"If we go, go insane
We can
all go together
In this wild, wanton world
We can all break
down forever . . ."
"I want to go, go forever
I
want to go, go forever
It's just a memory
It's just a
memory
It's just a memory . . .
Gone forever . . .
Gone
forever . . ."
After he watched his parents murdered by a back-alley criminal in Gotham, the eight-year old Bruce Wayne dedicated his life to avenging their deaths by ensuring no one else in Gotham City would experience the devastating loss of a loved one. It was the hubris of an eight-year boy to make such a declaration, one Alfred thought impossible, but then again, Bruce had always been somewhat of a willful child, even when his parents were around.
In his teens, Bruce focused his obsession into various disciplines aimed at accomplishing this goal, including martial arts, engineering and crime-fighting techniques.
In his twenties, Bruce adopted the mantle of the Bat in order to strike terror into the hearts of Gotham's criminals. While some despised his version of vigilantism, he had many admirers. As his reputation and legend grew, so did his nicknames, including The Dark Knight and The World's Greatest Detective. Despite his dark exterior, he adopted a son, Dick Grayson, eventually training him as his partner, Robin. Years later, Dick grew independent, becoming Nightwing. The void of his absence in the Cave didn't last long as Barbara Gordon and Timm Drake joined the Bat-Clan as Batgirl and the new Robin.
Superman always gave Batman hell about the contradiction of a self-professed loner who adopted an extended family, but even Superman could tell a part of Bruce needed their company, lest he be consumed by the mission. Their companionship was the only real comfort he'd known since he witnessed his parent's death.
Despite their companionship, Batman emerged the dominant personality as Gotham (and Earth's) requirements weighed on him like an anchor. Bruce Wayne sublimated his desires for happiness, choosing a life of sacrifice and responsibility. A part of Bruce died each time Batman chose the mission over his love interests, including Andrea Beaumont, Selina Kyle and Talia Head.
The price was high. His obsessions forced him to exert his will on a daily basis to keep those who loved him at arm's length. He pushed himself to the near limits of physical endurance, tolerated physical beatings administered by meta-humans, vanquished powerful enemies by out-thinking them, then returned to his Cave to privately nurse his wounds, both physical and psychological, before emerging again to fight the good fight.
All of the pain and sacrifice he'd endured to date was nothing next to the agony his mind endured during his second journey across the tesseract.
As he accelerated through the time stream, his mind once again felt as if it was being torn asunder. This time however, the results were different. Instead of the light of the tesseract, there was only darkness: the void of his soul. Bruce saw Batman in his mind for the first time in his life and it sickened him.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTBatman's presence in the void of the tesseract didn't surprise Bruce but it frightened him nonetheless. Becoming two minds from one was something he wouldn't wish on the worst of his enemies. Bruce was still reeling from the visceral split of their separation.
The split hadn't made him insane.
Yet.
They traveled forward in time together in a quiet bubble, each waiting for the other to speak. Bruce could feel the shock of his expression evident on his face but Batman was silent, emotionless as he studied Bruce. Bruce waited a few moments before concluding that they should at least acknowledge the other.
Bruce spoke first. "Do you think it's the tessaract that's having the effect on us?"
Batman answered. "You already know what I think."
"I think we're going a little more insane each time we move forward or backward in time."
"That's obvious." Batman replied dryly. "The question is what are we going to do about it?"
"What can we do about it?" Bruce replied rhetorically. "We're along for the ride until we catch Chronos or end up in Arkham undergoing the latest electroshock therapy."
"Brilliant deduction." Batman replied with more than a hint of sarcasm. He stepped forward, inspecting the mirror version of himself. There was one difference however. Batman was cloaked in the cape and cowl of the Bat. Bruce Wayne was wearing a simple black suit.
It looked like a larger version of the suit Bruce had worn to his parent's funeral.
"Nice suit." Batman observed. "Alfred?"
Batman looked down at his clothes for the first time. It wasn't a detail to which he'd paid any attention as yet since his mind was still trying to process why his alter ego was staring him in the eye. He considered the garment carefully for a moment before replying. "Not Alfred. Martha Wayne."
"Martha bought you a 48' Regular Brooks Brothers suit." Batman observed, the sarcasm dripping from his voice this time. "You were a big eight year old."
"I presume my subconscious mind has taken liberties in allowing us to talk, so its not a big stretch to assume it felt comfortable wearing the suit I wore to their funeral." Bruce replied edgily.
"Is your subconscious telling you to go back to being a little boy again, Bruce?" Batman replied, matching the edge in Bruce's voice with his own. "You're really not that weak, are you?"
"Maybe I'm strong enough to keep my sanity while you lose yours." Bruce shot back. "After all it's Batman who is having so much trouble maintaining control."
Batman's head reeled back, as if he'd been tagged with a flush right hand to the jaw. "That's not true and you know it. I'm still in control."
"Then why are we here?" Bruce asked, challenging his alter ego. "Could we have split like this if you were still in control?"
"Maybe we've grown weak." Batman mused. "We needed to think about Diana just to maintain our sanity during the last trip."
Bruce nodded, sadly acknowledging that fact. "What are we going to do about her?"
"Nothing." Batman growled. "She's a distraction. A harmless flirtation. She'll never understand what the mission means to us."
"With the exception of Alfred, she probably knows more about us than anyone on the planet." Bruce retorted. "Why can't you see that she could make us happy?"
"All I see is a man who's revealed too much of himself already." Batman replied evenly, "She already calls you Bruce while you're wearing the cowl. Admit it, you would have allowed Circe to broadcast our identities to the world just to break her spell, wouldn't you?"
Bruce started to object to the accusation then nodded, bowing his head.
Batman's tone turned mocking, "What do you see happening with her if you do let her in? Kids? Happily Ever After?"
"I don't know what the future holds but this…obsession with the mission will destroy us. If you take over anymore than you already have, we'll end up like Harvey Dent."
"Two-Face was a borderline schizophrenic before the assault. The acid just pushed him over the edge." Batman replied. "We're nothing like him."
"Didn't I summon you from the depths of my own imagination to create you?" Bruce asked. "Think about it. The reality is that you are nothing more than a costumed figment of my imagination… an instrument to exert my will in Gotham."
"An instrument? YOUR Will?" Batman replied, incredulous at the thought. "Without me, Bruce Wayne is nothing more than an impotent fop. What does Bruce Wayne really stand for without Batman to carry out his mission?"
"You can't control me here. You have to listen to what I want. You can no longer pretend I don't exist." Bruce replied indignantly.
"Let's be brutally honest. Bruce Wayne no longer has a reason to exist except to finance the mission. Without me, you are weak. The mission is all that matters. It comes before Dick, before Alfred, before Diana, even before you."
"Why can't some semblance of a normal life matter? Can't we have both?"
"You are a fool." Batman sneered. "A normal life will destroy us. Do you actually
believe that a relationship with Diana will work? She will only end up hating us."
"How do you know that? She fights for the same cause. She understands where no other could."
"She is too good for us. We would only destroy her. In order to succeed in the mission, Batman cannot allow the distraction."
"I don't want to be alone, anymore." Bruce lamented. "We don't have to hide from her. She knows Bruce Wayne is Batman."
"So did Talia and Selina." Batman smirked. "What makes her so special?"
"She's a better dancer."
"You can be funny when you put what's left of your mind to it, Bruce." Batman glared. "If you love her so much, why don't you seduce her? She appears willing."
"I don't want to seduce her for just one night." Bruce replied, agitated at the suggestion. "Do you suggest that I just use her for my own pleasure?"
"Perhaps she's willing to be used." Batman replied. "It's possible that she might want to use us for the same end. It's not as if Amazons were raised to require a man's company in order to be happy."
"She deserves better than that." Bruce replied furiously. "I deserve better than that. I want more than that!"
"We 'deserve' nothing. Need I remind you again that WE don't get to have what WE want. It's a lesson you learned all too well in that alley." Batman replied icily. "You of all people should understand. You committed to the mission so YOU have to stay the course."
"At what price?" Bruce protested.
"ANY price." Batman replied. "You know what would happen if we gave into her…if we allowed her into our life. Our mission…our obsession…would destroy her. Even if it doesn't, one of our enemies will eventually kill her in Gotham because we were too distracted to save her. Do you really want to go through that again?"
Bruce closed his eyes and pictured a headstone marked "Diana" next to his parent's headstone in the Gotham Cemetery.
The image was terrifying.
Haunting.
Bruce bowed his head in submission, realizing that as much as he loved her, he couldn't bear the thought of contributing to her demise. Bruce turned to Batman and reached out to him, clasping his arm with his hand. "You win."
"I'm sorry it has to be this way." Batman replied, "But it really is in her best interest." Bruce nodded, the regret evident in his eyes, then the tesseract slammed them together again as they arrived in 2054.
Once again, a small part of Bruce died in the sacrifice.