White Knight-Batman SI

[Drkest]

Chapter 31

JIM GORDON

Gotham was a strange city, a resilient city. He had spent nearly all his life in the city and had watched it wade through tough times with his own eyes. He had seen the streets fill with crime and hopelessness, seen the very people sworn to protect the innocents become the very monsters they were supposed to shield the populace from.

Yet the city was resilient, surviving through it all until the times had eventually gotten better. And loathe as he was to admit it, it was change driven by none other than the richest person in the city.

Thomas Wayne had done what he and the law enforcement agencies were supposed to, he had systemically hit the underworld that ruled the city by giving the people a path away from them to make an honest living, and he was sure that the man had done much more, to lessen the influence of the crime syndicates on everything.

And it had worked, people were fired, right people were promoted including him, and the bad guys were prosecuted. Thomas Wayne was no saint, yet to many in Gotham, the man was a hero.

He had misgivings about the man's intentions, yet to this day, he had yet to find evidence about his nefarious intentions, so he would give him the benefit of the doubt, for the man who had changed this city deserved it.

"You have to arrest him," spoke Gotham's DA. The young man, Harvey Dent, had seemed like a ray of light in the darkness, yet as he saw him sit opposite him, Jim doubted that maybe he had been too quick in passing judgment.

"I cannot. There is nothing to arrest him on," he replied, as he had to several others after the infamous video of the Joker began circulating everywhere. Sometimes he felt himself out of touch with everything that went on in the city. It seemed to be getting crazier and crazier.

"How can you say that? The allegations against him are an open secret, and yet you say that there is no evidence to arrest him," Harvey Dent lashed out. It was surprising to see this side of the shining knight of Gotham. However, he believed the men of his department had right of it when they gave him that other nickname.

Two Faced.

"And yet that is all they amount to—allegations. According to the law, there is nothing for me to arrest him for, and the reason you are here is because neither do you," he replied, not losing his cool as they sat in his office, surrounded by piles and piles of files.

"Bull shit!" the blonde cursed, and his eyes narrowed, yet the man continued.

"What about we frame it as protected custody?" came the question, and he chuckled.

"I can assure you, Mr. Dent, his guards have arms more costly than our yearly salaries; he is well protected," he replied, and the man was clearly frustrated. Jim didn't understand him, he was affected as well, and his whole units were now looking for this so called joker.

The truth was that he had reached out to the Waynes through a common friend and had been assured that they were looking into it personally as well. While he was proud of his force and men, he was also aware that the Waynes could devote ten times the resources of the city to this cause, and according to Rachel, they already had.

"I understand your frustration, but the city cannot appear to be buckling to a madman, and that is what this 'Joker' is. Thomas Wayne is a citizen and shall enjoy the rights and freedoms afforded to him by law," he replied, and the man smirked.

"Do not sugarcoat it. Just say that you are in his pocket as well," Dent taunted, and Jim's eyes narrowed.

"Be careful of how you speak, Dent," he warned.

"So, what I do not lie, the man prances around as if he is a hero, yet he is a crook. A smart crook but a crook nonetheless, and he may be innocent of the crime the 'Joker' may accuse him of, but I am sure there are plenty that he is guilty of," Dent answered, and Jim sensed that some part of that vitriol seemed personal, a shame for he had pegged Dent to be a better man.

"Then you may find them and arrest him for that, but until then, he will be a free man," he replied as the two of them stared into each other's eyes.

"That will be all," he finished, for the pile of files was not going to lessen by itself, and his wife and Barabra would be wroth with him if he was late again today, something which was seeming more and more probable by the second.

"So, you won't do anything about him," Dent asked, and he shrugged.

"Bring me a legitimate warrant, and I will give you my men," he answered.

"So, be it then. But I want to meet him,"

"Who?" he asked with a frown.

"Your friend in the Dark! Batman!"

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THOMAS WAYNE

Thomas Wayne stood infront of the whole staff of his company. A few cameras were locked onto his face to broadcast the message to the other places as well, where he could not be present at the moment.

"I know all of you must have seen the video circulating everywhere by now, so I will not waste your time by focusing on that but will move on to the reason for which I have gathered you all today," he began, his voice booming across the Hall as Lucius hung behind him.

"Wayne Enterprises has prized itself as the backbone of this city; through tough times and hardships, we have not wavered as a family or a company and have stood tall and proud as the symbol of hope and strength for everyone. And we shall continue to do so for years to come. Some of you may be scared, some of you distraught, but I wish to assure you that we have taken measures to ensure the safety of you and your families," he assured them. He was spreading his men thin, yet he would not buckle down t Joker's level.

"Yet I understand that these are unprecedented times, and I shall do right by the people that are Wayne Enterprises. So I make you all an offer. If any one of you finds the times too tough, and so anyone of you who may wish to leave the company will be offered generous terms," and with that he stepped back.

"Now, back to work," and with that, the people dispersed as whispers broke out in the Hall.

"This could cost us a lot of money," Lucius added from the side.

"We can always make more money. Plus, with the economy as it is, few could even risk leaving a job at Wayne Enterprises. No, we will have little to no departures," he replied. Wayne Enterprises was truly a monstrous company; the hiring process was tough for all in Gotham. We knew that once you were hired by us, your life would be made as long as you were willing to work hard.

There were no mass layoffs, no pleasing the investors, for the Waynes decided how the company ran, and the Waynes were royalty to the people of Gotham.

"Any leads on this 'Joker' fellow?" Lucius questioned as they began to make their way towards the elevator.

"Not yet, but soon. I have run a sweep over half the city. I will find him, and then I am going to end this little game of his," Thomas snarled in rage, for truly he was getting tired of all this.

He had made a mistake in allowing all these problems to fester, yet that was over. This was not a game, this was reality, a reality where people's lives were at stake, and he would live it out now with his own rules. Not Joker's, not Batman's but his own.

And they regarded Joker as an existential threat.

Suddenly, just as they were about to enter the private elevator, they were interrupted by one of the staff.

"Mr. Wayne. Mr.Fox, please wait," and he stopped and looked up and found a secretary rushing towards them both.

"What is it, Barabra?" he questioned.

"Sir, a board meeting has been called!"

And he frowned at those words.

"A board meeting, but how?" Fox questioned. For one, it would need substantial holdings in their company to call a meeting, and few had the guts to do so when they knew that all their motions would be denied, for Wayne Enterprises was owned by him and Bruce.

"Sir, it's an emergency session, and the government is somehow involved!"

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BRUCE WAYNE

Batman found himself once more in the underbelly of the city, at the base of one of Gotham's biggest crime syndicates headed by Gambol. His men lay around him groaning in pain and agony, for he had little time for patience today, as less than twelve hours now remained in this 'Jokers' warning, and he had to find his location before the man carried out his revenge.

Gambol, the man who controlled a major chunk of the gangs, backed away as he stepped towards him, his eyes bulging with fear as Batman stepped towards him, the broken glass crunching under his feet.

"What do you want?" he asked, his voice quivering as he didn't answer immediately. The man picked up the gun from the ground and began to fire at him. The bullets yet bounced off of his suit like nothing.

And then Bruce kicked at his hand, breaking it as the man groaned in pain, and tried to kick punch him, but he ducked under it and hit him in the gut, making the brass-knuckled roll off his hand and fall to the ground with a thud as he held him by the lapels of his now ruined suit and pushed him against the wall.

"Where is he?"

"Who?" he asked in fear, and his eyes narrowed.

"The idiot you guys let loose. Where is he?" he asked again, his voice thick as he punched the man once more.

"Him! That bastard, I will tell you, just let me go!" and with that, he told him an address, and then Bruce hit him once more, knocking him out, and yet, just as he finished, the lights in the room suddenly went out.

"I am afraid you will not be making it out of this place, Bruce Wayne," a mechanical voice cut across the room. The very presence troubled him as he activated the night vision on his mask.

'How the hell did he know that name'

He thought as his eyes landed on the hulking figure of a man. A mask covered much of his face, and he wore a sleeveless vest that seemed to weigh tons as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Or shall I call you by the name you chose," he continued.

"Batman." He finished with a flourish as he put out his arms, and alarm bells rang out in his head.

"Who are you?" he questioned.

"I am Gotham's reckoning!"

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In another corner of the city, Seline Kyle found herself sitting in a place she had never thought she would visit again as she sat opposite the man who had replaced her father, her uncle, as the Italian mob boss.

"So, I am here. Now tell me where I can find this 'Joker'?" she questioned with an angry snarl, for being in this place tore up her insides, yet she was also aware of just how much Wayne Enterprises meant to Thomas, and so if I for him she had to come back to the place that haunted her, she would do it.

"I did not ask for you?" the man suddenly answered making her frown, but before she could say anything, a shot was fired and the whole table was painted red with his blood as his body fell away.

"You did not. But I did!"

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[Drkest]

Chapter 32

BRUCE WAYNE

"I am Gotham's reckoning!" came the answer, ringing alarm bells. He could already tell that they were being surrounded as he spoke, their movements all too familiar to him after years of training in similar manoeuvres.

"The League?" he realized as the man.

"Indeed, at least what is left of it after your brother decided to hunt us down," came the answer, his voice thick and grizzly as the giant of a man stepped forward.

"But no matter, we shall soon have our revenge and finish what we began in Gotham," came the answer. Bruce reached for his mask to alert Thomas of what was coming his way when suddenly, a massive boom ricked the room.

BOOM!

"AGH!" he grunted in pain as electric shock from his helmet rippled through him, and he felt his vision darken once more as his night vision went out.

"There is no need to tell your brother, and he shall soon learn of it himself," the grizzly voice rang out as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Look at you," suddenly the voice seemed angrier as he felt a punch rip past his face before he blocked a kick, though not before another hit his gut; even through the Kevlar, it hit him, making him grunt.

"You have forgotten that Darkness is your ally and have lost your way," he shouted even as they engaged in a fist fight. Bruce hit him as well, yet the giant man was unmoved, and his attacks did not seem to have any effect on him.

"You have grown weak, and now your weakness shall cost you!" he was kicked in the gut and sent railing back into the wall, his back cracking as he fell down.

"AGHH!" he tried to get back up, yet he was injured rather badly. He reached into his belt and took out two grenades, a flashbang and one with sleeping gas.

He opened them both and flung them across the room.

BOOM! The flashbang went off, and he tried to race away, yet he suddenly had to scream out in pain as a massive steel rod was impaled down onto his leg.

"ARGH!" he screamed in pain as the grizzly man stepped forward and picked up teh sleeping gas grenade, walked towards him, and crushed the filter in his mask as he put it below his nose.

Bruce held his breath as he looked the man in the eye, yet he knew that it was futile. He would have to breathe.

"Who are you?" he asked again as blood dripped down his face, and he felt his vision blur as the answer came far too late.

"I am Bane!"

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THOMAS WAYNE

Thomas Wayne walked towards the Board meeting room with a fury in his steps as he moved through the Halls, his mind racing as he tried to think up just what was going on.

All of this reminded him of the whole thing with the League and the whole disaster that had been. He had vowed to himself that he would not let such a thing happen again.

And as he pushed open The doors to the meeting room even as the secretary rushed to stop him.

"Mr. Wayne," but her voice faded into the background as he stepped into the room filled with the Wayne Enterprises board of directors and an all too familiar intruder.

"You!" he snarled in rage, as his eyes landed on Pierce as he stood at the head of the table with smug grin on his face, the blonde bastard smiled as he spoke up.

"Hello there, Thom..."

"Shut it!" Thomas cut him off as the man flushed as his eyes landed on the inhouse Council sitting at the side.

"What the hell is this?" he questioned as Ramesh spluttered.

"Sir, the government..."

"They think you are a threat to an essential community asset," Pierce's voice cut in, making his face twist.

"And who are they to think they can even do anything like this with a private enterprise!" he questioned.

"The government of Gotham," Pierce replied as he was handed a legal document, one which mentioned how, under special circumstances, the government of Gotham was stepping in to protect an essential community asset.

Half the shit was something he had never heard, nor would have half the damned lawyers in this city. Yet essentially, it was that 'Thomas Wayne is too controversial and dangerous to run a company this size.'

"This piece of jargon won't stand for a day in any court! I knew Mr. Mayor was dumb, but this is insanity. I have taken this company to heights not even imaginable, and they think they can oust me from it," he said with a chuckle as he looked Pierce in the eye and tore the whole paper into bits and pieces and threw it to the side.

"You think you are the right person to run this company. You were a buffoon who earned his wealth by riding on the coattails of men better than you," Thomas insulted him as Pierce grit his teeth, his face flushed in as the Board room was filled with silence.

"No!" Pierce managed to eek out and Thomas chuckled.

"Then who do they think they can replace me with," he questioned, and suddenly teh doors behind him were opened once more as the clack of heels rang out into the room.

"That will be me," came the voice of a woman, and he glanced back and stilled. She was a black-haired beauty, taller than the average woman, dressed in a fine Black dress. Her green eyes stared straight at him, and the striking resemblances to another face weren't quite lost to him as he gasped out.

"You...." his mind raced as he realized that this whole thing was much bigger than he had first thought.

She walked to the seat opposite him, beside Pierce, and looked him in the eye as the whole room hung in silence.

"I am..."

"I know exactly who you are," Thomas said. He saw her eyes widen for a second, surprised at his words, yet she didn't shift as she smiled sweetly.

"That is good then. You must know that while not a genius like you, I have quite some experience running a business, and I would appreciate it if you would make this transition peaceful. This whole arrangement will only last until the charges against you have been investigated. So, I am hopin..."

"Leave us!" his voice rang out across the room as he glanced down at his watch at the message he had just received from Lucius.

'It's done'

"What..." a few members questioned, as he looked up and spoke up a bit more emphatically as he pointed his thumb at the doors.

"I said, leave us!" he spoke again, and the people in the room shifted as they began to file out one by one, leaving him alone with the woman who sat opposite him, who was now looking at him with curious eyes.

The men left the room one by one until it was empty. Apart from them, of course.

And immediately, her demeanour shifted. Gone was the ambitious and polite CEO, and then appeared the second in command of the League of Shadows, the girl who had survived through hell.

"It seems there is no use pretending with you," she said as she placed her legs on the table.

The angel of death. Talia Al Ghul, her real name: Talia Ducard.

"I had heard that you were quite uncanny in just how much you know. It seems they were right," she said, and he grit his teeth.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned.

"If you know my name, then you must know that as well," she replied, and he indeed did.

"I shall do to you what you did to me. I will take everything from you, just as you took it all from me," she said scathingly.

"I did nothing of the sort. Your father was a victim of his own hubris; your anger and rage is misguided," he replied.

"So, let me give you the same offer I gave him. Stop and go back to whichever hole you crawled out of. Otherwise, I will go to war, and I can assure you will not like that," he threatened because he was done playing this whole game with a glove.

The tension in the room was palpable as she looked him in the eye.

"You truly are interesting, but I am not afraid of you, so war it is, Mr. Wayne," she said, and Thomas stood up, his watch ringing with another message, and he smirked.

"Then war it is. And I am afraid your services are no longer required," he replied, making her frown as he took out his phone and, after opening a recently received document, flung it across the table towards her.

"Whatever shit 'jargon' you used to get here was just thrown out in the Court," he said as he saw her eyes skim over the document.

And with that, he stood up and reached for the door.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," and as he twisted the handles, the door didn't budge as he felt it locked.

His head snapped back, and he saw her smirking at him.

"You weren't the only one who came here with surprises," she began as she walked out of the chair. Both of them walked toward each other, and the screens inside the room lit up.

His eyes widened as he saw the faces of the two people on the screen—Bruce and Selina.

"Where are they?" he asked in a snarl, his mind already racing as he tried to think of a solution.

"They are alive," she replied.

"For now?"

And with that, the room was suddenly filled with half a dozen men, who dropped down from the roof from nowhere, surrounding him as she put forward a piece of paper and a pen.

"But that could change really quickly."

He backed off, slowly his back to the great glass walls of the floor as he pretended to read the proposal, it was an admission of guilt for the murder of Carmine Falcone, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle.

"An interesting little ploy," he commented, for it was indeed clever.

The admission basically pinned all these murders on him and donated all his holdings and assets to an unknown charity, which he suspected was a front for the League.

"But I am afraid I am not playing," he replied as the window behind him broke and the league's assassin fired at him. A few bullets hit his bulletproof hit, making him wince in pain as he jumped down.

0000

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[Drkest]

Chapter 33

THOMAS WAYNE

The news in Gotham was all reporting on the same thing.

~Brother's Feud turns bloody!~

~Thomas Wayne, and his Villain Fiancee! ~

~The Fight to control Wayne Enterprises! Gov. Steps in!~

~Thalia Ducard! Who is Bruce Wayne's estranged wife~

There were a hundred different forms of the argument, yet all of them boiled down to the same thing. That somehow, in the fight for the Wayne fortune, he had killed Bruce and was now on the run.

Thomas himself was in his bunker, watching the city unravel as doubt crept into people's hearts and the city prepared to tear itself apart. This was carnage.

"I did not know Mr. Bruce ever had a wife," Lucius added from behind as they bunkered down in a secretive underground facility.

"No," he replied. When news of government interference emerged, and he had not received any signal from Bruce's tracker, he realized that something might be wrong. He had ordered the man to either relocate or dispose of all their secretive inventory as a precaution.

An action he was quite thankful for, given how everything had turned out.

"Neither did I," he said as he watched the live feed of Thalia Al Ghul addressing the press and telling them how she was Bruce's estranged wife and had been called back by him because he felt that his life was in danger.

"But what will we do now? The Police suspect us for murdering your brother, and without him, there is no Batman to solve this whole mess," Lucius pointed out, and Thomas nodded.

"The league was not alone in this," he replied, referring to the feeds from various Gotham prisons. The video showed several individuals wearing joker masks helping the inmates escape.

Thomas sighed as he plopped back into the seat.

"The league has made it so that I cannot act as Thomas Wayne, and with both Selina and Bruce captured, I have to be very cautious in how I act," he said. Even now, he was using their recently launched satellites to look for both of them, monitoring every digital signal in the air.

"Though I understand the necessity of it all, I still find it highly inappropriate," Lucius said as he looked over the massive screens, and Thomas sighed. He could sympathize with that sentiment.

"Truthfully, I do not like using it as well. But we are living in interesting times, and I refuse to hamper myself for my loss would mean my enemy's victory, a victory that would result in the loss of thousands of lives," he said as the computer pinged.

"Found them!" Thomas smiled at the first good news of the day.

"Selina is in the city, though Bruce is in a plane moving out of the country," Lucius pointed out towards the moving dot.

Then he saw all the news networks shift and a video began to play.

~Hello, Everyone! ~ and it was the Joker. The camera shook violently as the Joker smiled into the camera.

~I Hope you haven't missed me~ he said as he kissed the screen, smearing its edges with his red lipstick.

"Try to angulate the location of the feed," he said, and Lucius nodded as they tried to find the location of the transmission.

~Today, I have a special guest for you. She was delivered to me by some very special friends! She is feeling a bit down, so I would like for all of you to give a warm welcome to~ and Thomas felt a chill run through him as the camera shifted and showed a face much familiar to him.

"Selina!" he gasped out as the location of the feed matched with the earlier location of Selina.

Lucius was worried as well and Thomas saw him glance towards him.

~Tadaa! I am pleased to present to you Thomas Wayne's partner in crime, the daughter of Carmine Falcone, Selinaaaaa~ And Joker laughed and Thomas's fists balled up as he saw the bruises on her face.

~Of course, there were little complications in this, and our friend was not wholly cooperative, but in the end, my jokes did the trick, and we became quite close friends~ and then he turned towards her placing his face by hers as he put the camera infront of them.

~ Didn't we?" he smiled, and he could see Selina nod.

~We did~ she remarked.

~And in the course of our friendship, she shared an itsy bitsy secret with lil' old me~ Joker began, and Thomas's eyes narrowed.

~Now tell us all, why did Thomas Wayne kill his brother~ he asked, and he saw Seline shift nervously.

~Tell us. Tell us.~ Joker sing songed creepily before suddenly his face shifted.

~TELL ME!~ he suddenly screamed, and he saw Selina's gaze shift off the camera for a few seconds continuously, her eyes narrowing slightly before she looked into the camera and gulped.

~Thomas Wayne killed his brother...~ and she stopped again, her gaze shifting off camera once more.

~Because Batman was a thorn in his plans to control Gotham...~ she again, and for the third time, her gaze shifted to the side.

~And why was that?~

~Because Thomas Wayne is Batman~

And the silence in the bunker was deafening.

~And so here we have it, Wayne's little secret. Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy, was the masked hero protecting this city~

~Thomas Wayne has robbed us of this hero. He is a villain masquerading as a messiah. And he should be brought to justice!~ he raged, and Thomas stilled as he saw a timer appear on the video.

~The city is already in his control. And so I must carry this burden by myself ~ and then he stared into the camera.

~Surrender yourself within an hour to the people of Gotham. Otherwise...~ he pointed the gun towards Selina and made a mock shooting gesture.

~Hahahahaaahaha...I will be waiting~

And then the feed cut off, leaving only a timer behind.

The silence in the bunker was chilling, much like his own rage, as he stared at the screen.

"What will you do, Thomas?" Lucius questioned, and Thomas looked at the screen once more; Bruce's location was more than an hour away. If he were to try and rescue him, he would have to give up on Selina.

"I need to make a call," he said and moved to the back of the bunker as he took out his special cell and dialed a number.

"What can I do for you, Thomas?" came the voice of his lawyer.

"You told me you were contacted by a Diana Prince rather recently. Is there any chance she left you a way of contacting her?" he questioned.

"Yes, she left a number," came the answer.

"Good, send it to me."

And with that, the call ended as he dialed the number he received, and after two bells, the ringing stopped.

"I need your help." He got straight to the point.

"How can I help you, Mr. Wayne?" came the answer from the other side.

"I need you to crash a plane."

There was silence on the other side for quite sometime before the answer came.

"Send me the coordinates. I will see what I can do."

With that, the line went off, and Thomas sent Bruce's location to the number, as Lucius added from behind.

"Who was that?" he questioned.

"A friend in the making," he replied.

"I believe you were talking about your brother's place. But that still leaves Miss Kyle and this whole secret of Batman's identity," Lucius added, and Thomas nodded.

"It does indeed, but you are missing something very important, Lucius," Thomas added as he pressed a button on his phone, and a suit emerged out of the ground, this one much different than his white knight armor. Much darker in color and very similar to the armor of the masked vigilante that roamed Gotham's streets.

"Anyone can wear a suit," he said as he turned towards the suit.

"The Joker wanted a show. I will give him one."

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Rachel Dawes sat in her room watching the news, her heart sinking with every second as both Thomas and Bruce's phones remained turned off. She did not believe the news, but there was something wrong, something massively wrong.

And it was time that she got some answer, and so as she was about to leave her little abode with a trench coat in hand a car, a very familiar car stopped infront of her door, and a very familiar face stepped out of it.

"Alfred," she spoke in surprise and worry as the old butler opened the car door.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned, and the butler's expression was somber.

"I am here for you, Miss Dawes," he said.

"But where is Bruce and Thomas? What's going on?" she questioned in a flurry as the old butler.

"You will soon have all the answers, but first, you need to come with me," had it been anyone else, she would not have entered the car, yet this was Alfred. So, reluctantly she did and surprisingly the car was not empty as another person was already inside.

His face was angulated, and he had an obscure contraption attached to his eye that gleamed an ominous red.

"Who are you?" she questioned cautiously.

"I am the one who's been keeping an eye on you and the old man for Mr Wayne."

0000

Read ahead and support me on Patreon and help me write this and other such stories.

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[Drkest]

Chapter 34

BRUCE WAYNE

Bruce felt consciousness return to him, slowly as his whole body ached with searing pain. Yet he did not scream nor move as the events of the previous night, about attacking Gambol's lair and then the subsequent ambush by the man named 'Bane' appeared in his mind.

He was tied up, his hands and feet secured through tight bindings, and he felt that he was in a vehicle.

"So you are finally awake?" another voice cut in, the voice grazy and mechanical, the very voice that he had heard last as his eyes had shut.

Bruce realized that there was no use in pretending, so he looked up and found him standing in front of him. He wore a sleeveless jacket, and now, in the light, he could clearly see his bulking body. Bane was a giant of a man, taller and bigger than him; his muscles bulged out, and his face still had that strange mask on it.

"Welcome aboard, Bruce Wayne, or should I say...."

"Batman," he spoke, and Bruce scanned his surroundings and realized that he was on a plane, and still he knew little of this man's purpose.

Yet they were not alone now, there were others present as well, standing behind the masked man in a manner so familiar to him.

"The League," he reasoned out as he realized this man's probable origins.

"Indeed, at least what remains of us after your brother's crusade against us, but that all shall end soon," the man began as he turned away from him and plopped down on a seat by the side, clearing his sight to a TV placed on the isle, with a live news broadcast.

"Soon, we shall use his prowess to rebuild all that we have lost and finish the mission of liberating Gotham. Watch Mr. Wayne as the city you and your brother worked so hard to save."

Bruce's eyes widened as he saw the visuals on the TV. Massive protests were being shown, targeting Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne Manor. The ancient manor was now on fire, along with the various charities set up by Wayne Enterprises, charities, and shelters that were there to help the destitute of the city.

And Bruce's gaze narrowed onto the headlines underneath even as his hands unworked his bindings as stealthily as they could as he used a small laser saw from his utility belt to cut through the metal bindings around his arms and legs.

~Batman's identity revealed: Bruce Wayne, the billionaire~ and he stilled as the clips of the video of Selina playing as Joker had her reveal his identity. And have her blame Thomas for his death~

"Watch it burn. Everything you and your family have built is gone," Bane began, and Bruce could feel him chuckle.

"...gone by the hands of the very people you wished to save," he said as he shook his head.

"Was it really worth defying the League for this city, Bruce Wayne?" he questioned as he looked him in the eye.

"You could have been so much more, yet you chose to give it all up, for this," he said as he pointed towards the screen.

"Yes," Bruce answered, and he meant it as well.

"This is not the city, and this is you. Your lies and your plots have misguided the city, riled them up, and enraged them. Gotham deserves to be saved, deserves to be given a chance, for it has good people in it, people who have remained good despite the darkness they faced. They have remained resilient, steadfast," he said as he looked towards the screen once more and watched as his house burned with a raging pyre.

"We can rebuild the house, we can get back what is lost, but I refuse to give up on the people of my city, and I shall believe in the goodness in their hearts till my dying breath," he said as Bane's eyes narrowed.

"Then so be it. I will not kill you," Bane said as he crouched down and looked Bruce in the eye.

"Watch as I terrorize the city, bring it to its knees. Watch Gotham tear itself apart from the hellhole of despair that shall show you the truth, show you the futility of your will and belief," he said as he reached for his head, and Bruce felt his arms free as he pulled back and headbutted Bane on the face with all his might.

"AGHH!" the giant of a man reeled back as Bruce struck his mask before basking the whole cabin in thick smoke using a smoke bomb from his utility belt.

"Huhhh HUHHH!" the man huffed for breath as he tried to readjust his mask and pointed towards him.

"KILL HIM!" he shouted as the assassins of the league surrounded him. Yet, Bruce did not relent as he let the smoke spread all over before he began to move through the smoke, reaching for the teaching that had been drilled into his bones at the temple as he sneaked behind the assassins and began to dismantle them, one by one.

"AGHHH!" he broke their legs and arms as he moved quickly from one assassin to another before Bane came upon him.

"ARGH!" the giant of a man shouted as he tried to punch him. Bruce leaned to the side as his fist hit one of the seats as he kneed him in the chest, and as his head lowered, he elbowed his back.

"AGHH!" the giant of a man tried to lunge towards him, but Bruce rolled away and watched as the giant of a man stared at him.

"He did say you were his best student," and there was little need to know whom 'he' referred to.

Ducard.

The woman who claimed to be his so-called wife, he had recognized those features at a single glance, and though he could not be sure, he sure recalled seeing her in the temple as well and fighting with her.

How he had missed the resemblance before this was lost to him, though now that he had seen it, he was sure that she was related to Ducard.

"No matter, you will not leave this plane. I will make sure of that," Bane began as he relaxed and took out a switch from his pocket.

"Even if I have to take the whole plane with you," Bruce said, his eyes narrowing on the switch. Suddenly, he felt the cabin doors open, and before Bane could press the button, a whip lashed at his hand, plucking the button from his hand in a near-unhuman expert use of a lasso.

"What..." Bane was surprised, yet Bruce took advantage of the opportunity and pounced on the man, kneeing him in the gut as he winded the giant man before rounding off on his back and locking him in a chokehold.

"AGHHH!" Bane grunted as he tried to push away his arms. He fought through the pain as Bane punched him, though his blows grew weaker by the second as his body was deprived of oxygen before. After what seemed like an eternity, the man finally went limp.

"Huh, huh," he huffed as he breathed deeply, and as he was about to get back on his feet, a hand was offered to him to aide him in this, and he looked up and found a woman standing there, dressed in a captain's suit, yet she was no pilot.

Her beauty was one thing, for she looked inhuman and felt so as well. Though the biggest thing was the lasso tied around her side, he had seen glimpses of it, small glimpses on a video once.

A video that he had removed from all other parts of the internet for the sheer implications it held.

He took the offered hand as she helped him up. He was not surprised by her strength. He had expected so.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned, there was no need for introduction on his part for he already knew who she was, and whom she pretended to be.

To the world, she was Diana Prince, the ambassador of an obscure nation called Themyscira, though she had another name, one only mentioned in highly confidential physical files, files that Thomas had been unable to access, though Batman was a whole other story.

Wonder Woman.

"So, you were the one searching around for me?" she questioned. She looked at him, and he was surprised that she knew that someone was looking for her, for he had been very discreet.

"Maybe I was," he said, and then her eyes narrowed.

"Then how did your brother know about me?" she questioned, and he was surprised that Thomas knew of her, for he knew that his search had turned up empty-handed, for his brother was quite lazy.

He had a small blind spot when it came to technology and often failed to look beyond that. Some things are so secret that they never have a digital footprint; such information could only be sought through other channels and ways that he was more familiar with than his brother.

Yet it seemed as though Thomas was not as unfamiliar with these things as it seemed.

"I did not tell him," he said, and she nodded.

"Well, I will just have to ask him then," she said as she looked at him, and his suit was damaged, the cloak torn up, and his mask half broken.

"So, Thomas sent you," he questioned, and she nodded.

"He asked for my help," she said as she turned away from him and led them into the cabin.

"We are en route to Gotham City. We will be there soon," she said as she pointed towards a briefcase by the side.

"He also sent a little gift for you," she said as she pointed towards a briefcase. He frowned as he picked it up and, on unlocking it, found a suit in it, though this was not a Batman suit.

No, it was a tailored suit, a very fine tailored suit, alongside a small jewelry box and a note.

He picked up the note and tried to make sense of it.

~Opearation Grand Proposal is a go.~ 😉

He chuckled as he realized what Thomas was referring to. It was a silly plan they had once discussed over tea, though it seemed they were going to use it.

"So, tell me how a billionaire ends up fighting crime in the dark of night?" she asked as she sat in the captain's seat, and Bruce looked towards her with a raised brow as he pocketed the note.

"How does a simple woman do what you do?"

0000

RACHEL DAWES

Rachel Dawes was filled with worry as he watched the city devolve by the second, losing any semblance of sanity as they burnt Wayne Manor and their other properties. Watching the place she had called as second home, burn away in a pyre nearly broke her, as she watched common people cause such carnage because of sheer madness.

"There is no need to be sad, Miss Dawes," Alfred added from the front as they drove through the city.

"It was just bricks and mortar, our real home is with the people we love," he added in all his wisdom and she nodded, worried for the very people.

"Where are Thomas and Bruce?" she asked again, and Alfred smiled.

"They are fine, just as all this will be soon," he added as the car came to a halt infront of a very familiar building.

"Why are we here?" they had been moving randomly through the city to avoid the crazy mobs for her safety, as her connection with Thomas was known throughout the city.

"You will know soon enough," added Alfred with a smile, as he led her out of the car.

She checked the timer, and a few minutes remained until the Joker's ultimatum ran out. She was worried, even though Alfred had assured her that all would be fine. She was led to the back of the Hall and saw the area filled with lawyers and security agents, as preparation for a press conference were being made.

She looked around and stilled as she saw an all too familiar face in the back. He wore a mask and blended into the background rather easily, yet she would recognize those eyes in her sleep.

"Bruce?" she gasped as she ran towards the figure, who turned towards her and smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. His familiar warmth filled her with assurance and a sense of home in this perilous time.

"What is happening?" she questioned as she looked up at him worriedly.

"Who is that woman, and where is Thomas?" she questioned in a flurry as Bruce chuckled.

"Thomas is fine and will be here soon, and that woman is with the League of Shadows," he told her, and she recognized that name.

"Isn't that the organization that tried to destroy Gotham before?" she questioned, and he nodded.

"They are," he replied as his lips thinned.

"Rachel," he suddenly began in a very soft tone, surprising her as he held her hands.

"There is something that I want to tell you..."

0000

In another part of Gotham, in the house of the assistant commissioner, Jim Gordon watched the news with a heavy heart as his daughter sat beside him in her wheelchair.

"Thomas Wayne killed his own brother because he was Batman," she gasped out in disbelief as the video of the Joker ended.

"I liked him. He seemed like such a good guy," she remarked, sounding betrayed.

"He was..." and then his phone rang. His daughter had bullied him into buying one of the new Wayne touch phones, even though it was too 'new' for his liking.

And he had received a message from an anonymous number, a file.

He clicked it open, and then he found himself staring at their own mayor doing some very questionable and criminal things along with a single message.

~Be ready in 55 minutes~

0000

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hapter 35

SELINA KYLE

~Five minutes left~

Selina Kyle was strapped to the chair as the Joker made his attempts at comedy while the clock ticked beside her.

"So the chicken man said..." and she had finally had enough.

"Are you done?" she cut him off, glancing as the clock ticked to the final six minutes.

"You do not seem to be enjoying yourself," he asked, as if he was being genuine in his concern.

He looked like a madman, with his face makeup and purple suit, as he looked at her with those glinting eyes.

"You promised to let her go," she said as her eyes inched to the person hanging upside down just above a vile green liquid that she did not wish to know. A person with an all too familiar face and red hair.

Dr. Palmella Isley.

"Ohh, that I will. I will," he said with a chuckle, "but first, we must wait for your little boyfriend to give himself up."

"Why do you hate Thomas? Why do you do this?" she questioned.

And he looked at her funny as if offended by her words.

"Ohh, I do not hate him. No, no. I care for him deeply," he monologued, surprising her with those words.

"You care for him. Have you lost your mind?" she questioned, her heart quickening.

"Maybe, hahaha," he laughed as he plopped out of his chair and came to stand in front of her.

"But I do, I care for him. I see him trying to heal this broken city, trying to live such a limited and inhibited life following the rules, living as a commoner when he can do anything, and it ENRAGES ME!" he snarled the last words as his spit hit her in the face.

"He controls the city, every aspect of it. He can rule it like a King, wipe off all the blemishes with a single wave of his hand, yet he lives as a mere mortal, pretending to be human when he could be much, much more." He spoke fanatically, and she could not believe her ears.

"He shackles himself with rules and regulations, using the blunt instrument of Batman to do his dirty work as he languishes in his castle, looking down on us all like peasants," he began raving as the clock ticked down.

"I wish to drag him down, wish to see him dirty his own hands. I wish to make a mortal out of him, and you are the key to that achievement," he snarked as he reached into his pocket and took out a timepiece.

"Four minutes left," he said with a smile as suddenly the TV screen shifted.

~Breaking News: We have just been informed that the Wayne family has arranged a special press conference in the City Hall. We will be heading there now for the live press conference~

With that, the screen flickered to the Gotham City Hall, and her eyes widened as she saw the person live on screen.

It was Thomas.

The Joker frowned as he picked up the remote and began to sift through the various news channels. CNN, ABC, ACN, and every news outlet had the same feed, some at different angles, some a second delayed, yet the same feed nonetheless.

~"I believe many of you are speculating on why such an event was considered a necessity, but I believe that it was necessary for me, the Wayne family and Wayne Enterprises to clear up the recent propaganda that has been spewed against us," he began as the Joker frowned his eyes darting between her and the screen.

~Three minutes left.~

"Many of you believe that I am the last Wayne alive and the one behind the murder of both Carmine Falcone and my brother, and I am here to deny those allegations," And with that, the screen shifted as documents were projected on the screen behind.

"As you can see behind you, Mr Falcone's dead body was found in his prison cell during the attack on Gotham. He was presumably killed by a prisoner in the facility, and during that time, I was inside Wayne Tower immobilized by the debris from the plane crash," he played the live feed of his office as the plane hit the building.~

The Joker picked up his phone and put it to his ear.

"So, it is real? He is really there," he confirmed, and she made out a yes from the other side.

"Interesting," he finished as he put off the frown with a frown.

~"And as for the allegation of killing my own brother, who the city believes to be Batman," he began with a chuckle as he began to back away from the podium.

"I shall leave that to someone else," she saw the cameras pan as another man walked into the frame and reached for the podium, dressed impeccably and in a suit, and the reporters gasped in surprise.

It was Bruce Wayne himself.

"Surprise," he said into the mike as he opened his arms.

"I am alive," he added with a chuckle before quickly leaning forward.

"And unmarried." ~

And the Joker seemed puzzled as his head snapped towards her.

"YOU LIED!" he shouted, and she shook her head.

"I did not," she pleaded, as he placed a knife to her neck, nicking it as blood dripped down and she winced in pain.

"Bruce Wayne is indeed Batman, I did not lie," she pleaded as he looked into her eyes, as Bruce continued to speak in the mike.

~ "Me, Batman! Please, anyone who walks dressed up as a bat has issues. And I can assure you I have much better ways to spend my nights than to scour Gotham like a maniac."~

He denied being the Batman.

~Two Minutes left~

"Ohh, I see," uttered the Joker as he backed away, rubbing his scalp with his blade, uncaring just how dangerous it could be.

"HAHAHA. I see it now, such heroism. I should have expected nothing else," he laughed as he began to pace away.

"They have abandoned you. To save the city, they have chosen to sacrifice you," he said as he looked her in the eye, and her heart shriveled at those words, words that she believed to be false.

'Thomas would never,' she assured herself even though doubt crept u from the dark ravines of her head as Bruce continued to speak up.

~"And If I was sneaking out into the night, I can assure you someone very special would know, and that brings us to my second point," as the picture of the woman claiming to be Bruce's ex-wife appeared.

"Who the hell is that woman, and why is she claiming to be my wife? I have no idea, and I plan to pursue all avenues in regard to that. Though I would like to use this moment to introduce you all to the real and very much legal, future Mrs. Wayne," and with that, the camera panned away to reveal the figure of none other than Rachel Dawes, who walked to the podium with a ring on her fingers.~

"Ohh, I should have expected nothing less. I should have known that it would have taken more than just his disposable girlfriend to bring him out of his shell. I should have known," the Joker raved.

~One minute left~

"I am not disposable," she reiterated as he looked at her with a wild smile.

"You still cannot see it, though, can you? You have been abandoned, left to my mercy," he said as he pointed towards the TV screen with Thomas standing beside a laughing Bruce and Rachel as the press conference continued. And her heart somewhat pained at the sight.

"No matter, I will just show him what will happen if he does not change his ways," and with that, the Joker began to fiddle with the camera. the TV screens shifted, and the Joker's face stared at her from the screen.

"HELLO, EVERYONE! I AM BACK!"

"AND THE TIME IS OVER!"

CRASH!

Suddenly, the room shook with a large explosion, basking the whole place in a massive dust cloud as she felt the bindings around her arms and legs cut loose, and her head snapped back to see Batman standing right behind her.

"Get out," he spoke, and she frowned as she realized that this was not Bruce's voice.

No, this was someone else, someone whose voice she recognized even through the transducer.

"Thomas," she gasped out as the masked man's eyes landed on her, softening as he pulled her behind him elf, shielding her as the Joker fired at them.

TING!

TING!

TING!

The bullets bounced off his armor.

"I see, I see now. I should have expected nothing less," the Joker laughed as he appeared out of the dust cloud, cackling like an idiot.

"Using a doppleganger, I am surprised that you were able to do such a thing on such short notice, but I was told that you would be taken care of," the Joker began as the dust began to settle down.

As Batman tried to step forward, the Joker pointed towards a red button in his hand.

"Nahuh, I would not do that if I were you," he said as he pointed behind him, and she whispered into his ears.

"He has Palmella," she told him. It was the only reason she had said what she had said; she did not wish to put the redhead through whatever that massive silo contained.

"It seems our dear associates underestimated you, Batman! Or should I say, Mister Bruce Wayne," he said as she looked up and saw Thomas's eyes narrow onto Palmella's upside-down figure.

"And that is where you are wrong," came the answer as the transducer shut off, and the voice changed into the all too familiar tone of none other than the younger Wayne brother.

"You see, I am not Bruce," Thomas replied as he took off the mask, revealing his face.

"I am Thomas, and I share none of his inhibitions, especially in your case, Joker," he said as suddenly the Joker's whole body stiffened. The button he had been holding up fell down as she saw Thomas look at the man with an impassive glance.

Her eyes darted towards the TV screen, and she was shocked to see the ordeal. On the screen, the Joker and Batman seemed engaged in a full-fledged battle, with her still bound to the chair. Then her head snapped towards Thomas once more, knowing that this must have been his doing.

The Joker must have seen it too, for he uttered weakly as his body collapsed to the ground.

"How?"

"Unlike my brother, I learn from my mistakes and prepared for contingencies, and have doppelgangers for myself and important people for my life ready at all times," he answered as he stepped forward toward the quivering form of Joker before he crouched down.

"You should really consider changing your name, though," he said with a quite dark chuckle.

"Joker! It's a shame that the only thing funny about you is your makeup, Mr Arthur." he finished and saw the Joker's eyes widen.

"You are not the only one curious about secret identities, though I am afraid your curiosity ends today," he said as he took a small metal object from his pocket and brought it near the Joker's mouth.

"D..v..il....no....god...u...r..the...dev....l..haha...haha..ahhaha" the Joker murmured.

"Maybe, after all, unlike my brother, I have no qualms about achieving a permanent solution to problems as dangerous as you."

And with that, he cracked the vial as gas erupted from the small cylinder.

"Ha... ahaha...aha." The Joker's laughter slowly died down, even as his chest continued to rise and fall.

0000

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[Drkest]

Chapter 36b

SELINA KYLE

The fallout from the whole Joker and Wayne Enterprises ordeal had been massive and despite it being weeks since the whole issue had been resolved things were still not back to normal.

The mayor had been forced to reign once his connection to the Talia had been made public, along with their new DA Harvey Dent who had been the mayor's instrument of attack in all this.

Gotham was still reeling from the shock. Speculation about Batman's secret identity had gotten even more intense, and now there were dedicated TV shows about this whole affair. Thomas planned to have all this speculation end soon, yet forcing news as such down would have the opposite effect, in his words, and they just had to muddy the water.

Thomas had regained control of Wayne Enterprises, even though the main culprit behind the whole affair, Ducard's daughter Talia, had managed to slither away in the ensuing chaos.

"I still cannot believe that you were rescued by Batman," uttered her sister Helena as she sat in her room, huddled up beside her as they had some alone time. Thomas was still at the company, trying to get everything back in order.

"It was nothing special," she replied as Helena looked at her wide-eyed.

"Nothing. You were rescued by Batman. The Batman! Do you know just what kind of bragging rights that gives me at school that my sister was saved by the caped crusader," she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Selina couldn't help but wonder how much more surprised she would be if she learned that they were currently living in the same manner as Batman as well.

"Tell me what was he like?" she bombarded him with questions, which Selina continued to ignore, her eyes still glued to the TV screen where a list of names continued to be spouted as a possible identity for Batman, that was until suddenly the whole broadcast was interrupted.

SHHHHHHH.

SHHHHHHH.

The screen scrambled, making Helena quiet down. Selina frowned. That should not happen.

"Al..." she was about to call Alfred when suddenly text began to appear on the screen once more shuffling greatly as a silhouette of a head flickered as well.

"You are not alone!"

0000

HARVEY DENT

Harvey Dent had his whole life turned upside down in a month. What was once a promising and stellar career as the chief prosecutor as Gotham's Da had been turned to smoke, and it was all because of one man.

Thomas Wayne.

The rich scion of the Wayne family was the undeclared ruler of the city, using his wealth and influence to get away with things that would have landed any normal person in prison. When Harvey had taken his oath as the Da he had taken an oath to rid Gotham of all evil, including one that seemed to be worshipped by the city.

And when a possible connection with the Mob has showed up he had felt that this was his calling, that this was what he could use to nail this proverbial saint.

He had been encouraged by their mayor to go after the Wayne scion, and he had and in just a few weeks the career he had spent half his life building up had gone up in smoke.

Even the people whom he had called friends, had distanced themselves from him to not incur the wrath of the man named Thomas Wayne.

And now as he sat alone in a shitty bar, sipping cheap wine as his head tumbled, someone sat down beside him.

"Hello, handsome," she called out, and he realized just who it was.

"Don't you think you have enough to drink," she called out, and he noticed how her hair was blonde and straight, and a thick black mascara accentuated her eyes.

"I don't think there is anything as such as too much when it comes to drinking," he said, and as he reached for the glass once more, she pushed it away.

"I tend to disagree," she said sultrily as she leaned forward.

"Why just continue to drink....when you can have much more," she said, and in his muddled mind, he saw her face overlap with another and decided to reach into his pocket.

"Well, why don't we let Chance decide," he said as he showed her his signature coin.

"Heads and you leave me alone and let me drink as I please," he began as he twisted teh coin in his hand.

"Tails and we both leave here together," he said and she smirked.

"Ohh, a man of mystery. I like that," and he missed how the TV screen distorted as he flipped the coin in the air. just as he was about to catch it once again, he was startled by a distorted mechanical voice that made him look up at the TV as the coin fell to the ground.

"You are not alone."

0000

THOMAS WAYNE

Thomas sat in his office tired from all the messes he had to clear up after the whole Joker debacle, and even now, despite it being a near sleepless week Wayne Enterprises had finally begun to come out of the disaster that had ensued.

The damages caused by the riots were extreme and many in the company had been speaking against the common people for their rage, using this opportunity to pressure him into shutting down all the public welfare programs he ran.

Not that he was going to let that happen. Yes, he was disappointed, but that did not mean he had to abandon the poor and the needy.

Though all that would come later, it was finally time for the vaunted meeting with the one person who had kept avoiding him for quite some years.

He had gone back over his initial research and found many mistakes, many deliberate misleads, that had thrown him off, keeping him unaware of them and some other very important people.

And it had all been done by her. She sat opposite him in a suit dressed impeccably as her eyes scanned the room. Her beauty was regal with a hint of danger and mystery, and her black hair flowed behind her head.

"So, we finally meet," he spoke, and she nodded.

"Indeed we do," she replied as her eyes nodded.

"Now, before I begin, I must ask," he began as he leaned forward.

"Why did you tamper with my search all those years ago, Princess?" he asked, and a pained look crossed her face as she answered hesitantly.

"It was for your own good," she answered, making him frown.

"My own good? How?" he was puzzled as she looked up.

"Have you ever wondered what makes you so unique, Thomas?" she asked, and a chill ran down his spine.

"You are an anomaly, a mistake. One which could unravel this whole reality by his mere existence," she added with pity in her eyes as alarm bells rang in his head.

'She knew,' he guessed.

"I wouldn't go that far. Unlike you and your other friends, I do not have any powers. In truth, I am but a simple human, a smart one, I would say, but human nonetheless," he added, and she shook her head.

"You are anything but simple *****," and her words made him still.

"Why did you hide them all from me, Princess of Themyscira?" he questioned once more, and she did not answer as she looked him in the eye.

And then, before he could react in a blur she was infront of him, as pain ripped through his chest.

"ARGH!" he coughed out in pain and glanced down, and found a sword bulging out of his chest as his shirt began to get cored red.

"Why?" he gasped out as he looked up and found Diana Prince infront of him, holding the blade as her eyes teared up.

"Because the world is not yet ready. Because your mere presence could bring destruction to this whole universe," she said and he was enraged and angry.

"I... I...did....not...."

"I know," she said as she held him tenderly, even as he felt his vision darken and hypoxia began to slow down his brain.

"It is why I avoided you? Because I knew that if we were ever to meet, I would have to do this," she said as she laid him on the ground.

He reached for the sword, trying to pull it away, yet she was a literal demi-god. Her strength made it impossible for him to move as his breath quickened.

"I am sorry for it."

And the darkness overcame as he heard a last whisper.

"Cousin."

0000

DIANA PRINCE

Diana Prince had always sought family. Sough a friend. She sought the companionship of a person who would realize what it meant to be her.

And now, as she lay the dying body of Thomas Wayne on the floor, she realized that she had ended a chance at that very thing with her own hands. And for what?

For the good of the universe.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw the light leave his eyes and the power leave his hand, as she whispered.

"I am sorry, but there was no other way," she uttered.

Yet suddenly, she felt the skies shift as the TV screen in his office shifted, sending a chill down her spine. The screen distorted before a shadowy humanoid figure appeared for a second as the ominous words flashed on the screen.

"You are not alone."

As soon as that voice reached her ears, dread filled her, for she realized that it was perhaps too late.

That she may have just doomed the entire world.

0000

BOOOM!

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Chapter 37

~10 Years Later~

SELINA KYLE

Much has changed in the last ten years. Much. And for everyone else, there was a moment when the whole world changed for them, a moment when they realized that life would never ever be the same again. It was the day their lives had changed completely, a day filled with regret.

For her, it had been this very day ten years ago, on the day the love of her life had been killed. And she could say that it was also when life had changed for humanity as a whole as well.

For if he were alive today, she could confidently say that humanity wouldn't have fallen into the disastrous situation it is in now.

Ten years ago, Thomas Wayne had died. To the world, his death had been caused by natural causes, citing the stress he suffered from the tumultuous events suffered by him over the month prior.

Yet that was not the truth. It was much more sinister, much more cruel.

With his death had come another announcement, a news which would go on to dwarf the news of the death of humanity's brightest minds. It would be the day humanity would learn of life outside of their planet, and that life would unravel it all.

'You are not alone.'

The message had come from outside, telling them of extra-terrestrial life. They had rejoiced at that, until they had realized their mistake. The alien life did not send the message as a greeting.

No. The message was a declaration of war.

A war they were not ready for. They had come a year later, bearing their fangs on an unprepared humanity. Millions would die in the initial assault, and everything they had would be useless against the might of these foreign invaders.

The ruins infront of her, a stark reminder of humanity's futility and hubris. The once-guzzling city of a million had been reduced to rubble, barely sustainable, as throngs of people moved through the wreckage, trying to carve out a life for themselves.

Humanity would answer, assembling a team of heroes who had remained hidden until that day. Five would gather Batman, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, and that cursed witch Wonder Woman.

They would be hailed as saviors as humanity launched its counterattack against the invading forces, attacking the leader of the invasion, Steppenwolf, a god in all but name.

Their fight would be legendary as the five so-called heroes fought with the fate of humanity resting on their shoulders, yet in the end, they would prove inadequate.

Victory would come but at a great cost. Two of the five would sacrifice themselves to send back the leader of the invading forces. The monster known as Steppenwolf would be forced back, only for the world to learn that their true enemy had yet to even step foot on their planet.

Darkseid. The Destroyer of Worlds. A monster who had turned a hundred thousand words to dust. The Eternal Death, and the greatest villain known to the universe.

It was a being unfathomable to their minds, its powers beyond their imagination. And such a being had set its eyes on their world.

Steppenwolf was but a minion, yet only to repel him, it had taken the might and sacrifice from the Earth's mightiest.

How could they hope to face being much superior?

Even in their victory, Earth had been infested by the wretched demons of their invaders, para demons they were called, and they infested and bred uncontrollably on the Earth, wreaking havoc across the planet, and now even a decade later, they spread terror as they, attacked in hoards, continuing their master's work as Earth waited for his eventual arrival.

And that time was nearing.

Soon enough, Darkside would come, and none knew what would become of Earth, and neither did she yet. In the meantime, she would do as her love once had, try to save as many as she could, try and give hope to as many as she could.

"AHHHH!"
"HELPPPP!"

And as she heard the screams of people as a hoard of Parademons surrounded a group of people, she steadied herself for her calling.

She looked over the city and saw a whole hoard of para demons attacking what remained of it. She readied herself as she tapped the small button adorned into a very special necklace and immediately felt the all-too-familiar crawl of nano-tech spreading around her in a tight-fitting suit.

Even now, years later, his last gift to herself went beyond anything others had dreamed up. In a way, this was his legacy, his last gift to her before he was taken from her. A mask covered her face before she saw the world once more yet this time with the additional information coming from the augmented reality visor as she saw the para demons trying to kill the people.

And she jumped from the edge of the building she stood, falling through the air, as she fired shots at the beasts from the bracelets around her arms, killing several of them before and as one of them looked up, she rotated in the air, and hit it in the face with her heel.

"AHHHH!" she screamed as the beast screeched in pain at her attack, as others aimed at her, yet she was much too used to fighting these beasts and jumped off of its face and let out another barrage as she skids through their fires and rained down bullets on them before landing on the ground as all dozen of them lay dead, with the people looking at her.

"It's her." "It's the Catwoman!"
"We are saved."

They rejoiced as she turned away and shot once more at the approaching parademons.

"There is a shelter two miles away. GO!" she ordered as the people rushed towards the shelter a dozen or so para demons surrounded her while many more began to circle her, their faces a husky mess, and their wings flapped like that of a fly, making her squirm as she scanned her surroundings.

"SCREEECH!" they screeched as she felt a dozen or more guns get aimed at herself as she prepared herself for the battle.

When suddenly, she felt a blur race past her as two of the demons were taken away. Others backed away, sensing the danger in a second, two more were down as well.

They tried to rush towards her, and she ducked one's arm, as she attacked a bomb to its side before kicking it into another one of its companions.

BOOM!

The bomb blew them off, as another demon tried to attack her, yet fell suddenly as a metal Batarang hit it straight in the head.

Suddenly, she felt the air infront of her shift as a shadow came over her, and she looked up and saw a ship she was all too familiar with.

She heard people rejoice at the sight of that ship and what it represented as they felt their saviors appear. The symbol of fear for Gotham's most depraved had now become a symbol of hope for the world.

"It seems my work here is done," she uttered as she carved through two more parademons before rushing towards a broken building.

A single parademon stood in her way, and she brought up her gauntlet to blow it out when, suddenly, a person landed on it, crushing it beneath their feet.

BOOOM!
She covered her face on reflex, and as the dust cleared, she recognized the person who had jumped down.

And her rage burst forth at the sight of her.

She! She was the one who had taken him from her. Taken everything from her.

She wore a golden crown on her head, clad in a red and blue dress, with a bronze sword and shield in her hand. She looked like an ancient warrior, for that was what she was. Yet she was no ordinary warrior.

She was a daughter of Themyscira, a descendant of an ancient race known as Amazonians, a half-diary, daughter of Zeus, and the hope of humanity, Diana Prince. Or, as she was otherwise known, Wonder Woman.

Though none of those accolades mattered to her.

"YOU!" Selina snarled in rage as their eyes met; the wretched woman lacked the courage to look her in the eye as she evaded her gaze.

"Selina..."

"Do not take my name with your filthy mouth," she snarled as the woman shut up, and she felt another pair of footsteps from behind her.

"Selina," she heard her name getting called. She looked back and found herself face-to-face with another betrayer. He was his brother, his blood. Yet he still chose to forgive her, forgive that woman for what she had done.

"Bruce..." she replied to the masked crusader. He had changed much over the years, and his suit was much more advanced than it had been when he had first begun his journey.

"You need to com..."

"The answer is no," she cut him off before he could make the offer, for she already knew what he was going to say.

"Selina, we need you. Our enemy could strike at any moment. We need your help," he asked and she scoffed.

"Not as much as you think if you still keep that murderer on the team," she answered, and saw the woman tense up at her words as her mask receded, revealing her face.

"We need her as well. You know that better than anyone else. Darkseid is an enemy unlike any other, and if we are to have a chance against him, we need to act together as one," Bruce spoke, and she scoffed.

"What chance! Look around you, Bruce. Do you really think we stand a chance against whomever this Darkseid is," she scoffed.

"It's over, whether you face it or not. We are not ready to face him. We are divided, angry, and broken. We have no leader and no hope. No symbol," she uttered as she glared at the Amazonian woman who bit her lip yet uttered.

"But yet you still fight," she retorted, Selina's lips thinning at those words.

"If you believe it all to be so hopeless, then why do you still fight?"

And truth was she would ask herself the same question many times. Selina Kyle was a pessimist. She had seen the worst of humanity, seen its depravity, its evil until Thomas had filled her with hope, showed her the goodness, shown her hope.

He had been her guiding light, and now even with him gone she felt herself guarding that flicker of hope he had given her, trying to keep it alive, keep him alive as she tried to do what he would have done.

"Because it is what he would have done," another voice rang out, this one much softer, much similar to her own, as her head snapped towards the ship, or more specifically, at the child standing on the ramp, with a person standing behind her. A Person she had not seen in years.

The little girl looked like herself from her youth, yet she was much healthier than Selina had ever been in those times. Her eyes were different, though. They were blue, a striking blue that reminded him of Thomas.

"Helena," she gasped out as she saw her sister walk out of the ramp, though another voice bubbled.

"Mother," the little girl spoke, her words breaking her heart as Bruce stepped forward.

"Just once, please, we need you. Come back for a few days," he said before his eyes landed on the little girl.

"She misses you," and his words broke her heart as her fists balled up. Her heart raced, and despite the anger and frustration, she found herself nodding her head.

"Martha," she gasped as she opened her arms, and the child came running into them. As she buried her head in the crook of her neck, letting that familiar warmth wash over her.

After months, she would hug her and let her regale her tales as she would sit down beside her on that ship, on her way to a place she did not have the heart to see.

Martha would fall asleep in her lap an hour later, tired, and she would sift through her hair lovingly, blaming herself for not having the courage to raise her as a mother should. Yet the memories she shared with Thomas haunted her whenever she went to the manor, to the place they had spent such blissful time.

Yet she could not take her away as well, for in these dangerous times, it was the safest place for her daughter, loathed as she was to admit it.

"What happened?" she asked Bruce as they cut through the skies.

"We found him," he spoke, and his words stilled her, yet his tone was tense, lacking the hope and cheer she would have expected with such news.

Him. Their one hope, the one they had been searching for, the one who could face Darkside and save their planet.

"You found the Kryptonian," she asked, and he nodded.

"We did. More accurately, we found where he had been all this time," he answered, and she frowned, enraged that a being of such strength had refused to lend his aid to humanity.

"And where has he been, this so-called savior of ours?"

"Dead."

0000

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[Drkest]

Chapter 38

DIANA PRINCE

Diana of Themyscira had many mistakes in her life, yet none haunted her more than what she had done ten years ago. She had chosen to make a sacrifice for the greater good. A mistake that had doomed the world.

She was a demi-god, a descendent of Zeus himself, an Amazonian charged with protecting the world from evil. Her heritage allowed her knowledge and understanding of threats that humanity had long forgotten, and the greatest of these threats was none other than Darkseid.

A being of absolute destruction that turned entire galaxies to ash, she had learned of its existence, learned of the danger it posed to their world through dreams, visions that would haunt her for months, showing her only death, destruction, and ruin.

She would see their futility, their failure, as the great evil descended on their land and razed it to the ground. She would beg the Gods for a hint, for a way to save the humans from this great evil, and would believe her call answered when visions of a human would reach her brain.

And in the midst of this chaos, a glimmer of hope emerged. That hope was a human, the key to all of this.

"It all began in a vision," she began explaining, as she had done to Batman before. Even now, as she retold the tale of her guilt, she could see his rage and anger, yet he would hold it in check for the sake of humanity, for the future.

"It was years ago that visions of Darkseid's arrival on Earth began to haunt me. He is a being unlike any, powerful, cruel, and with aides well versed in the art of trickery and magic. I would find the Earth unprepared and would see only death and destruction in the future," she began looking at the woman clad in a black suit, trying to make her understand.

"What did Thomas have to do with that?" she asked, biting her lip as she looked him in the eye and replied.

"Everything," she answered.

"When I saw no future for humanity, I began to beg the gods for a sign, a chance at salvation, and that was when I first saw him. Thomas Wayne, and though to you all he seemed human, a normal human with flesh and blood, the truth is he was but anything like that," she began, her guilt getting multiplied as the true nature of her crime revealed itself.

"What do you mean? You are trying to say Thomas was not human," Selina Kyle raged and scoffed as she turned towards his brother, Bruce, who still appeared serious. This made the young brunette stop and look between them in disbelief.

"You have to be joking," she spoke out, perplexed by the notion.

"I am not," she answered.

"He was human, yet he was not. You see, he was much like me," she answered and saw the girl reel back as her eyes widened.

"But you are..." and she nodded.

"A child of the Gods," she answered, even though their parentage differed greatly.

"But he was Thomas, we know his parents. He is Bruce's brother," Selina Kyle asked as she turned towards her and Bruce Wayne.

"Thomas was indeed regular, yet he was not born. Thomas Wayne was not supposed to exist. He was to die in the womb of Martha Wayne on that fateful day, yet he lived, for he was blessed by none other than the God of the Death of himself. He was in some ways a child of the King of Hell, Hades," she spoke and saw Bruce grit his teeth. Thomas's lower frowned before shaking her head.

"I do not believe you," she said as she was about to walk away.

"Selina, please..."

"Don't tell me you believe this, Bruce,"

"I do," he answered, pointing towards the lasso that gleamed in her hands.

"You see that thing as well. You must know of its prowess as well. She is not lying," he added as he began typing away on the giant computer screen.

"I checked Thomas's blood myself and found in it the traces of the same elements as her; my brother was not entirely human," he said as he brought up the two charts.

She had given him her blood willingly, allowing him to see the truth for himself. Thomas's lover saw the charts herself with widened eyes before she turned towards her.

"Then why did you kill him? He was not evil; he did not harm anyone. All he ever did was to try and help people, yet you killed him. WHY!" she questioned scathingly, and she found her eyes glued to the floor in absolute shame.

"Because I was deceived by one of Daerkseid's aides, the visions of salvation that I believed to have come from the Gods were not from the Gods," she answered, gritting her teeth as Bruce's fists balled up.

"They were from one of his aides, a sorcerer of unimaginable cunning, the one we all know as...."

"...De'Saad," Bruce finished her words, as she nodded, confessing to her greatest sham and mistake.

0000

BRUCE WAYNE

Bruce watched Selina leave the cave, walking away as she told them that she needed time to process all this, leaving him alone with the Amazonian princess, who was rife with guilt.

As she should be.

When he had come to learn of the truth of Thomas's death, he had been angry, filled with rage at the woman in question, and had tried to kill her himself. Yet his hand had been stayed when he had come to learn of the imminent threat of the being known as Darkseid.

His anger had remained as the Amazonian demigoddess denied him the truth until one day, he forced it out of her, and so many mysteries revealed themselves to him that he could barely process it all.

"Will she believe me?" she questioned, her tone rife with guilt as he turned away from her.

"She will. She is much smarter than people realise," he said as he began to type away on the computer screen trying to locate any new attack from those damned parademons that now roamed the Earth.

"This De'Saad knew that the Kryptonian fated to defend this Earth was dead, that somehow my brother was the greatest obstacle standing in his and Darkseid's way, and he used you to get rid of him, yet the question remains how did he know all this," he questioned, for while Diana may have swung the blade and bore much of the blame for what became of Thomas, the true blame lay with this De'Saad and his mysterious helper.

"De'Saad would not be strong enough to influence your consciousness from so far away. Someone provided him with a medium to, a channel to Earth that allowed him to do so, and I believe I have figured out just who this person might be," he spoke as the Amazonian stepped forward beside him and he brought up the profile of the person he believed to be responsible for the Earth's current predicament.

"Lex Luthor," he spoke as he brought up the billionaire's profile.

"The billionaire vanished near the same time as Clark Kent died. From Thomas's notes, I saw him searching for him, yet he couldn't locate the man and gave up. However, when I interviewed the Kents and scourged through their hard drives, I was surprised when I saw this:" And with that, he brought up footage from an old security camera.

And in that, they could clearly see a bald man playing with a green crystal, eyeing the boy named Clark Kent, the boy who was to be the saviour of this planet.

"You cannot mean..."

"I do," he cut in as he turned towards the amazonian princess.

"I believe Lex Luthor was working for De'Saad. He was the one who killed the Kryptonian and later gave the demon away to influence your visions from far away, and he may still have what we are looking for," he finished, and she nodded.

"The body of young Clark Kent, the last Kryptonian," she finished, and he nodded. He still couldn't believe that so many aliens inhabited Earth, yet it was too late to be surprised.

Over the years, he had seen much more and had gotten desensitized to all this, yet hearing the legends about the Kryptonians and Darkseid still unsettled him.

"Where do we find him?" she asked, and he clicked the button the screen, for all the improvements in technology that had come, many to this day were still based on the concepts and ideas given to the world by one man, Thomas Wayne.

The biggest of them was the smartphone, and even a decade after his death, the wide adoption of the tech gave him the ability to surveil the world in a completely unimaginable manner.

It was a power unlike any other, and he knew Thomas had made it so for this very purpose, which scared him.

"I was able to ping his location to this abandoned lab near Manhattan, and I am getting the plane ready. We will leave at midnight," he told her, and she nodded.

"I will get ready," and with that, she walked away, halting as the doors slid open.

"I know I have said this many times, but a day doesn't go by that I do not regret my actions. Whatever the reasons, I know that my actions are inexcusable," she said, and he sighed, stilling the raging sea inside him.

"I know that, and it is the only reason I joined hands with you," he answered as she left him all alone in the cave once more.

He sighed as he took off his mask, revealing an aged face. His lush black hair now had streaks of white. He plopped down on the chair before he once more began to type away, this time opening perhaps the most secure file on his whole computer.

It was a set of pictures, roughly written notes, encrypted. It had taken him years to make sense of it all, and when he had, he felt his world shift. Truthfully, he did not entirely trust the Amazonian's lasso.

The only reason he believed her words was because of these pictures and the most heavily guarded object in the entire world.

He pressed a hidden button on the table as all the entrances to the cave were locked away as gears clicked, and behind him, a pod emerged from the ground, filled with a translucent greenish fluid with a single human figure floating inside it.

Despite the years, the body showed no signs of decay, and though he was not alive, he was not dead as well. After all, you couldn't really kill a god, now, could you?

The face of the person inside resembled his own, and it was the face of the person whose efforts and brilliance had given humanity the small safety it enjoys today. He was sure that without him, they would not have survived for as long as they had.

"Just how much many secrets did you have, brother?

0000

 

[Drkest]

Chapter 39

BRUCE WAYNE

"You are too late," the words of the man who had put the whole of mankind on the brink of extinction cut across the room like a fine blade.

Capturing Lex Luthor had not been easy. The man was hidden inside a secret base surrounded by hoards and hoards of parademons. Yet they knew it was necessary to bring the man who had betrayed humanity to heel. They needed to capture him, to get intel on what he knew.

And it seemed as though the man had been expecting them, and as they entered his compound after a gruesome battle with the parademon hoard, they found him sitting there in the middle of a desolate room.

The bald bastard, the man who had doomed humanity, killed not only the Kryptonian boy named Clark Kent but also played a part in his brother's death and sat there sipping his wine as he looked at them with a smile.

"I expected you all quite early," he added as Wonder Woman and Selina both stilled beside him.

He scanned the room, and it was alien tech, the kind he had not seen until today.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and he looked at him.

"It surprises me that it took you so long to find me, Mr Wayne," he added, sending a chill down his spine.

"Especially after your own brother spent quite some time trying to search for me, hindering me in my service to the Great Lord," he added, seeing Selina stiffen at that.

"It was why you had me kill him," Diana added, angry and hurt as she gripped her sword tightly.

"Indeed, and what a marvelous job you did. Your service to my master is greater than any. Should you bow down, he would reward you like no other," he offered.

"I would rather die than bow down to the likes of Darkseid," she snarled as the bald man stood up.

"Then you are a naive Amazonian," suddenly, another voice cut in, and Bruce saw the dark, broken mirror behind Luthor morph into a humanoid shape.

"Master," Lex spoke as he looked behind him, yet was ignored.

"You!" Diana got angry, perhaps recognizing the figure.

"De'Saad," he added, recognizing those features as well.

"It seems to me that your time has run out, humans," he began as he talked them through this magical construct.

"Master, help me! Bless me, take me away!"

"Silence, human!" De'Saad spoke as Lex's body froze up.

"B..."

"Do you really think yourself consequential? You fool, you were but a mere pawn!" and with that, Lex Luthor dropped to his knees, shook and full of disbelief.

"And now you have served your purpose!"

"ARGH!" and with that, he fell down, clutching his head and screaming as De'Saad turned to face them once again as Lex Luthor's screams rocked the whole area.

"Your struggle, while commendable, is futile. Humanity has reached the end of its time," he declared as his fiery orange eyes gleamed.

"Without the Kryptonian and the Balancer, you stand no chance against us. You survived last time because of Stephenwolf's mistake. But believe me, no mistake shall be made this time," he declared.

"My Master approaches you as we speak and shall reach your planet in a week," and they all stilled at that declaration.

A week. That was not enough time.

"And this time all shall bow before him...." and at his words, Diana jumped from her place, racing across the air as she swung her blade at Darkseid's right-hand man.

"Or be removed from existence."

BOOOM!

And with that, the magical transducer was blown away; only a small part of it remained, showcasing the face of Darkseid's accomplice's face smiling at Diana.

"How does it feel, Amazonian?" he asked as the figure's face began to distort.

"To know that you were the one who doomed this world," and with that, he went away even as Lex Luthor continued to scream.

"Master! Master!!!!"

.

.

.

And with that, they stood there in a clearing filled with screams, with the knowledge that unless they were able to do something, humanity would end in seven days.

.

.

.

.

"We have to do something!" Allen spoke worriedly as they gathered in his cave once more, their hopes and dreams broken as they realised the futility of the situation they faced.

"And what would that be!" Selina chided in from the side.

"You heard him yourself. The only person who could effectively give us a chance against Darkseid was this Kryptonian and Thomas and both are dead!" she added as she looked towards Diana who had a grim expression on her face.

"But we have to try, we were able to repel him once. We coul..."

"And at what cost!" Selina asked, reminding them all of the comrades they had lost, of the sacrifice it had taken to live another day.

And as they argued, Bruce busied himself running various tests; they had recovered what had remained of the Kryptonian boy murdered by Lex Luthor, and it was not much. Yet his genetic material may be the only key to their solution, and the more he stared at the screen and the sheer absurdity of these alien genetics, going through his own and the research he had taken from Luthor, the more it bamboozled him.

"We cannot just give up!" Diana spoke, as everyone looked at her. The futility and hopelessness was palpable, as Selina scoffed.

"Well, you should have thought of that before murdering the one person who could have saved us," and with that, she turned away.

"I am out of here, and I am taking Marth..."

"Wait," he spoke up for the first time, a small semblance of hope bubbling inside him.

Everyone in the room turned to face him as he continued.

"I believe there might be some hope for humanity," he added, making Selina frown.

"And what is that, though you better not say fighting together," she warned, and he shook his head.

"No, I am talking about this," he said as he pressed the hidden button on his desk. A pod emerged from the ground, making everyone frown.

"After looking at Luthor's research and combing it with some of my own, I believe there is one way that humanity may survive this," he added as everyone's eyes widened upon seeing the preserved body of his brother Thomas.

"Him," he added.

"But he is dead," Allen added as he took a small step toward the pod.

"So, all we need to do is to bring him back to life."

0000

 

[Drkest]

Chapter 40

BRUCE WAYNE

"Will this really work?" Selina questioned as both of them stood infront of a massive screen as time ran out for humanity.

"It should," he answered honestly, knowing there was little use in lying now.

This was a gamble. It was a massive gamble, yet the truth was that humanity had run out of options. Only a few days remained until Darkseid's armies landed on the planet and brought death and destruction to all.

Already humanity had shored up its defences, armies around the world were ready and preparing for the attack yet he knew that in face of the demon that was Darkseid they had little to no chance.

"Flash, are you ready?" he questioned his speedy colleague on the com and received an affirmative as an answer.

"I just have to provide enough energy to him that it could initiate a fission reaction, right?" he confirmed and Bruce nodded.

"Yes," Lex's experiments on the body of the Kryptonian boy had left little salvageable for them. The alien's DNA was a thing of marvel and something he could not replicate in the lab no matter how much he tried.

"In the end, whatever material they possessed they had grafted inside Thomas's body as they pushed it into a vacuum chamber. Thomas's body was somehow stopping itself from deteriorating by using a fission reaction. He wished to overpower that regeneration and force it to use that alien material for its survival.

It was a process in which a hundred things could go wrong.

"Diana, are you ready?" he questioned.

"I am," and everything was ready.

With a final sigh and prayer, Bruce reached for the coms and gave the final order.

"Do it!"

.

.

.

.

BOOOM!

0000

~Three Days Later~

SELINA KYLE

It was over. All over. Selina sat in the Batcave, looking at the display on the screen with a sense of hopelessness she had not felt in over a decade as she watched alien armies lay waste to their planet. All of humanity's preparations had proven themselves to be futile in the face of an enemy so overwhelming.

Darkseid. The name of the monster that had come for their planet.

She saw that monster swatting away at flash sending him tumbling through buildings, as he faced humanity's mightiest warriors, yet to no avail.

Even Diana, the juggernaut that she was, amounted to barely anything as the monster swatted away her attacks like nothing before simply punching so hard that she crashed into the ground so hard that it formed a crater around her.

Humanity's finest, Bruce Wayne, tried it all, weapons that he had never used to this day, that behemoth of an armor, a last gift from a brother that could have been their savior, did nothing as well, as Darkseid overpowered him as well.

She should have been there alongside them. She was powerful enough, yet she could not be, for she was tasked with an insuperable task. A task of leading the final exodus.

To save as many as she could, including what remained of their last hope.

"Is this all humanity has to offer?" Darkseid taunted as he stood victorious over humanity's finest warriors. Her eyes blurred as she saw her daughter standing beside her, watching the screen in horror as Darkseid crushed Bruce's armor under his leg and pinned him to the ground.

"Uncle!" Martha gasped in pain, yet Selina could do nothing to help but watch as Darkseid reached for the ground and pulled up the limp and bloody body of Diana, his hand clasped around her neck.

"Is this your final stand? Pathetic!" he snarled as she saw Diana thrash and try and get away from his grip.

"Let her go!" a voice came, as lightning raced across the screen as Flash tried to get her free, yet to no avail as Darkseid caught the red speedster with his other hand, crushing Bruce under his leg, the metal armor creaking and breaking.

"Pathetic!" Darkseid snarled as he threw Flash into a massive building once more and kicked Bruce Armor once more, pushing it into the ground. She saw the lights on it shut down as she gasped in pain.

"It is over," and in her pain, she missed how her daughter had walked away from her and was not standing beside the pod placed behind her in which floated a single body.

"Wake up!" she heard Martha scream as she punched the glass door of the pod.

"I said, WAKE UP!" she screamed as tears stemmed down her face.

"Uncle Bruce believed in you! Aunt Diana said you could save us all! SO WAKE UP!" Martha screamed as she punched the pod again and with her weak arms.

"I SAID WAKE UP!"

BOOM!

0000

DIANA PRINCE-WONDER WOMAN

Hopelessness flushed in her as she gasped and felt her strength leaving her as she found herself looking into those monstrous, fiery eyes.

"You have failed Amazon!" Darkseid taunted as he scrunched his foot, and she saw the red peeking out of Bruce's armor, and she could feel nothing but hopelessness at her own weakness.

The whole city around them had been destroyed as para-demons spread all around and lay waste.

And she could not help but feel responsible for this. She had caused this. She had doomed humanity.

And so, as she felt her vision blur, she felt that it would be up to her to buy them as much time as she could, and she roused the power that hid inside her, the power of the King of Gods, as she let it overflow, and fill her up unlike what she had ever done.

Her skin was burnt, and she felt her body begin to glow as she let go of Darkseid's fingers, giving up on her attempt to pry them away from her neck.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"If I am going to die..." she eeked out as her body continued to burn away.

"...then I am taking you with me!" she snarled in defiance as his eyes narrowed in rage as he raised her and then, with all his might, pushed her into the ground.

"AGHH!" she screamed in pain as her body began to glow.

"Let us see how you survive this!" and with that, she saw him raise his fist, which gleamed an ominous red, and she closed her eyes before he brought it down.

THUD!

Yet the pain she had expected never came, and she felt a shadowy figure appear above her. As she felt a pair of eyes focus on her before a soft hand touched her forehead and all the power she had been gathering seeped away as her body cooled down and the burning died down.

"WHAT!" she heard Darkseid scream in rage. She felt his arm being pushed back. As her vision began to clear up, she found herself looking at a rather familiar face.

"You..." she gasped out in between coughs as she looked at the shirtless form of Thomas Wayne standing above her, blocking Darkseid's punch and pushing him back.

"Hello there," he said seriously as Darkseid's rage grew, and after he had broken out of surprise, he punched Thomas with his other arm.

"Look out!" she screamed.

BOOM!

"Ouch!" Thomas screamed as Darkseid's punch connected, yet she did not miss how he had barely stumbled despite the force of the attack. This surprised Darkseid as well, as Thomas's feet suddenly lifted off the ground. He floated above Darkseid as he crushed his arm in his grip.

"ARGH!" the giant monster screamed as she saw his lips thin.

"My turn!" he whispered as he pulled back his arm and then, with a scream, punched him in the face.

"AHHHH!"

BOOOM!

0000