A/N: New beginning! New start! New vigilante played by Zachary Gordon! Also, two new villains introduced in this chapter! The girl introduced in the beginning is played by Jennifer Lawrence and the guy shown at the end is played by Crispin Glover. If you don't like the castings, as with all of them, choose actors for yourself, I just choose mostly based on looks.
Batman Legacy
It was a sweltering night in Gotham City; the heat of summer had carried over from the day, leaving the pavement practically radiating heat. A group of teens and young adults were hanging outside of a club, waiting to be let in. The sounds of motorcycles and horns caught their attention, and the group turned to see a crowd of clowns.
"Evening boys and girls! Who's up for some laughs?" a blonde girl dressed as Harley Quinn exclaimed, laughing raucously. Her allies joined in, speeding toward the group, circling and surrounding them. "You're not smiling!" she called as she and her jester friends brought out knives, bats, and rubber chickens with bricks in them. Throwing stars were thrown from the shadows, hitting the hands of the Jokerz, causing them to drop their weapons, who looked into the darkened alleys and rooftops to find dark clothing clad teens and young adults glaring at them. The new group then dropped down into the fray, and Harley Quinn merely smiled and ordered, "Split their sides!" before her Jokerz shot toward the Sons of the Batman.
"Get out of here! We've got them," the leader wearing a red bat symbol shouted and the civilians scattered. The Jokerz sped toward the Sons, but the young gang of vigilantes used streetlights to kick the Jokerz off of their bikes, evening the playing field a bit. But that didn't stop them, as they just popped right back up like jacks in the box, retrieved their weapons from the ground, and charged at the other gang. Harley in particular was giving the leader a difficult time, darting past him and knocking him with her brick filled rubber chicken every time she could.
"KNOCK IT OFF JOKERZ!" the leader shouted frustrated at Harley Quinn.
"We're trying, but you won't hold still!" she teased, only for a figure cloaked in shadows to dive from the darkness and tackle Harley Quinn to the ground.
"IT'S THE BAT!" cried someone and many of the gangs' members of both sides ran back into the shadows, leaving the leaders to deal with the woman who was the most feared creature in Gotham. Harley just flipped herself up and smiled.
"Oo, hiya Batgirl! If I'da known you'd be here, I would've made sure to–" she was interrupted by the leader of the Sons of the Batman knocking her out with a trash can lid from behind.
"Not bad for a rookie huh?" he asked Batgirl, only for her to sweep kick him and hold him on the ground.
"You got a death wish kid," she muttered to the leader of the Sons of the Batman.
"And here I thought I was just being a good citizen," he said as Batgirl knocked him out with a blow across the face. She tied him up for Gordon's garbage collection, before sighing and shaking her head at the carnage.
"Kids today," she muttered, picking up the unconscious form of Matilda Quinzel, dressed in Harley Quinn's uniform, and heading for the Batmobile.
Matilda blinked her eyes open a while later, shooting up when she realized she was in a car, but settling when she looked to her left and saw Batgirl in the driver's seat.
"Oh. You again." She sighed. "Ya' know, we really need ta stop makin' a habit outta this."
"Agreed. So stay away from the Jokerz," Batgirl ordered shortly, not taking her eyes off the road. Matilda raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Because getting involved in a gang like that only leads to your own destruction." Matilda scoffed.
"Like you actually care what happens to me." Batgirl glanced at Matilda briefly, before looking back at the road.
"You'd be surprised," was all she said. They pulled up in the alleyway behind Matilda's apartment complex, where a glaring Harleen Quinzel greeted them. Batgirl opened the Batmobile hatch and unlocked the young blonde woman's handcuffs. She stuck her tongue out at the vigilante, but smiled somewhat sheepishly at her mother.
"AGAIN MATILDA! AGAIN!" the former Harley Quinn shouted, causing her daughter to flinch.
"Momma–"
"Don't 'Momma' me, young lady, you're lucky I don't flay you alive right now! Taking time off of college is one thing, but joining a gang–"
"It's not just a gang momma, they're my family!" Matilda argued.
"No, I'm your family."
"Well maybe I want more than you!" she shouted at her mother. Silence. Matilda's shoulders dropped and she shuffled her feet, looking down at them. "I'm sorry. Look, I'll make us some tea and we can talk when we're calmer." She headed up into the apartment complex as her mother sighed and turned to the Batgirl.
"Batgirl, I–"
"That's the second time this month, Ms. Quinzel," Batgirl interrupted. "Third time, and I send her to Gordon, not you. And I think we all know how much I do not want to do that," she emphasized. Harleen nodded.
"I understand. I'm sorry, I'm trying my best, I just, I don't know how to get through to her," she sighed, running a hand through her blond hair.
"Have you thought of therapy? Or telling her about her father and your past?" Batgirl suggested. The other woman shook her head.
"She hates shrinks and if I told her… it'd destroy her." Batgirl pursed her lips from behind the mask.
"I disagree, but she's your daughter and you must treat her how you see fit." The former criminal closed her eyes and sighed, smiling slightly in relief.
"Thank you. I'll think of something, I just need to–" she looked back to find the Batgirl gone. Harleen Quinzel smiled sadly, before heading home.
The Batman stared down at the city below. He was searching for clues as to the location of the Sons of the Batman's base, but so far, nothing. He sighed; he may not approve of this gang that said they followed the teachings of the Batman, but he was impressed by their ability to hide their home. A figure moving out of the corner of his eye caught his eye and he turned to see another vigilante was hurrying over rooftops, in a black cape with a hood over his or her head, with a red chest plate and black bottoms. Diving off of the gargoyle he'd been kneeling on, the Batman managed to catch up to the other vigilante in mere seconds. The vigilante, a boy who was at most twenty-one, turned when he heard the Batman land behind him, but merely smiled.
"Batman. It's an honor to meet you officially," the boy smiled. The Batman looked at him, not amused.
"You one of those Sons of the Batman kid?" he asked the boy.
"No sir. The name's Robin," the boy said proudly. The Batman almost scoffed.
"What kind of a name is Robin exactly?" he inquired.
"Yours." The Batman froze. The younger vigilante took a breath before continuing, "You and Batgirl haven't been the same since Jason died. I wanted to show you that people still believed in you and understood the sacrifices you made… without going too far, I mean," he added, thinking about the supposed Sons of the Batman who seemed to not understand the thing that made the Bats so great. The older vigilante sighed internally.
"Kid, I understand what you're trying to do. But do yourself a favor: burn that outfit and forget all of this," he practically ordered. Robin sighed and looked out over the city.
"Why? Why should I stop–" he asked, turning around, only to find he was talking to himself. Unperturbed, the boy took out a communicator and said into it, "Hey, Spoiler, you're never going to believe this."
Cassandra Cain Dawes-Blake was dressed all in black, standing in the middle of the fighting ring and looking very much like the ninja her birth father had been training her to be. A light suddenly turned on and illuminated a dummy behind her, which she immediately turned around and charged at, wrapping her legs around the dummy's neck and throwing it to the ground. She then rotated 180 degrees, throwing a fistful of batarangs at the mannequin at the opposite end of the area, which stuck in the form's arm, causing it to drop the practice gun it'd been holding. More lights illuminated a gaggle of goons, which Cassie kicked, punched, and threw back into the walls, shattering the figures on impact. Using her grappling gun to latch onto and drag another dummy toward her, she slammed it into the cold concrete floor and the used a sweeping kick and ground pound to knock down one behind her. She then stood and turned to face her mother, who stood watching the whole battle, eyebrow raised and weight leaned on one leg.
"No," was all she said. Cassandra practically collapsed.
"Bu–"
"You're not ready and I won't let you out until you are," Jenna told her daughter.
"But Mother!" Cassie cried.
"No buts, you're not going out there and that's final," she stated, and Cassie froze for a moment, before fleeing the room as fast as she could. Jenna sighed.
"I did it again, didn't I?" she asked aloud.
"Would you hit me if I said yes?" John Blake questioned, coming out of the shadows of the Batbunker. Jenna gave him a look that clearly said 'Yes.' He kissed her forehead.
"I'll go talk to her," he told his fiancé, heading for the elevator. Jenna sighed, sitting down tiredly in a chair, hands on her temples as she pushed hair out of her eyes. She was thirty-eight and feeling it too. She wasn't the Batgirl she had been, young, active, and idealistic. In fact, the only reason she used the name still was because a vigilante in California had taken the name of Batwoman and she wanted to remain a Bat. But at the same time, she couldn't deny the fact that she was getting older and Cassie was only three years younger than she herself had been when she'd first donned the cape and cowl. Maybe… she looked at the Red Hood's suit of Kevlar with a leather jacket and scarlet motorcycle helmet hanging empty in a glass case. She shook her head. No. She would not let another one of her children die because of her; that was a promise.
Cassie was sitting on the roof of her apartment building, knees to her chest as she looked over the city's twinkling lights, occasionally wiping away a tear that escaped. She had been so sure that today was the day: the day she'd finally join the family business. But apparently her mother disagreed.
"How did you know?" she asked, as he father slipped from the shadows into the pale moonlight.
"Dick and Jason used to come up here when they were angry with us and grounded from patrol," he explained, sitting down next to her on the edge of the roof. He sighed. "So I know you're dwelling on what your mother said, but what are you thinking exactly?" Cassie looked down, before her tear filled eyes looked into her father's.
"Am I… not good enough?" she asked. John immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.
"No… no, don't you dare ever think that," he told her. "You are perfect… your mother's just…"
"Afraid?" Cassie suggested and John nodded.
"Very. But she'll see the light. You just have to give her time." Cassie nodded in understanding and the two turned back to watch over the city.
John Blake opened the master bathroom door and walked in, smiling at the illumination provided by candles; Cassandra was asleep and it was time for him to unwind. Stripping, he slid into the tub filled with hot water and suds, his fiancé scooting to the side to make room for him, the water and bubble covering them both sufficiently.
"How'd it go?" Jenna asked him as he put an arm around her and began to relax in the water.
"She's better. Still frustrated and determined, but that runs in the family," he teased and Jenna shoved him slightly, sending the water sloshing over the edge a bit.
"Haha, very funny." She sighed, leaning her head back against the edge of the bath. "When did our lives get so difficult?" John shrugged.
"When our parents died, when we met Bruce Wayne, when we decided to throw sanity and convention out the window and become vigilantes? Take your pick." Jenna chuckled, though her smile quickly faded.
"I knew this job wouldn't be easy but…"
"We had no idea it'd be this hard." She nodded and brushed her hair out of her face.
"We had no idea what we were doing," she admitted. John shrugged.
"Well I think we've done decently considering…" he trailed off, thinking about how empty their table had been for the past decade.
"Everything," Jenna finished, dark circles under her eyes seeming to become more pronounced. John nodded and the two sat in silence, reveling in the moment of peace that they could share. The past ten years had been difficult for them; even when excluding the emotional trauma that had come with the death of Jason Todd, the city had changed since then. In spite of having been told by Gordon that Black Mask's death was an accident, the criminal underworld had heard of the Batgirl's rampage and targeting of Roman Sionis, leading all of them to believe that she had done it. That led to them being more careful and vicious when it came to fighting vigilantes and had led to the creation of more violent vigilantes, like the Sons of the Batman. And then came the personal struggle of dealing with Jason's death. Overall, they'd been doing well, at least in their opinion. No one else had died because of them since then and they had spread their crusade to three vigilante organizations across the world, getting operatives everywhere from London to Moscow. Of course, that didn't change all the things that should've happened like now, such as the lack of wedding rings on the couple's left hands, which the two could notice all the more at times like this.
"Marry me?" John asked suddenly. Jenna smiled.
"Yes."
"Tomorrow?" She sighed and shook her head slightly.
"No." John gave an exaggerated sigh and chuckled a bit.
"Are you ever going to marry me?" he inquired, half jokingly, but also half serious. Jenna sighed and nodded.
"Yeah." She turned her head to face her husband. "But not yet. When things calm down a little more." He smirked.
"Things get much calmer, we'll get bored." She shrugged.
"Maybe boring isn't so bad?" They looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. "I'm sorry," Jenna told him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Just a little while longer. When the wound heals for good."
Matilda Quinzel crawled through a window into the office of an abandoned warehouse, back in her Harley Quinn costume. She then turned and strode over to the desk, where a man was seated in the shadows.
"Sorry it took me so long to get here puddin'. I had to wait for the sedative in momma's tea to work," Harley explained to the man sitting at the desk as she sat on his armrest and gave him a smooch.
"No problem pumpkin. Now why don't we rally the troops!" he suggested and she smiled at him, getting up and skipping to the door, before holding it open for the man, who had green hair, a violently violet suit, and skin painted stark white. They clambered on catwalk above the gathering of goons AKA the Jokerz, many of who were just in their teens. Matilda took a gun from somewhere and shot it into the air, ceasing all conversation and bringing everyone's eyes to (Matilda) Harley Quinn and their leader, the Joker. This Joker, unlike the last one, was well put together, with his white face and red lips neatly done, and yet, insanity continued to roll off of him in droves. So, understandably, everyone gathered was staring at their shoes rather than at him directly, with the exception of Harley, who was staring at him adoringly.
"Ah, brave new world, that has such putzes in it, don'tcha think honey?" he asked Harley rhetorically, though she still nodded in agreement. "I mean, how else could you all manage to screw up something so. Very. Simple," he grit out, the Jokerz flinching with every punctuated phrase. "Like taking down those little morons who think that they're worthy of following in the Bats footsteps. But what else is to be expected? Kids these days. A lot has changed since your old Uncle Joker's been away. New Gotham, new rules… even a new Batman. But now I'm tanned, I'm rested and I'm ready to give this old town a wedgie again! So, who's with me?" Unsteady silence. The Joker sighed. "Unless you'd like to join these Sons of the Batman?" he asked, as Harley pulled out a phone, playing a recording of heart wrenching screams.
The Jokerz looked between one another before saying, "We're with you!"
"I can't hear you," he called, holding a hand to his ear.
"We're with you!" they shouted.
"Girls?"
"We're with you!" cheered the girls dressed like clowns, harlequins, and dolls.
"Boys?"
"We're with you!" clamored the boys who looked like something out of a demonic circus. The Joker smiled.
"Now I think it's about time we go public and show this city that the better class of criminal is back! Harley? Any ideas?" he asked.
"Here puddin," she said, handing the Society pages of the Gotham Times. He pinched her cheek affectionately, before trailing his finger down the listings.
"Hmmm… Nope. Nuh-uh. Nope. Ah-ha!" he exclaimed, finally finding the perfect event. Harley looked at it over his shoulders.
"Wha'? There? Security's gonna be tight puddin," she noted.
"Oh, yes! But think of the fun!" he smiled sinisterly, a grin which she reciprocated, before slamming his knife on the paper, pinning it to the wall. He then backed away and sauntered away, arm around Harley, leaving the event listing there for the men to see: a Wayne Enterprises fundraiser.