Chapter One: The Insurgency Rises
It had been five years.
Five years since everything had changed, all because of one moment a moment which forever divided the heroes and villains of Earth.
It was a day that was remembered with hushed whispers and an overwhelming sense of fear by all those who had been involved or had witnessed, powerless to stop it.
They thought that, that would have been it, that the most powerful man on Earth would grieve but that was not the case and Batman was haunted by The Joker's final words as he glanced sadly at him in the interrogation room.
The last place he'd ever see.
"You honestly think your friend will still be fun to play with?" The Joker asked, glancing down at the table his eyes empty and vacant, Batman wondered now if he had known what was coming, The Joker had always been able to outsmart him and he had always known it.
Batman would never have admitted it out loud back then but there was a part of him that respected The Joker and his mind, his tenacity was intoxicating.
No matter what he came back stronger and willing to give it another go, it was ironic in a way if The Joker had not been so determined to be a villain, then Bruce could have seen them becoming friends.
"He will grieve" Batman recalled saying as he moved to sit in front of The Joker, who was not meeting his eyes which was unusual, to say the least. "But he will stay one of the best men I know".
He had said it with such confidence and strength in his voice because Bruce couldn't fathom what was going to come next, no one could except the one sitting in front of him now.
Joker's head slowly rose defiant, but his eyes told a different story it was hard to be brave Bruce supposed when you knew what was coming.
"Oh Bats" he sighed heavily before shaking his head "Bruce".
Batman's recalled the feeling of shock that had radiated through him, hearing The Joker say his name, it was also the way he had said it.
He sounded defeated, as if he had been acknowledging Bruce Wayne as their dance came to a brutal end.
"No" The Joker had said a softer tone coming to his voice, a tone he had only ever heard him talk with to one other person, a person he had done this for and now Batman knew it, that was the joke, The Joker had been right all along.
There was nothing crueller than memory.
"I think it's going to be a whole lot funnier than that".
He had not been wrong, even as Superman's fist flew through his chest with such malice and hatred seething off the man of steel, Joker was right.
His sick sense of humour had always been right.
His fear of Superman had been justified after all.
At first, Batman and the other heroes had tried to work with Superman, keep the Justice League alive, but things rapidly began to unravel when he attacked someone that Batman cared for deeply.
Roxanne Wolvero or Wolf, but she was more than just someone to Batman, she meant everything to The Joker and Harley Quinn.
To top it all off not only did Superman collapse a building on a woman who had been miles from the fight and had been under Bruce Wayne's protection but he nearly killed another pregnant woman.
Wolf had been pregnant with Joker's kids or pups as she had warmly called them, which she had told Bruce during a morning coffee. It had not been long after that, that Batman had found The Joker in quite an unstable state and it was something that would haunt him for the rest of his life, seeing him cry.
And not just cry but fall onto his knees and plead for Batman to do whatever he could to keep Roxy safe; it was the first time they had ever agreed because they both loved Roxy.
Batman had also kept one more promise to The Joker and Wolf yet that was a memory that he was not yet ready to discuss.
Roxy was safe now and had two beautiful kids, thanks to her healing factor she had survived the building collapse, the building that The Joker had got for her, although he had never disclosed how.
When the building came down Wolf didn't die due to her healing factor but she had, had to make a difficult choice, save her pups or save her legs.
Oliver and Dinah had been chosen as Wolf and Joker's godparents and despite Oliver's initial disgust, he had been overjoyed when the pups were born and doted on them as if they were his blood.
Because they were half Lycan they grew quickly by the time their biological age was one; they looked to be around five, in the years to come this would prove useful.
Harley also helped to take care of the little ones and Batman was a pretty good father figure when he needed to be.
It was quite the happy little family and despite the fact that Superman seemed to be more authoritative than usual, things appeared to be going back to normal, that was until Wolf dropped a bombshell.
"I want to take Superman down" she had snapped one day sitting in the wheelchair that Batman had managed to precur for her, it was cumbersome and slow but it would do for now.
They were all gathered in Wayne manor where Wolf was currently staying in the hopes that she would regain the use of her legs, the moonlight flittered through the open window illuminating her eyes, that were cold and determined.
"You cannot be serious" Oliver had responded, kneeling down to her level, his eyes meeting hers, he knew she was grieving, he hoped that was the reason why she was saying this.
"Roxy we can't fight him, he's our friend he's just lost his path. He hasn't done anything to show that he's not fit to rule the Justice League, I know you're angry but revenge isn't the way" he had tried to reason with her.
Batman watched as Wolf straightened in her chair and pushed Oliver away someone who she considered to be her brother and her best friend, the hurt was evident in her eyes and Oliver's too.
"If I recall that was your original mandate to take revenge on those who had 'failed your city' " she said bitterly.
Oliver gave a soft smile as he looked to Dinah then back to Wolf "You were the one who convinced me I could do more" he said.
Wolf let out an exasperated sigh, clutching onto the armrests of her wheelchair to vent her frustration for not being able to get out of it.
"He's not going to stop; this is only the beginning" she explained frantically.
"She's right" Harley spoke up, even though their friendship was well 'uneasy' they were the closest to Wolf and the pups, her support, so she was sticking by all of them, despite the fact that all she wanted to do was bash their heads in!
"Mistah J, said it all the time, that Supey was a total wacko beneath the red and blue. All it was going to take was a push".
Dinah seemed to snap at that, she still wasn't too pleased with what The Joker had done and the fact that he had taken Metropolis along with Lois was the last straw.
"A push that cost the lives of eight billion people and changed Superman, your husband was a total lunatic Roxy. Stop making him out to be some hero!"
Roxy suddenly stood up and Bruce had to support her despite her growl of disagreement " Why can't any of you see, he did it to protect me!"
Batman recalled how stunned they had all been as Wolf had revealed the truth of the plan. "He had to make sure that Superman never found out from Lois that I was pregnant, we were at the same hospital for a check-up" she trailed off shaking her head, they didn't need to know the details and what was discussed, nor the fear and anger in Lois's eyes.
"Do you have any idea what the other superheroes would have done if they found out, what Joker's enemies would have done?" she asked gazing around the room.
Oliver frowned as he looked down crossing his arms, he was beginning to understand, for the first time in his life The Joker had been scared to death and he was thinking about his kids and Roxy, he put their needs before his own.
"They would have killed the three of you," he said coming to the stark and brutal revelation "because Joker had a weakness, they'd use you to get to him".
Batman nodded grimly, that had been what he and The Joker had discussed some months ago.
"But to force Superman to kill Lois and the baby" Dinah began.
"In times of war circumstances dictate action" Batman recalled saying all those years ago.
"The war hasn't started yet" Dinah began, but part of her was starting to understand; maybe The Joker wasn't without reason after all.
Oliver cut her off with a heavy sigh and a grim look in his eyes "it had for Joker", he couldn't believe that he understood someone like The Joker, maybe. Maybe he wasn't as insane as Oliver had first thought, maybe he was as Wolf had described him, hyper sane; someone who was able to understand reasons beyond a person's ordinary understanding, but that bodes another question
Had The Joker known, what Superman was capable of and if so, what were they about to witness?
It had only been a month after this discussion that the first casualty happened, Dick Grayson; Batman's son, even though the death was accidental, it put into stark clarity how much Superman had changed.
He was going to execute the prisoners of Arkham, some of which were trying to make good with their life, superheroes did not kill, that was vigilantism and Superman was no vigilante; no he was acting like a dictator!
Damian Wayne, Bruce's son by blood; had been responsible despite the fact he insisted it was an accident. Damian joined Superman's cause and Bruce lost his two sons in one horrifying night.
It was a massive blow to Quinn and Tony too, who saw Dick as a big brother and with a world turned upside down, that normality had been what everyone had needed.
Wolf mourned him just as much as Batman as the two had been close after Batman had convinced her to train him, she saw Dick as her son and in a pack sense her next heir. With him gone, the world seemed a lot less bright.
It was then that the president of the USA disturbed by Superman's growing irrationality called Batman in and asked him to put together a team to fight against the man of steel.
Wolf gave Batman the name.
The Insurgency.
Martian Manhunter was the first to fall and although Wolf did not know him well she too grieved his death, the fact that it had come at Superman and Wonder Woman's hands was, even more, evidence that their cause was justified.
In retaliation, Superman outed Batman's true identity and in doing so, was able to cut off the Bruce from his money.
The insurgency suffered another blow when Oliver was beaten to death by Superman and Captain Atom to lose his life after Wonder Woman compromised his suit.
Batman recalled having to tell Wolf that her brother was gone.
He was walking down into the Batcave after informing Alfred, who was doing whatever he could to console the two children over Oliver's death, he gave the Butler and his oldest friend a deeply sympathetic look, but Alfred had merely pointed to the entrance to the Batcave.
Bruce was surprised to find Wolf staring at the bat computer waiting for the analysis to finish on those pills.
"He's coming for you," she said her voice bitter and empty.
Bruce had felt his heart stop as Wolf wheeled her chair round to face him.
"Ollie is…"
"I know" was Wolf's bitter response, her body shaking with rage. "But he did not die in vain, those pills will make sure no one else dies, that everyone has a chance to take that bastard down!"
Bruce nodded slowly before frowning, had she just said that Superman was coming?
As if reading his mind Wolf calmly wheeled over to the transporter, as Alfred brought her kids down and they left the only home they had ever known.
But Wolf left him with a grim warning that still to this day rang in his ears.
"If you die, Bruce, the Insurgency dies with you".
Wolf's words still rang in Bruce's ears five years later, which is where our story begins.