The End of All Things is near...
And if you're one of those readers who just skips to the good parts well this isn't the chapter you hoped for when you read the chapter title and skipped to this part. Seriously, read the entire story, don't skip it. It's an insult to the writer who put in all the effort and the readers who patiently waited and read the story as it updated chapter by chapter.
"What have you done?" Bruce cried as Matt lied on the ground, coughing up blood. He wanted to rush out to the middle to see if Matt was alright but his instincts knew better. Sector 1 had him pinned and he was defenseless. As if sensing his thoughts, Sector 1's eyes narrowed.
"Don't even think about playing hero, Mr. Wayne. Besides, I didn't give him a fatal wound…"
"He's going to die if he doesn't get medical attention soon!" Bruce snapped. "Leave him out of this!"
"Help…" Matt cried weakly.
"Then it's in your interests to listen to me," Sector 1 responded coldly. "Keep your hands up where I can see them."
Angrily Bruce lifted his hands as his eyes searched around for something he could use. Unfortunately the Batcave had been vandalized so much over the years there was nothing Bruce could do. All security measures and traps had been broken or dismantled. Sector 1 then stepped aside and Bruce saw that Harley was behind his enemy. Bruce noticed right away that she no longer wore the makeup that usually caked her face and had let her hair hang long and wild. She wore a slick, black skin outfit. Like Sector 1, she carried a gun too except hers looked more modern than the one Sector 1 used to shoot Matt. In the back of his mind, Bruce wondered why Sector 1 still had an "old-fashioned" gun but there was more pressing matters to worry about. Bruce had noticed Harley also had something familiar around her neck. When he realized what it was, his eyes slightly widened in recognition for a half second.
It was the Medallion of Morgan La Fey. How did they get a hold of it?
"That's better," Sector 1 commented, not noticing the brief second where Bruce noticed the medallion. The mad man then put his gun away as Harley kept hers pointed on Bruce.
"Now I must admit, when I heard rumors you were still alive, I was very skeptical but now I've seen it with my own eyes. You're back from the dead, Batman."
Bruce's glare at Sector 1 went up a few notches.
"How did you figure it out?" Bruce asked angrily.
"Easy. Ra's told us after you allegedly died. He was so eager to recruit us for his new utopia scheme, he gave your identity to us thinking that would be enough to win our undying loyalty. He should've known though, we're never satisfied. Battling you was a tall order to follow."
"You've used his Pits, haven't you?" Bruce deduced. "That's why you haven't aged."
"Please, Wayne. A child could've figured that one out. Now let me speak; I have so many things to discuss with you."
Sector 1 then folded his hands behind his back and turned to look at the rest of the cave.
"You must have so many memories of this place; it was hard for you to come back here wasn't it?" Sector 1 replied sadly although there was no trace of empathy in his voice. "To come back here to find everything gone and decayed; to find that everything else has passed along with time, except you. I feel sorry for…"
"Don't even think about it," Bruce warned in defiance. He didn't want Sector 1's fake pity.
Sector 1 turned around.
"Justice is sweet isn't it?" Sector 1 replied. "Now you know how I felt."
"Keep deluding yourself, Joker," Bruce encouraged. "You deserved everything I've done to you."
"It's Sector 1 now!" the evil man snapped. "Joker is a relic of the past, just like you."
Sector 1 then walked up closely to Bruce.
"You left me," Sector 1 accused dryly. "I was so angry."
Sector 1 backed away.
"Don't get me wrong, in the long run, I'm glad you 'died'; your untimely death allowed me to stop holding myself back and accept my true destiny. But at the time when I first learned of your death, I was upset. Not upset that you died, but rather that I had the perfect plan to break you except you took the easy way out and died on me."
"I'm sorry I didn't say my goodbyes," Bruce replied bitterly.
"I'm not done yet," Sector 1 replied. "When you died, you did something that was far worse than robbing me of the opportunity to break you. You did the one thing I couldn't ever forgive you for."
"What is that? Stop you from killing thousands of innocent people one last time?"
"No," Sector 1 hissed. "You made yourself immortal!"
"What?"
"You died a hero! You inspired something that hadn't been in Gotham in a long time. The irony in hindsight was amusing. You kept jumping into a fight you couldn't just win and yet when you finally died, you finally brought the opportunity to change Gotham. You gave the city a beacon of hope out of the legacy of your sacrifice. They all began to think that their lives weren't a meaningless joke and that they could change it for the better. It made me sick."
Bruce didn't respond to Sector 1. He was more concerned about Matt who was looking paler by the minute.
Sector 1 sighed.
"Your death forced my hand. I had to take over Gotham and show them their lives served no greater purpose. Every citizen of Gotham was as expendable as the rest of humanity. Their scramble for morality and reason was just a joke. But that was before I saw the light."
"What light?"
"About ten years after my allies and I destroyed the world, an epiphany had hit me. I realized because I had told the joke to everyone, it became less funny to me," Sector 1 explained as he began to circle Bruce.
"Sort of like the child who looks at their Christmas presents too early; it's sadly anti-climatic. You realize the anticipation was what made it appealing and exciting. Now that the joke was told, it was not as funny."
Sector 1 then looked at Bruce.
"I then realized then what my legacy was. I would forever take up the burden and make sure that the joke kept getting told, even though I wouldn't find it funny anymore. It was the sacrifice I decided to bear."
"Don't try to make it sound like you've made a sacrifice," Bruce growled. "Not after what you did."
"Believe what you want, I don't care. But now, I've taken up the mantle to tell people the joke. Every day my empire makes sure every human understands that there is no point of civilization or having rules and morality. In fact serving as my mind slaves is the only real purpose humanity can achieve in their otherwise worthless lives. They sacrifice their bodies for a greater purpose. By submitting to my rule they finally do something useful for the greater good."
"You're insane," Bruce muttered.
"I would agree with you maybe forty years ago. But things have changed. I'm a new man and have seen a new light. I've realized my purpose is to keep constantly telling the joke while offering what's left of humanity the chance to actually make their lives have meaning."
Sector 1 then sighed and stepped away from Bruce, stepping over Matt before turning around.
"But now, you being here poses a threat," Sector 1 warned with hints of malice in his voice.
Sector 1 turned around.
"You are no longer Batman. Batman died fifty years ago. You're nothing but Bruce Wayne now, a memory of the past that most have forgotten about. You're nothing more than a wretch who has just been jumping through time, refusing to die. I am the future, and I cannot tolerate your existence."
"Then why don't you just kill me?" Bruce challenged. Sector 1 may claim he was a different person but Bruce knew him better. The mad man always had a trick or something up his sleeve.
"The temptation to put you out of your misery right now is strong," Sector 1 assured. "But I feel like that you must get the joke first…."
Sector 1 then produced a strange-looking remote control and pressed a button.
"Even in the cave, Brother Eye can still detect this signal," Sector 1 explained. "In about fifteen minutes, it will be directly above this Manor, destroying it and the cave below it with its laser. Meanwhile as we speak my forces are already invading what remains of the GCPD, ready to destroy those wannabe Bat Knights."
Bruce's eyes showed terror and fear.
"Oh yes, I know where their hideout is. In one fell swoop, I will have destroyed the legacy of the Bat in Gotham once and for all. This is a dream I've had for over fifty years."
Sector 1 then stepped back next to Harley.
"But I'm not done yet…" he warned. "How do I pin you here without killing you? You must know the joke before you die. You must finally accept that your struggle was just one big farce."
Sector 1 then finally showed signs of the giant grin he used to have back when he was the Joker.
"But then I remembered, I've stored a bunch of explosives in this cave enough to cause it to collapse and bury you alive. Harleen and I will be safe thanks to this magic medallion," Sector 1 said while pointing towards Harley. "You'll be buried alive in here trapped while knowing Brother Eye will be coming to destroy you while you hear the dying breaths of your friend. Then you will get the joke."
"Joker…"
ZAP!
"ARGH!"
Bruce went flying back as Harley shot a magical blast at him.
"It's Sector 1," the man reminded as he pulled out a small detonator.
A bubble like shield formed around Harley and Sector 1 who then held hands.
"Harleen get us out of here…" he commanded as the bubble shield lifted them in the air and took off towards the pathway the Batmobile used to drive through.
Bruce groaned and tried to get to his feet just in time to hear a beeping sound.
BAM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
CRUNCH!
The cave started shaking violently and explosions were heard in the distance. They echoed across as the bats living there began to screech and violently fly away while trying to find a way out. The cave was shaking as Bruce could feel in the distance rocks falling. The wave of collapsing rocks would reach him soon.
CRUNCH!
BAM!
"MATT!" Bruce shouted and saw that Matt still lied on the floor, slowly bleeding to death. He looked like he was unconscious. Bruce ran up to him.
"Matt!" he cried and lifted the young man up.
"Max…" Matt replied deliriously.
"It's alright Matt," Bruce assured.
BAM!
A rock had fallen within a few yards of Bruce, just missing him. There wasn't much time. He knew he couldn't reach up to the Manor in time. There was another way out though. When Bruce was younger, he once fell into an abandoned well in the grounds while playing hide and seek with his mother. His father and Alfred had to fetch him out. It really was his first experience in the dark. When he explored the cave for the first time under the grounds with Alfred, he discovered in fact the well itself led to the cave through a narrow passage. Bruce never bothered using that entrance and had the top of the well boarded up. The passage was too small to move through quickly so he saw it as a useless entrance. But now it was his only chance.
BAM!
BAM!
More rocks fell as Bruce ran, carrying Matt in his arms.
"Come on, come on," Bruce muttered as his heart beat went crazy from the exercise he was exerting on himself. The passage was hidden between two narrow crevices on the far end of the cave.
CRUNCH!
Bruce looked up in horror. The cave ceiling above him was collapsing. He needed to hurry.
"NARRRGH!" Bruce screamed as he sprinted to the narrow crevice and squeezed himself and Matt through just as the ceiling behind him collapsed.
BAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM!
Sector 1 and Harley floated outside the Batcave entrance near Wayne Manor. With the magic of the medallion they were able to escape with ease. Sector 1 eyed the entire opening they came out with interest. It had just caved in, proving there was no escape.
"Hehehehehehahaha…" Sector 1 began to laugh with a crescendo.
"Sector 1?" Harley asked in confusion. She had heard him laugh or chuckle before, but never a drawn out one like this. At least not for a long time.
"Ahem," Sector 1 cleared his throat, catching himself. He then coughed before speaking again.
"Sorry, just got a little too excited from the adrenaline," he quickly explained.
"Why didn't you just kill him?" Harley asked.
"My dear Harleen," Sector 1 said in a patronizing tone before smiling wickedly. "He deserves more than death. He deserves to slowly suffer trapped as he hears his friend die while waiting Brother Eye's full power coming down on him."
Sector 1's smile then grew bigger.
"Besides, the joke's funnier that way."
"Sector 1!" a voice buzzed on a radio. "This is Victor Team 6!"
"What is it?" Sector 1 replied angrily. "I ordered that I was to not be disturbed."
"Master, there is a problem with the raid on the GCPD."
"What?" Sector 1 demanded.
"Well Sir, the entire building was abandoned. There was no one inside."
"What?!" Sector 1 snapped, causing Harley to flinch. Usually he expressed his anger through a cold grimace, not an outburst like that.
"Master…"
"Listen to me!" Sector 1 snapped. "Prepare the launch of the Arkham. Make sure the prisoner we snagged in Bludhaven is aboard."
"Sir it will take four hours to launch it…"
"You have two," Sector 1 warned.
He looked at Harley.
"Wayne is irrelevant to me now. I don't have time to watch this."
And with that, Harley and Sector 1 began to float away from the Wayne Manor grounds.
Somewhere in Deep Space
Lobo hummed to himself as he sped along the stars. After being stuck on that rock forever he was finally free and reunited with the one thing he cared about. His beloved HOG.
VRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOM!
The Hog purred as he sped throughout the stars.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lobo yelled in delight as he sped along out of the galaxy. The question was where would he go now? He hadn't had contact with any of his clients in a long time. Who knows if they were still alive? But they'd be in for a surprise when they learned that the Main Man was back!
Beep!
The Hog suddenly beeped causing Lobo to hit the brakes violently.
SSSSCCCCCRRRRREEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCHHHHHHHH!
"What is it girl?" Lobo demanded. "Ya alright?"
Beep!
Lobo looked on the screen of his space bike.
ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED: LOCATION EARTH
"Aw frag, I forgot about that!"
His last job was chasing after an alien who had stolen some technology. Lobo of course had no idea what it was but took the job. He was able to program the Hog to track the energy signature the stolen technology created. He thought those geeks who imprisoned him got a hold of it. Maybe they didn't.
Lobo began to rub his chin with interest. Even though it had been a long time, his last client might be interested in that technology still. If his client wasn't around anymore, Lobo could probably sell it for himself….
What was he thinking? He wanted to get off that stupid planet! There was no way he would go back to Earth.
Beep!
ENERGY SOURCE MISSING: CONNECTION BROKEN
"It's probably not even there!" Lobo said to no one. "Those geeks were screwin' 'round with ya! Don't worry, I'll take ya to a real shop to get fixed!"
At that moment Lobo began to wonder if he had any credits in his jacket. Quickly he stuffed his hand in his jacket and felt something. Confused he pulled it out and saw he was looking at a shiny necklace.
"Ah this stupid thin'," he muttered. It was that stupid necklace he and Matt had found at the Watchtower ruins a few months ago. Somehow Lobo knew trying to pawn it off wouldn't get him much value.
"Well, this thin's no use to me," Lobo muttered. "I guess I'll just have to go back to Earth and leave it with Terry and those geeks!"
VROOM!
The Hog revved in response.
"No I'm not lookin' for excuses to go back!" Lobo snapped as he turned the Hog around and sped off. "The Main Man only looks after himself!"
Lobo continued to speed his bike in the opposite direction.
"Besides, we're gonna stop to eat first! I'm starvin'!"
"Get Bruce out of here Martha!" Thomas shouted as he struggled with Chill. "Run!"
"Dad!" younger Bruce shouted.
BANG!
The first shot ran out and Thomas suddenly collapsed.
"Nooo!" Martha shrieked in terror.
"Shut up bitch!" Chill shouted and pointed his gun at her.
"Mommy!" Bruce cried as Martha pushed him to the side just when Chill pulled the trigger for a second time.
"BRUCE!" Diana screamed.
"Ungh!" Bruce gasped and opened his eyes. He immediately found himself staring into the darkness. He tried shifting around and realized he had been buried under some rocks. He tried to shift some more and he felt a pain in his leg. He felt down and realized his left leg had got caught between two rocks. A quick assessment and to his relief other than being stuck and bruised, his leg was still fine. No signs or symptoms of any broken bones or sprains. He put two hands on one of the rocks and grunted.
"NNNNRRRRRGGGGHHH!"
The rock didn't budge. It was too heavy and he wasn't at the right angle that would provide him enough amount of force.
"Oooooooohhh…" another voice groaned.
Bruce's head snapped up in interest. He had forgotten about Matt.
"Matt?!" he called out.
"Mrrggghh…"
"Hold on Matt!" Bruce cried. "I'll get you out!"
"Mom…" Matt groaned. "Dad…"
"NRRRRGGGHHHH!" Bruce groaned and with a new found energy he began to push one of the rocks, eventually allowing enough room to pull his leg out. Bruce wasted no time and hurried over to where he heard Matt. Feeling in the dark he managed to locate him.
"Matt?" Bruce asked.
Matt remained unresponsive. Bruce bit his lip. He was alive, for now. It was then Bruce remembered the danger they were in. Sector 1 had set a deadly satellite to fire on them in a few minutes. They didn't have much time. Bruce quickly left Matt to feel around the walls. Bruce remembered he had tried to take them through the well that was a far distance away from the Manor. The problem was the cave in had disoriented and changed the pathway. Bruce quickly felt along the rocks. If his sense of direction and spatial intelligence was still around, he would have to guess they weren't far. He began to feel in what he believed was the right direction and tried to move some rocks around.
BAM!
RUMBLE!
Bruce dove as some rocks fell, missing him. A small light suddenly lit up the underground cavern, He and Matt were close. Bruce looked and examined the small light and saw it came up top. There was a small opening up top, indicating they were close. Without wasting a minute Bruce made to move more rocks.
"NNNNNRRRRRRRGGGGHHH!" he cried and tried to move it. But the rocks were too wedged tight and heavy. It was costing him all his strength just to move them a few inches. Even with his strength, he didn't have the luxury of time. Plus Bruce knew if he tried to move all the rocks at once he could cause a landslide. After exhausting all his strength and the rock barely moving, he gave up and sat down. He buried his face in his hands. It was hopeless. In a few minutes Brother Eye would destroy the Manor, along with him and Matt. There was no one who could save or help him this time.
Help…
"I just want to let you know I always just wanted to help you. I'll stay out of your life; just remember I still will be willing to help when you ask for it…"
Bruce looked up. There was a chance. A small chance. Who knows where that imp went? Bruce told the annoying imp to get out of his life so he wouldn't be surprised if Batmite was around anymore. Furthermore, who knew if the imp would come if Bruce asked for his help? But Bruce was running out of options and decided to do the only thing he could.
"Batmite?" Bruce called out, unsure.
No response other than his voice echoing.
"Batmite?" Bruce asked again. Still no response.
"Batmite?!" Bruce called this time with desperation.
But all he got back was his voice echoing along the cave walls.
"Look, I know when we last saw each other I told you to get out of my life," Bruce began in a desperate plea. "I thought I didn't need you or anyone else to help me. But now that I'm against the wall, I do need your help. Please, you're the only one who can."
Bruce then bowed his head.
"You're the only one who actually always wanted to help me this whole time," he admitted sadly. "And I drove you away. I'm sorry…"
"It's okay," a high-pitched voice called and patted Bruce on the back.
Bruce jumped up.
"Batmite!"
"Yep it's me!" the imp proclaimed proudly.
"How did you find me?" Bruce asked.
"I've been following you the whole time," Batmite admitted sheepishly. "I latched onto you when you did your last jump. I'm sorry about that but the guy I worked for disappeared and I didn't have a ride and I know you said you wanted me out of your life but…"
"We'll talk about that later!" Bruce interrupted. "We need to get out of here."
"Oh right!" Batmite said while smacking his head. "Forgot about that, sorry. Don't worry Batman, Batmite's on the case!"
"Stop calling me Batman," Bruce snapped.
Batmite ignored him and looked at the rock pile ahead of him.
"This looks like a job for…The JACK HAMMER 4000 BABY!" the imp cried as he pulled out a large jack hammer three times his size out of nowhere.
"Wait…"
"Let's go!" Batmite shouted.
B-B-B-B-B-A-A-A-A-A-A-W-W-W-W-W-N-N-N-N-G-G-G-G!
"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!" the imp cried as the large jack hammer began to violently pound the rock wall.
BAM! CRASH!
CRACK!
"Batmite no!" Bruce shouted and ducked for cover, making sure his body was protecting Matt.
BOOM!
BAM!
CRUNCH!
The dust cleared and Bruce coughed as he looked up. He could see that Batmite had cleared a pathway and miraculously no rocks had fallen on Bruce from Batmite's dangerous escape attempt.
"Now that's what I call finding a way out!" Batmite said proudly with his hands on his hips.
Bruce knew they didn't have much time and he reached down to pick up Matt.
"Max…" Matt groaned.
"It's okay Matt," Bruce hushed and began to run, carrying the young man in his arms. He then looked at the imp.
"We need to go now!"
Few Minutes Later
Wayne Manor sat idly by itself. The sky above it was still covered in a perpetual haze of polluted clouds. Without time it still would be impossible to tell if the sun was out due to the thick covering. However a green light began to shine and for a second it looked like the sun was peeking through after a long absence. But anyone watching nearby could tell quickly it wasn't the sun making a miraculous return. The green light was a sign of doom.
VVVVVVVVRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMM!
BOOOOOM!
CRASH! BAM!
BOOM!
CRUNCH!
The laser as quick as light had engulfed the oldest house in Gotham in a green ball of explosion mixed with fire. The entire abandoned building quickly exploded. The remaining structures had collapsed on itself as secondary explosions took place. In a flash of a light, Brother Eye had reduced the Manor to ash. Not to mention the laser had even managed to penetrate deep into the foundations, destroying what was left of the Batcave. Meanwhile above, the green light had disappeared as quickly as it suddenly appeared. Brother Eye had gone back into hiding to be the ever-present invisible threat in the sky.
If there were any living souls within 500 yards around or below the Manor, they would've been killed. But luckily there weren't.
In the distance standing outside the abandoned well that went far deep into the woods, well hidden from the eyes of the Manor stood Bruce holding a now unconscious Matt in his arms. Floating next to him was Batmite who had donned a big pair of ridiculously huge sunglasses to shield his eyes as they watched the full power of Brother Eye unleashed on Bruce's own home. From the well they had just exited they could hear the sound of more destruction as the Batcave and whatever was left underground was buried forever into the darkness.
"Whooaaaa…." Batmite said in awe. "That's a big laser…"
Bruce didn't say anything and continued to glare at the ruins of his house. His home was now gone. It was official. He was now cut off from everything his former life was. No Alfred, no Batcave, no Manor. There was no Justice League or GCPD he could turn to. All that was left was himself. He would always survive so he could be around the graveyards. As if noticing the somber expression on his face, Batmite turned around and looked at Bruce.
"Yo man, sorry about your house."
Bruce didn't say anything and continued to stare at what was left of the Manor. His face was giving the usual cold angry stare he gave but there was a fire in his eyes. His left eye even slightly twitched for a second.
"I never liked the place anyways," Bruce muttered darkly and turned around.
"Where are you going?" Batmite asked.
"He needs medical attention. I'm going to find the Bat Knights. They're the only ones who can save him."
"But what about the Jok...er Sector 1? Didn't he say he figured out where their hiding place?"
"If Terry's really from my blood then he'll think like me. He would've evacuated them from their hiding space before going on the offensive."
Few Hours Later-Above Gotham City
Sector 1 sat overlooking his "city" in his new aircraft. Due to the fact he and his fellow Sector Leaders had removed any functional government within two years of their triumph over the Justice League, they never had to worry about aircraft that much. Air ships were difficult to build and support. Even with the arrival of Apokoliptian aid many decades ago, the Sector Leaders still relied more on ground troops. However about ten years ago Sector 1 and Sector 6 had realized with New Genesis and Apokolips now in an openly declared war, the weak resistance could gain traction so they began to commission the building of aircraft. It took ten years but Sector 1 now had nine total aircraft under his command. The first one, the Arkham, was on her maiden voyage now, patrolling around the skies above Gotham to awe the remaining survivors down there that still hid from his grasp. Most of them probably never had seen an aircraft before.
Meanwhile on board his ship he had plenty of his mindless drones patrolling around and manning it. Due to weight concerns, none of his mind slaves were able to wear their Battlesuit armor but he didn't care. He was untouchable in the sky. He was a god looking down on the worthless fools.
"Master," a drone spoke.
Sector 1 turned around.
"The prisoner is here."
Sector 1 smiled as he turned around. Two more of his drones were walking on the deck escorting the prisoner. And it wasn't just any prisoner. It was the prisoner who had been the thorn in his side for a long time. The leader of the Bat Knights of Gotham.
As the drones forced the prisoner towards Sector 1, the dictator began to speak.
"Welcome aboard the Arkham…"
Sector 1 had paused in shock. For a second he thought he was seeing a face that should've been dead and vaporized by Brother Eye. He was staring at Wayne!
However rational thought began to kick in again and that caused the usually cold Sector 1 to chuckle.
"Now that's ironic," he said with an amused expression.
"What?" the prisoner demanded.
"This! You being here! The very leader of the Bat Knights happens to be a descendant of the old Batman!" Sector 1 cackled.
Terry's eyes widened. How did he know?
Noticing Terry's facial expressions, Sector 1 shook his head.
"I just figured out if that's what you're wondering. You look just like him. So how are you related to Wayne? A child from an illegitimate offspring?"
"My name is Terry McGinnis," Terry snapped. "I'm not a Wayne."
"Oh I'm sensing some bad blood between you and Wayne," Sector 1 noted. "Perhaps that's why I found him all angry and alone before I killed him."
Terry's eyes widened in fear. He may have not liked the former Batman but he remembered Matt went after him.
"You're lying," Terry denied.
Sector 1 let out another deep chuckle.
"Believe what you want but last time I checked I had trapped Wayne in the ruins of Wayne Manor before destroying it with Brother Eye. There is no more Batman, only me now."
Terry almost felt himself buckled when Sector 1 mentioned Wayne being killed. Was Matt with Wayne as well? No, Terry refused to believe his brother was dead. His brother was alive, he knew it. But he didn't have time to fret over it, he needed to not show weakness so he continued to stare at Sector 1 with the defiant look he always wore proudly.
"I don't care about Wayne," Terry warned. "What do you want with me?"
Sector 1 frowned slightly that he wasn't able to get a reaction out of Terry.
"Fine, I want you up here because I want you to know where are your fellow Bat Knights?"
Terry didn't say anything and continued to glare.
WHACK!
Sector 1 had smacked Terry across the face. The young man didn't let a sound escape him.
"Where are they?" Sector 1 demanded, his voice an octave lower and in a more dangerous tone. "I sent my men to your hideout in the GCPD to find it abandoned. Where did they go?"
Terry smiled.
"You're supposed to be the ruler of this Sector. You tell me…"
WHACK!
Sector 1 had smacked him again.
"I'd watch that tongue if I were you," Sector 1 warned.
He then turned around.
"There are other ways to draw them out in the open…"
In the Lower Decks of the Ship
One lowly sentry went around the bowels of the Arkham. There was an indication from the computer that one of the machines that powered the ship was acting a little funny. His superior told him to check it out. The sentry was walking through the maze of the machines before he found the one he was looking for. Like the robot he was, he quickly began to analyze the machine and saw what he was looking for. A simple wire had become unplugged. Quickly the sentry grabbed the wire and attempted to plug it back in.
GASH!
"Ugghh!" the sentry groaned as a glowing green sword popped out of his chest, piercing his lung and heart. Within seconds he passed out on the floor dead. Standing above him was a figure in a grey cloak wearing a grey skull mask. The figure then bent down and picked up what looked like a radio from the mindless sentry he had just killed.
"Don't worry Terry, I'll never leave you…" Deathstroke muttered.
"What do you plan to do?" Terry demanded.
"I plan to use you as bait," Sector 1 replied bluntly. "I know your precious Bat Knights have undying loyalty to you…"
"Master!" a voice spoke on the radio. "There's a disturbance in-AARRRGGGH!"
Both Sector 1 and Terry looked at the radio in surprise. Sector 1 looked at the mind slave who was at the control panel.
"What are you waiting for? Find out what's wrong with them!"
The mind slave nodded and began to tap at the radio. Sector 1 then looked at Terry.
"Nevermind that, I to make an announcement."
Sector 1 then turned around and approached a spot on the control panel of the ship. Terry noticed there was a microphone there.
"Attention Bat Knights!" Sector 1 spoke into the microphone.
Bruce was walking with Matt in his arms as Batmite followed. Bruce managed to stop most of the bleeding in Matt but Bruce knew that wound would go septic if they didn't find medical attention soon. They were still traveling in the woods that were far outside the limits of the city. Even though much of the environment was destroyed around Gotham, the woods at least were still standing. The trees had grown wild and thick, allowing Bruce plenty of concealment as he navigated around.
"Why are you making yourself visible and tangible permanently?" Bruce asked the little imp noticing for once Batmite didn't disappear on him.
"Well because my boss ditched us, I decided I can do what I want. Besides we're in the future now. No more worrying about damaging the past.
Bruce paused and turned around.
"Who was your employer?"
"What?"
"You said he's no longer around. You can tell me now. Who was the one trying to manipulate my life?"
"Well uhhh..." Batmite said uncomfortably. "I guess you could say he was an alien or something. He called himself Metron. He had this cool chair that would travel through time and what not. He made me after scanning your mind..."
"So you really are a part of my imagination?" Bruce asked.
"Yes and no," Batmite explained. "Basically I'm from the imagination of your childhood innocence that you suppressed after the uh...you know, incident."
Bruce didn't say anything and stared at Batmite.
"I was instructed to help guide you in the past so you wouldn't change the timestream. We were supposed to help you once you stopped jumping in the past and..."
"Hahahahaha," Bruce chuckled darkly.
"What's so funny?" Batmite asked.
"You've been tricked. This Metron character didn't care about saving me. He just wanted to make sure I didn't interfere with the timestream. Now that I'm no longer in the past, he had no use for me or you anymore..."
"No he promised..."
"You were fooled," Bruce muttered. "We all have been fooled in some point in our lives."
Bruce then turned around, still holding Matt in his arms.
"This omega energy or what Vandal called it, the Omega Sanction, has been taking it's toll in my body. I'll be dying sooner or later. Metron used us like a prized racehorse and the minute he no longer needed us, he dumped us off into the wild to fend for ourselves..."
Bruce then continued to walk ahead. Batmite followed slowly with a sad look on his face. He thought he was going to be a hero. Metron lied to him. However Batmite couldn't stand the silence so he tried to make small talk again.
"What are we doing?" Batmite asked.
"If they'd evacuate, they would've gone somewhere far outside the city. I'm trying to find evidence of where they went…"
"Holy Moley, look!"
They had just entered a clearing in the trees allowing them to glimpse at the city skyline from afar. Bruce saw to his surprise appearing right above what was left of the city was a flying ship. It looked like something out of a Sci-Fi flick. It was grey and it actually looked like the same shape of the old GCPD blimps except bigger. Bruce was too far away to see any more details but he was willing to bet that it was armed. Also unlike the old GCPD blimps, there was no vulnerable helium filled balloon to attack. Bruce realized truly now the game had changed. Sector 1 had air superiority as well. Bruce would have to be careful walking out in the open.
"ATTENTION BAT KNIGHTS!" a loud voice spoke on the intercom that still felt close to Bruce even though he was far in the outskirts. He knew the voice.
"I HAVE YOUR LEADER RIGHT HERE! WHY DON'T YOU TELL US YOUR NAME?"
"GO TO HELL!" another voice was heard on the intercom; Bruce recognized it as Terry's.
"Uh-oh," Batmite replied.
"ARRGH!" Terry screamed suddenly after the faint sound of something shocking him.
"AS YOU CAN SEE I HAVE YOUR LEADER. I CAUGHT HIM TRYING TO BREAK INTO THE S.T.A.R. LABS BASE IN BLUDHAVEN!"
Bruce cringed. Sector 1 knew about their last attempt at using a time machine. But how did he? Who told him?
"Vandal…" Bruce muttered darkly. He knew he shouldn't have trusted Vandal. The villain had betrayed them. He must've been working for Sector 1 the entire time.
"YOU ALL HAVE ONE HOUR TO SURRENDER BEFORE I EXECUTE HIM! TWO HOURS BEFORE I START UNLEASHING THE FULL POWER OF MY NEW SHIP ON THIS CITY TO DRIVE YOU OUT! IF YOU SURRENDER, I PROMISE THERE WILL BE NO PAIN ON YOUR PART!"
Bruce paused, still holding Matt in his arms. He closed his eyes in pain. Sector 1 was still the same evil clown. Threatening to hurt others in order to bring his enemies to their knees.
"What are we gonna do?" Batmite asked nervously.
Bruce didn't say anything and for a second the imp thought he had passed out because his eyes were still closed. Finally Bruce opened his eyes.
"Nothing," he muttered coolly although Batmite noticed he was shaking slightly.
"What?" Batmite asked in confusion.
"Nothing," he repeated, although his voice slightly cracked this time.
"What? Why?"
"There's nothing we can do right now," Bruce responded. "My priority is saving Matt's life."
"But you don't even know where they are!" Batmite complained.
"Haven…" Matt whispered weakly in a haze that caused Bruce and Batmite to look at him in shock.
"What?"
"Haven…" Matt explained. "Last safe place…Park…"
"What is he talking about?" Batmite asked.
Bruce looked up.
"He's talking about the Gotham Haven National Park. It's in the middle of these woods, not far from here, let's go!"
Terry grunted slightly as he looked at Sector 1. One of the mind slaves who was restraining him had hit him with a tazer him for insulting Sector 1. But Terry refused to be intimidated and still glared angrily at the despot.
"You will pay for that insult," Sector 1 warned. "I'll make you wish that you were never born."
Terry continued to glare at him.
"You know you remind me of the last Batman," Sector 1 noted. "The second Batman. He was just like you. Cocky, hard-headed, young, fearless. And just like you, trying to fit in big shoes he just couldn't fit in. He was way over his head"
Terry continued to stare at the mad man.
"In fact you know what I did to him before I took out the Justice League?"
"My Lord!" the sentry who was communicating with the lower levels of the ship shouted. "We're getting more black outs. I can't contact anyone in the Helm either!"
Sector 1 growled in frustration.
"Give me that!" he complained and snatched the microphone from the sentry.
"Alright listen up mind slaves, apparently we're having some issues down here so either you fix these or I'll have you all hanging upside down by the thrusters the next time we take off…"
BOOM!
An explosion had appeared behind the doors that entered the main bay. The concussive force had knocked Terry, Sector 1, and all the sentries nearby off their feet. Meanwhile someone had entered the room, taking advantage of the confusion and chaos the explosion had created. Terry almost passed out as his vision blurred while he heard an annoying ringing in his head. He turned over and could see in the haze and fog there was something glowing through it and moving around rapidly. He tried to get up but stumbled. He almost felt like he was going to vomit when he looked up and realized his savior was none other than someone he had thought abandoned him.
"Deathstroke…?" Terry asked weakly.
Deathstroke dodged the swipe by one of the sentries and stabbed the sentry with the glowing sword.
"ARRRGGGH!" the mind slave cried as he collapsed. Originally Deathstroke intended to make his way up here by stealth, silently taking out the crew on the aircraft one by one. He was almost up to the command bay, ready to do a surprise attack when unfortunately some passing sentries caught him. He had been forced to improvise with a few handy explosives. Now he was in the middle of the command bay completely relying on his wits and instincts to keep him alive. He was fighting everyone who came at him, not sure if they were friend or foe. He ducked in time to aim a well placed kick at the newest attacker who was easily swiped off their feet. He then responded with turning around just in time to swipe at another sentry who was charging at him. Twenty-thousand years of fighting was finally adding up.
However as the man continued to fight, he could feel his body screaming in pain. He was getting too old. Even with his slow aging he was still pushing his body beyond its normal limits. But he didn't care, he needed to find Terry…
"STOP!" a voice commanded.
Immediately Deathstroke and the remaining sentries paused their fight to look over where the smoke had cleared. They could see standing at his feet was Sector 1 who was holding someone by knife point. Deathstroke bit his lip underneath the mask in frustration when he realized it was Terry being held hostage.
"Stop it or I'll cut his throat…" Sector 1 threatened.
"Don't do it!" Terry grunted.
Deathstroke stared coldly at Sector 1 and his hostage, his face unreadable because of the mask. However Terry could read Deathstroke's body language and noticed his hands were twitching slightly, indicating the man was conflicting over his next decision. Eventually though Deathstroke's posture slackened and he lowered his arms, indicating his surrender, dropping the glowing sword.
"That's better," Sector 1 noted. "I must say Deathstroke I thought you died thirty years ago. Sector 3 swore that you were killed when you blew up his Pit in the Amazon jungle."
"And leave without saying my goodbyes?" Deathstroke replied. "You sell me short."
Sector 1 frowned.
"Take off the mask!" he ordered.
Deathstroke sighed before taking off his mask to show his face. Sector 1 laughed at the sight.
"You've gotten old Vandal. Old age has not only physically weaken you but also poison your mind with compassion. You know, if this was a few decades ago, you've probably would've cleared this room before I had gotten back to my feet. Now this is sweet. It looks like I've gotten two enemies for the price of one! This is turning out to be a good day for me"
Sector 1 then cackled some more.
"I always had a feeling you were still alive Vandal and was somehow involved with this Bat Knights movement. Now with one stroke, I will tell the final joke! I will finally have dismantled the entire legacy of the Batman…"
"Master!"
"Don't interrupt me!" Sector 1 snapped.
"But Sir! We're picking up a weird signal! A flying object is rapidly approaching us!"
"What?" Sector 1 demanded before looking at his remaining henchmen still standing.
"Keep your eyes on Vandal!" he ordered. "He's twitchy sometimes!"
"Sir what should we do?" the sentry at the radar screen asked.
"Fire at it! Do I have to tell you everything..."
THUMP!
"Arghh!" Sector 1 jumped back in surprise, still holding Terry at knife point. Something big had landed on the window. It was something that was big and white, wearing a black jacket.
"Special Delivery Mother Fucker!" Lobo called and whacked the glass with a crowbar.
CRACK!
"Get him off!" Sector 1 ordered as the windshield glass began to crack from Lobo's blow. Terry took advantage of that moment and brought his head back to whack Sector 1 right in the face.
WHAM!
"Nrrrrgggh!" Sector 1 cried as Terry broke free from his grip. Meanwhile Vandal had taken advantage of the chaos and tossed some small looking orbs from his robe.
HISSSSSSSS!
The bombs unleashed a suffocating grey smoke, once again blinding everyone in the room. On the outside Lobo was still pounding the glass mercilessly.
"Hey! Don't start the fun without me!" he complained as the aircraft caused by the on board fighting and confusion began to fly out of control.
Terry however didn't care because he was concentrating on fighting Sector 1. The man who had taken everything from him would finally pay. Images of his parents, Matt, and Maxine were circling around, reminding him of what that tyrant had done. He was on top of the mad man strangling him.
"You're going to pay for what you did!" Terry shouted.
WHAM!
Terry grunted as Sector 1 had him in the head with random debris. The young man got back to his feet just in time to see Sector 1 getting to his as well.
"If it's a fight you want boy, it's a fight you're going to get!"
And before Terry could react Sector 1 responded with a swift punch in the gut knocking Terry back.
"The past fifty years I've done some training myself. Not to mention experimenting with a few alternatives of Sector 3's Venom formula a little…"
Sector 1 then quickly aim a kicked at Terry who barely dodged it and managed to add his own counter punch. Sector 1 easily deflected it and responded with a cross punch with his other hand. It almost sent Terry flying. Sector 1 wasn't kidding about experimenting with Venom.
"Nrrrghh…" Terry grunted before trying to swing wildly at the tyrant. He was getting frustrated that the clown was beating him. He was losing his temper.
"First rule of fighting," Sector 1 responded as he countered another one of Terry's blows. "Never lose your cool."
WHAM!
"Ahhh…" Terry groaned as Sector 1 kicked him the gut and knocked him back some more.
ZZZAAAAAP!
CRASH!
Both Terry and Sector 1 turned around to see one of the henchmen in their attempt to kill the very elusive Vandal Savage had accidentally destroyed the control panel.
"WARNING!" spoke a disembodied voice as an alarm began to blare. "MAIN POWER DOWN! THRUSTERS LOCKED!"
"That doesn't sound good…" Lobo muttered, still trying to make his way in from the outside.
"Well I guess it's time for me to exit stage right," Sector 1 noted. "Goodbye, it's been fun!"
And before Terry could do anything a flash light appeared and Sector 1 was gone.
"Emergency teleporter" Terry muttered in bitter realization.
CRASH!
WWWWOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!
Lobo had finally broken the windshield causing high winds to suddenly pick up in the room causing Terry to have to put a hand in front of his face on instinct.
"Alright the Main Man's here!" Lobo cried as he finally stepped inside.
"We're leaving!" Savage ordered. "This ship is going down!"
"What?" Lobo complained. "But I just got here…"
"Shut up Lobo!" Vandal snapped and turned to Terry, still having to shout over the high gusts of wind.
"Let's go!"
"Where?" Terry asked. "We don't have any parachutes or anything!"
"Ya got my bike!" Lobo shouted and let out a loud whistle.
VROOOM!
Everyone looked to see flying in front of the broken windshield of the slowly descending ship was Lobo's own bike waiting for them.
"Can that carry all of us?" Terry asked.
"We'll try!" Lobo shouted and before Terry could react Lobo had grabbed him and began running to the windshield.
"Woohoo!" Lobo shouted as he jumped in midair out of the ship and onto his bike. Terry had thought for a second his stomach had fallen out of his body.
"Come on old man!" Lobo shouted as Terry tried to readjust himself and squeeze behind Lobo on the bike.
Terry then looked up and saw jumping out of the burning ship without hesitation was Vandal Savage. His grey and black cloak fluttered in the high winds that for a second he looked like a ghost flying. For a moment Terry was worried Vandal would miss the bike but to his amazement, the old man landed on the bike. Right on top of Lobo's lap.
"Ugggghhh…" Lobo groaned. "Right on the balls…"
"Lobo go!" Terry cried, realizing the burning ship was about to hit him.
"I'm goin' I'm goin!" Lobo snapped. "Hold on ladies!"
VRRRRROOOOOOOOOOMMM!
The Hog took off from the descending Arkham as it began to implode and light on fire. Within a few seconds a larger explosion took place.
BOOOOM!
The ship blew up and began to crash into one of the remaining skyscrapers standing in the city.
CRASH!
CRUNCH!
Lobo spun the Hog around and watched as the aircraft skidded across the city and suddenly come to a halt. For a few seconds the three just stood there, taking a breath from the certain death they just escaped from.
But that was when Terry realized he had a few questions that needed to be answered.
"You came back Vandal," Terry noted. "Where did you go?"
"When the lab got attack I hid in the shadows because I figured we'd been compromised. I managed to follow the Klunkers that took you prisoner and eventually stowed away on the ship. I couldn't let the leader of the Sector 1 Bat Knights alone to die. Besides, I need you."
"Why?" Terry asked.
"We'll talk later, Lobo get us out of here! They'll find us soon!"
"Take us to the Haven!" Terry spoke up. "The others have evacuated there!"
"What was that?" Blade asked nervously.
Dana stood by, staring into the sky. Even though they were far from the reaches of the city, they were still able to hear what was going on. Moments ago they heard Sector 1's threat. A few minutes later though they heard a series of explosions and then silence. None of the Bat Knights dared to say anything. Everyone was nervous and unsure. The fate of Terry was unknown, but it didn't sound good.
"Don't worry, Terry's a tough kid," Howard assured everyone. "He'll make it!"
Dana still didn't say anything still and kept staring into the sky.
"Is our cloaking technology working?" she asked, trying to not think about Terry being dead.
"Should be," Howard nodded. "There's no way they can see us with the naked eye or ear. And we'll be unable to be detected by radar infrared etc. No one can see us!"
Dana gave a bittersweet smile. At least she had accomplished what Terry entrusted to her. She had kept the Bat Knights safe. They were easily able to evacuate the GCPD and the other buildings they resided in by the use of emergency Boom Tubes that Mister Miracle had given them in the last drop off. That allowed them to make a quick jump to another area that was within fifty miles. The problem is they used up their whole supply of them for their withdrawal. There would be no more quick escapes this time.
Dana sighed as she looked around the camp. They had to resort to tents now that they didn't have the shelter of the ruined buildings in Gotham.
"I'll go check on Lois…"
VRRRRROOOOOOOMMMMM!
"Yo Geeks! Where ya at?" a familiar voice shouted.
The sound of the machine and yelling caused everyone in the camp to jump up startled.
"Are we under attack?" someone asked.
"Look, up in the sky!"
"Wait," Howard noticed squinting in the sky. "Is that Lobo?"
"And Terry!" Dana noted excitedly when Lobo flew closer to them. He was alive.
"Turn off the cloaking technology!" Blade began ordering. "We got to let these guys know where to land!"
Terry sighed as he drank some water. He was just happy to be alive. After everything, he survived. He couldn't believe it that he literally was at the mercy of Sector 1 and he made it out alive. Not many people could live to tell that to others. Currently he was recuperating with Vandal and Lobo. Dana meanwhile was helping Terry, cleaning his wounds.
"What were you thinking?" Dana snapped. "You had me worried sick!"
"Don't worry babe, he had the Main Man watchin' his back!" Lobo boasted.
"That's something I want to know Lobo," Terry noted. "Why did you come back?"
Lobo growled and began looking the other way.
"Well because I've been gone so long I didn't really have any clients left so I was bored okay? Sorry took so long, I went to stop and get some food…"
"It's okay Lobo," Terry teased. "We know you love us…"
"Shut up!"
Terry laughed and Dana paused, her eyes were watering.
"What is it?" Terry asked.
"It's been awhile since I've seen you laugh," Dana noted. "I've just missed that."
There was an awkward pause and Terry and Dana quickly stopped making eye contact with each other. Neither wanted to talk about their icy relationship which was still in limbo. Terry tried to change the subject.
"We'll need to have a service for Nelson and the others who got killed in Bludhaven," Terry reminded somberly.
The good feelings everyone had been experiencing earlier had evaporated. But that was part of their lives. The small moments of joy they got were soon clouded by the memories of those who didn't survive the day. The now somber tone had forced Terry to start worrying about something he had pushed to the back of his mind since he was face to face with Sector 1.
"Have you heard from Matt at all?" Terry asked.
Dana sighed.
"No Terry, we haven't. He'll be fine. He knows how to take care of himself…"
"Not to mention he probably went with the original Batman. The Squirt's safe for now!" Lobo interjected.
Terry didn't share Lobo's confidence. Sector 1 mentioned using Brother Eye to destroy Wayne Manor with Wayne in it. A part of him in his soul knew his brother wasn't dead. He knew it.
"So is it true then? The stranger really is Batman travelling through time?" Dana asked. "That's been the buzz around the camp."
"He was Batman," Terry muttered bitterly. "He made that clear."
"Speaking of time travel," Vandal interjected, reminding the rest he was here. "It seems Sector 1 is on to what we're doing. We need to adjust plans how to use the time machine. He'll probably have it guarded heavily now."
"You still have the tridium right?" terry asked.
Vandal nodded.
"But that's not the problem now. The problem is how do we bypass Sector 1? He may not be able to open the blast doors to the time machine but he'll definitely put his army outside it to block anyone from getting near it."
"What are you suggesting?" Terry asked.
"We're going to need more than stealth, we're going to need an ar-"
"Terry!" someone shouted.
Everyone looked to see Howard running towards them.
"Terry…we…sent…a…scout…party…" Howard wheezed between breaths.
"Slow down Howard what is it?" Terry asked.
Howard took a deep breath before speaking again.
"We found something…" he answered.
"What?" Terry asked.
"Well uh you might want to see for yourself…" Howard said beckoning over his shoulder. Terry looked up and saw there was a commotion happening over to where Howard was pointing. Some Bat Knights were surrounding someone walking to the center of the camp. As Terry stepped forward he realized he was staring at first a small childlike little man in a Batman-like costume.
"Clear the way people clear the way!" the small man commanded. But then Terry realized who was walking behind the imp.
"No!" Terry cried in horror.
Walking into the center of the camp was a battered Wayne, clutching a nearly dead Matt in his arms.
Since they were living in tents in the middle of the woods, the Bat Knights didn't have an aid station like they did in the GCPD morgue. However the Bat Knights were able to set up a medical tent. Currently, Bruce, Terry, Lobo, and Batmite were outside it waiting anxiously. Inside Howard was with Dana in a desperate attempt to save Matt. Terry tried to barge in there but Lobo pulled him back. Meanwhile Vandal was nowhere to be seen much to Bruce's suspicions.
At the moment, Terry was pacing back and forth while occasionally eying someone angrily, daring them to say something. Batmite was hovering in the air wringing his hands nervously while Lobo was sitting on the ground taking apart and his ion pistol to examine it. Lastly Bruce hunched in the corner, hiding in the shadows with his face unreadable.
"Fuck this," Terry snapped, breaking the awkward silence. He then looked angrily at Bruce in the corner.
"This is your fault!" he snapped. "You were supposed to be watching him!"
Bruce didn't say anything and kept his cold stare.
"Say something!" Terry snapped.
"Terry calm down…" Batmite suggested.
"Stay out of this!" Terry muttered before looking at the imp. "Who the hell are you anyway?"
"I'm Batmite," Batmite said with a little annoyance in his voice. "I already told you I'm a part of Batman's…"
"Imagination, yeah I know. You expect me to believe that?"
"Well Batman has journeyed back in time…"
Terry turned around and ignored the imp. He paced back and forth for a bit before stopping again.
"That's it I'm going in!"
Immediately Lobo and Batmite jumped into action and held the young man back.
"Let go of me!" Terry shouted. "He's my brother!"
"And yellin' ain't gonna help Kid! Ya need to chill!"
"Shut up Lobo!" Terry cried.
But Lobo and Batmite didn't loosen their hold. Terry struggled a bit more before almost breaking down into tears. Bruce meanwhile continued to be apart from the scene, watching it from afar.
Thankfully the tent fluttered open and Howard exited out, finally ending the tension.
"Well?" Terry asked with nervous anticipation.
Howard sighed nervously, his whole body was drenched with sweat.
"He's alive for now but…"
"But?" Terry snapped and broke through Lobo and Batmite's hold to lift Howard by the collar.
"But?"
"I'm…I'm no Maxine at this...and we don't have as much resources as we did at the GCPD. Especially because we...did use a lot to try to save Max…"
"What's wrong with him?"
"We got the bullet out!" Howard snapped. "But he's lost a lot of blood and has already gone into shock. We managed to stop it and he's awake now but…"
"But what?" Terry shouted again.
"Dude calm down…" Bamite tried to speak.
"What did you do?" Terry snapped.
Howard was on the verge of mental breakdown as he started shaking while his eyes began to fill with tears.
"He's in a lot of pain and we don't have anything to knock him out. If we go further he'll just be in more pain and there's no guarantee he'll live. Sector 1 used an old fashioned bullet instead so the wound wasn't cauterized. It'll probably go septic and he'll die anyways in a week after a lot of pain."
Now Bruce understood why Sector 1 preferred an old fashioned gun. Lead bullets did a lot more long term damage than energy blasts.
"So what does that mean?" Lobo asked.
Howard swallowed nervously.
"He's asked us to stop treating him. He rather die than have us waste all the medical supplies just so he can live for another week…"
WHAM!
"Ahh!" Howard groaned as Terry punched him.
"Terry!" Batmite shouted.
"Not cool man," Lobo complained.
"You save him, got it?!" Terry snapped and leaned down to pick up Howard again.
"Terry stop!" a female voice called. Everyone looked up to find that Dana had exited the tent as well and she was looking at Terry with disappointed anger.
"Terry that's enough!" she snapped.
Terry glared at her but she stood her ground. In a few moments Terry dropped Howard and backed away with a look of disgust.
"I'm…I'm sorry Howard…" he muttered out; he was shaking violently.
"Terry," Dana called, in a voice softer than before.
Terry looked at her unsure.
"He wants to see you before he…"
But Dana couldn't say the next words and just choked on them. The strong steady tone she had earlier had evaporated as tears began to fall down her eyes.
Terry sighed and began to walk towards the tent.
Batmite sniffed as he pulled out a handkerchief out of nowhere and blew his nose.
"Hey Squeak," Lobo called and Bruce noticed for once he wasn't being as confident as he usually was. In fact the Czarnian looked like he was on the verge of tears as well. "Let me see that when yar done with it."
Terry entered the tent. He had expected Dana to follow him but she didn't. He understood. She was trying to give him some privacy. However a part of him wished she had come with him. He didn't know what he was going to say or do. His own brother who he promised to protect was dying. Soon Terry would be the last survivor of the McGinnis family.
"Terry…" a voice spoke weakly. Terry looked up and saw Matt was lying on the operating table. Most of his clothes were gone due to the operation. All he had was a blanket draped around him and some bandages on his wound. He looked so pale that his skin looked whiter than Lobo's. But Terry could still see in his brother's brown eyes there was some sign of life.
"Hey Twip…" Terry said sadly with a smile on his face as he nervously walked towards his brother. "How are you feeling?"
"I've been better…" Matt responded weakly. Terry finally reached his side. For a second Terry didn't know what to do but as if on instinct he reached for his younger brother's hands. The minute he grasped them the walls came crumbling down.
"I'm so sorry…" Terry sobbed and fell to his knees, still holding his brother's hands.
"It's alright…"
"I should've stopped you from leaving…" Terry cried. "But I did nothing…"
"Like you would've been able to stop me," Matt shot back with a little humor in his voice. Even though his voice was hoarse he was still able to joke.
Terry managed to stop sobbing for a bit and laughed sadly at Matt's joke.
"Besides Terry," Matt assured. "In all seriousness I chose to follow him. If anything I should apologize to you…"
"You don't have to apologize for anything. You're right. You've always have been. I've lost myself. I've been so blinded by my anger, I failed to realize what's important…"
"And I shouldn't have attacked you…" Matt wheezed out weakly. "I should've realized you needed me more than ever. I was just angry…"
"Matt…"
"Terry let me finish…" Matt warned before coughing. His voice was getting weaker by the second.
"I have something to confess…" Matt explained.
Terry didn't say anything and listened to his brother.
"I was always…jealous of you…"
"Matt…"
"I always looked up to you when we were little, but I started growing jealous of you Terry," Matt admitted. "Everybody always looked up to you, especially Maxine…"
Terry flinched as Matt mentioned her name. How did he not realize his brother was in love with her this whole time?
"I just want to say I'm sorry I hit you," Matt apologized. "It wasn't your fault. I was just letting my jealousy…"
"No you're right Matt. I was getting too aggressive and careless. I let my emotions and ego get in the way that I didn't realize until it was too late that people were getting hurt. I'm not the leader everyone expects me to be. I'm not the savior of America…"
"Yes you are Terry…" Matt responded back and manged to pull on of his hands away from Terry. He then pointed the shaking hand at Terry's chest.
"You have your heart…" Matt whispered. "Even though you mess up, you feel remorse. That's what makes you a hero…"
"Matt…"
Matt's eyes began to flutter and Terry saw his free hand had collapsed.
"MATT!"
Matt's eyes slowly opened.
"I don't got much left…" Matt whispered in pain.
"Matt…"
"Look after Bruce. Have faith in him…" Matt warned. "He's just like you. He just needs someone to remind him who he is…"
And before Terry could call his brother's name again, Matt's eyes rolled back as he stopped breathing.
"Matt?" Terry asked even though he knew he wouldn't get a response.
Matt didn't respond and his dead eyes continued to stare blankly in the distance.
"Matt!" Terry cried again, still no response.
"No…" Terry sobbed and bowed his head as tears fell down his face.
"Please don't leave me Matt…" Terry begged. "You're the only family I have left…"
But Matt didn't respond and Terry continued to sob. He could hear his father's last words echoing in his head.
"Promise me to take care of Matt. Look out for him and protect him! Family is more important than anything! Don't you forget that!"
But he broke his promise. In his attempt to protect his family he had lost sight of it. He had pushed it all away. Now he had no family left. He all alone. This was his punishment for breaking his promise.
Bruce kept walking by the tents to the far outreach of the camp, he wanted to be alone. He could feel blood dripping out of his nose and his muscles tingling again but he refused to give into a spasm this time. He didn't want to look weak and vulnerable. He was taking himself far away from the camp to the outskirts of it where he could be alone for a while. He didn't want to talk to Terry, Batmite or the rest. He just wanted to grieve alone. He was in an area on the north side where there wasn't many tents. That'd be enough to give him some privacy. His body still felt it was on fire but his willpower ignored it. Finally deciding he was alone, Bruce let himself fall to his knees. A single tear began to trickle down his face. How many more would die in his arms like that? Why did his life seem to only attract death and misery. Not only did he lose one of the few people in this timeline that actually didn't expect him to be Batman, but his own son. He felt as if a part of him had been ripped out of his own soul.
"Is this enough?" a voice asked.
Bruce turned around and saw in the shadows behind one of the tents nearby was Vandal. Immediately Bruce's eyes narrowed threateningly.
"Go away Vandal…"
"How many more of your children are you willing to sacrifice?" Vandal accused darkly. "Before you finally do what needs to be done."
"You have no right to judge me," Bruce warned. "You've filled up enough graveyards by your own hands."
"We're not talking about me," Vandal warned. "We're talking about you."
"It's not always about me," Bruce snapped back.
"It's always about you!" Vandal shouted in frustration. "Don't you get it? No matter what, since your journey across time it seems fate and destiny have focused on you!"
"I don't believe in destiny…"
"What do you believe now though?" Vandal asked.
Bruce didn't respond and stared back at his former enemy.
"Not yourself of course, not in Batman anymore either. What do you believe in Bruce?"
Bruce again said nothing and gave a warning glare at Vandal who was stepping closer to him.
"Do you believe in your other son? The one who hasn't died yet because of you?"
"Watch it Vandal…" Bruce warned.
"One's dead because of you and you're willing to let the other one die brutally at Sector 1's hands because you're too self-absorbed to get out of your brooding?"
"I'm warning you…" Bruce threatened his fists clenching tightly. He tried turning around and walking away so he wouldn't have to deal with Vandal anymore.
"What kind of father leaves his children to die? Did your father do that to you?"
Bruce froze and stiffened at that. Vandal had crossed the line.
"No you know what? I get it now. You don't see Terry as your son. In fact I've been more of a father to him than you'll ever be. I wonder what his biological grandfather would have to say about this…"
BAM!
Bruce whipped around and punched Vandal in the face, knocking the former immortal to the ground instantly. However Bruce didn't have time to react. With surprising speed for a man his age, Vandal closed his legs, tripping Bruce. Vandal quickly got to his feet, Bruce did the same.
"So this it then?" Vandal asked. "Continuing a fight that has gone on for twenty-five thousand years?"
WHACK!
"Ugggh…"
Bruce threw another punch, right in Vandal's gut.
"Except this time, you don't have an unfair advantage…" Bruce shot back.
"That may be the case…" Vandal agreed as he struggled to speak. He then swiped at Bruce with the hand holding the scythe glove. Bruce barely dodged it in time.
"But being mortal makes me less careless. More willing to focus on my brain rather than brute strength…"
Bruce responded by trying to punch Vandal for the third time but Vandal was not willing to fall for it again. Vandal quickly parried it and responded with his own series of blows. Bruce managed to block most of them but Vandal still managed to get a few good hits. Bruce tried to kick Vandal only to receive a cut from Vandal's scythe. At this point neither Vandal nor Bruce were relying on fighting with skill. They were fighting on pure raw animal instincts. They were letting their rage and hatred for each other spill over. After many blows and blocks the two showed no sign of stopping although Vandal's breathing was more ragged. But Bruce refused to show any mercy and Vandal didn't show any signs of surrender. Eventually the two former foes found themselves rolling on the ground wrestling.
"You have no right to think of yourself as a savior…" Bruce grunted as he rolled on top.
"Just as you have no right to call Gotham your city anymore…" Vandal responded and bucked his hips, switching their positions. Neither had noticed their fighting had caused a lot of noise that some Bat Knights had come out of their tents to watch. The crowd of onlookers was growing by the minute.
"Hey!" a childlike voice called, pushing people out of the way.
Batmite finally managed to find himself in the front of the line.
"Hey guys stop it!" Batmite protested and flew down to try to stop the two fighting.
"What the frag is goin' on?" Lobo demanded as he forced his way to the front. He saw Vandal and Bruce rolling on the ground and Batmite trying to break it up.
"Oh cool a fight!" Lobo said gleefully.
"Stop it!" Batmite cried again.
"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" a voice commanded deeply, causing even Vandal and Bruce to stop.
Everyone jumped in fear, including Lobo at the shouting. The crowd quickly spread out to allow someone to be seen by all. Vandal and Bruce, both battered and bloodied from their fight looked up to see standing in front of them was Terry. Moments ago he had looked like he had broken down and lost it but now any sign of emotion was gone from his face. Instead he had a serious look with a faint hint of disgust and disappointment at the two older men.
"If you two want to kill each other, I could care less. But I'm in charge of this camp and I won't tolerate you two at each other's throats. So either get up and leave each other alone or get the hell out of here."
Bruce and Savage slowly untangled themselves. Bruce looked at Terry with concern. Moments ago his younger brother died and yet the young man seemed to have gotten over it. But Bruce knew better; Terry was his son after all. Terry didn't get over Matt's death. He was just good at hiding his pain in public.
"Terry…" Vandal spoke.
Terry ignored the old man and looked at the rest of the Bat Knights.
"Go back to what you were doing! Now!"
The Bat Knights quickly dispersed and followed his orders leaving Terry with Vandal, Bruce, Lobo, and Batmite. Terry looked at them all with disdain.
"Last time I checked, we still had a war to fight."
He then looked at Vandal.
"You said something about Sector 1 probably moving a lot of his forces to block the time machine doors since he can't breach them."
"Yes," Vandal nodded and began to dust himself off. "Although I think we should discuss our strategy in private…"
"Hell no Geek!" Lobo butted in. "I came back to this stupid rock to help ya out. I'm part of the War Council thingy majig as well."
"Oooh a war council!" Batmite said excitedly. "Can I be a part of it? Please? Pretty please?"
"Sure," Terry replied.
"Ya gonna let Squeak be with us?" Lobo complained.
"My name's Batmite…"
"No Terry's right," Vandal remarked. "I've met this creature before. He possesses the ability to defy the laws of Physics to an extent, he will be useful."
"You do remember me!" Batmite said excitedly. "It's hard to forget Batmite and his Chainsaw 2000!"
Terry then looked at Bruce.
"You're welcome to join us as well, that is if you're willing to help out and not go off and do your own thing."
Bruce could detect the venom in his voice. But this time Bruce couldn't bring himself to glare back at Terry this time. Instead he gave his son a look of pain and sympathy.
"Terry with what happened with Matt I think you should…"
"I'm fine," Terry warned. "They'll be time to grieve later. Right now Sector 1 is out there plotting to take us out. We need to act fast."
"Terry?" a voice called. Terry turned around to find Dana running up to them.
"Dana?" Terry asked, dropping the seriousness in his voice earlier. "What is it?"
"It's Lois," Dana gulped. "She seems to know something's wrong. She's asking for you…"
As soon as he heard the word Lois, Bruce froze for a second. Could it be after all this time there was a person in his past still alive.
"Lois?" Bruce asked.
Vandal turned around and smiled.
"Ah yes, Lois Lane. The once great reporter lives with the Bat Knights. But you know who she is, am I right Bruce?"
Dana and Terry both looked at Bruce.
"Wait, you know Lois?"
"Of course he does!" Batmite said proudly. "He dated her before Superman."
"Wait a minute!" Lobo interrupted. "Supes' Lois is our Lois and no one evah told me?"
"You know her?" Terry asked, realizing they never introduced Lobo to Lois.
"Of course I do, I'm the Main Man. I know all the ladies…"
"Shut up Lobo," Bruce snapped. He ignored everyone and walked to Dana.
"Take me to her," he demanded.
"What?" Dana asked.
"Please," Bruce asked again, softening up the assertiveness in his voice a little.
Dana looked unsure and looked over Bruce's shoulder at Terry who shrugged.
"Take him Dana," Terry ordered bitterly. "Meanwhile the rest of us will be discussing our next plan of action while he's strolling through memory lane."
Bruce followed Dana across the camp to where Lois's tent was. For awhile the two didn't say anything to each other at all and thus the walk was awkward and tense. Bruce wanted to ask Dana about things related to Lois. Lois had to be in her eighties or nineties by now. In fact Bruce thought it was a miracle that she lived that old in a post-apocalyptic world. Bruce was too busy thinking about Lois he didn't hear Dana speak.
"I'm sorry?" Bruce asked, realizing Dana asked him a question he didn't understand.
"So you're really him?" she asked, stopping to look at him.
"Depends what you mean by him."
Dana rolled her eyes.
"So are you Batman? The Gotham Savior? The Caped Crusader? The World's Greatest Detective? Terry and Matt's biological father?"
"I was Batman," Bruce reiterated. "But yes. They were made from my DNA."
"So in other words you're their father."
"Try telling Terry that," Bruce muttered resentfully. "He's right though. I just met him a day ago. I'm not his father."
"Look I know he's being a little abrasive at the moment but he's going through a lot…"
"Aren't we all?" Bruce retorted.
Dana glared at him.
"But he also has to deal with the pressure of being the leader. That Savage guy may be the mastermind, but Terry's our real leader. He can't afford to be seen grieving in front of others. Do you know what that's like?"
Bruce didn't say anything but stared back at her. Dana immediately closed her eyes and guilty rubbed her forehead.
"I'm sorry…" she muttered. "It's just a lot's happen the past few days. Not only did we lose Maxine and Matt but a lot of other people like Nelson as well."
"Where is Lois's tent?" Bruce asked. He didn't feel comfortable talking about all the people who had died.
"We're right outside," Dana explained, indicating to the rather large tent they were standing next to. Bruce looked at it before looking back at Dana.
"Thanks," he said gruffly.
"I'll warn you," Dana replied. "Her dementia's worsened over the years. She probably won't even remember you."
"She'll remember me," Bruce assured and stepped inside the tent.
Bruce for a long time just stood in the tent watching Lois toss and turn in her sleep. He could occasionally hear her mutter names like Terry and Dana. If it wasn't for her voice, Bruce probably wouldn't have recognized her. Her skin had wrinkled badly over the years and her hair was almost a sickly looking gray. Her hands and arms were covered with liver spots. But even in her sleep, Bruce knew it was her. He could recognize that voice anywhere. As if sensing his presence Lois finally stirred awake.
"Clark…" Lois muttered out, realizing someone was standing there.
Bruce fought the urge to let a flash of pain go across his face.
"No Lois..." Bruce spoke sadly and walked up to her. He realized even in her old age, her violet eyes were still that bright violet shade.
"Who is it?"Lois asked in a confused tone. "I need to meet with Perry, make it snappy..."
Bruce sighed sadly and placed a gentle hand on one of hers.
"Who are you?" she demanded and yanked her hand away and looked at Bruce directly in his eyes. It was then the violet eyes widened in recognition and for the first time, clarity seemed to have reached her.
"Bruce?" she asked nervously.
Bruce smiled sadly.
"Yes Lois, it's me..."
"This is a dream!" Lois said sadly. "You've been dead a long time..."
Bruce grabbed her hand again and began to rub it gently. Lois looked at it his hands and then back up at him.
"No..." she said in shock. "You're real...you're...alive?"
Bruce nodded.
"Yes Lois, yes I am," he admitted.
With a sudden second wind, Lois sat up in her bed.
"This can't be..." she cried as tears fell down her eyes. Bruce pulled the old woman into an embrace. She hugged him tightly and sobbed into his shoulder.
"We al thought you had died," Lois explained.
"I didn't," Bruce assured.
"What are you doing here then? And why haven't you aged?"
"Darkseid didn't kill me but sent me back in time; sort of like what Toyman did to...Superman," Bruce explained. "I've jumped through time ever since..."
"And you picked the best time to return to Gotham," Lois replied sarcastically and broke the embrace.
"I can't believe it," she said as tears fell down her eyes.
"What?" Bruce asked.
"Clark...he was right the whole time..."
"What are you talking about?"
"Clark was right! He came up with this theory that Darkseid didn't kill you but sent you back in time with something called the Omega Sanctuary. I don't remember the name. He was so obsessed and determined to prove it. I got to tell him right now! He'll be so excited..."
Bruce grimaced in pain when he realized Lois's dementia had made her forget that Clark was dead. He was agonizing over how to remind that to her but it seemed her old memory decided to do the job itself.
Lois closed her eyes sadly.
"No..." she moaned. "Clark's dead. They all are. And I left him..."
"What?"
"I thought Clark was just unable to let your death go so I grew frustrated over his neglect and left him. We were supposed to get married when I walked out on him. And now he's gone. I loved him and I abandoned him..."
"It's alright Lois," Bruce replied in a soothing voice and placed an arm around her.
"I don't deserve to live..." Lois said bitterly through the tears. "I loved him and I left him, now it's too late..."
"We've all have our regrets," Bruce assured.
For awhile he didn't say anything and held Lois in his arms tightly to comfort her. Finally though, Lois was able to pull herself together and looked at Bruce.
"So what are you going to do now?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You. You always do something when confronted with a crisis. Are you going to take down the Joker? I refuse to call him that stupid Sector 1 name."
"I..."
"Or are you going to coordinate a global wide resistance? I heard Europe managed to liberate itself, at least partly..."
"Lois I..."
Lois, despite her mental state, realized the hesitation in Bruce's voice. She quickly broke herself away from Bruce's arms.
"You're going to do nothing?" she asked. "You're giving up?"
Bruce didn't say anything but stared back at her.
"You can't!"
"It's hopeless Lois," Bruce explained darkly.
"That's never stopped you before! Or the League!"
"There is no League Lois. And no Batman either, just me. The world needs a Superman and we don't have one."
"You're wrong," Lois corrected.
Bruce looked at her with uncertainty.
"The world never needed a Superman," Lois pointed out. "They needed a Clark Kent."
"What are you talking about?"
"Clark didn't become Superman because of his powers, he became Superman because he wanted to help people. He wasn't born to be Superman, he chose to be Superman. Are you telling me even without powers Clark wouldn't help people?"
Bruce didn't respond to that.
"That goes for the whole League. They joined the League not because they had power or technology, they did it because they all chose to believe in something. They believed in doing the right thing..."
"I became Batman because I couldn't let my parents go," Bruce retorted. "I wanted to make their deaths not seem meaningless by enacting vengeance on those who would harm the innocent. Only now I realized I was a fool and my whole pathetic life was based on a lie."
Lois looked at Batman with a piercing gaze.
"I don't believe that. I refuse to believe that Bruce."
She then pointed an old finger at him.
"Terry is the leader of this group because he chose to step up when they needed him to. He chose to fight for what he believes in. All you need is to believe in something again."
"I don't believe in anything," Bruce reminded.
"Yes you do. You believed in yourself. And Clark. And Diana. And the whole rest of the League. You believed in them."
Bruce just stared back at her without saying anything.
"Clark didn't give up on you and believed you were still alive. Now you owe him. You can't give up on yourself now. You need to believe in yourself. You can save us Bruce."
"What can I do?" Bruce asked as a few tears escaped him. "The world's changed now. There aren't enough good people left to fight back the rest."
"You'll find a way, you always do..."
It was Lois's turn to grasp Bruce's hands.
"I believe in you..."
Bruce looked back at her violet eyes and for the first time in a long time, he felt like he had found someone who actually understood him. Someone who had been giving him the talk he so desperately needed.
Unfortunately Bruce noticed that Lois's eyes started to fade away, indicating her clarity was loosening.
"Excuse me pal," Lois said and turned the other way. "I got to go interview Lex Luthor now..."
Bruce sighed sadly as Lois began to mutter to herself as she lied in bed, forgetting he was there. He slowly got up and walked towards the exit of the tent. However he turned around to look at the last person from his former life.
"Thank you Lois, for everything," he said with genuine gratitude, even though she didn't hear it.
"No,no,no!" Vandal said in frustration. "That won't work."
"Why not?" Lobo asked.
"Sector 1 now has at least eight aircraft ships. Do you think your bike can take them all out?"
"Why not?"
"What about Brother Eye?" Terry asked.
"We can't take that out either," Vandal reminded them. "It's impossible. The cloaking technology makes it undetectable. Besides other than Lobo's tiny bike we don't have any air support..."
"Hey don't insult my Hog!" Lobo complained.
"But there was that tape in the Bludhaven base. They figured out how to destroy Brother Eye," Terry pointed out.
"But Sector 1 has already destroyed the Bludhaven lab," Vandal pointed out. "Besides, Sector 1 won't bother to use Brother Eye. He only uses it on stationary targets and to destroy structures. Since he wasted all the nuclear missiles in the world within the first five years of his reign, Brother Eye is not as big of a threat as his ground troops. If he uses Brother Eye, he risks destroying his own forces and himself as well and even he's not that insane."
"What about the Squeak?" Lobo muttered, pointing to Batmite with his thumb.
"My name's Batmite!"
"I say we let him be a diversion or somethin'..."
"It will take a lot more than just Batmite to cause a diversion..." a voice spoke.
The four members of the makeshift war council turned their heads to face the newcomer.
"Welcome Mr. Wayne," Vandal said with a satisfied smile. "So happy you decided to join us."
Terry eyed with Bruce with suspicion.
"Are you here to stay?"
"First things first," Bruce interrupted. "We need to discuss something."
"What?" Terry demanded.
"Sector 1 knew about your Bludhaven operation. Someone had to have leaked him the information."
"Meanin'?" Lobo asked.
"Someone had to have betrayed us," Bruce noted. "Otherwise how could he have known?"
Bruce then eyed Vandal, who glared at Bruce angrily.
"You think it's me?" he asked with insult."If you knew what Sector 1 did to me you would be less suspicious of me."
"You're not the only suspect," Bruce assured as he looked at the rest."All of you could be the traitor, including me. In fact the mole might be a low-level Bat Knight."
"So what are you saying? That we stop everything?" Terry complained.
"We don't have the time to do that," Bruce explained. "But we all must tread lightly and be on the lookout for any sabotage. We have no choice but to continue trying to fight back."
"So are you going to go back in time after all?" Vandal asked.
"Oooooh! Can I go with you?" Batmite cried excitedly.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now we need to get access to the time machine first. What's the situation?"
Vandal cleared his throat.
"Based on scout reports, Sector 1 has already concentrated most of his forces around the Gotham S.T.A.R. Labs Base. He also has aircraft which is almost ready to be launched. It'll probably be a week before he can deploy them."
"That's not all," Terry noted. "With an old short wave radio some Bat Knights cells in the south section of Sector 1 have noticed some of Sector 1's forces in the area are moving northward."
"Uh-oh, he's bringing them here!" Batmite cried, pointing out the obvious.
"I say we hit 'em hard now! Before they get bigger!" Lobo suggested.
Bruce looked at Vandal and Terry.
"How long would it take to bring up reinforcements from other cells?"
"We can only call on those within our Sector to come up here in an appropriate amount of time. It's nearly impossible to move a large number of forces across the Sector borders on time," Terry pointed out.
"So, how many geeks does that give us?" Lobo asked.
"We can afford to maybe bring up a thousand within Sector 1 to Gotham," Vandal pointed out.
"Two thousand," Terry corrected. "I'm the leader of not just the Bat Knights of Gotham but also of the entirety of Sector 1. We can afford to bring up two thousand."
"Two thousand irregular forces," Bruce pointed out. "A lot of them probably under 18."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Terry challenged.
"Terry..." Vandal warned.
"Your Bat Knights have probably been successful, but fighting as a guerrilla force. Sector 1's placing almost all of his forces in the city to block you from the time machine. And who knows if he'll call for reinforcements from the other Sectors."
Vandal sighed and nodded in agreement. He understood what Bruce was getting at.
"He's right."
"What?" Lobo asked, not catching on.
"We need an army," Bruce explained.
"What?"
This time it was Batmite who was confused.
"An army. A real one, not a bunch of guerrilla forces. We can't take on Sector 1 with hit and run tactics..."
"But we don't have an army," Terry pointed out. "Or time to train one. I say we go with a stealth operation."
"Stealth won't work," Bruce pointed out. "The time machine is on his turf. He has the weapons, the resources, and the knowledge. We have nothing."
"The odds look better than your army plan," Terry countered.
"It is true we don't have an army," Bruce pointed out. "But someone else might."
"Who?" Lobo asked.
"What about the Atlanteans?" Bruce asked, looking around.
"Atlante-whats?" Lobo replied dumbfounded.
Bruce ignored him.
"They live under the sea; they'd be safe from Brother Eye or Sector 1's forces."
There was an awkward pause as Vandal shifted in seat.
"What happened to Atlantis?" Bruce asked with worry. "What happened to Aquaman?"
Vandal sighed.
"Aquaman, King Arthur, was overthrown by a faction sponsored by the Sector Leaders. The Atlanteans erupted into a civil war that destroyed themselves. There is no Atlantean army left.
"Uh Batman?" Batmite interrupted. "Aren't you forgetting about another army?"
Bruce sighed. He knew what Batmite was getting at. In truth he originally though of calling the Amazons to help. But he knew it would be impossible. Without Wonder Woman, Themyscira would be impossible to find. Besides, who knew if the Amazons were still around or would be willing to fight in Man's World? Hippolyta and her people had already sacrificed enough to a world that never knew what they had done for them.
"What's he talking about?" Terry demanded.
"He means the Amazons," Bruce answered.
"The same race Wonder Woman came from?" Terry replied.
Vandal snorted.
"The Amazons hadn't interfered with Man's World for a long time. What makes you think they would help us?"Vandal asked. "They didn't intervene when their own champion was killed. They're just an obsolete race form a bygone era..."
Bruce's eyes narrowed at Vandal.
"They have more honor than you can ever understand," Bruce pointed out angrily. "They've done more for Man's World than you can imagine."
"Even if they were willing to help," Vandal began. "How do we contact them?We have no means of locating Themyscira without magic or technology."
"What the hell is an Amazon?"Lobo asked, still having a hard time following along.
"Greek badass female warriors," Bamite explained.
"Greek?" Lobo responded with a puzzled look.
Both Terry and Bruce looked at Lobo.
"Does that mean something to you?" Bruce asked.
"Sure, me and the Squirt went dumpster divin' in the ruins of the Watchtower one day and found a funny necklace with Greek chicken scratch on it. I don't know it was stupid."
Lobo reached into his pocket and pulled out a simple necklace.
"I don't know, it's worthless. Ya geeks can have it if ya-Hey!"
Bruce snatched it out of his hands and looked at it.
"You said you found this in the ruins of the Watchtower?"
"Yea so?"
Bruce was looking at the necklace. It was relatively a simple one bounded in leather with a turquoise stone in it. If this was Greek and founded in the ruins of the Watchtower, that could mean only one thing. This used to be Diana's. Bruce quickly examined the necklace. It was rather simple other than a word etched in Greek on the turquoise stone. Bruce was able to read it easily.
Love.
Bruce sighed and closed his eyes sadly, clenching the necklace tightly.
"Uh Batman?" Batmite asked as the rest of the war council watched him in with apprehension. Bruce ignored them. He was thinking of Diana. Like Clark and the rest, she was gone. She died trying to protect a world her own people had no ties to. He remembered her. Her soft voice, her gentle laugh, her understanding smile. He remembered how in his journey across time she was the one thing that kept him grounded and stable even though he had no memory of who she was. After all this time he never acknowledged it but now it was as if the necklace was mocking him for those buried feelings he never confessed to her. Bruce didn't know why but he just didn't seem to have the energy to squash those feelings down this time. It was as if reading that one word had caused a tidal wave of emotions to hit him. He kept his eyes closed so they wouldn't see his tears.
"Yoo-hoo, Earth to Batman..." Batmite called again.
Bruce still ignored the imp. He kept thinking of Diana. He then thought of Hippolyta and how she was just like Diana. A strong woman trying to do the right thing. Bruce could understand why Hippolyta was protective of her daughter now. She was afraid she would lose Diana just like how she lost her own sisters in battle. And now Hippolyta's own fears had happened. Her own daughter was dead. Bruce knew there was probably nothing more painful than a loving mother like Hippolyta losing a daughter like Diana...
"ARRRGGGH!"Bruce suddenly screamed as he felt his whole body burn and he fell backward, landing on the ground.
"What the hell?" Terry asked as all the other war council members stood up in surprise to Bruce falling to the ground. Vandal rushed over to him and found that Batman's eyes were closed and his body was now rigid as if he had been turned into stone.
"That's what ya get when ya steal from the Main Man," Lobo replied gleefully.
Sector 1 rapped his feet impatiently as he sat in his chair. He was talking with one of his commanders in the southeast of his Sector at the moment over the radio.
"I don't care, I want all ground forces that you can spare to be at Gotham City within a week!" he shouted angrily.
"Sector 1?" Harley asked nervously. "Are you sure you don't want to, you know, fix your hair? Maybe get cleaned up?"
Sector 1 turned around to look at Harley. His hair due to the attack on his now destroyed flagship had been messed up. No longer was it slicked back but sticking out all over the place. Meanwhile his usual tight suit was torn and littered with holes and covered in dirt. In response to her question, Sector 1 violently began to ruffle his hair, messing it up even more.
"You're concerned about my hair?! When those Brat Knights have escaped and plan to use a time machine to erase all my good work?"
"I'm sorry..." Harley apologized nervously as he stood up out of his chair and walk towards her.
WHAM!
Sector 1 had slapped her across the face.
"We got bigger things to worry about! I want you also to send a team at Wayne Manor and bring me Wayne's body!"
"W-why?"
"I want to make sure he's dead!" Sector 1 snapped. "Then I can make him deader!"
Sector 1 then erupted into a fit of laughter.
"HehehehehHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Sector 1 then cleared his throat and managed to control himself.
"As I was saying, check to make sure that rat Wayne didn't slither into a hole to hide. In the meantime, I'm calling Sector 2!"
"Why?" Harley asked.
"He's always complaining I'm not pulling my weight in dealing with the Bat Knights. Now it's time to put his money were his mouths are!"
Themyscira
Bruce opened his eyes and noticed immediately he wasn't back in the woods of Gotham. He instead was in some large royal looking bedroom. The room was designed with Greek decoration, decorated with pillars, silk tapestries and jars depicting battles. Bruce looked to his left and saw a large window without glass that had a view to the sea. It was then Bruce noticed he couldn't feel anything. He looked down and saw that he was translucent like a ghost while slightly glowing with a yellow aura around him.
CRASH!
Bruce turned around and saw himself staring at a familiar face.
Hippolyta was staring at him with her jaw wide open. She had dropped the glass of wine she had been holding moments ago. Bruce could tell in her eyes not only was she as surprised to see him but she recognized him after thousands of years.
"You!"Hippolyta shouted.
"Hippolyta?" Bruce replied in shock. How did he get on Themyscira? And what happened to his body?
"Hippy, do we have any more wine left?" a loud familiar voice called as a large man entered the room.
Bruce felt his whole "soul" shake with anger when the man stepped inside and Bruce recognized him. He was staring at the face that had mocked and tortured him during most of his journey across time. Bruce noted right away he was a lot smaller than he was last time and that he was not in armor this time but a toga. Bruce also noticed his old enemy was wearing gauntlets like the Amazons.
"You!" Bruce shouted angrily as Hades stepped into the room.
Hades looked up at Bruce with surprise and also dropped his wine glass.
CRASH!
However unlike Hippolyta who was still staring at Bruce with a look of confused disbelief, Hades recovered quickly and gave a mocking grin.
"Well, this just got a lot more interesting now," the god of death replied with gleeful wickedness.
As the climax approaches nearer, Hades' evil plot will finally be fully revealed. Meanwhile Bruce tries to implore Hippolyta to help the Bat Knights while stories from the past shed new light on Hades and Hippolyta.
