Hey everyone welcome to the next chapter. This one was a lot of fun to write. Especially because it contains a very famous moment. Truth be told this was actually added quite late on when I planed this Arc out. So I do hope you like it.
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Bruce hated press conferences, every second he spent talking to the media could've been spent as Batman. However if he was to stay as head of Wayne enterprises, then press conferences were a must. As Bruce walked on stage he could see every eye that gazed towards him.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen. When my father founded this company all those years ago he spoke of a dream. To not just make Gotham a safer place, but the world. So today I'm pleased to announce that day is getting closer." Bruce announced, pulling a piece of cloth to reveal an entirely new invention. It was one sphere the size of a bowling ball, with numerous tiny holes. "Introducing the Cloudburst. Designed to minimise the amount of people suffering from various diseases around Earth. The Cloudburst uses state of the art nanotechnology to spread a high volume of gas over great distances. Simply put any liquid into the device and it will emit one huge gas cloud in a radius of twenty miles. Thank you, and are there any questions?"
The room all started to applause, with members of the press stretching their arms. Bruce picked out the first reporter he saw.
"Mr Wayne, Viki Vale, Gotham Gazette. If what you say is true, what's to stop someone from using this machine as a chemical weapon?" She asked, Bruce knew they were all unrelenting but he was always prepared.
"A worthy concern Miss Vale. That's why the Cloudburst is programmed to only use certain medicines. Anything else and it will automatically shut down."
"What if someone was able to reprogram it though?"
"If someone really wanted to use it for a weapon. Not only would they have to add a new toxin through the Wayne tech building. They'd also have to steal the Cloudburst in a brand new high tech vault. As the questions continued to flood in. Bruce knew that the afternoon would be a very long one.
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King Kai found himself watching the Earth more often these days. It had been so long since anyone stepped foot on his planet. Now he had five in the space of a few months. Without training anyone though it had become ever so lonely. At least he still had Bubbles and Gregory.
"So what do we do now?" The god asked. Bubbles replied with a few grunts. "Hmm, well I suppose that would be a good idea."
"Can you even understand that beast?" A new voice said. All three of them jumped backwards scared. Standing before them was a man with a white beard and grey tunic.
"I've had a very long time to learn his language." King Kai ordered his two companions to go inside. "So what do I owe this visit Zeus?" The Olympian stood firm with a giant scowl on his face.
"You know why I'm here. Even after countless warnings you still decided to train that abomination!" King Kai though also stood his ground.
"Her name is Diana, and yes I decided to train her. She is currently staying on Earth, and not making any trouble whatsoever."
"You know how dangerous she is!"
"I also know that she can be a tremendous ally." The two now stood inches from the other. Zeus towering figure still was unable to intimidate King Kai however. "Remember the Supreme Kai put me in charge of this quadrant. Only I decide who gets to train with me.
"You are playing a very dangerous game, and I don't want to witness the ending." As lightning crashed into the planet, Zeus was gone. He knew of Diana's true origin and the risks of training her. Only time would tell if his risk would pay off.
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Back in the cave Bruce, Alfred and Dick all gathered round their screen, watching the billionaire's speech. The mood was actually positive for once, even Bruce smiled.
"I must say sir that was a tremendous presentation." Alfred complimented his boss.
"Knocked it out of the park." Dick agreed.
"Thank you, but we should get back to business." Bruce responded. "I've interrogated every criminal currently out of prison and nothing. Until I got to riddler, he told me there's a new player in Gotham. Only gave me a name though, 'Scarecrow'. We need to find this person and stop them before it's too late." Dick chuckled to himself.
"Wait so is that just an alias, or does he actually dress up like a scarecrow?"
"After going up against Polka Dot Man, at least this feels intimidating." Alfred joked. Before they could do anything though a news report appeared on the bat-computer.
"I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, we've just received breaking news that Wayne tower is under attack. Police have arrived at the scene but have refused to comment. We will inform you all of any updates." The news reporter said.
"They're after the Cloudburst!" Bruce shouted as he rushed to put his gear on, Dick followed.
"So I completed all of the training exercises... maybe tonight?" He asked.
"Let's take it one step at a time, we'll start with common thugs. If these guys got into Wayne tower they must be professionals. I need you to stay here , is that clear?"
"Yes sir." Bruce put on the cowl and headed to the batmobile. As he drove off into the distance Dick threw a batarang in frustration.
"Keep this up and you'll poke someone's eye out." Alfred said.
"Sorry Alfred. It's just frustrating, I'm just sick of him treating me like a kid! " Dick complained, making Alfred laugh.
"I'm sorry Master Grayson but you remind me so much of Bruce when he was younger. Always wanting to go out and make Gotham safer. Trying to make his parents proud of him." After five minutes Bruce got back in touch with the cave. "Everything alright Master Bruce?"
"Im just entering Gotham now! Any updates on the situation at Wayne tower?" The billionaire asked.
"None yet sir, I'll keep you informed of any changes..." Before Alfred couldn't finish though, he got cut off. "Master Wayne? Master Wayne can you hear me?"
"Hey Al, come look at this." Dick asked. The butler walked over to see the news report paused. "There's someone in that window." Alfred looked in horror as he recognised the man.
"No... its a trap!" Alfred rushed back to the communicator, trying desperately to contact his boss.
"Wait is that..."
"Yes it is." Alfred hit the communicator as it still failed to work. "They must have launched an EMP, we're without all our communications." Now desperate, Alfred decided to do something that he might regret. The two walked over towards where Bruce kept all his costumes. There Alfred revealed a brand new costume. A armour plated suit, painted red with an 'R' on it. This reveal made the young boy smile in delight.
"That looks so cool!"
"Master Bruce wanted to keep this as a surprise, until you were ready. And... well that time is here Master Dick." Robin suited up in his costume ready for the first real test. The suit was not only light but strong and flexible. It was unlike anything he had ever worn before. "Now just go in and get Master Bruce out. Only engage if you have to, that's an order!"
"Don't worry I've got this." Robin made his way into the Batwing.
"Now the plane is in auto pilot so you should have no issues there. And by the way... good luck." The boy wonder nodded as the cockpit door closed. The anticipation was overwhelming, the engines fired up and he was away. Robin looked out of the window to see himself flying, but he didn't care. All that mattered was saving Bruce, and being ready for the challenges that lay ahead.
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Bruce found himself standing on a rooftop across from Wayne tower. A storm had taken over the sky. The rain fell, causing the water trickle down his cowl. The police were there in legions, but they were all standing back because of hostages. Batman knew he had to be cautious, contact was lost with the batcave. All his electronics had also become unresponsive, this meant going old school. Bruce jumped of the roof and glided towards the window with a guard standing next to it. The glass smashed as Batman crashed through, knocking his enemy down. Before the guard could react the caped crusader picked him up by his throat.
"So how many bones do I have to break before you talk?" He threatened.
"You won't have to break any, I'm the biggest coward you've ever met." The guard replied.
"That's quite a claim."
"The hostages are in Bruce Wayne's office, we were hired by some guy called scarecrow and I just wet myself."
"Impressive, you've managed to crack the top ten." Bruce knocked the guard out cold, heading towards his office. If scarecrow was here, he'd soon be in police custody. Though it was entirely possible that he would just hire goons. Keeping his head down was becoming a priority. The hallways were quiet, in fact to silent for his liking. Something was definitely not right. Eventually though he made it to his office, where to Bruce's surprise there was only one hostage. Batman used a batarang to cut the rope that tied his hands and legs together.
"You've got to get out of here, it's a trap." The man whispered.
"I know it's a trap, but nobody dies on my watch. What did they steal?" The dark knight questioned.
"They took our new prototype, the Cloudburst. Though I'm not sure why, it's impossible to use as a weapon without proper clearance. Now it's just a paperweight. By the way I'm Lucius Fox, I run the R&D department of Wayne Enterprises."
"I know who you are, now shut up and listen to me. You're going to keep your head down at all times. You're going to make it to the reception we're you'll run towards GCPD. Do you understand?" The man nodded. "Alright." As soon as that was settled the guards started to pour in. There were about ten of them all running towards the caped crusader, Bruce charged back head on. The first guard attack with a knife, he lunged in but was caught by Bruce. Who knocked him out and threw the knife in another's foot. The third guard tried to land a left hook but was thrown around. This caused him to crack the nearest window.
Soon Bruce found himself surrounded by the rest. Attacks were being thrown one after another, he managed to counter most of them. However one after another started to hit. The strain it was putting on the billionaire was almost unbearable. However one by one the mercenaries started to fall. Lucius stood up and ran towards batman.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"I'm fine, let's get you out of here." Both of them made their way towards Wayne tower's stairs, however as they went down, guards blocked their exit. In Lucius's condition, outrunning them would've been an impossibility. So Bruce had to get creative, and his grapnel gun would do the trick. "Hold on to me." The board member tightly gripped Batman as they shot upwards, soon reaching the roof.
"Let's not do that again."
"Come on." The two rushed outside where news helicopters were circling Wayne tower. The bright lights were all aimed at Bruce, making it difficult for him to see. That was until they were all retargeted towards the entrance, where a muscular foe stood. "Bane, I thought you were rotting in a cell."
"Oh I was Batman, that was until my employer broke me out." He responded.
"You mean scarecrow?" Batman said.
"Yes, he payed me a lot of money for this!" As they were talking a rescue helicopter had arrived taking Lucius away.
"Now it's just you and me."
"Just the way I like it!" The mercenary charged almost grabbing Bruce, who at the last minute dodged. Bruce knew that Bane planned the whole thing. From the EMP to luring him up here, this was all apart of his plan. Get him as weak as possible before fighting. Bruce landed a few hits but they were all ineffective. He needed a plan, and soon Bruce remembered what happened last time. Bane's venom supply was maintained through a tube on his back. If he could cut off the supply it would leave Bane powerless. Batman ran towards his opponent, sliding under the man's swinging fist. Before throwing a batarang at his tube, but this gave Bane the opportunity to grab Bruce. Something was wrong, Bane wasn't turning back into a normal man.
"That's impossible!" Bruce stated, making Bane laugh.
"Did you really think I would expose my venom supply a second time? The tubes now lay underneath my armour, away from you as your tricks. Bane then threw Batman to the ground, cracking the concrete. Before he could recover the mercenary jumped on his leg, breaking numerous bones. The pain was too overwhelming as even the billionaire had to scream out in pain. As the pain set in, Bane picked him up and carried Bruce over his head. Bane looked over to see a giant television screen with this live event showing. "Citizens of Gotham, here I have your beloved guardian. For too long he has roamed these streets. You all see him as a symbol, but he is just a man. A man who can be broken by his own fear. For too long he has run the streets of Gotham. Not anymore though, tonight I break the Batman."
Before anyone could react, the mercenary crushed Batman's spine against his knee. As Bane let go of Bruce, he couldn't move his legs. Bane had finally done it, he broke the bat.
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So did you like that? I hope you did! BTW I'm overwhelmed by the amount of reviews I got last time seriously you guys rock. See you next time.
Reviews:
Breakawayfan:
1: Me too
2: I actually have something like that though probably not the way you'd expect
3: Will be considered.
PikaMew1288: Not gonna happen.
DarkFlacon:
1: Yep
2: Thanks
X3runner:
1: Yeah I had an extra wish and thought to myself let's do it (seriously how does Lois not know he's Superman!)
2: Well Vegeta did kill her so.
3: Won't spoil anything
H0ckeybeast88: Well they take them both out. But there is a good reason.
Animehottylover18: It's not the suicide squad El Diablo I'm afraid.
Corondomontes: Thanks
Imagine476:
1: Thanks I'm trying my best.
2: I hope you'll love it.
3: That's why we love him
Anonymous: no Alan Scott I'm afraid.
Guest 1: not at this time
Guest 2:
1: when you put two warriors who hate it each other in the same room sparks will fly.
2: could be worse
3: Yep
4: however strong Toriyama wanted them
Guest 3: no im afraid.