Disclaimer/Summary: See chapter one.
Note: I've posted this early do to the opening of Man of Steel, which was awesome! Definitely worth the go see. Oh and I have no beta, so please excuse any errors.
Happy Reading, Enjoy!
Chapter 14: Brother's Are Always There
"What do we do?"
"Fight it," Kent answered, "It's the only thing we can do."
The Glows seemed unable to speak, but their ability to roar was ten fold normal volume. As the figures raced across the expanse the heroes rolled shoulders, cracked knuckles, and took fighting stances. The first to move was the Beast. The large guardian leapt forward meeting the Glows. The Beast swung its tail knocking multiple figures away; it snapped at more, severing limbs; it stomped its forelegs sending tremors into the oncoming Glows.
Taking the Beast's action as the signal the others jumped into the fray right after it. Barbra hung back, unsure how to escape the battlefield. J'onn, sensing her distress flew her to higher ground where she could still observe the fighting.
The heroes, though they'd been through hell fighting the Beast, fought with all their remaining strength. However, the Glows seemed to take it all in stride, forcing Bruce's other defenses to kick into gear. The silhouettes that had previously removed the heroes from Bruce's minds appeared. Good and Evil reappeared along with multiple other creatures that were similar to the Beast.
They all fought with tooth and nail, not willing to give up on the battle. Bruce, from his position on the field could see how terribly the fight was going. The Glows could not be destroyed, when they were downed they simply rose again and continued forward anew.
The heroes did their best to fight back, but they'd sustained more injuries along with their previous ones. The heroes had exhausted most of their energy and were fighting on reserve, which was proving fatal.
Bruce knew he had to do something before his colleagues were caught within his mind when the battle was lost.
Jason was nearest Bruce, engaged with Kyle Abbott's glow who was in his werewolf form. Demon and myth were wrestling each other, though Abbott had the upper hand, his teeth sunk into Etrigan's shoulder. Bruce dodged a glow's clawing grasp and brought his fists down atop Abbott's large skull, the werewolf released Jason, shaking its head and staggering from the blow. Bruce gripped Jason and hauled him to his feet, the movement was forceful and Jason did not realize what was happening until it was too late. "No. Bruce-"
Bruce didn't watch as the demon vanished, instead looking for the next nearest hero.
Kent was attempting to ward off Man-Bat; the sorcerer summoned fire and light, but they did nothing against the glow. Throwing a blast of magic at the creature before him Kent gathered more magic preparing for a followup. Transporting himself behind the creature Kent released the magic dispersing the glow's light form. Kent watched as the light partials drew back together, recreating Man-Bat. Kent held his breath summoning the powers of Nabu, but he opened his eyes when he felt two fingers upon his temple.
Bruce stood before him, their eyes met briefly and Kent could not get a word out before he was sent out of Bruce's mind. Bruce sent a vicious kick to Man-Bat and ducked and dodged between other Glows en route to Tim. Bruce paused alongside a silhouette fighting off multiple glows. "Get Barbra," he ordered. The silhouette vanished and Bruce continued forward.
Tim allowed a glow to grab hold of him and throw him, using the momentum to his advantage the once Boy Wonder landed a two footed kick on Mr. Freeze's chest, the glow stumbled back and fell. Tim swiveled around and preformed a one armed handspring to avoid a blow from Deadshot's glow. Landing Tim didn't pause as he brought his leg around in a round house that Deadshot neatly dodged. "You've gotten better!" Tim grinned. Still clutching his broke arm to his chest Tim swung at Deadshot who ducked under it, but Tim anticipated this and grabbed hold of his collar and use the glow's momentum against him and threw him into Mr. Freeze who'd just risen to his feet.
Before Tim could land another two footed kick Bruce reached out and yanked the third Robin from the air, rather than hitting the ground like he'd expected Tim fell into darkness.
Inza was Bruce's next target, she was fighting with her back to a silhouette and dodging killing blows from Hush and Scarecorw's glows. Though she was fairing well, Bruce could tell she was tired, movements that would usually be smooth were staggered, screaming of fatigue. Turning to Hush Inza didn't see Scarecrow run up behind her with knife in hand.
Bruce dove for the woman.
Scarecrow fumbled as his knife met darkness. Seeing Bruce the glow roared in rage. Bruce rolled out of the way of the knife; a silhouette stepped into the path of the glow and engaged it in battle allowing Bruce to continue expelling his colleagues from his mind.
A great roared sounded from Bruce's left and he watched as six glows were launched into the air, he saw a flash of feathers and began fighting his way to his next target.
Shayera bellowed a Thanagarian war cry and flew at King Kraken, her mace raised high. The spiked metal club connected with the glow's mid section sending him flying into other glows. The light forming his abdomen separated momentarily before piecing back together. Shayera shook off the disappointment and charged again. Shayera continued her assault, not relenting, she already noticed that they were losing the battle, but she refused to give up, so when Kraken stood after yet another fatal blow Shayera shot into the darkness. Snapping her wings shut the Thanagarian dived towards the ground and her intended target, Kraken was kicked out of the way and before she could stop her dive Shayera's mace connected with Bruce, or so she had thought.
Shayera awoke with a throbbing headache and a feeling akin to having been crushed by a building rolling through her body from head to toe.
"What do you mean?!"
The voice was a knife to Shayera's ears, but as the words registered she remembered what she had done—or rather—hadn't. Shayera snapped her eyes opened and was met with spots, blinking away the colors and adjusting to the light she attempted to stand.
A hand gripped her bicep to help her, it was Jason. "Get me back in there!" She bellowed.
Those also standing in the room turned to her. Kent was the first to speak, "I have tried, he has blocked me out."
"How can that be?!" Tim asked furiously gesturing wildly with one hand, "He can barely fight off the toxin yet he has the strength to keep you out?"
"I do not understand it either, but I can not get in, I am met by blankness, like his mind is frozen," Kent explained hurriedly.
Shayera approached the sorcerer, "What are you saying?"
"We-"
"ARHHH!" The yell of rage echoed in the operation room and the occupants turned to the source.
Cass had leapt out of her chair the yell rolling off her lips. She growled seeing each of them, "Why would he do this? He needs our help!" She rounded on Kent, "Why haven't you reentered his mind?"
"We can not," Inza said, tears streaming down her face.
Cass stared at her mentor, she swayed heavily and Jason and Kent caught her before she could fall.
"You have lost too much blood," Kent said, "You need a transfusion." The cowl over Cass' face was tore to shreds and dripping with blood. Her ears had long gashes surrounding them, the cuts were deep and rough and still bleeding. Cass' gloves had been ripped off and her hands were covered in blood, bits of flesh stuck beneath her finger nails. "I was correct, you did inflict this upon yourself even though you mind was not within your body."
"It's no different from my arm," Tim added holding up the arm he'd been keeping close to his chest. The others turned to him noticing the injury for the first time. Blood had soaked Red Robin's sleeve and a bone protruded from flesh.
"Merlin, what is the matter with you Bats?!" Jason exclaimed rushing towards the cabinets looking for bandages.
Before Jason could lay out the medical supplies Barbra awoke, her groan alerting the others to her awakened state. "Where am I?" She asked, her eyes closed against the lights.
"The Watchtower, we are no longer in Bruce's mind," Inza answered furiously wiping tears from her eyes.
Barbra's eyes snapped open, "Why?"
"Fuck Why! I Just Want To Get Back There!" Cass yelled, her voice hoarse. She wobbled again and Barbra noticed the blood on her sister's face for the first time, how she missed it she didn't know, there was so much of it.
"Cass you're bleeding!"
"It's nothing," The Batgirl said, but it obviously wasn't. Shayera gripped the girl's upper arm and sat her in the chair she had previously occupied.
Barbra motioned to the transfusion equipment Jason had set down and asked Shayera to bring it to her. Finding the correct blood type Barbra began to hook the bag to the tubing with Shayera's assistance.
Inza helped Jason attend to Tim's arm while Kent stood at the end of Bruce's bed and stared at the man in concentration trying to find some way to reenter his friend's mind.
"I'm not sure I can set you're bone," Jason said as he wiped most of the blood away.
"I can do it," Tim said with a shrug.
Jason's eyebrows disappeared into his hair, "What?"
Tim shrug again, "It's no big deal." He reached for the rag Jason held and wrapped it securely around his forearm. "Can I barrow that?" he ask Inza who held another towel, the magician's wife gave it to him and he shoved it into his mouth. Jason was a bit disgusted that the boy was chewing on a rag covered in blood, but it was his own. Tim clenched his jaw and laid his forearm on the metal tray table, he place his good hand directly on the break. Breathing deeply through his nose Tim held his breath, then simultaneously he let it out and pressed down and out on his protruding bone as hard as he could. Tim could feel more flesh tear and pain shot through his arm and up his shoulder, his eyes watered at the burning, however an audible snap followed by a low crack signaled that the reset had been successful.
"Dear Merlin," Jason muttered shaking his head at the young man before him.
Tim spat the towel out of his mouth and allowed Inza to remove the bloody rag from his arm, "Thanks," he wheezed, shaking his head at the pain.
"I have enough strength to heal the tissue," Inza said setting the rags to the side.
Tim looked at the dark haired woman, "Are you sure?"
Inza nodded, "Yes."
"Okay, but only the tissue, I'll let nature take care of the rest," Tim said.
Inza nodded again and held her hands together her finger tips brushing the inside of her palms, slowly a gold light grew between her hands. She began to rotate her hands around the orb as it grew, when it was about the size of a softball she held it in one hand and dragged two fingers across its surface. Inza treated the orb like a paste, but she did not actually touch Tim's arm, instead she moved her fingers in a zigzag motion over the open wound, the light creating a tread within the swine that slowly pulled the wound closer together.
Inza continued until Tim's good hand closed over her wrist. "That's enough."
"But I am not done yet," she argued looking down at the wound that still bled and was still deep enough to expose one of his tendons.
Tim did not release her hand, he gave her a pointed look, "Yes you are."
Never in her life had Inza been defied by such a young person, it was not something she was willing to accept, however the seriousness in Tim's eyes seem to reach her brain because the orb she held vanished.
Tim smiled and let go of her wrist, "Don't worry, I've had worse."
"-Want To. Stop!" Cass' hoarse shout made Tim and Inza look towards Cass. The batgirl sat before Barbra refusing the woman's help.
"Cass you're bleeding!" Barbra argued attempting to get close to Cass with a wet towel.
"I Fucking Know Barbra!" Cass screeched. "I Don't Need You To Tell Me That!" Cass ripped off her shredded cowl exposing her deep gashes to the air, "Big Fucking Deal."
Barbra's jaw clicked, something Tim easily caught. "You Can't Even Stand!"
"Why The Fuck Are You Worrying About Me When Our Father Isn't Likely To Wake Up?!"
The room fell silent, the only sound coming from Bruce's monitors. Barbra's eyes widened before she closed them against her tears. Tim's mind shut down and all he could hear was his own heart beat. Cass sat breathing hard, her chest heaving, she didn't mean to say it, but it was the truth and they all knew it.
"I won't apologize," the words were harsh, but truthful. Cass' voice lowered to a whisper, "You can worry about me later, let's just focus on Bruce right now."
Barbra opened her eyes, "I don't expect you to apologize," The bite within her tone made Tim flinch, he looked to Cass to gauge her reaction but the Batgirl was stone faced if not a little exhausted. Barbra wheeled herself towards Tim and checked his bandage, Tim didn't argue as she adjusted the wrap.
Just as Barbra began securing the end of Tim's wrapping a wave of rage—red hot fury—rolled through the room. It was like nothing any of them had felt before, the anger seemed to seep into their skin and spread to every one of their nerve endings. The feeling was so powerful Kent was pulled from his meditative state, he looked to each of the heroes, "What was that?"
"I—I don't know," Inza answered glancing around the room.
Another more powerful wave of rage swept through the room and the heroes watched as Mars' last living creature stood at his full hight, his human friendly form discarded. His eyes were a deep red-orange and he seemed to be emanating savagery. Floating a foot off the ground the martian approached Bruce's bed stopping at the end where Kent had perviously stood. In his haze like state J'onn stretched his left hand out before him, his hand snapped open, his fingers spread wide. J'onn's eyes began to glow and they watched as he continued to stare at Bruce's prone form.
Jason attempted to touch J'onn, but the martian had created some sort of shield around himself. They could do nothing, but watch as the martian's rage began to build, steadily filling the room with a great sense of anger. J'onn continued to look at Bruce's body with great intensity, however an anguished cry was ripped from the martian's lips and he collapsed to the cold floor, his form limp and his eyes closed.
Having just banished J'onn from his mind Bruce paused to kick a Cheetah glow in the gut, before working his way to Donna who fought alongside Dick, both of whom were fighting glows of villains and known heroes. Upon reaching them Bruce didn't bother to let his presence be known, he kicked Dick's opponent out of the way before grabbing his eldest by his collar and shoving him backwards into Donna, both stumbled from the impact.
"What-"
The dark haired heroes vanished before touching the ground. Rolling beneath a swing of a bully stick Bruce continued on his mission, glancing at a silhouette he gave an unspoken command, the willowy black figure zeroing in on John and Diana's positions.
"Bruce look out!"
Bruce had already sensed the glow sneaking up behind him, but ducked to allow Clark a clear shot at it. He observed the Man of Steel as he fought with what strength he had in reserve. Crouching down Bruce swung a leg around, catching two glows causing them to crash to the ground.
"Clark!"
The Man of Steel threw off a creature that resembled Hell Hound before turning to Bruce, "What?"
Bruce paused and caught the light blue eyes, "I..." Bruce shook his head, "Tell Lois I said hello."
Clark's eyes widened, a look of realization crossing his face before he vanished all together.
An enraged roar ripped through the air, Bruce looked to the source to see Diana struggling against two silhouettes who held her back. She struggled against their hold attempting to break free. Across the expanse Bruce met her eyes and she roared again, but it was a yell of anguish.
"N-" She disappeared before she could finish, and Bruce hung his head slightly. He gave another wordless command for the silhouettes to finish his mission by locating Zatannna and Wally.
Turning back to the fight Bruce dodged a two fisted swing made by a yellow-green Bane, the South American bull created a small crater with his fists. Bruce leapt over the man and landed a two footed kick on his lower back forcing the man to topple forward.
The large man quickly righted himself and lunged for Bruce who easily rolled out of the way, springing up Bruce kicked the man behind the knee. Bane collapsed; yelling the foreigner swung his left hand out a caught the top of Bruce's shoulder unexpectedly. Bruce shook his head, a slight dizziness coming over him. Rolling out of reach Bruce assessed the large man before him.
Bane regained his footing and charged just as Bruce readied himself for the offensive. Bane dodged right as Bruce suspected he would, but rather than swing back around to the left Bane planted his right hand on the ground in a half handstand and kicked his legs out catching Bruce with a powerful donkey kick on his left side.
Before Bruce could right himself a silhouette hauled him to his feet while another engaged Bane in combat. Bruce looked to the black figure, "Damn it Wally." Bruce cursed the speedster for being able to escape the silhouettes, "I'll take care of him." The black figure nodded before slipping into the fray.
It wasn't difficult for Bruce to located the Scarlet Speedster, he found the young hero zipping from glowing figure to glowing figure, knocking them down over and over again in a never ending battle. But Bruce knew better, he knew Wally would run out of steam, the kid had already exhausted himself fighting the Beast.
Bruce was yards away from Wally when he fell to his knees, immediately silhouettes swarmed him, protecting him in his vulnerable state.
"Bruce?"
Looking up Bruce faced the concerned green eyes of Wally. Bruce's chest constricted and he place a hand on Wally's shoulder for support. "Take it easy," Wally's voice was high and panicky. Bruce squeezed his eyes shut as the pain began to pass.
Opening his eyes when the pain was gone, Bruce maintained his grip on Wally's shoulder, "I'm okay."
"Are you sure, you don't look so good Bats."
"I'm fine."
To Wally's surprised however, Bruce made no move to stand. Wally attempted to move in order to better assist the Dark Knight into a standing position but he found Bruce's grip on his shoulder was vice like. "Can you let go Bats? That kind of hurts."
Bruce looked into the green eyes of the Speedster, and Wally could almost hear his world come crashing down around him. The look in Bruce's eyes was a mixture of pain, acceptance, and a number of others Wally couldn't name. "No. No." Wally shook his head, "Nononononono!"
"Wally. Wally!"
Wally met the blue eyes, his own filling with tears. "You can't.. you can't."
Bruce didn't say anything, he just watched the young hero before him. Bruce tightened his grip on Wally's shoulder.
Wally's hands shot up and gripped Bruce's wrist, "No, please! Please don't!"
"Wally.." Bruce growled. He sent the command, the jet of energy running down his arm and to the hero he was forcing out of his mind.
"You can't! You're my brother!"
The exclamation shocked Bruce to the point of which his glare vanished and his mouth went slack.
The tears that had been building in Wally's eyes spilled over, streaming down his cheeks, clearing small paths down his grimy face to his chin where they fell onto his sleeve and soaked into the fabric staining it. "You're invincible." Wally cried out, "You're my big brother! Brother's are always there-"
Bruce's hand fell to his side. Wally was gone, empty blackness where he had been.
Searing pain erupted in Bruce's chest and he bent forward, his forehead touching the ground before him. He hugged his arms to his chest as the pain ripped through his body; distracted by the agony Bruce didn't notice as the silhouettes around him merged into one large shadow. The shadow encircled Bruce spinning around him faster and faster until it exploded around him. The darkness of the shadow rolled through the glows in one giant wave pushing them all back in a great onslaught of explosive force. When the shadow and glows disappeared so did Bruce's pain. He untangled himself and pushed himself into a sitting position surveying the once again empty, barren land that was the heart of his mind.
Bruce closed his eyes taking a deep, shuttering breath before opening them again. A large, clawed paw appeared near him and Bruce watched as the muscles flexed as the creature lowered itself to the ground. Though the creature was all of his hate and anger Bruce couldn't help but be comforted by its presence, it had been his guardian his entire life, even before his parents were killed, it was with him, just a much less evil, decaying creature and more of a soft, friendly presence that resided in the back of his subconscious.
Pain gripped Bruce's chest again and he looked over the barren abyss to see the faint light of the glows growing in strength. The pain constricted, and Bruce grabbed his chest as breathing became difficult. Bruce squeezed his eyes shut against the pain. Something cool and hard lightly touched his forehead and the pain lessened slightly, Bruce opened his eyes and found that the red-black eyes of his guardian had faded showing their true color, a color that reflected the same that Bruce saw every time he looked into a mirror. Tenebrae looked searchingly into Bruce's eyes, the creature's warm breath rolling over him and ruffling his hair. Bruce lifted a hand from his chest to reach out to his guardian, Tenebrae made a soft sound akin to a low whine of a dog. Bruce followed his gaze and glanced at his palm, the skin there was stained red. Bruce looked to his chest to see that more lesions had appeared and were openly bleeding.
Bruce sighed, and clamped his eyes shut as another wave of pain rippled through his body. Tenebrae let out that same low whine and Bruce felt the creature shift around him. Bruce watched as the creature curled its body around him in a very protective manner. Tenebrae had arched its body around Bruce, its forepaws just to Bruce's left and its hind legs pulled up on his right. The creature stretched its right wing over them warding Bruce from sight; the long, dangerous tail was laid across Bruce's lap providing a comforting weight. The large creature rested its head on its paws, the bottom of its muzzle resting on Bruce's thigh, and the wing made tent pulled further in. Again the creature let out a low whine, the large blue eyes watching Bruce carefully. The creature's charge placed a hand on the top of its muzzle. Bruce glanced to the membranous wing where he could see the glows quickly descending upon their position.
The yellow-green light filtered through the wing as a dull light, but Bruce saw the moment it reached them.
The pain was blinding, there were no words to describe the agony that ripped through Bruce wave after murderous wave. The hand on Tenebrae's muzzle gripped one of the spikes as the pain electrocuted every last bit of Bruce, both physical and conscience.
It was amazing how all the heroes fit into the room surrounding the Dark Knight's bed, when they had been sitting there was plenty of room, but now that nearly all of them were standing and yelling over each other to be heard it was an impressive feat.
Most of the heroes were red faced, their voices hoarse from all the shouting, a few of them had tears in their eyes. The chaos was hard for all of them, especially since they were also attempting to awaken J'onn.
The martian was still in his natural form and it worried the others that he hadn't regained conscience yet. Barbra and Inza were the two doing most of the tending while the others divided their attention between J'onn and Batman.
Inza rested a hand on Barbra's shoulder, "Let me try again." The former Batgirl nodded and let go of the martian's shoulder.
Inza rested a hand on J'onn's head and muttered a short, unintelligible spell. The woman's eyes glowed and she held her position, Barbra and the others watching held their breath as the seconds ticked by. Suddenly Inza released her hold on the martian and stumbled back, Dick caught her and helped her right herself.
"Are you okay."
Inza nodded, "Yes," Inza looked to J'onn who was in the same position, "...come on... I know you felt me.." she whispered.
The orange eyes of the martian opened and the heroes breathed a weary sigh of relief. "Wh-what happened?"
"You attempted to—we think you attempted to reenter Bruce's mind," Barbra explained.
J'onn's gaze fell onto the still figure on the medical bed, "No.."
"Can you try again?" Everyone turned to Cass who stood over Bruce's bed, her hard eyes assessing the martian. "Can you do it? Can you get us back in there?"
"Cass, please!" Barbra hissed, it was obvious that they had all exhausted all of their energy, J'onn even more so than the others.
"What!?" the girl snapped rounding on Barbra, "I don't see you doing anything to help the situation so I may as well try if no else is going to! You haven't put forth any effort since we've regained conscience! At least I'm trying! All You've Done Is Tell Me No!"
"Cass.." Tim said attempting to calm his sister down.
"No!" Cass' glared roamed over the room, "It's like none of you care! With your lack of action you may as well have already Killed Him!"
"Don't You Dare Say That!" Barbra shouted back.
Cass' eyes became ablaze, "Of Course I Dare! You've Given Up!"
"I Have Not! I Just Have Faith He Will Pull Through!" Barbra screeched, her face reddening, a few stray tears falling from her eyes.
The batgirl's voice dropped low, it was a cold hiss, "I have more faith than you, but I know that not trying is just quickening his death. At least I can say I tried to help every second I could unlike you you bitch."
The room echoed with uncomfortable silence. Cass' last word had floored the room, and rang within everyone's ears.
The silence was broken by a whimpered, horrified word.
The occupants turned to the source of the sound and found themselves looking at the Flash. Zatanna hurried forward and pulled back the Speedster's mask, Wally's eyes were still closed, but they could all see the movement beneath his lids.
"No." It was a single word, but the inflected emotion gnawed at the heroes' hearts. "No." Wally began to shake slightly, his eyelashes fluttering even more. Then stillness. Green eyes snapped opened, the pupils dilating, the eyes swept the room taking in each of the heroes. Wally then bent forward, falling out of the chair and onto his knees where he began to shake violently. Donna and Dick took Zatanna's position by the Speedster's side.
"Wally?" Dick asked, a hand on his friend's shoulder in a comforting manner.
Wally looked up, his appearance flooding the others. The greens were red-rimmed, and bloodshot, hot tears streaming down Wally's cheeks. "He's... he's-"
It was a scream, a bloodcurdling scream much like the ones Cass had emitted, the difference was the pain and agony reflected in the sound. Cass' screams had been terrible, but the scream that echoed in the room and throughout the Watch Tower was much more horrifying. Heroes throughout the tower stopped and shivered, sharing distraught looks with each other, none of them having ever heard such a horrible sound, it gnawed at ears, ripped through hearts, burned down spines, forced hair on end, and seared down nerves into every last cell.
Those in the presence of the source turned to the medical bed where Bruce sat up ram-rod straight, his eyes open and red; blood pouring from his open, infected lesions. His mouth was wide, tongue flat, and throat dry as his body shook, the sound he was emitting tearing through every fiber of his being. The machines that monitored him were beeping rapidly, warnings of too-high vitals.
The scream seemed to last enos before ending abruptly. Bruce's eyes fluttered close and he fell back to the bed, unmoving. The machine that monitored his heart rate beeped once then sounded one long, unending tone.
To be continued…
Note: The next chapter will most likely be the last installment. Thank you very much for sticking this through.
-Jopo :)