Bruce Wayne: In my years fighting crime, I've learned one truth. That every villain is the hero of his own story. Superman was no exception. The Joker drugged him. Tricked him into killing his pregnant wife, Lois. And made him trigger the bomb that nuked Metropolis. So when Superman killed the Joker, I understood why. We all did. But once that line was crossed, there was no going back.
Lucius Fox finished his cup of coffee and cupped his chin as he continued to listen to Bruce on the television.
Bruce Wayne: He gave himself and the Justice League a new mandate: Stop all crime before it happened, by any means necessary. But he couldn't see his good intentions were leading him down a path of tyranny – and evil. That's how our greatest hero become our greatest threat. It's been years since the Regime fell. Superman's behind bars. Damian, my own son, is there with him. But we can't ever forget why we put them there. We must stay vigilant.
Lucius proceeded to pause the TV and turn his attention to Bruce, who was starting at Gotham from outside the window. With Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, and James Gordon dead, and Tim Drake trapped in the Phantom Zone, Lucius Fox had become Bruce's chief advisor. Lucius believed in Bruce's plan to rebuild Gotham and Metropolis, but he wasn't afraid to call him out every now and then.
"I thought your goal was to reassure the people, Mr. Wayne." Lucius said, not approving of the dead serious attitude Bruce showed on the television. "You're not alone in rebuilding Gotham and Metropolis. But if we don't change some minds soon…"
Bruce interjected before Lucius could finish. "I thought that's why you hired that overpaid PR firm, Lucius…"
Though he didn't show it, Lucius felt mildly annoyed at Bruce's reply,. He felt the billionaire was missing the point. "Convincing people to move back to these cities is a lot harder when they're afraid someone's gonna knock 'em down again."
Bruce turned around to face Lucius. "Superman's never getting out. I made that clear."
"But Wonder Woman, Black Adam, Aquaman – they're still out there, somewhere, and seemingly immune to prosecution." Bruce knew that Lucius had a point. Though Wonder Woman was imprisoned on Themyscira, the US Government had expressed a desire to prosecute her themselves. Aquaman and Black Adam, being the rulers of Atlantis and Khandaq, could only stand trial if they were here on American soil; as long as they stayed with their nations, there was nothing the United States could do.
Lucius wasn't finished making his point. "I know you built Brother Eye to keep tabs on all those loose ends. But the public doesn't know."
Lucius' remark about Brother Eye…now that wasn't something Bruce could concede to. "Brother Eye's secrecy is critical. Our enemies can't fight something they don't know exists."
"Well, then follow at least one bit of advice we pay those PR people so much money for."
Bruce raised an eyebrow, unsure of where Lucius was going. "What's that?"
"Be a little less Batman, a little more billionaire playboy. Get out around town in the daylight. And smile. Focus groups show people feel safer when they see you smile."
All Bruce could say to that was a simple 'hm'. The billionaire playboy had always been a façade for the Batman, but Bruce didn't feel it was as necessary anymore, ever since Superman outed his secret to the world.
Just then, the built-in signal at the center of the table began ringing, and Lucius and Bruce both knew what that meant. "That would be your other job." Lucius said as he pointed towards the signal. Bruce turned back towards the window, to stare at Gotham.
"Bruce, consider widening your circle of trust. Nobody wins all by themselves. Not even you."
Bruce thought about that. He was always a skeptical and suspicious one, but after seeing one of his closest friends fall from grace and impose a dictatorship onto the world, he found it even harder to trust people. Still, perhaps Lucius had a point, he needed allies he could rely on.
Oliver Queen was happy to be with his wife, Black Canary, but he found her home universe to be quite saddening. On his Earth, Superman never fell and the Justice League was still active as the vanguard of the world. He didn't like to think about what made this world different – that Superman went nuts, and killed not only Shazam, but this world's Green Arrow.
He used the depression he felt towards this world to channel his motivation into working to make the post-Regime Earth a better place. Still, as he and Black Canary waited at the stairway, he decided to say something to lift his own spirits. "As a reception area, this place needs a lot of work"
Just then, Bruce showed up at the top of the stairs above them, content to see the duo. "Dinah, Oliver – thanks for coming on short notice."
Black Canary smirked at her old friend. "You're lucky we found a sitter."
Bruce didn't respond to the blonde superheroine. Instead, he activated a secret panel in the wall behind him, opening up an elevator. Bruce let his hand out, inviting Green Arrow and Black Canary into the elevator. The three all got in the elevator.
When the elevator stopped and opened, they found themselves at what used to be the Gotham Subway. "My great-grandfather built the original Gotham Underground" Bruce decided to briefly educate his companions as they walked out of the elevator. "But these days…it's the Batcave." Bruce had moved his base of operations here from the original Batcave. Wonder Woman had gone down there with Superman shortly before the latter's downfall, so he decided to prepare himself. In the event that Wonder Woman got out, she and Black Adam couldn't attack him at his base of operations.
Bruce stopped walking when the three approached a pillar decorated with many advanced computers. "And this is Brother Eye."
Green Arrow was taken aback by the sight of Brother Eye. His Earth's Batman had yet to create anything like this. "More like the Eye of Sauron." he quipped as he continued to gaze upon it. "Surveillance, huh?"
But Brother Eye was capable of far more than surveillance, and Bruce wanted to clarify its full potential. "More than that. A communications hub linking every satellite and server on the planet. It warns us when trouble's coming and guides us when trouble's here."
Black Canary was just as bedazzled by Brother Eye as her husband. "Must take a real genius to operate."
The blonde was in for a surprise at who actually operated it. "I dunno about genius." Black Canary instantly recognized that voice. "But I do got a PhD." The chair shifted around, revealing none other than Harley Quinn. She grinned as she blew up a piece of bubble gum.
Happy to see Black Canary again, Harley Quinn walked up to her and the two embraced. "Dinah! Dinah's hubby! You sure came a long way!" She wrapped her arm around Black Canary's shoulder.
"A world away." Green Arrow. "But the change of scenery is nice."
Black Canary turned her attention to Bruce as Harley took her arm off her shoulder. Black Canary was happy to see Bruce Wayne again, but she wasn't expecting to hear from him at this point – and she decided to make that clear. "I was surprised you called, Bruce. Things seem to be going well. So what's up?"
"Dismantling the Regime created gaps in global security. We're covering them where we can, but we're stretched thin. Vulnerable. Harleen, show them what you've found"
"Right-o, Bats" Harley sat back down to pull up some files from the computer. "Gorilla Grodd. Eveybody's favorite talking ape. He's got himself a band of bozos. Calls 'em The Society." Harley pulled up brief bios for Grodd and the supervillains he had recruited onto his team.
Bruce turned around to give further information to Black Canary and Green Arrow. "My mole in Gorilla City says Grodd's planning something big. But what, where, when, we don't know."
Now it was Harley's turn to pipe back in. "One thing we do know – Scarecrow's gonna ship Grodd a buttload of fear gas from a hideout in Slaughter Swamp. Very mosquito-y." She did a quick hand gesture that one would make if they smelled something bad, showing her contempt for mosquitos.
Green Arrow smirked at that. "Good thing I packed my bug spray."
"I need you three to stop that gas before it gets to Grodd." Bruce said, and Dinah was left confused. Why just the three of them?
"Not joining us for the party?" she asked the billionaire.
"Unfortuantely, I can't leave Gotham without worrying the public." Bruce replied. He wished with all his heart that he could get back into the cowl to aid them at Slaughter Swamp. Part of him wanted to see what had become of Scarecrow. Jonathan Crane had been dead for a decade, and Bruce only found about his return from the grave when they began investigating Grodd.
Harley tried to reassure Bruce as she and Black Canary walked away together, Harley's arm around Canary's shoulder and Canary's arm around Harely's hip. "Don't worry, Bats. With this crew on the job, what could go wrong?"
Green Arrow was about to accompany them, but there was a question he wanted answered. "I know I'm the new guy, but you really trust Harley?" Where he came from, Harley Quinn was still the abused but devoted lover of the Joker, so it shocked him greatly when he found out Harley was a confidant of Batman in this world.
"She's a different person since Joker died." Immediately after saying that, Bruce decided to clarify that she hadn't completely changed. "Mostly."
Green Arrow stood around for a while, before trying to catch up to his wife and the reformed Harley Quinn.
Slaughter Swamp was just as gross, husky, and muddy as Harley assumed it would be, and there were somehow even more mosquitos than she figured there would be. She couldn't let the disgusting atmosphere of the swamp get to her, though – she had to complete a mission for Batman. She, Black Canary, and Green Arrow peered their heads just enough to see what was going on, and they saw Deadshot and Scarecrow. Harley could tell from Deadshot's body language that he was getting anxious.
"Can they move any faster?" he asked Scarecrow, frustrated at their pace. "I don't need Grodd taking my head off 'cause your boys are too slow!"
"Fear not, Deadshot." Scarecrow replied, and Harley was briefly struck by his voice. It had been a decade since she last saw Scarecrow, and his voice just sounded deeper than she remembered. Scarecrow patted one of the boxes. "We'll be ready for tomorrow's attack."
Black Canary raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow?" Canary expected that the attack would occur sooner than later, but tomorrow? She hadn't prepared herself for that.
"Cheeky monkey." Harley quipped. She, Black Canary, and Green Arrow were unaware of the mammoth vines creeping behind them until it was too late. Before any of them knew it, they were all wrapped up in vines, hanging upside down.
As the three struggled to break free, Harley noticed Ivy walking right towards them. She got up very close to Quinn. "Fancy meeting you here..." She lightly pushed Harley away, and the clown popped another piece of bubble gum.
Neither Deadshot nor Scarecrow knew what was going on, but they heard enough to know that something was going on. "Keep them moving" Scarecrow said to his assassin ally. "I'll see what that's about."
Harley hadn't seen her friend Poison Ivy in a long, long time. The last time she could recall seeing the redhead was about a year before the fall of Superman's Regime. "Red!" she said ecstatically. "I ain't seen you in forever! You hear to take down these punks!" She was excited to team up with Poison Ivy again. It would be just like old times.
Unfortuantely for Harley, reality was about to rain down on her like a ton of bricks as Scarecrow walked up to the three captured heroes. "Quite a catch, Ivy."
"Red? You're with them?" Harley felt betrayed and heartbroken. She was always waiting eagerly for the day she would reunite with Ivy. She had dreams of Ivy reforming and fighting the good fight alongside her and Batman. To see that a day like that would never come tore Harley apart on the inside.
Even worse for her, Ivy didn't seem broken up about capturing Harley. "Your man Bruce was supposed to better care for the Green. All he's done is remodel the concrete jungles of Gotham and Metropolis. Where I sit, there's not much difference between him and Superman."
Green Arrow scoffed at Poison Ivy. She had a point that Bruce was focusing more on the urban jungles than the lush forests and swamps. But it confused him as to why she would think Grodd would be any different. "You're a few pines of a cone short if you think your new friends care about the Green."
"Grodd will keep his promises, or he'll be my next victim."
Harley continued to let her betrayed spirit shine through. "Oh, Red. Why you makin' me do this?"
She cut herself free from the vines with a knife, and handed it to Black Canary so she could the same. Black Canary used the knife to cut her husband free. Now all three of them were back in action. As the two battled Scarecrow, Harley went to confront Ivy.
"We're gonna get you out of here, girl. We can team up again. Drive all the boys crazy, ya know? Just like the old days."
"The old days were fun…but these days, I'm all business." It further broke Harely's heart to know that she would have to fight Ivy, but she had to do what she had to do.
Still, as she tried to punch and kick Ivy repeatedly, she found that she was forcing herself to hold back. There was once a time when she was best friends with Poison Ivy, and the part of her that was fond of Ivy was dominating. Not helping matters was that Ivy wasn't holding back – as she punched, kicked, and bit, she used all her strength.
Ivy kicked Harley away, and summoned several vines in the shape of a triangle from the ground against the clown. Harley charged at Ivy, about to kick her in the stomach, but Ivy dodged just in time, causing Harley to trip onto the ground.
Ivy summoned up a vine creature who breathed green gas into Harley's face before disappearing. As Harley tried to get up, Ivy grabbed her by her and slammed her back on the ground. "I know you, Harley. I know you're holding back. You really think we can go back to the old days."
Poison Ivy stepped on Harley's back and pressed her foot hard, causing Harley to yelp in pain. "Sorry, Dr. Quinzel – the old days are over!"
Before Ivy could do anything else, Green Arrow shot an arrow that pierced its way through her left shoulder. As Ivy yelped in pain, Harley got up. It was time for her to finally accept the reality that her friendship with Pamela was over. Not wanting to kill her – to keep true to Batman's 'no kill' rule -, Harley slashed her right shoulder with her knife, and punched her in the stomach repeatedly before yanking on her hair really hard. As Ivy yelped in pain again, Harley headbutted her in the face, knocking her out.
She ran to Black Canary and Green Arrow, who had been exposed to Scarecrow's fear gas and were coughing violently. It turned out it took a lot of strength for Oliver to shoot that arrow at Ivy, for he could barely get up now.
Just then, Scarecrow shot out some more fear gas, this time at the clown. "Face your fears…"
She simply sniffed it up and smiled smugly. Back when she and Ivy were friends, the latter had immunized her to poisons and gases like this. She sneezed. "Please, I used to huff this stuff for kicks!"
Scarecrow was not deterred in the least. "Then you'll appreciate my new formula."
He exposed her to some more fear gas – and this was indeed a different formula, one Harley had not been exposed to. She keeled over onto the ground, struggling to get up. She turned around and was stunned to see demonic yellow eyes. She saw a creature with exposed, tattered brown flesh and yellow glowing from the inside. The face looked to wear a mask, but there only glowed yellow in the eye and mouth holes. It was Scarecrow – he had taken on the form of an undead creature risen from hell itself.
Scarecrow chuckled sinisterly. "This isn't even the best part, Harley. Now it's time to face your fears."
He exposed her to more fear gas, enough to briefly knock her out.
When she got up, the world around her was blurry, but she could tell it was not the swamp she had been sent it. Before her vision cleared, she could hear a familiar laughter….