Bruce opened his eyes to find he was in an endless void. Or if you could call it a void. It was all white.

Bruce shielded his eyes. Where was he?

He was getting to his feet when he sensed a presence behind him. Immediately he turned around to see a man he last saw in the hospital. A man who died not too long ago.

"Gordon?" Bruce asked unsure.

Gordon smiled.

"Welcome, Bruce."

Instead of the usual trench coat he was in a white robe. Also his hair and moustache that he lost in chemo were back. He wore a big smile on his face.

"You're dead," Bruce stated suspiciously.

Gordon nodded.

"But if that is true, then why are you here?"

Bruce paused. He remembered fighting Metallo, Croc, Bane, Kaliback, Deadshot and the Sazusky brothers.

He remembered the two boys and…

Doctor Destiny.

Bruce's eyes showed anger. He was going to make him pay…

But then he realized something. Something was wrong.

"I'm dead too…" Bruce said with finality.

Gordon smiled.

"Yes and no."

Bruce looked at him confused.

"Where am I?" he demanded. This was probably a trick of Doctor Destiny. He never believed in the afterlife anyways.

"You are I guess what you would say in between. I have been waiting for you here…"

"I'm sorry but I don't believe you. This is just some big trick by Destiny well it's not working…"

Gordon's eyes flashed anger.

"What is wrong with you Bruce? Would it kill you to just for once have some faith?"

Bruce was taken aback by that question. Gordon continued.

"But you did have faith. Just not in yourself, but your friends."

What Gordon said was true, Bruce didn't deny but that didn't mean he was still suspicious.

"I don't have any friends…"

Gordon chuckled.

"You always act like you are the lone man when in reality you probably have the most loyal friends and family a man could have!"

"They rejected me," Bruce snapped back angrily.

"But you still cared and loved all of them. You were just too stubborn to show it. And they as well."

"Why are you here if this isn't what you call the 'afterlife' Jim?" Bruce asked. He didn't want to be reminded of his regrets and mistakes.

Gordon smiled.

"I wasn't allowed to move on until you came here. I'm here to remind you of what Life really is."

"What? What is the meaning of life then?" Bruce asked sarcasm and cynicism.

Gordon sighed.

"You and I were not so different. Both driven men in a broken city. Both willing to do what it took to bring back hope to Gotham. We really did something for Gotham…"

"You were the better man though…" Bruce remarked.

Gordon shook his head.

"We both aren't without fault. The difference between us was I realized that my life is not just measured by what I do, but by the people in my life as well. I let others in my life and I could tell you, it made dying a lot easier with the comfort I wasn't alone."

"But that is because you deserved it! You were the better man Jim! You weren't like me! Someone who deserved to spend his remaining years broken and alone!"

"I am here to show you what you should have realized what life really was. You should have lived your life like me. Dedicated to your job, but still leaving time for your friends and those you loved…"

"Even if I had time it wouldn't work. You should know I died alone!"

Jim sighed.

"Bruce, do you remember what Alfred told you before he died?"

Bruce glared. How would he know that?

"You are never alone Bruce. You and your friends and loved ones may have been too stubborn to talk to each other, but you were never alone."

And with that an image appeared behind Gordon. It was Gotham.

There seemed to be a big shootout. Bruce recognized it from the East End.

Three shooters had a little girl hostage and were keeping the police at bay.

All of a sudden the snap of a whip was heard and all three guns were knocked out of the shooters hands.

"Selina?" Bruce asked in surprise. But his eyes didn't deceive him.

Catwoman had disarmed all three shooters.

"When you were disabled, Gotham went down the tubes. Some like Selina decided in your memory someone should still keep the vigil…" Gordon explained.

"Some?"

The image changed to another one. It looked like someone had started a robbery in a bank.

Suddenly someone in black and red descended on the robbers and disabled them with ease. Bruce immediately recognized the suit. It was a prototype he designed. Not many people knew about it.

"Who's that?" Bruce asked, a little angry that someone had taken up the mantle.

Gordon smiled proudly.

"That's my little girl."

Bruce looked at Gordon with shock.

"Barbara?"

"Yes. Kind of funny that we both thought we could keep her away but in the end it is who she is. She is a fighter. She had been working with Selina and a few others to try to keep Gotham from collapsing. However they all knew criminals would never be scared again unless they thought the Batman legacy was still around. She did it for you Bruce. For me. She didn't want all our hard work to go to waste."

Bruce paused. Barbara was doing this for him? After everything?

"But Babs, isn't the only one fighting in your name," Gordon went on. "Dick, the six founders of the League, and Lobo went on a journey to save your life…"

Bruce snorted.

"Yeah right. Out of everyone they probably hated me the most. And why the hell would they allow Lobo…"

"Don't believe me? Let me ask you something. Were you not aware of their presence? Couldn't you feel them inside of you? Don't you feel like they just had been torn away from your heart moments ago?"

Bruce gave no answer to that. As crazy as it sounded that was almost exactly how he felt moments before he came up here.

"The six and Dick realized they were at a difficult choice. Destiny was preying on your emotional center. J'onn couldn't stop him telepathically. If Doctor Destiny succeeded, not only would they lose you, but Destiny would come back more powerful…"

"They should have let me died then!" Bruce responded angrily. "I'm not worth saving!"

Gordon however scowled at him.

"No life is not worth saving. You of all people should know that!"

"Regardless my life does not weigh up to the lives of others!"

"But don't you understand? Your friends, despite everything you thought, still wanted to save you. They felt after everything you had done, you deserved another chance at life!"

"And look how that turned out!" Bruce replied bitter. "They also had no right to enter my mind!"

"They entered your heart Bruce," Gordon corrected.

"Same thing."

Gordon rubbed his forehead.

"You are so stubborn. Your friends did what they thought was best. They had almost succeeded. They were close to waking you up but…"

"But?"

Gordon sighed sadly.

"Destiny managed to get a hold your emotional Emblems at the last moment, not only killing you, but increasing his power."

Behind Gordon an image of Doctor Destiny reappeared. He was cloaked in black now and was wearing a medallion. Bruce was too curious by the image to ask what Gordon meant by emblems.

"He wears your emotions on his neck now, giving him an unlimited source of power…"

"To destroy the world…"

"Not destroy but remake it in his own image. See your friends had to use a machine to travel to your heart. With that still running it gives Doctor Destiny even more unlimited power. Your friends are trying to stop him right now…"

As Gordon spoke the image of a battle played out. Bruce watched as he saw John have the light zapped out of him. Pretty soon they were falling one by one. In the distance Dick and J'onn were working on a machine that Bruce recognized as transconscius articulator. Bruce had seen the sketches once in J'onn's room.

Bruce winced when he saw Destiny managed to get a hold of Superman and weaken him with red sunlight.

He continued to watch in pain as the League was disabled and J'onn failed to stop the mad telepath. Bruce's fists were clenched in rage. If he was out there, he would make him pay.

"They were trying to trap Destiny back into the emotional plane or what you would call the dream world. They almost succeeded, almost."

Bruce bowed his head. He thought of Dick and how they never had a chance to make up. He thought of Wally, John, and Shayera. They had lives still to live. He thought of Clark and how he never had a chance to tell him how much he really cared. Or how he respected J'onn all this time. Or how he really felt for Diana. But it was too late now.

That even made him angrier. That monster was going to be unleashed on this world and it was all his fault. If only they could let him go.

"Don't despair, Bruce," Gordon encouraged.

Bruce looked up and realized the eight were glowing different colors. Even Lobo who was off to the side unconscious.

"Red for Rage, Orange for Avarice, Yellow for Fear, Green for Willpower, Blue for Hope, Indigo for Compassion, and Violet for Love."

"What are they doing?"

Gordon smiled.

"They had done something no one had achieved before. They had entered your heart and saw you for what you really are. Each one of them understood something about yourself. Because they had come in contact with your own emotions, each of their emotional strength is tied to you. As long as they stay alive and your body is in close proximity to them while they experience the emotions they won over, you can't die. It also gives you much power. Like Destiny said, pure raw emotion is the greatest fuel for power…"

"They have no right!" Bruce replied angrily. Why couldn't they let him die in peace?

"They love you Bruce. They want to save you! Let me ask you something, do you want Doctor Destiny to win?"

"No."

"Do you want him to be stopped?"

"Yes but…"

"Well you are the only who can stop him now. You are giving a second chance to stop him from hurting everyone again…"

"But was the point of this? Why are you here?"

Gordon smiled.

"I am here to try to show you there is still time to change your lifestyle when you return to the living and actually defeat Destiny. If by chance you do survive this fight, maybe you will actually learn what I have been trying to teach you that our lives also depend on those close to our hearts."

Bruce couldn't respond to that. As much as he wanted to say when people got close to him they got hurt, he couldn't help but acknowledge that he had felt there was something missing in his life.

Bruce felt the world shaking around him.

Gordon sighed sadly.

"It's time to go, goodbye Bruce," he said as he offered his hand to shake.

Bruce hesitated but took it.

Gordon smiled sadly while still holding Bruce's hand.

"Remember Destiny needs to be stopped. Even if it means I will be seeing you again soon…"

Bruce sighed. Typical of his life to give him a second chance just so he might die again. That was his life.

"I understand."

"And Bruce, if you do live. Remember, the people in your life are what define you. It reflects what you are…"

000000

Bruce's eyes opened wide. He was back in the hospital bed. There was bright white light surrounding him but somehow he could still see and was not blinded. He could hear the faint sound of buzzing.

He looked at his body. It looked rejuvenated, younger. His arm was no longer broken and much of the gashes from his last fight were gone. The white light had healed him.

But he had work to do. With surprising energy he got out of bed. To his shock he found his cowl and costume still by his side. A lone battarang was placed on top.

Quickly he put it in one of his gloves. Never know.

Putting on the costume, he stepped outside ready to face his foe.

000000

Batman just continued to glare at Doctor Destiny who was still in shock and dumbfounded what happened.

Meanwhile all of the League and Dick were staring with mouths wide opened. It couldn't be. Batman was dead.

"How…?" Destiny asked.

"You should have known Dee. A heart is not just strengthened by its own emotions but by the people in one's life," Batman explained. "You may have absorbed my emotions but I'm reflecting theirs. As long as I'm around them, not only will I stay alive, but I will have power like you!"

Destiny seemed to finally find his bearing again. He grinned.

"So I guess I'll just have to kill them then!"

Before anyone could say anything, Destiny shot a powerful black blast to at his prisoners.

Wally closed his eyes expecting the worse.

The black light was deflected by white light that shot out of Batman's right arm.

Destiny's eyes showed surprised but then snarled.

"So it's a fight you want, well here it is!"

Destiny shot a beam of yellow light right at Batman's chest. Batman groaned and fell to his knees as Doctor Destiny continued to shoot the yellow beam at him.

"Bruce!" Dick shouted. No. He couldn't die right now.

Batman then got back up and smiled despite Doctor Destiny's continued efforts of shooting yellow light at him.

"Do you think my fears can match the fear Dick feels over losing me?" Batman responded and revealed he was pushing back Destiny's yellow light with his own.

Destiny groaned and tried concentrating more.

"Wally, think of the scariest thing right now," Dick ordered, understanding reaching him.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

The two young adults thought about their worst fears. And it proved to be working. Batman's beam of yellow light was slowly overcoming Destiny's. His eyes lit up in terror briefly before it hit him.

Destiny cried in pain as he was blasted to the other side of the atrium.

Batman walked up to the crumpled body of Doctor Destiny who was getting to his feet.

"So now Batman has powers. Tell me how does it feel?"

Batman ignored him and continued to walk toward him with vengeance in his eyes.

Destiny grinned, or tried to.

"It…it matters not, I'm still stronger than you and have had more experience! You can't beat me!"

"This ends here Dee! No more innocent blood will be spilt for your lust for power! This ends now!"

Batman charged at Destiny. Destiny flew up in the air over Batman.

To the group's surprised Batman flew into the air after him.

"Batman's flying?" Wally asked in surprise.

But it was true. The Dark Knight was chasing after the Dream Master in midair.

Doctor Destiny like his prisoners was completely taken aback by the idea of Batman flying in the air after him. It was a scary sight to see Batman flying.

Batman tackled him in the air. The two foes began to wrestle.

White versus Black. Light and Dark. Good and Evil. Life and Death.

Doctor Destiny and Batman each had a hand on the other's wrists and were grunting under the strain of trying to gain dominance over the other.

Finally Doctor Destiny managed to send a shock of orange light to stun Batman and break free.

On a power level, both Batman and Doctor Destiny seemed evenly match, but Doctor Destiny did have more experience. Still the mad man wasn't prepared to fight a foe as powerful as Batman was at the moment.

Diana continued to rotate her wrist. Right now Batman and Doctor Destiny were locked in mid air wrestling all over the place. They were at stalemate. If she could break free, maybe she could help even the odds.

She could feel a little blood on her wrists. The constant rotation was causing her to get a skin burn. But she was an Amazon, she wasn't going to let a little pain to stop her. Besides, her bracelet was making progress on cutting through the black substance restraining her wrist.

"Come on Bruce," Superman muttered trying to instill as much Hope as possible to power Batman.

That seemed to help Batman a little. As he and Doctor Destiny fought in the air, Batman's fists had begun to glow blue. With one punch he sent Doctor Destiny screaming back to the ground.

"Yes!" Dick cried in excitement.

Batman descended on the ground and began to stomp to a struggling Destiny.

"Wait please this is just a misunderstanding…" Destiny begged.

Batman delivered a punch into his face. Destiny howled and gripped his face.

"Hear me out!"

Batman grabbed Destiny by the cape and swung him across the atrium. It seemed he also had superstrength as well.

"Batman!" Destiny begged as Batman made to deliver another blow to the villain. "Think about it. With our combine powers and skills what we can do together!"

Batman ignored and continued to stomp toward his prey.

"Think about it. Think what we could do with your parents," Destiny said with a little bit of temptation.

That caused Batman to pause.

"What's he doing?" John asked.

"He's being offered his biggest desire," J'onn explained.

The group all remembered how hard it was to escape the realm of Avarice. They only made it out because of Lobo.

"Don't listen to him Bruce!" Shayera shouted angrily.

Batman did not hear her and had paused. He was staring at Doctor Destiny curiously.

"I know what you desire most Bruce," Destiny said through his silver tongue. "You want justice on what happened to your parents. You want them back…"

As Destiny spoke, an orange ball of light appeared behind him. It expanded to show the image of Martha and Thomas Wayne smiling.

"Think about it Bruce. Together we can bring them back. Stop them from dying. Stop any other child form losing their parents. Why, we can create the perfect world. A world where this doesn't ever happen again. Where it never happens…"

As Destiny spoke the image of Bruce's parents getting gun down replayed in the orange ball. The League could tell that was really disturbing Bruce.

John struggled to free himself.

"Come on Bruce!" he shouted.

But his cry appeared to have fallen on death ears.

"We are not so unlike. It is us who should have the power, not them. Why do we fight amongst ourselves when we can create?" Destiny reasoned while whispering in Batman's ear who was still staring at the image of his parents getting killed.

"I am like you. I care for those who have been mistreated by injustice or freaks like them. Those metas and their god like arrogance. All you have to do is take my hand…" Destiny said offering his hand.

"Bruce!" Superman shouted to try to snap him out of it. But Bruce did not seem to hear the Kryptonian.

Destiny grinned. He had won him over.

"That's good. Do we have a deal?"

Batman made to shake the skeletal hand before pausing. Batman bowed his head and sighed. All of a sudden, his blue glowing fist clenched and he hit Doctor Destiny with an uppercut.

"Oomph!" Destiny muttered as he went flying onto the other side. Batman had dislocated his jaw which healed instantly.

"That's for Andrew and Phillip!" Batman shot back angrily as he made his way over to Destiny scrambling to his feet.

Destiny paused, looking legitimately confused.

"Who?"

Batman growled angrily and picked Destiny by the neck before slamming him against the wall, still clutching his bony throat.

"The two boys who watched their parents fall to their death because of you! The two boys who will forever live with the nightmare of their whole world destroyed right in front of their eyes! Two boys who will never have a moment's peace again because of your insane ambition!"

And with that Batman threw him over his shoulder.

"Wait!" Destiny begged as Batman continued to walk menacingly slow towards him.

"Think about it. We can erase it from happening. We have the power to bend reality…"

Batman punched him in the gut.

"That…is…something…you…can't…erase!" he whispered picking Destiny up in the air by the back.

Batman then threw Destiny onto the ground.

"You never cared for anyone Dee! Only for yourself! You made yourself a victim! And that was why you are all alone!"

"Enough!" Destiny cried angrily as he got in a defensive stance. Green and red light shining threateningly through his fingers.

"You take your chances with them?" he asked with betrayal. "To them, you are nothing more than a man in a costume! A freak! A nut job! You are so much better than them!"

Batman's own hands glowed with green and violet.

"You are wrong! They were the better men. They were better than me. They risked their own lives and mission to save me. It is why it makes this fighting worth it. It's why I won't stop until I beat you Dee!"

"It's Doctor Destiny!" Destiny spat back but with not as much confidence. He really was scared.

"You see Dee, the deaths you cause for your goals may be unforgettable to you, but I never forget. I remember everything. It is the spark to my rage, my willpower, my hope; to stop monsters like you."

"Shut up!"

"You are not an innovator. You are just a petty criminal who belongs in an asylum with the rest of the freaks in the world. Beneath the tricks and dreams, you are nothing!"

"I am the Master of Death! I am a god! Reality is mine!"

And with that Doctor Destiny shot a beam of green light out of his right and red out of his left. Batman responded by shooting green out of his left and violet out of his right.

The green beams met as the red and violet collided. Violent sparks flew everywhere. Both Batman and Destiny snarled as each tried to overpower the other. They were using so much force they were on their knees.

Diana continued to turn her wrist as J'onn continued to block Destiny's mind. There was still a chance to their original plan. If only they could be free.

Superman was trying his best to break out but it was useless. He could only stand by and watch as his friend struggled to fight his foe.

After when it seemed like the two couldn't hold it anymore, both stopped emitting green light beams from their hands and nearly collapsed. Batman was coughing.

Destiny however seemed to recover quicker. Smiling with sadism, he got to his feet.

"You are nothing more than a scared little boy angry that his daddy didn't have the balls to fight off the mugger and that his whore of a mother begged like a bitch for mercy!"

Batman glared at the taunt and tried to get to his feet.

Destiny shot a blast of indigo rays, knocking him back down.

"You don't know how to use all this power yet Batman!"

Destiny then closed his eyes.

A beam of yellow light appeared. It looked like a staff glowing yellow. In his other hand a red beam of light in the shape of a staff appeared. Destiny then swiped both glowing staffs on the ground. They burnt through the metal. Like light sabers.

"This is like Star Wars!" Wally pointed out before realizing the seriousness of the situation.

Destiny walked with a skip in his step as Batman attempted to catch his breath.

"Fear and Rage. That's all you really are. Don't try to act like you are human. I will enjoy slaying you by your own tools."

Doctor Destiny then lifted the red light saber in the air, ready to decapitate his foe.

"Bruce!" Diana shouted. Distracting herself from her attempt to break free.

Bruce heard her cry moments before Destiny's red light saber was inches by his neck.

Bruce leaned back just in time to see the red heat miss him by a hair.

Batman then sprung to his feet. Out of his hand appeared a blue light saber and a violet saber.

"Clark's hope and Diana's love! You think my fear and rage is stronger what they are most good at?"

Doctor Destiny yelled and attempted to fight. But he was no match for Batman's fencing skills.

This really was the duel of light. Red colliding with violet, yellow with blue. Rage versus love, hope versus fear.

The League and Dick were getting dizzy trying to discern the two foes fighting between the flashes of different color lights.

Batman dodged a double swing just in time to do a reverse handspring over the mad men. He managed to get a good swipe in Doctor Destiny's back.

"Naarrh!" Destiny moaned in pain and fell to his knees. However, the wound healed instantly. He was back on his feet in no time.

This time Destiny was not going to hold back any punches.

He was shooting different energy blasts of different colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, blue, violet.

Batman was dodging most of them. But he was also adding a few shots back as well.

When Batman managed to deflect a blue blast by one of his fists glowing orange, it had hit Doctor Destiny.

Destiny grunted in discomfort before giving Batman the look of murder. They were going for keeps now. It was now or never.

Destiny leaned back and summoned all the power he could. Black smoke began to surround the man. With a sudden heave, he fired a large mass of endless mass of darkness at Batman. Batman responded by sending bright white light.

They were throwing all they had at each other. The collision of the white and black made it undefined who was dominating. One minute it started to shift toward the favor of Batman, the next minute it would head to the favor of Destiny.

The bottom line though it was costing both enemies all their energy. It was a miracle they were both able to stand. Their knees were buckling, their eyes narrowed. Both looked like they were on the verge of killing themselves if they didn't kill each other.

Diana was now frantically rotating her wrist, not caring she might actually slit her wrist. She was making progress. A few more turns and she could get her wrist free.

Superman was trying his best to keep his hope up. Batman needed every emotion he could get.

J'onn was telepathically communicating with everyone telling them to keep feeling their emotions. Shayera was doing a good job keeping her anger up.

John was refusing to give up. They wouldn't fail Batman now…

"What the hell's goin' on here?" growled a half conscious voice.

The group turned to see Lobo had come to and was getting to his feet. The Czarnian took one look at the battle below him and swore.

"Frag this! I'm gettin' outta here!"

Lobo whistled and in seconds his Hog appeared by his side. He did not seem to notice he was glowing orange all this time.

"Lobo!" J'onn yelled. "We need your help to aid Batman in this fight…"

"Frag this; the Main Man is a man of his word but a man of himself as well! Well you didn't keep your end of the bargain! Ya're gonna destroy the machine, so the deal's void and null!"

And before anyone could say anything Lobo got on his bike.

"I'm gettin' outta here! No use to waitin' 'round like sittin' ducks ya losers!"

And with that Lobo zoomed off.

"Lobo, get back here!" Superman cried angrily and tried to fight through his restraints. But his words were lost on the Czarnian. Lob already zoomed away fleeing the fight.

"You coward!" Shayera yelled as she tried to fight through.

Diana was struggling to get her hand free. Almost there…

"He could at least have broken us free before he left!" Dick cried angrily.

"Oh no!" Wally called.

The group looked. Batman seemed to be slowly weakening. The white light was failing. The black smoke was getting closer.

Destiny was back on his feet taking steps closer as he kept firing his black smoke at Batman.

"The Czarnian has left you. You don't have the power of the orange light to keep you alive!"

J'onn was trying to see if he could play with anyone's greed to take Lobo's place but it was no use. None of them had been in contact with the Emblem of Avarice.

Destiny let out a victory cackle and ceased the smoke. No use of smiting Batman to smithereens…yet.

"I will enjoy seeing the life leave your eyes!" Destiny said with sick enjoyment as he walked to Batman who was clutching his heart. He was on the verge of passing out.

Batman, weakly on his knees, lunged at the mad man who just stood triumphant. He kicked Batman in the chest.

Batman groaned in pain.

"Get on your knees and beg like a dog!" Destiny commanded who then turned around to enjoy the look of horror and evaporation of hope on the League's faces as their last savior died at his knees.

But that distraction proved to be his undoing.

Batman lunged again except this time his hand reached higher, grabbing the medallion around Destiny's neck.

Destiny turned around too late to watch as Batman snapped the medallion off of him.

"NO!" Destiny shouted and reached for it but it was already done. The minute it was free from his body and in contact with Batman's. Both of them fell to their knees roaring. Doctor Destiny began to shake violently. The large amount of power leaving him.

The blackness was being absorbed by the Dark Knight. The white light fading. Batman was regaining his emotional Emblems.

The League just stood at awe at the sight before them, unsure what would happen next.

Both darkness and light surrounded the two squirming men before it seemed to expand violently in an explosion. The League closed the eyes and felt a rush of strong wind push against them.

They opened their eyes in time to see two figures still on their knees.

Batman was no longer glowing white and the awesome power he had possessed earlier was gone. However Destiny was no longer Black as well. His power significantly decreased. He was back to wearing his usual blue cloak.

Batman weakly got to his feet and walked over to Doctor Destiny, intending to apprehend him.

To his surprise, Destiny let out an evil laugh.

"It's too late," he said and with sudden speed broke free. "You should have killed me when you had the chance. But instead, you give up all that power to be normal!"

Destiny lifted up his hand, and thin wisps of black smoke shot from it, wrapping around Batman's neck and lifted him off the ground to strangle him.

"My power has significantly decreased, but I have absorbed enough that I can stay permanently tangible without your emotions. And with the doorway open. I still have enough power to manipulate reality just enough and kill you and your friends. Who knows, maybe I will steal their emotions next…"

But Batman was not paying attention to Destiny. So much for Plan A. Destiny had been in contact with the emotions too long. Time to go to Plan B now. He instead was communicating with someone else.

"J'onn…" Batman called out telepathically.

"Yes Batman?" J'onn responded hopefully. Batman had to have a backup plan. He always did.

"Is the machine still ready to go?" Batman asked urgently, ignoring how his brain was slowly losing oxygen by Destiny's torturously slow strangulation.

"Yes but how did you-" J'onn asked in surprise.

"Not enough time. What do I have to do?"

"I have still been blocking him for latching onto any minds. You just need to push the button and it will trap him in the emotional plane forever. However you are not a telepath or connected to the machine meaning if you get sucked in, you will be torn to shreds…"

"I know. And frankly it seems better than spending an eternity trapped with him."

There was a pause. J'onn understood. Batman was doing what he failed to do. He was going to sacrifice himself to stop Doctor Destiny. Batman wasn't scared. He died earlier. It wasn't so bad. And this time he wouldn't be dying broken but fighting. Only regret was he wouldn't get to say goodbye to those who he cared for.

"I'm sorry Batman…"

"Don't be. It's what has to be done. Thank you J'onn."

There was another pause on the Martian's end.

"For what?"

"For trying to give me another chance but also understanding what is important."

Bruce couldn't help but let out another gasp of air which caused Destiny to squeeze tighter. His own sadistic desires were enjoying this.

"Tell the others goodbye for me. Especially Dick, Barbara, Tim. Make sure to let them know I am proud of them."

"Will do."

Batman looked toward his friends and Dick to get one last look before he went. He could see their desperate pleas on their faces, especially Clark.

"And please tell Clark to not get too sappy at my funeral."

"Anything else?"

Batman paused and looked at Diana. For a second the whole world seemed to stop and he was just looking into the pleading deep sapphire eyes. A part of him wanted to just tell her the truth. Everything he felt before he went.

"Tell Diana that…that…"

"Struggling is useless! The human body can only last so long without air!" Destiny taunted. "You might as well give up!"

Batman struggled to get something out of his glove. Looked like he was going to be seeing Jim again a lot sooner than he thought. But he knew he had to do what it took to ensure Destiny would never harm another innocent life again.

Diana was by now rotating her wrist so fast she was surprised she hadn't sprain it. She was almost free.

"What's he doing?" Dick asked.

Batman, despite being nearly losing consciousness, was looking at the group. A small smile was on his face. Batman never smiled.

Realization struck Superman.

"Bruce!" he shouted in vain. After everything Bruce couldn't just throw his life away like that. He couldn't die now after everything.

"What's going on?" Wally asked.

"He's saying goodbye," J'onn explained sadly.

"No!" Diana shouted. Her wrist was almost free. Hold on Bruce.

Destiny laughed when he heard their cries in the distance.

Batman tired to say something between his chokes for oxygen as his eyes rolled back.

"What was that?" Destiny asked deciding to allow the black smoke to slacken its grip just a little around his neck so he could hear what Batman's last words were going to be.

"Pl-easant dreams Johnny Boy!" Batman yelled and before Destiny could react, he had tossed the battarang that Dick had left at his side. The League watched as the battarang seemed to take forever to hit its target.

But even despite having not much oxygen left, Batman's aim was true. The battarang hit the button on the control panel which lit up on contact. The screen announced a message:

REVERSE SEQUENCE INITIATED

"What have you done?" Destiny shouted over the whirring of the machine.