Sorry for the long wait, but if it's any consolation, this story will be finished some time next week! This is easily the darkest chapter in the story. The next chapter will be the last, and also the most emotional.
Chapter Ten: The Last Ultimatum
The dark knight slowly began to come awake, his hearing immediately assaulted by the roar of a terrified crowd. Bruce's vision was blurry at first, but slowly began to refocus. He wobbled to his feet, barely aware that he was still clad in the Batman suit. Slowly, the blur of colors began to mold into concise shapes, enabling him to make sense of his surroundings. He was on top of a building. A tall one.
Bruce could recognize the area immediately; he was in Gotham Square. The buildings were illuminated brilliantly with bright neon lights and electronic billboards, and below hordes of people talked loudly. But something was off… the people were trapped. And scared. Studying his surroundings, Bruce took notice of the several helicopters buzzing the skies around the perimeter, all painted up with Joker graffiti. There were canisters strapped to the bottom of each helicopter that Bruce immediately recognized as containers of the Joker Toxin. The people below couldn't attempt to leave the area without being gassed.
Looking straight ahead, Bruce saw something even more unsettling. Another helicopter hovered over the center of the Gotham Square, with a rusty chain hanging from the bottom. And attached to the other end of that chain was a school bus… one filled with an entire class of children, as well as everyone Joker had kidnapped. Through the windows, Bruce could make out the faces of Wally, Tim, Barbara, Diana, Clark, Dick, even Jason Todd… plus Wally's family. They were all crammed in with the children, on the school bus that Joker had hijacked and strapped to the bottom of a helicopter.
And, most horrifyingly of all, a figure stood on top of the suspended school bus… the Joker himself. Bruce grit his teeth, and felt his weak heart sink. He could barley stand, his body was shaky… the disease was killing him, he could feel it. And now, thanks to the clown prince of crime, he would die watching everyone he loved die as well.
Suddenly, the jumbo screens on the sides of the buildings switched to the hideous face of the Joker; he'd hijacked the broadcast as well, making sure no one in Gotham would miss out on his grand going away party. The Joker spoke exuberantly through a microphone, the sound of his voice echoing loudly from the various screens which he could be seen upon. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to Batman's big Bye-Bye Bash! As everyone within the sound of my voice is well aware, I'm holding this city hostage, and if any of you decide to do something stupid, I'll bathe Gotham with Happy Gas and watch you all laugh your intestines out your nose."
Joker let out a manic, cackling laugh, then continued. "Now, you're probably all wondering why we're here tonight. So let me explain it. Our good friend Batman just up and decided to die on us! And I decided I wasn't letting him die without one final, grand gesture. So I arranged this little party. As you can plainly see, I've got all the bat's loved ones stuffed in the short bus where they belong, along with a bunch of snot-nosed runts from North Gotham Elementary School. And now that Batman is awake, its time for the main event…"
Joker smiled even wider than usual, and lifted up a tank of kerosene from behind him. He then proceeded to kick open the emergency exit door on the back of the dangling school bus, and dumped the entire kerosene tank inside, dousing everyone trapped within it. Then Joker withdrew a lighter, laughing sadistically.
"No!" Batman shrieked.
"Calm down batsy, I'm not done." Joker reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a pistol. He threw the gun through the air, and clattered at Batman's feet. A Colt Revolver, easily powerful enough to kill its target.
Joker ignited the lighter, and continued speaking. "Here's how its going to work Batman… I know you're going to be dying soon and all, so I figured, why shouldn't at least one of us go out with a bang? Our little game is finally coming to an end after all, it might as well be a grand finale. So this is how it's gonna' go down… either you pick up that gun and shoot me in the head, finally breaking your one rule… or I drop the lighter and roast the everybody inside the school bus alive, right in front of you. Oh, and to add to the fun, those Joker Toxin canisters come equipped with tiny little detonators that are synced to my heart beat, controlled by a monitor I'm wearing underneath this jacket. Unless my heartbeat stops, those canisters will release and kill everybody on this side of Gotham! So, the choice is yours Batman… either you kill me before you die, or you watch everyone else you've ever cared about die with your last breathe."
Bruce's entire body was trembling, his dying heart racing. The Joker was finally going to win. If Bruce did shoot and kill the Joker, he'd break his rule, he'd become a killer, and the Joker finally would have won. If he didn't shoot, then everyone else died, and Joker still won. That was the villain's endgame, his crescendo… the final ultimatum, the last standoff, with everything on the line. The age-old rivalry between Batman and Joker had all been boiling down to that moment. Bruce would die, and he had the choice of taking Joker with him… or half of Gotham.
This is what he's wanted all along. Bruce thought, A grand finale. No matter what I do, he comes out on top, and he's going to love every minute of it.
Bruce began to cough up blood, and large amounts of red soaked his chest. EHD was killing him then and there. His heart was going to explode. Joker saw the blood pour from the dark knight and laughed. "Better hurry up and decide bats! You seem to be running out of time."
With shaky hands, Bruce lifted the gun. It felt heavy in his hands… heavier than it should have. He was weaker than he'd ever been. With blood filling his eyes, he slowly pointed the gun and tried to aim. He knew what he had to do.
He looked through the windows of the bus, into Diana's horrified eyes, and mouthed the words "I love you." Then, with his last bit of strength, Bruce took aim at the Joker's chest… and he pulled the trigger.
Joker burst out in a cry of laugher as the shot thundered into the air. He'd finally won. He'd broken the Batman's will. The bullet sailed through the air. It only lasted a split second, but to Bruce it felt like forever. Time had all but stopped moving, the world turned dim and gray around him, and the world slowed to a crawl.
The bullet hit its mark… it struck the heart beat monitor Joker was wearing, destroying it, then violently ricocheted off and struck the chain. The chain links shattered, and the bus began to plummet down toward the crowded streets below! Joker let out a surprised scream as gravity smashed him against the bus, where he held tightly. The sound of the children on the bus screaming could be heard over the roar of the helicopters.
And then, just as suddenly as the fall had began, the bus jerked to a stop in mid air. The fall ended long before they hit concrete. Confused, Diana craned her neck and looked up out the window of the bus. "My God…" She exclaimed when she saw what had stopped their fall.
A grapple held firmly onto the back end of the bus, and as her eyes followed the line upward, she saw that the grapple was held in Batman's right hand. In his left hand, he held firmly onto the chain which still dangled from the helicopter. Batman hung there in mid air, holding the school bus up with all the strength he could will forth, more than he ever thought possible.
He fought off the impending shutdown of his heart, struggling to hold onto his last fragment of life. His body shook, he could hardly breathe, and he was bleeding profusely. But he was determined to not let his friends die. Struggling with all of his might, Bruce held the grapple firmly, refusing to let go. He could feel the ligaments tearing his arm, shooting pain throughout his body. His bones and joints were breaking apart from each other due to the extreme weight he was forcing himself to hold up. Through heavy sweat, blood and tears, Bruce let out a painful cry of determination, forcing himself to go on.
"Bruce…" Diana uttered in amazement.
"Leave it to Bruce to look death in the eye and tell it to come back later." Wally grinned.
"He won't be able to hold it for long; let's get these kids to safety." Dick said commandingly.
"He's right." Diana agreed, "But how? Clark is still unconscious, and I won't be able to fly all of them out of here in time."
"I've got an idea." Dick kicked open the window nearest to him, and nodded to Diana. Taking the hint, Diana quickly pulled out the lasso of truth, which Joker hadn't been attentive enough to confiscate from her.
Taking quick but careful aim, Diana tossed out her lasso and looped it around the flag pole sticking out the side of a nearby building. With all her might, she pulled toward the building, causing the down-pointed front end of the bus to move toward the building. Once they were close enough to the wall, Dick was able to crawl out the broken bus window, and push open the larger window on the wall of the building. He then crawled inside the building.
Inside the bus, Tim and Wally began handing Dick the children, one at a time, and Dick would rush them inside the building where they would be safe. All the while Linda did her best to comfort the children, while Jai and Iris attempted to wake up Clark. And Diana held the bus in place, muttering to herself, "Please Bruce… please hold on."
Up above, as Batman struggled to keep the bus in the air with all of his might, holding onto to his last shred of life, the Joker got to his feet angrily. "You pointy eared son of a bitch!" Joker screamed, "You ruin everything!"
With hatred burning his eyes, Joker began to climb the line from Batman's grapple. "I'll just have to come up there and finish things the old fashioned way!"
Down below in the bus, the last of the crying children was rushed to safety. Linda, Jai and Iris were then hustled into the safe building, followed by Tim and Dick carrying the unconscious Clark, and then Wally and Diana.
Now that the bus was empty, Bruce was able to finally collapse. He let go, and fell limp through the air. The Joker, now cut loose, began to plummet as well, shrieking violently. The screaming crowd below scattered, fleeing the area. The school bus smashed into the concrete, crushing in on itself and becoming a twisted pile of yellow scrap.
Only a few moments later, Joker and Batman both crashed lifelessly into a fountain that had been build in the center of Gotham Square. Under the weight of their impact, the large concrete statue at the center of the fountain shattered to pieces, and the two figures sank into the crystal blue water. Almost immediately, a bloody red cloud spread through the water, shrouding them both.
Even worse, the school bus falling had inadvertently caused a downed power line. And now, with the fountain damaged, the bloody water was quickly spreading toward the line.
Simultaneously, like two blood soaked silhouettes, Batman and the Joker wobbled to their feet, Batman clutching his chest, Joker clutching his broken arm. His head hung to the side on an unnatural angle, his neck damaged by the fall.
"I suppose I should have guessed this wouldn't go how I wanted it to." Joker grumbled, "After all it never really does."
"How did you honestly expect this to end, Joker?" Batman coughed. "You and I both knew this couldn't last forever. And now we're both going to die here, Joker, because you just couldn't stop with the same old joke."
"You know what's really funny?" Joker said in a weary voice. "I'm not even laughing."
Then, in one final act of desperation, Joker withdrew a knife from his coat pocket and lunged at Batman. The dark knight grabbed Joker, and the two fell weakly onto the ground. The water level reached the downed power line, and immediately lethal voltage surged through the water. The Joker erupted into an agonized, cackling shriek, and Batman's already dying heart jolted violently.
The two fell next to each other, their lifeless bodies twitching. Diana watched this event unfold as she raced out onto the street, tears streaming down her face. "No!" She bellowed, kicking away the power line and sprinting into the water. She grabbed Bruce and held him tightly in her arms. Between heavy sobs she cried, "Bruce… oh God no… Bruce, please don't leave me! I'm so sorry Bruce, I forgive you and I'm so sorry. Bruce, please. Wake up… Bruce." Her voice was frantic. "I love you! I love you so much Bruce please don't leave me!"
Suddenly, Diana was pulled away by EMT's. Bruce's bloody, lifeless body was rushed into an ambulance, and Diana was left sobbing.
"Oh no…" Dick's hands quivered, and his face dropped. Tim stood far off, refusing to let anyone see him cry.
"Oh man…" Wally's voice wavered, and Linda hugged him. Neither of them said anything.
Clark, now awake, walked over to Diana with a solemn face and tried to comfort her.
"He saved us." She sobbed, "He saved everyone."
"I know." Clark said in a quiet voice, heavy with sadness. "Come on… let's get to the hospital."
A/N: Well, I probably just ruined all of your good moods ;)
Seriously though, if you've shed a tear at any point during this story, be prepared to sob when you read the next chapter. I'm not holding back.