AN: This will be a series of one shots from different people regarding the ending of Arkham Knight. There will be MAJOR spoilers for the full Knightfall ending in each chapter. They will vary in length from fairly long to drabbles. Each chapter is complete on its own.
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, or any recognizable characters. They are property of DC comics and Rocksteady etc etc. Some chapters contain dialogue straight from the game.
Please tell me what you think!
Golden Asp
Knightfall
Barbara Gordon
When he said he was going to finish it, I never imagined that this is what he meant. I was at GCPD when it happened. My dad and Tim had just been brought back from Arkham Asylum. Robin walked up to me and we hugged tightly. To say it had been a long night was an understatement.
"Where's my dad?" I asked.
"On the roof," Tim said wearily, "He said he needed to look at something. The bat-signal, I think." He looked around and sank to the floor. He looked terrible. I don't think I looked much better though. I doubt my dad looked any better.
We sat in silence for a while, the hum of GCPD around us. Gotham's most wanted were arguing in the holding cell. Scarecrow was rocking back and forth, muttering about bats. The bastard could rot in hell for all I cared. The son of a bitch.
"Hey, look!" one of the officers pointed to the TV. We looked up. Cash brought Vicki Vale's feed on the big screen by the intake desk. Tim pushed me over on the office chair. Vicki Vale was standing in front of Wayne Manor with what seemed to be reporters from every news agency in the world.
It was big news, the fact that Bruce Wayne was the Batman.
"This is Vicki Vale for GCN, reporting live outside Wayne Manor following the dramatic unmasking of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne…"
The camera suddenly panned up as the Batwing flew in. The reporters surged towards the gate. Vale looked at her cameraman.
"That's him! Are you still rolling?"
The camera zoomed in on Bruce. I felt a stirring of unease. Where was his cowl? I grabbed Tim's hand, and he squeezed it gently. I don't know if he felt what I did. Where was his cowl?
The camera zoomed in as the door to the manor opened. I could see Alfred standing there, looking impeccable as always. He and Bruce exchanged a few words. I was clinging to Tim's hand as I watched Alfred shake his head slowly. Bruce put his hand on Alfred's shoulder and walked into the manor.
The camera focused on Alfred's face as he began to shut the door. He looked…a little sad, resigned. It seemed to take forever for the door to shut.
Vale was still reporting. "We just saw Bruce Wayne, now known to be the masked vigilante Batman, enter his home refusing to comm-"
"No…" I whispered softly. Tim looked down at me.
"Barbara, what-"
The door finally snapped shut. The manor exploded.
"No!" Tim yelled. I covered my mouth, stifling my cries. The GCPD went silent. The police, who just hours ago had learned that the masked man that had helped them for years was in fact Bruce Wayne, seemed more shocked by the explosion than the truth of the Batman's identity. Even Gotham's most wanted went quiet, watching the manor being devoured by the explosions.
It seemed like hours, days, years even, that we sat there and watched the live feed of Bruce Wayne's death. Time stood still. It was over. I could feel tears flowing down my face, and when I looked at Tim, I could see tears running from under his mask.
"C'mon people, we still have work to do," my dad's gruff voice came from behind us. I turned and felt my chest constrict. He was holding Batman's cowl in his hand. He looked resigned, and so very tired.
"Daddy…" I whispered. He wrapped his arms around me and we held each other tightly, Batman's cowl trapped between us. He looked at Tim.
"You doing okay, Robin?"
Tim nodded jerkily. My dad looked at us. "Why don't I take you and Robin to back to the clock tower?"
We nodded slowly. Anything to be away from the crowds right now. My dad went to get a car ready. Cash carried me to the garage since neither Tim nor my dad was really up to it right now.
The ride to the clock tower was silent. I sat next in the passenger seat and watched Gotham. It was a mess. Debris from the tanks, bodies from when the Cloudburst went off, and to top it off, Bruce was gone. The Batman was gone. It didn't seem right. What was Gotham without the Dark Knight?
When we got to the tower, Tim went up and got my wheelchair and brought it back down. Then all three of us rode up together. As soon as we were in the confines of my place, Tim took off his mask.
Dad seemed completely nonplussed that Tim Drake was Robin. Although I guess after finding out that I had been Batgirl and continued to work with Batman even after the Joker shot me….maybe he was just at his limit for shocks for the night.
Tim walked over to the small fridge and took out three sodas. He handed them to each of us. I wheeled myself over to the Shakespeare bust and flipped the head back. It scanned my eyes and the clock tower changed over.
"Identity confirmed, welcome Oracle."
Like I had told Bruce, I was surprised when my dad hadn't said anything about me being Batgirl or Oracle and keeping it from him for years. He still didn't say anything about it. He just stared at the computers. Tim stood next to the console in the middle of the room, looking at the icons.
"Babs, what's 'Knightfall'?" he asked.
"What?" I wheeled over to him. In the middle of the screen was an icon that hadn't been there before. It was simply titled 'Knightfall'. I frowned and touched it. It opened, revealing a folder. Suddenly, Bruce's voice came from the computer.
"Barbara, Lucius has a physical copy, but I figured you deserved to see it before the lawyers see it. You were the best of us, always."
I opened the folder and opened the only thing that was in it.
The last will and testament of Bruce Wayne.
That was when the tears really started.
Knightfall
The next few weeks were a blur. LexCorp and S.T.A.R. Labs came in and began to help Wayne Enterprises with cleaning up Gotham. My dad won the election for mayor in a landslide. Mayor James Gordon. Has a nice ring to it. Speaking of rings, Tim proposed. I said yes. We're getting married soon. I just wish Bruce could be there.
A week after the election, a group of us were called to Lucius' office at Wayne Enterprises for the reading of the will. Me, Tim, Dad, and Dick met in front of Wayne Tower. Dick looked ragged. I knew it had been rough on him. He had been working extra hard in Bludhaven, like he had something to prove.
A woman walked out of Wayne Tower just as we were opening the door. My dad held the door open for her. Her head was down, but I thought she looked familiar. Short black hair, pale skin, green eyes…
Selina. What the hell was Catwoman doing at Wayne Enterprises?
I'll be honest, I never read his will. I tried, but every time it just brought on more tears. It wouldn't surprise me if Bruce had left something to Selina, but I just hadn't read it. I couldn't read it.
She never looked at us as she walked away. Soon, the four of us were in Lucius' office. We all gathered around the desk.
"I'll make this quick," the lawyer said, "Bruce Wayne left something for all of you." He looked at the will before him.
"'To Richard John Grayson, I leave the Wayne summer manor, my shares of Wayne Enterprises, as well as the 500 million in investments I have made in his name. Let it be known that he now has full access to the trust fund I created for him at the age of 9. Tell him I am proud of him.'"
Dick looked shocked. "So much…why?"
The lawyer looked at him. "You were his heir, Mr. Grayson. With no living relatives, Mr. Wayne made you the heir to most of the Wayne fortune."
Dick nodded and looked at his hands clasped in his lap. I could see the tears rolling down his cheeks.
The lawyer continued. "'To Barbara Gordon, I leave the clock tower, 25 million dollars in savings, and my eternal gratitude.'"
I swallowed as the lawyer handed me the deed to the clock tower. I was now the owner of one of the most sought after buildings in Gotham, and more money than I knew what to do with.
I ran my fingers over the deed and closed my eyes.
"'To Timothy Drake I leave Panessa Studios, 25 million in savings, and apologies for any bad memories that the studios may now carry.'"
Tim took the deed from the lawyer with wide eyes. We looked at each other. That last phrase meant that Bruce had modified his will that night. Of course he had. It was probably part of the Knightfall Protocol.
"'To Lucius Fox I leave Wayne Enterprises in his capable hands, with the caveat that it never be renamed, and I leave my thanks.'"
Lucius nodded. He was now the sole owner of Wayne Enterprises. It didn't surprise me at all. Lucius was a good man, the only man for the job.
"'To James Gordon I leave 50 million dollars in savings, and my thanks for being a true friend.'"
My dad looked at his hands as we all sat in silence. The lawyer looked slightly uncomfortable.
"There's one more person Mr. Wayne left some of his estate to, but we can't seem to get a hold of him."
"Who is it?" I asked. If anyone could find this person, I could.
"A Jason Todd."
"What?!" Dick shouted. My dad put his hand on Dick's shoulder. I hadn't seen Dick since that night, only talking over the phone. I hadn't told him that Jason was alive, that Jason had worked with Crane that night and had tried to kill Batman multiple times. I hadn't told him that Jason had stepped in and saved Bruce.
Dick opened his mouth, but closed it when my dad squeezed his shoulder.
"I'll get in touch with him," I said softly, "but he probably won't come to see you. I can get whatever Bruce left to him to him."
The lawyer nodded. He told me what I needed to know to get Jason what Bruce had left. Dick looked uncomfortable. Maybe I should've told him that Jason was alive…
We left Wayne Tower. Dick returned to Bludhaven, Tim and I planned our wedding, and life went on.
Knightfall
As mayor, one of the first things my dad was rename Crime Alley. It's now Wayne Way. The second thing he did was make sure that Ivy's giant plants weren't touched. He wanted to honor her, because we all knew that without her, we all would have died. The third thing he did was commission a statue of the Batman. Tim and I were married before the statue was finished. It was a short, simple ceremony, and with the money Bruce left us, we got one hell of a honeymoon.
The statue was finally unveiled in January. It seemed like most of Gotham turned out for it. There were reporters from all over the world there to see the unveiling of this statue.
My dad stood next to the covered statue, looking out over the crowd.
"A friend once told me that criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot. That the only way to beat them was to give them something to be scared of."
I tuned out the speech after that. I had heard it many times, hell, I'd thought it many times. I was still Oracle. I was still protecting his city. There have been rumors of a new Batman. None of us have seen him. I just know it's not Bruce, it's not our Batman. And until Robin or Nightwing, or hell, even Catwoman, meet this new Batman, we'll just let the myth grow. The criminals need something to fear.
Robin pulled the shroud off the statue. I looked at it. He stood over a miniaturized city scape of Gotham, looking over his city. He would always be there to protect it. At the base of the statue was the bat symbol with words inlaid over it.
"From a grateful city, in memory of the Gotham Knight."
up next: Dick Grayson, Nightwing. These won't really happen in any order, but Selina will be the very last chapter. Let me know what you think. Flames will be ignored.