CHAPTER 10

Bane led Harley Quinn all the way to the top of Arkham Asylum. There was a ledge on one of the towers that looked over the woods that surrounded the building unto New Gotham. "So tell me, honey, what did you get for my birthday? Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Harley said, bouncing like a little child excited about receiving a birthday gift.

"This is for you, my love!" Bane handed her a control with a horizontal row of flip switches.

"Ooooh, this looks fun! I just love switches." Harley smiled.

"Start with the switch to the right and go left, and enjoy my birthday present to you." Helena laughed with anticipation and excitement and she flipped the first switch up, lighting up the tiny red light above the switch.

* * * *

At the New Gotham Police Department, it was a busy night. Cops were walking in and out of the building and patrol cars were pulling in and out of the parking lots. The building took up an entire block. Two way traffic surrounded the building. Those four streets were main roads, and traveled highly on, even this late at night. The night shift was about to head out and begin patrolling New Gotham.

Everything came to an abrupt halt as the NGPD headquarters exploded violently, sending debris for miles. Cars, passing by were thrown off the road by the explosion and sent crashing into buildings across from where the headquarters was.

* * * *

Harley laughed with excitement when she heard the explosion and saw the flames rising up from New Gotham. Harley looked down at the second switch with great anticipation. She grabbed the switch with her thumb and index finger of her right hand and flipped the switch up.

* * * *

The New Gotham Fire Department was five blocks from the police headquarters. The lights flickered on when the first blast send shockwaves that could be felt even this far from the headquarters. Before any of the firefighters could prepare to get dressed and rush to the fire trucks, the whole building exploded.

* * * *



When Helena returned to the clock tower, she found Richard and Dinah gathered around an unconscious Barbara. "What happened?"

"We don't know," Richard replied. "Dinah and I went to bring some new computers up here and we found her unconscious."

Barbara came around, shaking her head. "Barbara, what happened? Are you okay?"

Barbara grimaced from a sharp headache. "It was David Crane. He was in here."

"David Crane was in the clock tower? What is he up to?" Dinah asked.

"I don't know, but perhaps we should fix the clock tower's security system before trying to set up a new computer workstation."

The sound of explosion outside caught everybody's attention. The four of them ran out onto the ledge just as a second explosion went off. This new explosion happened just down the road at the fire station. "What's going on?" Dinah asked.

No one answered as a third explosion went off elsewhere in New Gotham. "Bane must be doing this!" Barbara said.

"I'm going to check it out!" Richard said, taking his clothes off, revealing his Nightwing costume. He placed his eye mask over his eyes.

"Be careful, Richard."

* * * *

David Crane held back his group of villains from Arkham. "Steady…wait it is safe to go!"

An explosion rocked the bank at the end of the street. A car driving by was blown away from the bank, and crashed into a street lamp. "Okay, everyone! Go!"

All fifty criminals began charging down the streets. The few innocent civilians saw the angry mob of convicts and began running for their lives. They began to break into every store in site and robbing them. A few went after the innocent civilians who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. David led a couple dozen to the bank that exploded.

* * * *

Harley was nearly dancing with joy, flipping the switches and seeing More of Gotham explode. A helicopter had flown over New Gotham to view a quarter of the city in flames. "This is a blast!" Harley said excitedly. Looking down at the switchbox, there were two more switches that were yet to be flipped. Harley reached down and flipped the next switch.

* * * *

For a Thursday night, the Dark Horse Bar was rather busy. Danielle was barley able to keep up with the demands of all the customers. She was almost ready to call Gibson for help. The ground had begun shaking almost as if they were small aftershocks following after a huge earthquake. Many of the people inside of the bar were looking out the window to see smoke rising from New Gotham. There were others who cared only about drowning their sorrow and getting drunk. There were enough of these kind of people to keep Danielle busy.

"I'll be back to help you. I want to see what's going on," Gibson said, coming up from the bottom level.

"Great. We're a little busier than I expected," Danielle replied.

Gibson walked through the people and finally reached the front door.

Danielle picked up a trey and opened three bottles of beer and placed them on the tray. She picked the tray up stepped out from outside the bar, not seeing a gray box under the bar, next to the bar exit. A red light flashed three times before it stayed on and exploded, engulfing all of the bar.

* * * *

Gibson stepped outside and saw the smoke rising at from both the left and right. What the hell was happening? There have been a dozen of explosions in New Gotham, all within twenty minutes. Well, there was no point worrying about it; he was sure that Helena had everything under control. He turned around to head back into the bar when the bar exploded, sending shattered glass everywhere and sending Gibson crashing into a parallel parked car and slipping into unconsciousness.

* * * *

"Now, this last switch is the best of them all," Bane said pointing to the last switch. "With this last one, all of your troubles will go up in flames."

"You didn't!" Harley looked at him with pleasant surprised look on her face.

"I did," Bane smiled.

Harley was so excited, she could not contain herself. "This is the best birthday I ever had!" Harley said as she flipped the final switch.

* * * *

They could faintly hear the sounds of an uproar of violence. "A riot has broken out!" Barbara said. "Come on, girls. We have to find a way to stop this!" Barbara controlled her wheel chair back into the clock tower. Helena and Dinah followed her back inside and up onto the ramp. It was Dinah who noticed a gray box hidden by one of the damaged monitor. It had a flashing red light on it. "What's this!" Dinah approached the box. Helena and Barbara came up to Dinah to look at the box.

"Oh my god! Everyone to the elevator, now! That wall is blast resistant!"

The Helena and Dinah ran off the ramp, followed by Barbara who had her wheelchair going at full speed. The three of them just got off the metal ramp when the bomb went off.

* * * *

Harley and Bane watched the clock tower as the bomb went off. The explosion caused the glass clock to shatter. The entire top of the clock tower was now burning wildly out of control. The flames shot up higher than the highest building in New Gotham. Bane and Harley laughed as Bane wrapped his right arm over her shoulders. "Our problems are over! No one can stand in our way any longer."

TO BE CONCLUDED

AT LAST, THE FINAL STORY OF THE BIRDS OF PREY: THE COMISSIONER O'REILEY SERIES IS NEXT! IS THERE ANYONE LEFT ALIVE TO STAND UP AGAINST THE DEVISTATION OF BANE AND HARLEY QUINN.

EPISODE 11: UP FROM OUT OF THE ASHES

FOR THOSE READING ON FANFICTION.NET, EPISODE 11 STARTS IN THIS SAME STORY STARTING IN CHAPTER 21.