds before Barbra gets back.

One, long night. That's what it's been. Felt like weeks. The security cameras were turned off during the breakout, so the person who broke Lynns free has access, making him a guard. All of the guards on shift are being taken into questioning. Joker is currently under strict surveillance in Gotham General. Batman probably believes he's behind this, but I think he's just being paranoid. Don't blame him though. I have been too, as well as Dianna... She did not approve of my going to the Asylum. The first thing I get when I arrive at the apartment and into the bedroom is "Abe, thank god you're okay!" My heart goes to ease. Her relief overpowered her being pissed.

 

"Of course I am."

 

"How the hell could you do something so stupid?! Weren't you thinking of us?" Or not.

 

I start removing my suit, getting dressed for bed. "What does that mean?"

 

"That asylum is - is dangerous! You could have killed yourself! One of them could have eaten your face or something!"

 

"Dianna, I know what I'm doing."

 

"You didn't have to go!"

 

"No, I did. It is my job. I made an oath to protect Gotham. You know why? To protect you and Johnny. You two are why I do what I do."

 

"Abe..."

 

"No, I'm not finished. When a break out happens, I need to be there. I need to know it's under control. I need to know who has escaped. I need to protect you. And I will go to extremes you won't believe to do so."

 

"I'm- I'm just worried... About Pyg..."

 

She starts tearing up. "What if he finds us. What if he comes back?" She buries her face in her hands.

 

"The GCPD is on his trail. We're close to apprehending him. We have a few leads.. well, they have a few leads. I'm off the case." I sit down and wrap my arm around her shoulders.

 

"I'm tired of this Abe..."

 

"Me too..."

 

"I'm tired of living here."

 

"Look, I hate my parents' place more than you do."

 

"No, I mean Gotham. I hate it. I can't walk down the goddamn street without being afraid of getting mugged. There's a psycho everywhere you turn, an Arkham break out every week! I can't take it! I can't take this!"

 

"Dianna, we can't -- Pyg's about to be--"

 

"Abe, it's not about just Pyg. It's about the entire city. Once Pyg gets put away, another psychopath will threaten our lives."

 

"I understand what you're saying... but what about your law firm? The GCPD?"

 

"You can transfer... I can get a job somewhere else."

 

"I can't do this somewhere else. This is my city. This is where I belong, where I can help the most."

 

"Fuck, Abe, open your eyes. You're one man. You can't make a difference, not in this city... this hell."

 

"One man can most certainly make a difference."

 

"And he dresses up as a goddamned bat. The most powerful man in this city is a rodent! See the problem with that?"

 

"I - I see what you're saying. I agree. It'd be for the best..."

 

"Are you serious?"

 

"Of course"

 

"Abe, I love you."

 

"I love you too."

 

What the hell did I just do?

 

 

I built this Gotham Police Department for Blocks Magazine to showcase these custom minifigs from United Bricks. While as usual I wanted to build something much smaller, the scope of the building I was trying to capture necessitated a much bigger build. This is the largest interior space I've built, half again as big as my steampunk laboratory. This one also required some specific details, like the Selectric typewriters.

Thankfully Barbara realises that I’m a friend not a foe and sheathes her batarang. For a moment there it looked like she was actually going to throw it at me even after she realised who it was.

 

Batgirl: Next time tell me before you sneak up on me.

 

Nightwing: Sorry, I forgot you don’t like surprises. Good or bad.

 

Batgirl: Are you ever going to let that go?

 

Nightwing: Not until you tell me why you said no.

 

Batgirl: You’re really answering your own question simply by asking.

 

Cryptic as ever I see. Maybe one day she’ll tell me why she said no. Until then, the job goes on. I notice Barbara slowly inject something into what can only be the loading chamber before slamming the door shut and quickly stepping back.

 

Nightwing: I take it that’s Lucius’ way of dealing with the gas?

 

Batgirl: Yeah, it should neutralise it all being well. Here take this.

 

Barbara throws me a small syringe that was in the drop pod. The liquid inside the syringe is dark brown and there’s only 1 ml of it inside. What gift has Lucius given us now?

 

Nightwing: Is this?

 

Batgirl: The compound that neutralises Lazarus? No. It’s a inoculant against the toxin. Once the tower’s shut offline the concentration of it in the air should be low enough for us to not need the masks once we’ve been injected with it.

 

Nightwing: Great, and I just love needles.

 

Before Barbara can respond or tell me to stop acting like a baby, she’s quite fond of calling me that when we’re out in the field, I remove my left gauntlet and inject myself.

 

I turn around to see Barbara doing the same with the exact same arm.

 

Batgirl: Ow.

 

Nightwing: Stop acting like a baby.

 

She can’t help but laugh at me using her usual retort against her.

 

Batgirl: Alright, that one was pretty funny.

 

Nightwing: You make it sound like they usually aren’t.

 

Batgirl: The less said about that, the better. How are you legs?

 

Nightwing Couldn’t be better. Both cuts have been expertly stitched if I do say so myself.

 

A quick glance at the small tears in my suit is all she needs to come to a conclusion on that claim.

 

Batgirl: They’re actually not that bad.

 

Nightwing: What can I say, I’m an expert.

 

Batgirl: Let’s not get carried awa…

 

Barbara’s cut off as Bruce’s oh so pleasant voices comes through on the comms.

 

Batman: Batman to all units. Report in.

 

Nightwing: East tower reporting.

 

Red Robin: West tower here.

 

…..

 

Batman: South tower, report in.

 

…….

 

Batman: What’s going on, Alfred?

 

Alfred: Difficult to say, sir. I’ll keep trying to connect you.

 

Batman: Let me know the moment you do.

 

Red Robin: Is everything alright, Bruce?

 

Batman: We can’t raise the Outlaws. Hopefully it’s just an equipment fault. East tower, give me a status report.

 

Batgirl: East tower is offline. Toxin concentration is dropping rapidly. All being well it’ll be harmless within the hour.

 

Batman: West tower?

 

Red Robin: There were complications but we managed to get it offline.

 

Batman: And Ubu?

 

Talia: ….Neutralised.

 

Neutralised? What does she mean by that? If anyone else on the team said that I’d interpret it as defeated and restrained, but with how little all of us except Bruce know about Talia I can’t help but wonder…

 

Batman: Restrained?

 

Talia: Neutralised.

 

Batman: Understood.

 

Definitely dead. The tone in Bruce’s voice makes that perfectly clear. A touch of sadness combined with a pinch of sympathy. He’s evidently not pleased that a life has been taken but seems to understand why Talia would do it. Personally, I just don’t think she knows how to deal with an opponent beyond killing them.

 

From what Bruce said, Jason was in a similar state after he spent time training with the League following his resurrection. Thank god I’ve never had to worry about those thoughts racing through my head.

 

Nighwing: I take it this means the north tower is offline as well.

 

Batman: Affirmative. The League is moving to phase two. Having split us up across Gotham they’ve accomplished the goal that the gas was intended to distract us from.

 

Red Robin: They’ve sprung him?

 

Batman: Most likely.

 

Batgirl: That doesn’t sound like a definitive yes….

 

Nightwing: They’ll have tripped the cave’s motions sensors, that’s how he knows they’ve freed him.

 

He knows they’ve released Damian from custody. Bruce never likes to pass on information he’s not certain of.

 

Talia: If that’s the case, Beloved, they’ll be coming for you.

 

Batman: That’s what I’m counting on. In the meantime, the League will be moving to cripple the city so it’s unable to stop the Arkham inmates once they’re set free.

 

Nightwing Arkham? Why do they want to release the inmates at Arkham?

 

Red Robin: To do their dirty work for them. Why dirty your hands when there’s a bunch of psychos willing to do it for you.

 

Batgirl: Not to mention it avoids drawing too much attention to themselves. Helps them to remain the shadows where they’re most comfortable.

 

Nightwing: Then let’s draw them out. How long will it take you guys to make it to Arkham?

 

Batman: You’re not going to Arkham.

 

Nightwing: What?

 

We’re not going to Arkham? Why? If the League is hoping to free the inmates and let them rampage through Gotham then surely we should do everything we can to stop them.

 

Batgirl: You can’t be serious?

 

Batman: The Outlaws will deal with Arkham. I need the pair of you to reinforce the GCPD and secure the lockup.

 

Batgirl: You think they’re going to target the GCPD?

 

There’s a very brief stutter from Barbara as she says ‘GCPD’, she’s clearly worried about her father being put in danger….again. It’s oddly surprising in some respect. He puts his life on the line almost every single day and yet she worries. I guess that’s what happens when you still have a parent you can count on.

 

If she worries for him though I dread to think what he would be doing if he knew she was Batgirl and that she’d come back to Gotham specifically for this night.

 

Talia: They’d be foolish not to. With our numbers so small in comparison to theirs, the only way we could hope to contain a breakout at Arkham is with the GCPD’s assistance. If they truly want to break us, they’ll try to take the GCPD out of the picture.

 

Batgirl: Dad…

 

I slowly walk up to her and place my right hand on her left shoulder to comfort her.

 

Nightwing: We’re on it.

 

Red Robin: What about me?

 

Batman: I’m feeding co-ordinates to a cache near your location, there should be equipment there that you’ll both need to reinforce Selina at Gotham General.

 

Red Robin: What about you?

 

Batman: …..

 

Nightwing: You can’t be serious.

 

He’s can’t be about to do what I think he is…

 

Batman: I have to try and talk to him. Maybe, just maybe…

 

Talia: Bruce, you can’t negotiate with someone when you’re at their mercy. You of all people should understand that……..I’m coming with you

 

Batgirl: Are you both suicidal?

 

Sometimes, with how Bruce acts, it’s difficult to tell.

 

Alfred: Sir, we both know there’s a good chance that Ra’s set those alarms off intentionally. If you go there alone…

 

Talia: He’s not going alone. I’m coming with you, Bruce.

 

Batman: No, you’re needed at Gotham General, Talia.

 

Talia: I’m not letting you kill yourself. I’m going with you.

 

Red Robin: Selina and I can secure Gotham General. If you’re going to face him, you shouldn’t be going alone.

 

Batman: I’ll be fine. Our priority has to be stopping them from destroying Gotham.

 

Nightwing: And how are we going to do that if you’re dead?

 

Talia: I’m on my way to you now. Don’t you dare move until I’m there.

 

Batman: ….

 

Bruce says nothing for a change. It’s actually rather nice. He knows that there’s nothing he can do to make us change our minds.

 

Batgirl: Alright, Dick and I are getting ready to head over to GCPD. It’ll take us some time to get there. Tim?

 

Red Robin: The cache’s location has just been uploaded to my cowl, I’m heading there now before rendezvousing with Selina at Gotham General.

 

Alfred: Ms. Al-Ghul I’ve dispatched the Batwing to your position. It should be with you in a few moments.

 

Talia: Roger, bunker. Any word from the Outlaws?

 

Alfred: Nothing yet, I’ll keep trying and relay their orders to them once I make contact.

 

Nightwing: Let us know if you still can’t get through to them. Nightwing out.

 

As we both sever the connection Barbara begins to use the controls on her gauntlet for something which I don’t manage to catch a glimpse of.

 

Nightwing: What are you doing?

 

Batgirl: Patching us into the CCTV feed at GCPD. Making sure we’re not walking into a trap.

 

She scrolls through multiple feeds quickly before stopping on the feed of her father’s office and watching him for a few moments.

 

Nightwing: Do you want to call him?

 

Batgirl:….No. That’ll just waste time. Come on, let’s get moving.

 

We make our way up to the roof of the tower in order to get our bearings and both spot Arkham on the a hill to the south of us.

 

Nightwing: You don’t fancy a trip to Arkham do you?

 

Batgirl: I’m sure Jason and co can handle it.

 

Nightwing: I was joking.

 

Batgirl: I know. So who’s going first?

 

Nightwing: After you, m’lady.

 

Batgirl: You sure you can keep up?

 

Nightwing: Hey! Who trained who?

 

She rolls her eyes at that one but it also does it’s job. It makes her smile.

 

Batgirl: Try and keep up Boy Wonder!

 

Nightwing: After you, Batlady.

 

She hates it when I call her that. But she also loves it.

 

Rather than respond, she races forward and jumps off the edge before starting to glide towards the GCPD. Once I see that she’s safely away, I quickly follow after her activating my wing suit as I jump off the edge. Next stop: GCPD.

====The Belfry====

 

*This was an embarrassment. Bad enough he had call upon the help of these scumbags, now he's promising them freedom. Freedom! He was sure that Strange's thugs would get the job done regardless. This, was just adding insult to injury.*

 

Bolton- People of Arkham, some of you know me, others have not yet had the... pleasure of meeting me. My name is Lyle Bolton, and for the past year, I have overseen this little experiment of ours, as Arkham City's warden. Go on, let all your anger out now. Swear, complain, shoot the person next to you, just get it out of your system, because I need your help. Let me explain. You see, there are some among you who do not belong. Those among you who are sheep, in wolves clothing. They're weak. They think they can come here to Arkham, and make it theirs. They are wrong. And you will show them just how wrong they are. The inmate or inmates who brings us these five individuals will be rewarded. With freedom.

Bring us Drury Walker, and Gotham is yours. This is a limited time offer, of course, so if I were you, scum- I'd get a move on.

 

====The Iceberg Lounge====

 

*A lone crow flies through the door, and perches atop the bar. Fiasko attempts to shoo it away, but it doesn't budge. Then he sees the letter tied to the bird's foot, and unfurls it.*

 

Caw caw.

 

*Sionis glared. He'd had many setbacks as of late, but never would he have suspected Chuck Brown would be the root of his ire.

It's for you, Len mimes to Chuck, catching his eye, in-between nervous glances at Sionis and his entourage. He was sure Penguin was watching from above.*

 

Chuck- I don't have time for this.

 

Sionis- Make time. Funny, eh? You visit Needham. Alone. Beg Dent for a fair trial. Next thing you know, the itsy bitsy spider has gone walkies. What, covering your tracks now?

 

Len- That's bull. He's fuckin' Kite-Man, he ain't a mass murderer.

 

Sionis- That's what they said about Signal Man. And Calendar Man. Sorry, if I'm a little hesitant to believe you.

 

Caw caw.

 

*Sionis spies the letter in Len's hand, and wrestles it from his grip, passing it to his assistant*

 

Sionis- Li, read it out.

 

Li- "Hello Charles. Merchants Bridge, Warehouse Six. You'll know the one."

 

Sionis- Would you look at that. Who's it from?

 

Li- It... doesn't say. What's at Merchants Bridge?

 

*Chuck takes a few more feverish glances to the office above them. He could just make out the top hatted silhouette looking intently from behind the glass. In a second he was certain he'd draw his umbrella.*

 

Caw caw.

 

Chuck- I really can't do this here.

 

Sionis- Oh, is this a message from one of your friends, from Needham perhaps? Li, get Freeze, tell him to-

 

Caw. Caw. Caw.

 

*In an instant, and with a force he'd never shown before, Charles Brown punched Sionis in the face, his mask splinters, and he collapses to the ground*

 

...

 

Len- Shit.

 

Chuck- Give me your pistol.

 

*Li reaches into his pocket, and hands a tiny pistol to Chuck.*

 

Chuck- Is... is that it?

 

Li- I tried a bigger size. It slowed me down.

 

Len- Hey! Where the hell are you going?

 

Chuck- Where do you think?

 

Len- Just... wait a minute.

 

*Len disappears under the counter, and hands over his shotgun*

 

"I bet this is more your style"

 

====Gotham City====

 

Joker- So, it's not really like I'm cheating now, is it? If he can sleep around with whatever femme fatale he comes across, why can't I have some fun of my own?

Between you and me, he's been getting a little sloppy in the sack anyways. I notice these things, a punch there, a kick there, even let me stab him last year, real amateurish... I need something new! Something more! I mean, these days he treats me like everyone else, like a common C-Lister, on par with, I don't know, Clock King! I ask you, is that fair, after all the effort I put into our relationship?"

 

White- Well-

 

Joker- I'm only saying! Yeesh! The sidekicks, the friends, that's all me! When's the last time he fractured my ribs? Not since that last laughing gas caper, I'll tell you that!

Now who pulls in the ratings? Take a guess! A case could be made for Eddie, maybe Harvey or Scarecrow... But this face? This is the real moneymaker, and I wish he saw that!

 

White- Sure, but-

 

Joker- Ah, the other guy? Well, y'know, I just think there's more fun to be had there- new horizons! Why, have I killed a single kid of his? Nope! I tried to, but that's not the point is it?"

 

White- I guess-

 

Joker- Oh you're so right! I mean Batsy doesn't have a single adjective to his name! Ah, it does me good, just being able to talk with you! Now, more pie?

 

White- Uh-

 

*He slides a slightly green custard pie over to White*

 

White- Ok, ta. But what the fuck does any of this have to do with me?

 

Joker- Right, right. You're a direct fella, I respect that. Onto the matter at hand! Where is Drury Walker?

 

...

 

White- Wait, why the fuck would I know?

 

Joker- Oh, I- Heh. Sorry, I must've got the wrong shark guy

 

...

 

White- You are kidding me.

 

Joker- No, honestly! This has never happened to me before! Well, that's not entirely true... Remind me which one you are again?

 

White- White! The Great White Shark!

 

Joker- Ahhh. Should've led with that. Oh well. Third time's a charm...

 

====Warehouse Six====

 

*Chuck rushed over. They were all alive, thank god, but hurt. Badly. A silky smooth voice called out*

 

Zeiss- Charles "Chuck" Brown. Glad to finally put a face to the name.

 

*Chuck cocks his gun*

 

Zeiss- Oh, no need for that.

 

Chuck- Did Penguin send you?

 

Zeiss- Yes, he did. I must say, I'm surprised you went back there of all places. I assume you were hoping to recruit the bartender to your cause? Shame. I'll have to visit him next.

 

Chuck- This is wrong. Penguin's wrong.

 

Zeiss- Yes. Yes, he undoubtedly is. But I'm not here because of semantics. I'm here because I have a job to do.

 

====The Old GCPD Rooftop====

 

*By the time Miranda and Chancer arrive, Drury's hard at work, perched over the Batsignal, blowtorch in hand. She drops a duffel bag at the bottom, and he slides down, kissing her and patting Chancer on the back*

 

Selina- What kept you?

 

Miranda- Run in with an old friend. You?

 

Selina- Same. More or less.

 

Drury- Did you see Chuck on your way here?

 

*Miranda shakes her head "Nope. So, 'gang,' What happened to under the radar?"

 

Selina- I'll let Drury tell that story.

 

Drury- Oh, well, tried it, was a little boring if I'm honest.

 

Miranda- Heh.

 

*Drury is now stripping, having emptied the bag's contents onto the ground, he passes Selina her cowl. "Let's see what surprises Twag has left us" he thinks to himself, as he puts on a familiar purple suit, attaches the wing harness to his back, and installs a cable into the spotlight. Behind them, Norbert looks off into the distance. Bolton's message has been playing non stop.*

 

Selina- Drury, now might be a good time to leave.

 

Drury- Just a second. Chancer, hit that switch.

 

*The spotlight flashes a bright yellow, it's symbol etched into the clouds for all of Arkham to see, from the Iceberg Lounge to the Belfry. For some a warning, others a promise*

 

Selina- You know what, I think you're crazier than you let on.

 

Drury- They want us. They can have us. They can look at that symbol, and know that we aren't scared, not of Ra's, Bolton or anyone. And *they* can know we're not giving up on them. That I've never given up on them.

 

Norbert- But, what is it?

 

Drury- I'll explain later, let's go.

 

*Charles Brown looked to the sky, and let out a relieved laugh. Beside him, beaten and broken Joseph Rigger cheered. From the bar, Leonard Fiasko smirked, just a little- hidden under his pencil shaped mask. A very confused Penguin stood beside him, monocle in hand. And from a gargoyle high above Arkham, even the Dark Knight smiled. Slightly.*

 

Penguin- Leonard, what is that thing?

 

Len- Heh. Not a clue, not a clue.

 

*For the first time in years, a Moth Signal was lit, and *everyone* was watching.

 

Deathstroke- So... the bug has balls. Come, he's left us an invitation.

 

====GCPD- Rooftop====

 

*Ah, good ol' Gordon. Still hanging around on rooftops for us. A normal guy probably would've quit, but not Jim. Good cops are in short supply back home. He hastily stuffs his pipe in his pocket- I'm pretty sure he still thinks we think he's quit, and turns around to meet me*

 

Gordon- You know, you aren't who I was expecting to see tonight.

 

Dick- Sorry to disappoint Commissioner

 

Gordon- Not at all. Honestly I'm quite glad you're here. It's about Julian Day.

 

*I smirk*

 

Dick- Calendar Man? The guy with exploding birthday candles and green beers that permanently dye your face?

 

Gordon- The very same. He wasn't always like that though. Anyway, there was an incident at Arkham.

 

*Ah. *Of* course there was. I mean the Blüdhaven scene isn't exactly crime free, but at least they don't have riots every other Tuesday*

 

Gordon- Strange tried covering it up, but as it turns out he's been supplying Day with these pills. Or rather he *was*. Stopped a week or two ago. That's why I'm glad it's you and not your..? ... Don't answer that, I don't need to know.

 

Dick- Why me then?

 

...

 

Gordon- These pills... It's diaxamyne. It's what they give my son.

 

*Suddenly things don't seem so funny. I know James Jr, and if Calendar Man is anything like him, when he runs out of pills we're in serious trouble*

 

====City Hall====

 

*After I got out of Arkham a month ago, I've had some difficulty adjusting. I miss being mayor, I miss people admiring me and respecting me and so on. It was pretty great for a while, signing papers and baking cake while people cheered my name. It's why I kept putting the tights on. I loved being somebody. Coming here just makes it that much more real- knowing I'll never get to sit in that delightful spinny chair ever again*

 

Sally- Mr Walker!

 

Drury- Just Drury please Sally. I'm here for my meeting with... The meeting with the mayor.

 

Sally- I'll buzz her now. (on speaker) Mayor Grange? Your 2:15's here.

 

Grange- I'll be there in a minute Sally.

 

Sally- Oh, these are yours by the way.

 

*Sally goes under the table and passes me a box of my old stuff- things like pictures of my family, drawings Cammy did and so on. I smile. I always smile*

 

Drury- Thank you. So. How is she? The new mayor I mean.

 

Sally- Oh, she's not too bad. Like she doesn't have a cake day or anything like you used to have, but yknow. She's nice.

 

Drury- That's... That's good to hear. I'm glad she's treating you well.

 

*A couple of men walk past, they're wearing blue uniforms and body armour*

 

Drury- Sally? Who are those guys?

 

Sally- Oh they're the security force the government's employed. A group of mercenaries. Task Force... STRYKER, maybe? No relation to that Metropolis prison.

 

Drury- Huh. Good to know...

 

*The door swings open and there's my replacement. I'm reminded that I promised Miranda I'd play nice*

 

Grange- Mr Walker, I'll have you in here.

 

*So that's the new mayor. I recognise the bags under her eyes, I'm more than familiar with that. She puts on a half hearted smile, and beckons me into her office. Sally mouths a cheery "good luck" as the door closes behind me. The office is near unrecognisable. The wall is a striped white and pale blue pattern, and there's a shelf of trophies to one side*

 

Drury- You've redecorated.

 

Grange- Yes, I wasn't really a fan of the floral pattern myself. Coffee?

 

Drury- I prefer tea thank you

 

*She gives me an indignant stare*

 

Drury- ... Coffee would be lovely thank you.

 

*It's weird sitting on the other side of this desk for once. She passes me a cup and I sip my coffee quietly- I wouldn't have minded some sugar, but I don't want to upset her. This is going to be hard*

 

Grange- You wanted to talk Mr Walker?

 

Drury- Call me Drury. Please. So, yeah. I know that there's nothing I can say that'll change your mind about Arkham City. It's not like it's not needed- the Asylum really is fucked- uh, ineffective. But I'm hoping you learn from Hill's mistakes. I've seen his plans and well...

 

Grange- Go on.

 

Drury- Now I know this probably breaks a few laws, but, I'd like you to consider amnesty, on behalf of the C-list community. We're talking about a fully functional town populated by the worst of the worst, and the Misfits, that's what we call each other- I think it's endearing... they aren't that. They're good people. Most of them that is. Like half of them haven't gone as far as to commit murder. Ahem. I- Look. I'm just asking you to consider going easy on them. From one mayor to another

 

*There's a silence. I think she might want to punch me? I hate it when they do that*

 

Grange- We're not the Gestapo Mr Walker-

 

Drury- Please, it's Drury.

 

Grange- We're not just going to start rounding up people and throwing them in internment camps.

 

Drury- And I didn't mean that-

 

*Is it too late to change the subject? Perhaps we can bond over our love of chairs*

 

Grange- I'm just trying to keep Gotham safe.

 

*Oh.*

 

Drury- I get that.

 

Grange- You have kids, don't you ...Drury...? I know I've seen photos of them.

 

Drury- Yes ma'am. Three boys, one girl.

 

Grange- Then you understand the necessity for Arkham City, not as a mayor, or a criminal, but as a father and husband.

 

Drury- I do.

 

*My phone buzzes. It's Gar*

 

Drury- Sorry, I-

 

Grange- No, I understand. Listen, I don't want to arrest people without just cause. I've inherited a difficult position after all. I'll... I'll see what I can do.

 

Drury- Thank you.

 

*Long may she reign I mutter, then I leave, answering my phone*

 

Drury- Gar! I'm glad to hear from you, how's- Wait, what?

A young private investigator who vowed to bring his mom's killer - his own father - to justice. He joined the Marines, and was crippled during his service in Vietnam. He returned to Gotham, got his degree in Criminology, and opened up an office that prided itself on its ethics. His services have been called upon by the Caped Crusader himself, and often by the Birds of Prey. He and Barbara were (are?) kind of a thing. It's one of those deals.