The last year has been all over the place for the Study Group. Well, every year for the Study Group is all over the place. It would be odd for things not to be all over the place.

That being said, there were always days and events set in time that had structure to them; that were destined to happen despite everything. Abed would explain this by referencing Inspector Spacetime and how the Inspector sometimes would not mess around with predestined events, lest the Blorgons find him messing with the time matrix and eradicate him. If the Inspector didmeddle he'd find he wouldn't have the time, nay, the space to also deal with the Blorgons. So, the Inspector would let these preordained events happen without interference.

Tonight, Abed theorised, was one of these preordained events. The hours leading up to midnight on July 20th: The release of The Dark Knight Rises. Whatever might be going on in space, and time, and spacetime at this moment had no bearing on the timeline. Abed and the rest of the Study Group were destined to watch the first ever screening of The Dark Knight Rises. He knew this to be the case.

These were just a few of the hundreds of thoughts firing around Abed's mind. Abed's mind would never switch off. Not for anyone or anything. Well…He doesmake the exception for Michael Bay movies.

Oh movies. Films. Cinema. Abed had no greater love than that of motion pictures. There was no greater feeling than getting the right seat in the cinema (3 rows from the back, bang in the middle), there was no greater smell than fresh cinema popcorn, no greater sight than seeing a film projected on a screen so large so you could study every little detail meticulously…

At least this was what Abed believed. His love of cinema is unrivalled. In his years he has experienced many unstable things. His parents break-up, when his friendship with his first real friend Troy hit the rocks, the uncertain future of Greendale…Abed has experienced a lot. But film will always be the one stable thing in his life.

It turned out that this current period was actually quite stable across the board. The school year was over and the Greendale Seven were doing okay for a change. Britta had moved into Abed, Troy and Annie's apartment; Pierce and Shirley opened Shirley's Sandwiches, and Jeff was well on his way towards his final year at Greendale.

What better way to celebrate all this current stability than to all go and watch The Dark Knight Rises on opening night together. In costume, no less.

Abed wasn't usually one to share things, but ever since discovering he could share the experience of watching a movie with others and still be able to pay attention to the film, he liked having the company.

Plus, their local cinema did group deals on tickets so it worked out much cheaper.

This later proved to be irrelevant as Jeff eventually managed to snag Pierce's credit card without him knowing and guessing his PIN correctly (That is, if '6969' is really a guess, knowing Pierce…)

So now Pierce unwittingly funds the Study Group's cinematic adventures. Not that Pierce would ever know or care, he always had money coming out of everywhere on his person.

Abed smiled as he stood in the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. 3 years ago he had no friends at all. Now he had six of the greatest friends you could ever ask for. As he brushed his teeth he thought of how lucky he was, as he was well aware that he was different, special. To have so many people put up with him at the same time was thought to be impossible. Against the odds. Much like how one man thinks he can clean the streets of Gotham City.

Batman. Everything comes back to Batman. At least right now it does. For Abed at least. It was a wonder how he managed to allow his mind even a little space to think about himself and the Study Group with all the hype and the theories and the excitement and the expectations he had for the conclusion to the Batman saga.

As Abed finished rinsing his mouth he stood up straight. The Bat-Symbol was emblazoned on the chest of Abed's Batsuit. Abed chose not to put on the cowl until he left the apartment in case being Batman overwhelmed him.

He just knew that at some point he wouldn't be able to control the urge to act like Batman. Abed reflected on the moment a few weeks ago where they went to watch The Amazing Spider-Man and Troy came out of it with the desire to be Spider-Man. He knew it just isn't meant to be though.

Abed put his toothbrush away in the toothbrush racks Annie had labelled. In fact Annie labelled a lot of things in the bathroom. One would think it was to be cute and neat and organised, but in reality it was because Annie caught Troy trying to use her toothbrush to clean the brick they use to prop open the apartment door. All these months and the eBay auction still won't hit Troy's reserve of $60.

Batman. Abed's mind went back to Batman. The Groundhog Day loop of everything going back to Batman was one Abed could certainly live with. The time was swiftly approaching for him and the rest of the Study Group to meet outside the cinema. He, Troy, Britta and Annie planned to go down together, Jeff offered to pick up Shirley, and Pierce…Well Pierce still thought Adam West was Batman, so they weren't sure if he was aware of what was going on with tonight's plans.

Abed turned to his left. The cowl for his Batman costume rested on a stand, looking up at him.

"It's almost time." Abed said to himself, a smile forming. He picked up the cowl and went to put it on when the voice of Troy came from the living room.

"Hey Abed! Check it out!" Troy called, the same gleeful excitement in his voice as that the excitement echoing around Abed's mind.

Abed lowered the cowl in his hands and turned to the bathroom door. He put the cowl under his arm as he stepped out of the bathroom, making sure his cape fluttered as he swung round the corner to walk over to see Troy…