One
Flashes of a past…
The nurse entered the intensive care room and paused, as he often did upon entering this room; possessed by a feeling that made him uneasy. He couldn't identify it, and felt ashamed nonetheless. He decided, as he usually did to ask Allah about it in his prayers.
The patient lay in the ICU bed, silent in his coma but with the most intense look upon his face- fixed there almost by the hand of Allah it seemed as he was consumed by his dreams.
Swinging through the darkness…the sound of hideous laughter…the shape of a bat painted in the sky…shattering glass…cries of the innocent…darkness…
Bruce Wayne lay in the ICU bed, in the purgatory of his coma; fighting every battle he'd ever fought all at once. He saw in his mind's eye Joe Chill shooting his parents, Joker killing Tim, Bane breaking his back and Azrael, struggling to keep his city.
Finally, Bruce saw a brilliant flash of light and heard a massive roar followed by a cacophony of screams before the dream ended the way it always did- darkness.
Suddenly, a piercing wail came through the hospital's intercom; a man's voice half singing, half crying "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.
Ash-hadu alla ilaha illa-llah. Ash-hadu alla ilaha illa-llah.
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar-Rasulullah. Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar-Rasulullah.
Hayya 'ala-s-Salah, hayya 'ala-s-Salah. Hayya 'ala-l-falah, hayya 'ala-l-falah. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. La ilaha illa-llah As-Salatu khairun min an-naum, As-Salatu khairun min an-naum. " Somewhere in the back of his mind, Bruce knew what those words meant…and knew they didn't belong in a hospital in Gotham. He struggled against the darkness in his mind, fighting to wake again. The Nurse walked swiftly out of the room, praying loudly.
Bruce focused all his will on the darkness, knowing what lie within. Within the recesses of his mind he could hear his own voice echoing at him "Batman…Batman…" he could feel his body lashing out in the shadows as he finally felt his opponent, "Batman, we've gone through our entire life with this battle…it has to stop!" he heard his own voice shout.
"Bruce, this is who we are; who else will fight for the innocent?" The Dark Knight shouted back.
"Who fought for them?" and suddenly, Batman stood next to Bruce Wayne in The Alley. At the darkened end he saw his parents, on their knees as Joe Chill stood over them with a handgun. Batman flew into action, pulling a pair of Batarangs from his utility belt and throwing, just as the gun went off twice; killing the Waynes.
"See, Batman? The one crime you want to stop the most- you can't. What good do we do?" Bruce called out from the end of the alley, gesturing at the bodies.
Batman stood silently for a moment. "Bruce, Chill didn't just kill our parents- he killed you that night as well." He pivoted smoothly and strode up to Bruce; "I am what remained, Gotham needs me- not you, now get out of my way."
Suddenly, Bruce flashed into motion; striking the Bat with lethal fury. Only Batman's suit protected him from the lethal assault for long enough for Batman to fire a flury of open palm strikes that knocked Bruce to the ground.
"Do we really need to do this?" Batman asked; "Is it necessary that one of us die here and now?"
Bruce Wayne stood again and reached into his coat, pulling a katana sword; "Yes, you've been deluding yourself all these years to believe we can co-exist." And then the sword flashed into motion.
Batman sidestepped, vanishing into the shadows before appearing behind Bruce and slapping the sword from his hand "You don't have to die, Bruce." Batman said, with a growing realization that he was lying to himself.
"You already told me, I died here already- how appropriate that I chose here to do it again."
Bruce turned to face the Batman before launching yet another brutal assault. Batman realized the truth, only one of them was going to survive this battle and if Bruce survived, he'd never wake up. As that thought crossed the Dark Knight's mind Bruce made his fatal mistake as he angrily fired a haymaker at the Bat's head. Batman sidestepped, grabbing the arm as it flew by and breaking it with a chop to the top of the shoulder before wrapping the now useless limb over Bruce's throat and crushing his windpipe. Bruce's eyes got huge as the air stopped flowing until the Batman closed his fist and drove it into the base of Bruce's skull, crushing his spine.
Batman's eyes snapped open and he sat up looking around the ICU suite, startled at its modernity when the nurse walked in.
"Mr Wayne? Allahu Akbar! Truly God is great!"