THE VERRRRRRY LAST CHAPTER! Here it is! The end of Gotham's Little Knight. It took me a while to figure out how I would finish this and now I finally did it. Here we go!
Chapter 9:Sooner the Better
The first thing he felt was pain. And lots of it. A few seconds later a headache hit him like a runaway train. His gently shifted his right ankle, it was flaring with a fiery pain. Every part of his body ached.
A few moments later he felt the soft warm bed he was laying on. A gentle whisper filled his ears. Then it gradually got louder.
"Hey you think he'll be ok?" said a young voice.
"Yeah of course you know why?" said a much older voice.
"Because he's the god damn BATMAN." said a female voice laughing.
Bruce slowly moved his arms but it was responded with what felt like 1000 pricks of pain. "Ugnnnnn." The three superheroes stopped talking and immediately looked at Bruce. Bruce's eyes felt as heavy as lead but he tried to open them. As soon as he opened his eyes the bright light blinded him and he shut them closed again.
"Tim dim the lights quick!" said Dick's voice.
"Bruce?" asked the sweet voice of Barbra. Bruce managed to open his eyes again and was pleased to see that the bright light was gone, and replaced with Barbra. He looked around. He was safe and sound in the Med Bay.
"Hey." Bruce muttered, looking at Barbra with wearily blue eyes.
"How you feeling?" asked Tim.
" A bit worn out but otherwise, I'm ok." said Bruce already forcing himself into a sitting position, trying to hide the pain.
"No you're not." said the three in unison giving Bruce a disapproving scowl.
Bruce couldn't help but smirk. "Ok I'm not 100%... but you can't keep me in here forever."
"You're going to be here till you fully recover. That's final." said Tim scowling Bruce.
"I can take care of myself. And you know I could leave here anytime I wanted." said Bruce crossing his arms.
"Sure maybe you could. But not when you're still a little kid." said Batigirl cocking up an eyebrow.
Bruce looked down at himself. She was right. From what he could see, bloody bandages and stitches covered his small body. He was wearing his usual black clothing he wears under his suit.
"Ugh. How much longer am I going to be stuck like this?" pouted Bruce indicating to his weak broken body with disgust. He never liked to look weak. Especially in front of them.
" Zantana said that there is a way to fix it. But we would have to wait till you're in better condition. It would be too risky right now." said Batgirl.
Bruce sighed and look back down at himself. Out of all of the things why would he be wearing his under armour?
As if reading his mind Nightwing quickly answered his question.
"No this does not mean you can go out , be Batman and jump off random buildings. It was the best thing we had that wouldn't interfere with your injures." said Nightwing firmly.
"Why does everyone think I spend my time randomly jumping off buildings?" Bruce pouted tiredly.
"Because you do." pointed out Tim.
"No I don't! Not randomly anyways." said Bruce with an annoyed look.
"Hey Bruce. Remember that time before you adopted Dick? Before Tim came along and it was you and me? Way back, when I would randomly drop in and help you with cases. Then finally after 2 months you realised how awesome I was and made me officially part of the team? Yeah, remember when you gave me my own grapple gun. Is this ringing any bells?"
Bruce and Barbra were locked in a stare down. "Admit it or I will tell them the story." threatened Barbra.
"I dare you." challenged Bruce .
"Accepted. So he gave me my very own grapple gun and he was teaching me how to use it. Then he wanted to show me some examples. For around five minutes he kept randomly jumping off tall buildings then swinging up just at the last second. Then being the dare devil he is he went off the tallest building, Wayne enterprises, and was doing flips and pretty cool tricks. But he didn't have enough time to slow down and crashed right into a window. He had a rough landing and fractured his right arm. So since his good arm was out of order I had to swing over and save him." she said giggling.
Nightwing and Robin started giggling too.
"You smashed into a window?" said Robin laughing.
"Oh the Image. The image." Nightwing said laughing too.
"You want to hear something really funny? A few days after Barbra got the grapple gun she started to get the hang of it. So one night she wanted to show me her progress." Bruce stopped to clear his throat. It was horse, he wasn't talking much in the past week.
"She was doing a decent job till she tried shooting a line up in mid air. She went swinging right into a window too. Crashed right into some family dinner. When she "escaped" she had mashed potatoes all over her cape." Bruce said, giving Batgirl a cheeky smile.
Batgirl's cheek went red with embarrassment. For the first few moments everything was silent. Then Nightwing and Robin bursted into laughter. A few seconds later Superman and Diana walked into the room.
"Bruce!" shouted Diana with a smile.
"Princess." Bruce said with a light smile.
"Well that was our cue to leave." said Nightwing smirking.
"Good to see you again. Dad." Nightwing added quietly. Bruce nodded in acknowledgement. Even though it was a small action so much more was said. That was the joy of their unspoken communication.
The three protégé's left the room, leaving the adults to discuss.
"Glad to see that your ok buddy." said Superman.
"Yeah that was one heck of a week." said Bruce yawning. His body was in shambles, and tiredness was starting to creep back.
"You've been through a lot, we'll let you rest now. We will tell the others the good news." said Superman with a smile leaving the room. Diana gave Bruce a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I knew you would pull through. I don't know how. But you always do." she said walking towards the door.
"I'll visit you later. Rest well." she said before closing the doors. Bruce took a deep breath.
'Were my parents really there? Or was that just my imagination...' he thought his eyes getting heavier. In minutes he let the troubled realm of sleep take him away.
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Tumbling down and down. Farther and farther he finally reached the bottom of the well. He knew what was waiting for him. Soon he wasn't on the bottom of the well. He was in the same dark endless realm. The realm with the single light beaming down on him. The same bats returned, their beady red eyes thirsty for blood. They tore at him screeching in his face.
*Bruce it's your fault* *Bruce you let us die* "No!" he shouted trying to see the light but there wasn't any. The bats continued to swarm around him.*Bruce...* *Bruce* "No stop. I'm sorry!"
*Bruce* Bruce!* The voice became louder but he tried to ignore it. "It's my fault! I'm sorry! I didn't want you to die!" he shouted. One of the bats stared at him. It fangs grew larger and it looked at him feeding on his fear. *Bruce!* The bat drove its fang into his stomach He shirked in pain. For some reason the pain felt so real.. But this was just a dream. Wasn't it? *You deserves this pain. You let us die. It's you're fault.*
Before Bruce let out another struggled apology he stopped himself. 'Remember this is just a dream. Just a dream.
' He narrowed his eyes letting a couple of tears roll down his cheek But it wasn't tears. It was blood. "No It not. It not my fault." he stated simply, barely heard over the screeching of the bats . *Bruce!* shouted his father's voice angrily . Through the swarm of bats he managed to see both of his parent's floating in mid air. They looked at him with pure hatred and disappointment. * You lets us die Bruce. You could have done something. You're no son of mine.*
Bruce's face darkened ever more giving nothing away of what he was feeling. But his eyes did. Consumed by hurt and sorrow. "You're right. I am no son of yours." he choked out uselessly hitting the bats that continued to tear at his flesh. From the shadows the very same man appeared, Joe Chill. Bruce was just about to shout a warning but stopped. 'Just a dream. Just a dream...' But that did nothing to prepare him for the two gun shots that shrilled through the air. Joe turned with a wicked smile plastered on his face aiming the gun directly at him. Bruce could just see him through a small gap in the swarm of bats, that for some reason no bat covered up. Just the perfect opening for him to witness his own death. The shiny black bullet whizzed out of the gun and hit him dead on.*BRUCE!*
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Bruce jolted half awake in a sitting position, gasping for air. His heart beats were flying off the chart, the machine beeping wildly. But Bruce wasn't disturbed by this he didn't hear it at all. His eyes were still closed and he buried his face in his knees.
"Bruce!" said Diana for the eighth time, but in a much softer tone.
"Bruce. You're safe, it's ok." said Hawkgirl in her sweetest voice possible.
Bruce seemed to be lost in his own dark world.
"What's wrong with him?" demanded Diana looking at the Bat Clan for any answers. Nightwing studied Bruce for a few moments.
"Nightmares. He gets them almost every night. It's at its worse whenever he is on any pain medication. It's especially bad when he is severely injured. As you can see." said Nightwing sheepishly with a small smile indicating to Bruce. His small frame was shaking and he was muttering words that none of them could make out. Nightwing quietly walked over to Bruce, sitting next to him on the soft cozy bed.
"Hey, it's ok Bruce." Nightwing said gently running his fingers through Bruce's soft black hair. After a few minutes of comforting words and silence, he was asleep again. Bruce's heart beats sank back down into the usual rhythmic beat, his breaths becoming calm.
"That happens almost every night?" asked Hawkgirl swinging her mace around.
"Yeah, not this bad though." said Nightwing with concern in his voice, walking towards the door.
"Where are you going?" asked Batgirl.
"It's been a week. I'm going to see if Zantana can change him back soon. Sooner the Better." he replied already out the door.
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One week later at Wayne Manor
Bruce hobbled to his bedroom window. Outside the sky was a pure soft blue with puffy white clouds. He struggled to open the wooden window that he could usual open with ease. The blame for that was his right fractured shoulder and left sprained wrist. He let the cool breeze ruffle his shiny black hair. Two days since he was back to age 28. Two weeks since he escaped from that nightmare. Three weeks ago when it all started. One week in hell with the Joker and one month of recovery too look "forward" to. He sighed letting the crisp air fill his lungs, spreading oxygen all over his battered body . Bruce gazed at the lovely morning, watching a flock of birds fly by. He started to hobble his way across his clean bedroom, heading out the door but stopped in his tracks. He glanced at his crutches. Trying to convince Alfred again that he didn't need them with be a waste of time. But he really didn't need them that much.
'Maybe I could walk down without it, and be a free man. Or face the annoying nagging of Tim, Dick possibly Barbra is she's there and especially Alfred.'
Usually he could get away with things like this with the teens. Considering he was their Mentor. But Alfred... Bruce glanced back at the hallway then at the crutches.
'No crutches or Alfred... No crutches or Alfred...' After a few moments Bruce grabbed one of his crutches and started to make his way to the stair case. He strolled down the long hallway, actually glad for the support the crutch gave him for his broken ankle. He looked down the old long stair case.
'Ugh. I'm not in the mood for slowly inching down all of these stairs. And I'm defiantly not asking for help.'
Bruce looked down to see if anyone was there. The coast was clear. He picked up his crutch and sat on the railing of the stairs, using his crutch to push off the floor. He quickly gathered speed and went zooming down the railing. The speed blew his hair back as he continued his way down smiling. The paintings and windows on the walls were blurs as he was approaching the bottom. Bruce quickly studied the tall post at the very end of the stair case. Timing it perfectly Bruce used the crutch to push of the railings. Just for the fun of it, he did a front flip soaring into the air. With lighting reflexes he turned around and swung the top part of the crutch, letting it slid down the post. He gripped onto the other end tightly, tucking in his legs and spinning around and around the post. It took little effort considering it was almost like using his grappling hook.
When he started to slow down he slipped the crutch out of the post and flung in into the air. He skillfully did a neat back flip. Summoning all of his training from the League of Shadows he landed on his good leg, keeping his injured one in the air by his side. The crutch came spinning down fast. With timing and a bit of luck he caught the top of the crutch. He casually tucked it under his arm. His eyes were sparkling with pride as he started to hobble his way into the kitchen.
"Ok that was pretty impressive." said Barbra from somewhere in the room. Bruce quickly turned around to see Tim, Dick and Barbra leaning against the wall smiling at him.
"Well you defiantly seem to be recovering well." said Tim.
"How long were you-"
"Since you were at the top of the stair case. Gotta give you that one. You're not that of an old man after all. " said Dick smiling.
"Dick, he is 28. That's hardly old." said Tim smiling at Dick.
"Well let's go eat. Alfred made pancakes!" shouted Barbra heading towards the kitchen.
"We better hurry, the 6 are coming by in an hour. Since it's such a nice day we are going to go the beach in Metropolis." said Dick.
Before Bruce could say anything Dick beat him to it.
"And no you can't back out of this. You are coming if you like it or not." said Dick firmly.
Bruce put his hands up in surrender. "Hey all I was going to say is if you're up to a surfing challenge."
"Well in that case. You're on. Let's go eat."
"Ok just a sec. I need to go check something." said Bruce already heading off without his crutch.
"Hey hey not so fast. At least take the crutch if you are going to randomly head off." said Tim throwing Bruce the crutch.
Bruce swiftly caught it and started to head off. In a few moments he was in front of the big glass door that lead to his backyard. He leaned the crutch against the wall and slid open the glass wall with some struggle. He hobbled down the three stone stairs. The crutch was a pain to carry around. Sounds of birds chirping and the crunching of gravel under his feet filled the quiet morning. He studied the garden. The bushes were a bright green covered with blooming flowers. There were dozens of trees and various plants. It seemed like a place where Poison Ivy would love to live. Bruce stood in front of the marble water fountain that was in the middle of the garden.
It almost looked exactly what the garden in "heaven" looked like. The one in "heaven" was stone though. But was that really real? Bruce breathed in deeply, closing his eyes. He crouched down letting his hand submerge in the cold water. He ran his fingers over the smooth marble searching for anything. The delicate tips of his finger hit something solid. He kept his eye closed and explored the object with his fingers. Could it really be the hand watch? Not it couldn't... Bruce gently pulled out the object, water dripping off his hand dripping into the fountain. He held the object up and opened up his eyes. In his hand was his father's hand watch. The sun was shining down on the golden hand watch. Bruce saw his own shocked expression in the golden reflection. He couldn't believe it.
'I.. I actually did see my parents..' Bruce's heart beat quickened. There was so much more he wanted to say. 'Dammit why did I have to go so soon...' With slightly shaking hands he gently turned the watch around to the flat slide. The back was covered by small but very neat writing. Immediately he recognized his parent's handwriting carved in the watch. He read his father's handwriting first.
*Hey Bruce I told you we were real. Keep up the good work. We are watching you every day sport. Oh and try not to crash Wayne Enterprise to the ground ;)*
Bruce smiled at his father's message. He felt tears start to rise over the rim of his eye lid. He read his mothers shortly after.
*I miss you so much sweet heart. You trained very hard for this I never thought my son would be a super hero . Take good care of the kids. Diana's a keeper ;) I'm still waiting for the day till we can be together again. But hopefully that will be in a very very long time ;) We love you both dearly 3.*
By now tears of sadness and joy were flowing freely. Bruce read the last bit at the bottom of the watch.
*The past can hurt. They are scars that run deep. They are a part of you. You can never get rid of old memories but you can always make new ones. *
Bruce smiled sadly, wiping away his tears.
"Bruce? Are you ok?" asked the curious voice of Barbra. He heard her walking up behind him half a minute ago but didn't bother to turn around.
"Yeah... I'm fine." he replied slowly getting up. He looked at the ground. Not wanting Barbra to see that he has been crying.
"Bruce? Are you sure, you're shaking..."
Bruce cursed at himself for letting his guard down. Immediately he stopped shaking and put back up his stone walls blocking and real emotion. He quickly slipped the watch into his pocket and slowly and painfully stood back up. He started to make his way back into the Manor but was quickly stopped by Barbra.
"Bruce. Tell me what's wrong." asked Barbra her voice thick with concern.
"Bruce, look at me." she said gently trying to turn Bruce around. But Bruce quickly shifted away, facing his back to Barbra.
"Come on Bruce. Talk to me, please." she said eyeing him worriedly. But Bruce didn't budge.
"Bruce don't do this. You know if this situation was the other way around you would be doing the same too. "
Bruce sighed. 'I guess I would... '
"Bruce we are not leaving this spot till you tell me what happened." she said firmly.
Bruce unwilling turned around to face Barbra. His handsome face looked troubled. His blue half joy filled and half sorrow filled eyes were a bit red. Like if he just has been crying. He gave her a soft smile. What shocked her the most were the tears streaks on his cheeks. He quickly turned away before Barbra could study him any longer.
"Bruce it's ok. You can tell me what happened." she asked soft and kindly. She sounded just like his mother.
"They were there..." he murmured taking out the golden hand watch.
"Who was?"
"My parents. They were actually there." he muttered softly. Barbra gave Bruce a very worried look. Is Bruce going mad? Why would he see his parents... They're dead...
"Bruce. Are you sure you are feeling alright? I bet they put wayyy to many pain meds in your IV. Now you're delusional. "
"Barbra. I saw them. I really did. They wrote this." he said reveling the golden hand watch. Barbra studied the hand watch for a few seconds. Then she looked at Bruce with a really really worried expression .
"Bruce there is nothing written on that..." Bruce quickly looked down at the hand watch. It was completely blank. He stared at it bugged eyed.
"What.. no it can't..." he muttered gently flipping over the watch.
"You probably need some more rest. Seriously, if you start seeing words on watches I think that's your mind telling you that you haven't fully recovered." Barbra said starting to lead Bruce towards the Manor.
" You can never get rid of old memories but you can always make new ones." he muttered softly looking at the front of the watch. Before Barbra could make a comment something strange started to happen to the watch. Barbra looked at it with wide eyes. Words started to appear up on the front of the watch. After a few seconds Barbra read it.
*The past can hurt. They are scars that run deep. They are a part of you. You can never get rid of old memories but you can always make new ones. *
"Wow..." remarked Babra.
"Now do you believe me?" asked Bruce gazing at the watch.
"After just seeing that. Yes. Yes I do. But how?"
"Looooong, long story. I might tell you later."
"Ok up to you."
"Well I'm glad you don't think I'm delusional."
"Welllllll actually-."
"Oh shut up."
Barbra gave Bruce a hug. He resisted the strong urge to pull away and hugged her back. She walked ahead admiring the beautiful flowers. Bruce followed, carefully putting the had watch away.
"Come on, the 6 will be here soon. Better get ready for Diana." Barbra said with a cheeky smile.
Bruce just raised his eyebrows but didn't make a comment."Hey about this. Let's just keep it between you and me." said Bruce.
"Of course, I understand. Here let me help you." she said moving closer to Bruce.
"I know you can walk by yourself. For god sakes you went zooming down a staircase doing front flips. But we don't have all day and you left your crutch."
Bruce sighed. "Alright fine, thanks." Bruce let Barbra support some of his weight. It felt so good to lift some of the stress off of his aching body. He let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately for him, it didn't go un heard and Barbra shot him "told you so" look.
"Don't mention it." she said winking.|
Together the two walked into Wayne Manor talking and laughing. The sun was almost high in the sky. It was going to be gorgeous warm day.
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The warehouse was decently lit but had a dark feeling to it.
"Why did you want us?" asked the Riddler suspiciously.
"Yeah. We don't got all night." said Firefly impatiently.
"Don't you gentlemen-" Poison Ivy shot Joker a dirty look. "Don't you gentlemen and Poison Ivy-" Poison Ivy gave Joker a satisfied look. "want to hear what I have planned?" asked the Joker addressing all the villains. He was quite proud of himself, he assembled a good team. Sitting in front of him were Gotham's most wanted. Riddler, Hugo, Two-Face, Bane, Dead shot, Firefly, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and Clay face.
"Where's Penguin?" asked Scarecrow.
"Who cares. He's a loser." said Deadshot loudly. A few laugher in agreement.
"What's in it for us?" questioned the Riddler suspiciously. The rest of the villains crowded around the table started muttering things to each other, agreeing.
"This is the Joker. After his fall in the chemical vat he is now untrusting and insane. Are you sure we should trust him? After all isn't he known for never keeping his promises?" said Hugo standing up. A few murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd.
"Hey hey guys. This time there's no money involved. No promises. Just getting even with the Bat once and for all." said Joker smiling.
"Well if it involves killing the Bat, count me in." spoke Firefly.
"Garfield Lynns are you sure you want to make that choice? Ever since you set fire to that Chemical factory ever thing changed. It seems that you have a burden for the Batman. Why is that?"
Poison Ivy rolled her eyes. "Why does he always have to talk about random facts that no one gives a crap about?" she whispered to Two-Face. Two-Face exchanged an annoyed look with her and shrugged his shoulders. " I don't know but that fat pig is really getting on my nerves." he whispered back.
"I find your past interesting. I must ask you a question. Why is it that-" Hugo abruptly stopped and froze for a second. Then he fell forward on his face, unmoving. Standing right behind where Hugo was just standing was Deadshot smiling, holding a smoking gun.
"Thank you so much Deadshot. I'm glad that's over." Clayface exclaimed.
"I can't stand the man. Always talking about useless shit." said Riddler relieved. Joker kicked Hugo's dead body with disgust.
"Ewwww. Clayface can you do the honours?" asked Joker.
"Fine" Clayface mumbled consuming Hugo's dead body and throwing it out the window.
"Much better." said Bane with a smirk.
"Anyways back to what we were talking about. I have a brilliant plan that will break the Bat permanently-" " Joker said excitedly but was quickly cut off by Bane.
"That's impossible. I broke his back, in half. And he is still running around..."
" If some of us managed to actually take down the Bat for awhile imagine what we could accomplish together. This time we will break the bat so hard that there is no turning back. None of his little birds or super powered friends could reach him. "
"Joker, without killing him I'm not sure how that is possible." said Clayface.
"Ah, but we are not going to kill him." Joker said, immediately receiving many disappointed faces.
"Ok almost kill him. But we are not going to focus on physically hurting him. I was thinking of a different approach." Joker said grinning madly. Soon all the villains had the same mad smile on their face.
"I always wonder how much the Bat could take emotionally. You know, find his breaking point so there is no turning back. Lost forever in his own dark mind." Joker said trying to contain his mad laughter that was rising up in his throat. Everyone in the room started to lightly cheer, smiling evilly.
"Gentlemen and Poison Ivy! We are going to push the Bat over the line of sanity, FOREVER!" he declared bursting into a fit of laughter. The rest of the room laughed along with him. This time the Bat wouldn't get away. None of his family or friends could reach him this time. He would be completely gone. Forever.
His last steps.
Steps to Insanity.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I love cliff hangers. They are so freaking annoying but they makes everything much more interesting. So you just read the last chapter of Gotham's Little Knight! My first fanfic finally completed. I am so happy that this story has been a hit. I still remember hitting my 1 follower, I was so overwhelmed.. After a few months of reading wonderful Justice League and Batman fanfics, I decided to give it a try myself, since I love writing. It makes my day to wake up and see new positive feedback new followers and favourites. I am always opened to constructive criticism to make my writing better. Thank you so much to all of you WONDERFUL people who read this story. So yes I did leave an annoying cliff hanger. Hopefully most of you people are thinking like this:
"Damn it all, where's the rest, stupid cliffhanger- life- must have more;)"-IamBatgirl
Lol yes I agree* IamBatgirl* XD.
And if I get enough people ( really only two people would do lol) that want me to make the sequel, I will! I would be so honored if you liked my story enough that you want to read the sequel! So please tell me if you do. I think I might do a couple one shots or another story before I do the sequel, if I am going to do it anyways. So for now please enjoy this stupid cliff hanger *evil laugh*
A thousand thanks for your support and for reading this story! Favourite, Follow and Review ;)
Best wishes in 2014! -BlueRaven
