Disclaimer: I do not own any DC IPs or Worm. They belong to their respective owners.

Justice League: Legacies (DCAU/Worm)

For decades the world has been kept safe by living legends, Earth's mightiest heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Manhunter, Dr. Fate, Aquaman, and the Flash. Together, they formed the Justice League and were soon joined by thousands of other heroes the world over, but years have gone by and now it is time for the next generation to take up the mantle of as the defenders of earth. This is their story.

Justice League: Legacies Batgirl Beyond #1

Cover: An ebony black statue of Batman in his signature cape and cowl stands at the crest of a grassy hill while the sun sets behind it. A teenaged girl with long, curly dark hair stands next to a bush a fair distance down the hill from the statue. She holds an empty bottle in her hands and is watching a large Asian man stand in front of the statue with his arms spread wide and fire dancing in his hands. Overhead a cloud tinged orange and red by the setting sun takes the shape of a bat with its wings spread.

You hear stories about superheroes all of the time on Earth Bet. You see them on the news, heck, if you look up in the sky sometimes at night you can see the Justice League's Watchtower. If you're lucky, you can even see the local chapter of the Justice League on patrol in your city, or visit their base for a tour. Who you only rarely see are the legends, the people who stepped up in the beginning to form the Justice League and stop the greatest of those first villains: King, Marquis, Bane, Morgaine Le Fey, String Theory, the Joker, Doomsday.

Sure, you can see Wonder Woman at the major Justice League PR events with her half-mask alongside Manhunter and the Flash, or go to New York and see Superman's giant golden statue right outside the UN and Justice League Earth-based headquarters, but Aquaman rarely leaves the seas, Superman is either too busy to be seen except at a distance or missing altogether, Dr. Fate's gone, probably retired, and the last time anyone saw Batman he was being torn in half by the Siberian on live TV.

In a world with the internet, the sight of world's greatest heroes is only a few clicks of a mouse and taps of the keyboard away, but when you see them you can tell that even the most ageless of them are growing old.

But sometimes legends prove that they can last forever.

I was fourteen and walking through the Boardwalk. My mom had died only months ago. My dad could barely take care of himself, let alone me, and I had decided that I needed to get out of the house. I walked listlessly, not really paying attention to where I was going and letting my feet take me where they would.

Eventually I realized I had come to Memorial Park. It was on Captain's Hill right next to the graveyard where my mother had been buried. From here you could see most of the city, or at least the parts not blocked by the sky scrapers, and it was at the base of the mountains to the west of the city so you could see the Wayne Manor brooding in the distance in all its ancient Gothic glory over the city.

What made Memorial Park special was what had been built there in commemoration of the world's first cape. He hadn't been the first to show himself to the public, but he had been around the longest, longer than even Superman. It was a statue as dark as the blackest night, made of some sort of Tinkertech metal so that it reflected nothing. If you wanted to get poetic, it was like a hole in the world, left by the man it commemorated. Batman, a muscular man in a flowing cape and with two fins on the sides of his head, though they honestly reminded me more of cat ears than those of a bat. He had been Superman's heroic opposite, a symbol of fear, retribution and vengeance where Superman was a symbol of hope, justice and the future. Superman was the greatest hero the Earth had, with unsurpassed might and countless powers he could call upon for any situation. Batman had his wits, determination and gear. Batman had been one of the world's most important superheroes, he stood alongside people who were practically gods in the ancient Greek sense, and trained, mentored or inspired dozens, if not hundreds, of heroes, and now he was gone. Without him the other legends were drifting away it seemed.

I don't know how long I stood there looking at it, thinking about people long gone, when I noticed a large Asian man stomp up to it. He wore a metal dragon mask and left his torso exposed to the afternoon air, showing off the twisting designs of an Oriental dragon curling around his body.

It took me a moment to place him. He was Lung, a Japanese villain who'd come to Batman's city to challenge its heroes and take it from his successors. He'd openly challenged them and won, the local Justice League and the PRT had been powerless to stop him. And now he was here in Memorial Park.

Lung was soon followed by other ethnically Asian men, and some boys, all wearing green and red.

I didn't run away, and I'm still not sure why. Instead I moved behind a nearby bush and watched them gather around the statue, below which Lung stood. I could see they all held something, pipes, chains, crowbars, some handguns, I even saw a few with shotguns. Some of them had rope looped around their chest and over a shoulder.

Eventually a large enough crowd had gathered enough for Lung and he held a hand in the air, the crowd of ABB gang members falling silent at his gesture.

Then he began to speak. "The strong rule the weak. That has always been true. They do this with fear. Fear of the known and the unknown. Batman, ruled with both. Cloaking himself in mystery and striking from the shadows, keeping people from knowing how he operated or where he would attack next. And with this he managed to defeat powerful enemies, showing that they could not oppose him. His victories came from deceit and outmaneuvering his opponents, he was like a ninja of old. However, his tricks could only take him so far. Bane and the Siberian proved this.

"I do not need such things. I do not need to hide my power in order to overcome my foes. I do not need the fear of the uncertain to enforce my will. You all know what will happen to you if you defy me, and now this city does as well. Batman's memory has no place here. He is but a memory now, and memories cannot rule through fear."

Suddenly a dark shape dropped from the sky and landed in the midst of the gang with a crash. It rose up, revealing itself to be black and dark grey suit of bulky armor that stood as tall as Lung himself at seven feet. Atop its head were two small fins like cat ears. "I'm not just a memory," a deep voice said, echoing across the park. "I was just retired."

As his gang scrambled away from the man in armor, Lung threw back is head and let out deep laughter. Finally, he got himself under control and even from the distance I was at I could tell he was smiling. "After everything you've survived already, I knew you had to be out there somewhere. Neither they nor you would let yourself die like that." I could see Lung slowly but visibly growing. "A warrior like you deserves a better fate than to die like that, or to fade away in obscurity. Come, we shall duel for the fate of this city and I shall give you the death you deserve. Then this city will truly be mine."

The man in the suit chuckled with grim determination before rolling his head and shoulders. "I fought the original Bane. He had better lines." The man, Batman, dropped into a ready stance.

Lung charged, the air igniting around him as he barreled down on Batman, who stood firm. When Lung was almost there, Batman quickly ducked under Lung's arms and punched the villain in the side of the chest with a pneumatic pop as they passed each other.

Lung spun around, fire whipping at Batman's armor but unable to do anything more than scorch its exterior. "More tricks?" Lung demanded as he kicked at Batman with lightning speed and knocked him off of the scorched field that they had been fighting on and onto the asphalt path that wound through the park ten feet away.

"It's why you came," Batman replied gruffly as he rolled to his feet and tossed a canister at Lung, who tried to bat it away with more pyrokinesis. Unfortunately for him the canister exploded into a thick dark green gas which caused Lung to stagger back from it chocking. Moments later Batman leapt through the cloud only to be hit by a defensive swing by Lung and knocked to the side.

Batman charged again at the still recovering Lung. When Lung punched at him again, Batman caught his right wrist with one hand and punched his forearm with the other, triggering another pneumatic pop that reached my ears from about forty feet away. Batman quickly ducked when Lung tried to swing at him again and punched Lung's right side to another pneumatic pop before rolling and leaping away.

Lung growled in anger and I could see shining metal scales begin to emerge from his skin and cover his body. He charged at Batman again, Batman coming to meet him. When they were halfway towards each other, Lung exploded with fire, blinding me and the thugs watching as Batman leapt into the inferno.

When I could see again, Batman had been thrown twenty feet into the base of his own statue, and he was slowly picking himself up. I could tell something was wrong because he was barely moving even as Lung stalked closer.

"Are you done?" Lung demanded as he approached, his gang members cheering him on. "Get up and die on your feet, Batman."

Batman started to respond, but I heard a hacking cough come from him, and saw in the firelight all around that there was a dent in the center of his chest plate.

"Is this really it for the great Batman? The World's Greatest Detective, the Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader?" Lung stopped before him and shook his head.

Batman lunged at Lung, but before he could reach the villain, Lung kicked him into his own statue, grabbed him as he fell and tossed him back into the field. He tried to push himself back up, but stopped amid a fit of wet coughing.

Lung, now completely covered in scales, took his time walking towards the downed hero. "I can feel your anesthetics," he admitted, "unfortunately for you it isn't enough."

I was watching Batman get taken down all over again. He was going to die. I couldn't just watch him die, not after mom, but I was powerless to do anything. Something in me snapped. I looked around for something, anything that could help and I spotted an empty beer bottle lying in the grass nearby.

Not hesitating long enough to reconsider, I ran over and picked it up. Standing straight I held it behind me and threw as hard as I could. The bottle arced through the air and somehow managed to hit Lung on his left shoulder.

"Leave him alone!" I shouted at the villain who had defeated entire superhero team and Batman himself just moments ago. The gang members looking on fell quiet at my outburst, waiting for their boss's reaction.

He looked at me in surprise, hesitating for just a second out of shock.

In that moment, Batman pushed himself off the ground and hit Lung in the abdomen with both fists, setting off two more pneumatic pops as anesthetics were injected. Lung quickly grabbed Batman's hands in grips hard enough to dent the metal, before more gas canisters detonated at Batman's waist. As Lung backed away coughing he threw Batman to the side again.

In the distance I heard the growl of a motorcycle, someone was coming.

Lung looked to Oni Lee and gestured. "The Justice League… is coming… stop them from interfering," he ordered the teleporter, who bowed slightly before gesturing to the other thugs and barking orders to them in a language I didn't understand. A moment later Oni Lee had collapsed into ash and several large groups moved off to delay the heroes.

I had to buy time for them to get there and help Batman. I looked around frantically and saw a twig. I ran over, picked it up and threw it, but Lung's fires burnt it to charcoal and ash without him even noticing.

He stomped over towards Batman, but I could see him visibly start to sway on his feet but he continued towards Batman, who had managed to get on his knees but was audibly gasping.

"You…will…die…Batman," Lung spat out as he staggered closer to Batman, his scales gradually receding back beneath his skin.

"I…don't…die," Batman retorted between pained gasps as he slowly straightened.

Lung grabbed for Batman, but he managed to knock the villain's hands to the side the push him face first into the dirt. Lung started to pick himself up, his movements heavy and slow. Batman used his right hand to pry open a compartment on his waist and pulled out a syringe, which he jammed into a scaleless spot on Lung's back and depressed the top with another pop. Lung struggled for a few seconds more before collapsing to the ground.

The ABB gang and I watched in silence as Batman stood, pain evident with every motion and breath, before he stepped back and dropped a canister on top of Lung. As soon as it hit his unconscious back, it exploded into a mass of foam that stuck Lung to the ground, covering his back and arms.

Batman slowly turned his head to look at the assembled gang that had been watching the fight and I followed his gaze as well, seeing it momentarily settle on the ABB's other parahuman, the teleporting suicide bomber Oni Lee. None of them did more than look on in stunned silence.

"This… is my city," Batman declared. "The League is on their way, you can't win."

The spell broke. "Get him!" one of the thugs ordered. A dozen of the remaining thugs brought up their guns, but then more green clouds exploded into being in front of encircling gang members.

They stumbled away coughing as sounds of fighting drew closer.

Batman just stood there and watched as clouds of gas and smoke drifted across the park.

He looked at me through the smoke, still standing there as the sun started to set behind him and his statue, and said to me, "Thank you."

"Um…a-any time, Batman," I stuttered.

Batman gave a hacking cough before shaking his head. "What you did… was brave… reckless, but brave. Good job." He coughed wetly again.

"Um… you should get that looked at…" I warned him.

He managed a grim laugh. "I'm sure Armsmaster will say the same thing."

We remained standing there with nothing but the whistling of the wind, the omnipresent background noise of the city, and the distant sounds of fighting for what seemed like forever, but was probably just a few minutes at most. Eventually we heard the roar of a motorbike and Armsmaster himself pulled up on the burnt grass next too Batman and Lung, with Velocity appearing beside them a moment later.

Armsmaster, leader of the local Justice League chapter, climbed off his bike, his mouth set in a scowl and though his visor covered his eyes I could tell he was glaring at Batman. "What the hell possessed you to put that thing on –" He shot me a look before continuing and a more level tone. "Just wearing that could have killed you, could still kill you!"

Batman shook his head, otherwise not moving. "The city needed Batman… needed the symbol."

"Dammit. When Bar – let alone Superman or Wonder Woman, they're going to tear me apart for letting you do something so reckless." Armsmaster sighed and shook his head.

Batman let out another laugh. "You were -" He coughed and Armsmaster set his hand on Batman's arm. "You were worse than Nightwing or Red Robin ever were."

"Times have changed, Batman."

"Not enough."

The police and the PRT arrived minutes later and took Lung away before asking for my account. Armsmaster helped Batman into a PRT ambulance and after the police helped me call him, my dad arrived to pick me up as well.

I saw him rush up to me with a mixture of worry and relief on his face, his glasses and large eyes lending a touch of surprise to the mixture. "Taylor, I'm so glad you're alright," he cried out as he wrapped his arms around me. "What were you thinking?"

"I had to help him…" I told him.

"Who?" Dad asked.

"Batman." On the way back, I told him everything that happened.

"That…that was incredibly reckless," he finally said when I had finished. "Brave, but reckless. You could have been killed."

"Sorry, dad. I won't do that again."

"I should hope not, it'd be terrible if he broke out after all of that," my dad said.

"Yeah, especially after all that work I put in to bringing him in."

He gave me a look.

"It was a joke." He pulled to a stop at an intersection close to our house and shook his head.

"At least you'll have quite the story for Emma," he said after a moment.

"Yeah…" I replied, trailing off. "She… doesn't want to be my friend anymore." Ever since my first day back from summer camp, she'd been avoiding me, like she didn't want to talk to me. I'd hoped that whatever was wrong would get better, but ever since our first day of high school she had begun to say hurtful remarks, calling me weak and letting her new friend Sophia push me around, but I couldn't tell my dad that, he was friends with her father Allen Barnes.

He frowned. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that Taylor." He went quiet.

I was quiet too and we rode in silence for several minutes.

"Well…" he finally said, "you're a hero for what you did." He glanced at me before adding, "Not the kind with powers, but that kind that goes above and beyond. Even if Emma isn't a friend anymore, I can't imagine people not wanting to be friends with the kind of person who stands up to someone like Lung."

I found a small smile tugging at my lips at the thought. He was right, I was a hero, even if only for a moment, and nothing Emma or Sophia said or did could take that away from me.

After everything that happened, we went home and had a quiet dinner. Even though my father had been depressed since my mother's death, he was different, more energetic that night.

During the meal I asked, "Can I take self-defense classes? Like karate or krav maga?"

He looked up at me skeptically.

I shrugged. "It'd help me keep safe," I explained. "I'm not about to go out and fight crime or anything."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Really, Dad. I'm not."

"Okay, but I don't want you doing anything reckless just because you think you know how to fight."

"Thanks, Dad! I won't."

The next day was quiet, and I eagerly watched the news. The reporters and discussion panels were going wild over the reappearance of Batman to take down Lung when he'd been able to defeat entire super hero team previously. I was elated when they mentioned that an unpowered girl had tried to distract Lung, even though they didn't use my name and most called it "brave but foolish."

However, Batman never made an appearance at the Justice League's press conference and Armsmaster cited 'health issues' as the reason. I remembered what he had said to Batman after arriving, and how Batman had to be taken away in an ambulance. I remembered his coughing.

After an hour, I couldn't let the thought slide away, so I looked up the local Justice League's phone number (which was apparently the same as the local PRT's) and called them. It took several minutes to navigate their menu but I eventually reached a person on the other end.

"Hello, how may we help you?" he asked in a bored voice.

"I was the girl how helped Batman last night, Taylor Hebert," I told him, "he didn't look good and the news isn't saying anything. Is he okay?"

The man was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Well, your number checks out. No, from what I heard he's not. His power armor was hard on his heart on top of the beating he received, and he's pretty old as it is. Him coming out of retirement was already pretty unexpected, and for good reason."

I couldn't think of anything to say, but instead made a small sounding, "Oh."

"Yeah…. You want to talk to Armsmaster? He was one of Batman's protégés so he'll be able to tell you more."

"Sure. Thanks," I replied.

"No problem," he said before transferring my call to Armsmaster.

After about half a minute, he picked up. "Miss Hebert?"

Even after everything that had happened last night, I was still awed at speaking to a prominent hero, even if it was only over the phone. When I realized that I hadn't answered, I quickly said, "Yes, hi. Thanks for answering."

"After you helped Batman, I can afford to take some time to answer your call," he replied. "Tom said you were worried about Batman."

"Yes, he said he wasn't in good shape," I replied with concern.

Armsmaster grunted. "I spent years with him. Personally, I think he's too stubborn to die," he stated. "However…" he drew out the pause for several seconds, "he's one of the oldest heroes and he's not getting any younger. I'll let him know you called, but I don't think he's going out in costume again. At least, not if I or the others have any say in the matter."

"Thank you," I replied and we said our good byes before hanging up.

I sat quietly for a before getting up and going for a walk. I wandered the city for almost an hour before I found myself back at Memorial Park once again. It was still taped off as a crime scene, but I could still see the black statue at the top, Batman in his eternal vigil over Gotham.

In the following week I didn't hear back from either Armsmaster or Batman, but on the morning of the seventh day I woke up to see a piece of sharpened metal in the familiar stylized shape of a bat sticking up from the window sill of my room. I opened my window and looked around for any other sign of who left it, even though I knew I wouldn't find any.

That morning I went down to breakfast with a smile on my face and something more than a souvenir clutched in my hand, a symbol. Just as I was sitting down with my dad to have eggs and toast for breakfast, the doorbell rang. Letting my dad set down the plates, I went to the door, uncertain who it could be at this hour.

When I opened the door I saw tall, old man wearing an expensive looking black suit with a grey undershirt. He had a wrinkled and weathered face topped with close cut white hair and he looked at me with piercing grey eyes. He shifted the cane he was holding to his left hand and held out his right. "Hello Miss Hebert, my name's Bruce Wayne. Sorry for coming by so early."