Author's notes: Sailor Dragonball 87 and SupergodzillaSailorCosmos, thank you for showing interest. Here is chapter 3 where situations are solved and moved forward.
Chapter 3: The Drowning
Dark Multiverse – Earth -52
Then…
''Ugh… Where am I?'' Man in a red suit said as he reached consciousness with the wind blowing at his face and the sound of engine roaring. Then he saw where he was, chained to the front of a car that belonged to man he had once called his friend. ''Oh… my… GOD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!''
''I studied your designs for the cosmic treadmill and repurposed its engine to let me harness your connection to the Speed Force!'' he heard his friend speak behind him and turning his head, he saw his friend driving the car at accelerating speed. ''I will race into the Speed Force and steal it from you!''
''Bruce…'' he tried to reach out, ''don't...?''
''The mistake I made when I vowed to my parents that I would save Gotham is that I was thinking small,'' Bruce told him and pushed the gas pedal to make the modified Batmobile run faster. ''I should have promised to save the world!''
''You can't access the Speed Force this way! You can't force it!'' he plead as multiple lighting begun to spark in front of the Batmobile. ''IT WILL RIP US BOTH APART!''
''I know,'' Bruce said raising to stand in the Batmobile as the lightning storm begun to swallow them.
''NO!''
''I'm sorry, Barry.''
''PLEASE!''
''But now we can both save the world…''
''BRUCE!''
''TOGETHER!''
''You can't give up like this, Bruce… Th-there's hope… There is… always…''
Hoenn Region – Lilycove City's Contest Spectacular Hall
Now!
''I am Justice. I am VENGENCE! I am Batman, THE RED DEATH!''
Red Death ran around the contest arena generating dark energy in form of a swarm of bats to create Speed Force storm around it and so sealed Batman, Serena and Dawn inside the eye of the hurricane. When he was done doing that, Red Death charged at Batman and beat him to the floor. Batman answered to this by firing his grabbling gun towards the Red Death standing above him. Red Death dodged the grabbling hook and the line was fired to the ceiling. Using this distraction, Batman moved his legs to the air and managed to use a wrestling move to bring the speedster down to the floor of the contest arena with him and then moving quickly restrain Red Death into a chokehold.
''RECALL YOUR POKÉMON AND USE THIS LINE TO GET OUT!'' Batman yelled to Serena and Dawn as he desperately tried to keep Red Death restrained, which when fighting a speedster was next to impossible when unprepared. ''I don't know who you are or why you look like me, but-''
ZOOOOOM!
Red Death vibrated himself free of Batman's hold and threw him next to the swarm of bats flying around the contest arena. As Red Death moved towards him, Serena and Dawn moved to the grabbing gun. Slowly and carefully, while being wary of the Speedster and Batman.
''That trench-coat,'' Dawn said as Serena took a hold of the grabbling gun's handle, ''it's the same one Mr Wayne had.''
''But that man also had Bruce's face and voice,'' Serena said glaring at the Red Death, who currently had his back at them. ''And he tried to use our Pokémon to kill us.''
''We use this to get out, then what?'' Dawn asked looking at the swarm of bats surrounding the contest arena.
''We have every ice type Pokémon be brought here and use them against that thing,'' Serena said pointing her Pokéball at Braixen. ''Braixen, return.''
''Bunneary, you too,'' Dawn said returning her Pokémon to her Pokéball too. ''Piplup, your Pokéball is at the backstage, so-''
''Piplup,'' Piplup said nodding and jumped onto Dawn's back. ''Pip Pip Pipluup!''
''Go ahead, take a look outside,'' the Red Death said as soon as Serena and Dawn had risen up from the floor. ''You will be coming down soon eventually.''
Being pulled up by the grabbling gun, Serena and Dawn looked down at the first, at Red Death who had just addressed to them. Then, as soon as they got above the swarm, they saw what kind of damage the storm outside the swarm of bats was doing in the Contest Hall. All the people caught inside it were aging rapidly and the oldest of them were already close to death. Even the Pokémon were affected by it as their energies seemed to be leached out of them.
''If you want to remain as the beauty princess and appealing coordinator you both are, get back down here!'' Red Death ordered them as Batman tried to attack him from behind.
SMACK!
''You think you can use my old tactics against me?'' Red Death said swinging his hand back and stopped Batman by punching him back on the floor.
''Your tactics?!'' Batman spit out offended, punching the floor as he got up and tried to reach for a weapon from his belt. ''Okay, I get it. You're from multiverse too. Why do you have the Speed Force AND WHY ARE YOU KILLING PEOPLE!?''
Batman threw three batarangs and a bola at the Red Death, who caught the batarangs and countered the bola to fly at Serena and Dawn, who had just returned down to the contest arena, restraining them by having their legs tied up and making them fall to the floor.
''Don't get up!'' Red Death told glaring at Serena and Dawn as they tried to reach to untie the ropes. ''Why do I have the Speed Force, Batman? Look at yourself and take a guess. You're old, slow, your attacks are weak attempts at brute force and you're relying on the toys on your belt. You came here to try save them from me by using those tactics, how did that work for you?''
''Piplup, help us get loose,'' Dawn whispered to her Pokémon as Red Death had turned his attention on Batman.
''Piplup,'' Piplup responded silently as Serena observed the confrontation before them.
''If you were once anything like me,'' Batman said standing up straight and squishing his fists as he glared back at the Red Death and at contestants behind him, ''you must realize this is wro-''
''Save me from the moral lessons,'' Red Death said cutting him off. ''It makes you even slower and weaker.''
From their vantage point on the arena floor, Serena and Dawn had managed to get the bola off from around their legs and they had now taken out their Pokéballs. Batman either did or didn't notice this, but his loud response to Red Death's last remark covered the sound of releasing Braixen and Bunneary from their Pokéballs.
''WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?'' Batman yelled at the Red Death with such anger and outrage that made Serena and Dawn both flinch. ''HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT YOU EVER WERE ME?! Where are my morals!? My code?! My compassion for protecting people?!''
''They died along with my family,'' Red Death answered with a somber tone as he looked at the floor between them. ''I asked for our friend Barry to help me. I expected him to understand, to help me as I would have helped him. But he turned me away.''
''Barry…?'' Batman said lowering his voice, before looking at Red Death's costume again, at the lightning bolt between the cracked halves of the broken Bat symbol and his outrage was back. ''THAT is why you have the Speed Force!?''
ZOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Red Death ran at Batman, attacking him and pushing him on the floor to a position closer to Serena and Dawn so he could be forced to see them better.
''After I have killed them,'' Red Death told Batman, standing over him in a threatening position and pointed his finger at Serena and Dawn, ''I'm taking you to see my friends.''
''Bunneary,'' Dawn told her Pokémon taking the chance of the Red Death having his back on them, ''use Ice Beam on the one in red.''
''Bunn-NEARYYY!'' Bunneary shouted using Ice Beam.
Once again, Red Death was incased in ice, save for his head and shoulders. Except this time, Batman reacted faster by getting up and moved to
SMACK!
PUNCH!
SMACK!
ZAP!
SMACK!
PIFF!
SMACK!
POW!
Punch him enough times to the face to render him unconscious. Between punches Batman pulled Red Death's mask off and gave him a couple of extra times for emotional reasons, before stopping to catch his breath and calm down. Just looking at his own, scarred face on Red Death who had given Batman too many issues in a too short time, so calming down was a struggle. Then, he looked down at Serena and Dawn on the ground, looking at Batman and Red Death with shocked expressions on their faces and pulled his own mask off his face.
''Are you two alright?'' Batman asked the two, using his Bruce Wayne voice as he showed them him unscarred face.
''We're alive- MR WAYNE, WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?'' Dawn said, changing her response from relived to stress based. ''Piplup, is this why you were hostile against him!?''
''Piplup, Piplup!'' Piplup said shaking his head, before pointing his fins at Bruce. ''Piplup Pip-Pip PIPLUP!''
''I don't know where this man came from, but he needs to be kept on ice,'' Bruce said looking at scarred face of Red Death. ''If he moves, he'll generate more Speed Force and he will be a threat to us all again.''
''How do you know that if you haven't seen him before?'' Serena asked helping Dawn as they got back on their feet.
''I know people who have connection to the Speed Force, but not a corrupted one like this,'' Bruce said turning away from the Red Death and looked at the swarm surrounding them and the contest arena. ''This storm should settle down soon as he is kept from-''
''BRUCE!''
Red Death was still unconscious, but his body was glowing with an aura trying to reach out of his body. Unlike the swarm surrounding the contest arena, this aura seemed cleaner and purer. Trying to get out of the Red Death's body, the aura begun to take shape of another masked man, who had his eyes and chin below the nose exposed and small wings on his ears.
''Bruce!'' the aura yelled, begging as it reached towards Bruce. ''Listen to me now!''
''Barry?''
Alola Region – Melemele Island
''Brock, what happened to my Pokémon?''
''They are mostly still all alive,'' Brock's voice told Ash from Thomas Jr's phone. ''The ones we found at least. When the habitat was attacked, the strongest Pokémon responded by fighting back while others escaped.''
Ash exhaled relieved. His Pokémon were alive, Brock had told him that much. Ash looked at Pikachu and Thomas Jr at the other side of the table who read from his expression that he had heard good news.
''So, they are okay?'' Ash asked speaking to Brock again.
''Your Charizard, Hawlucha, Buizel, Pignite and Sceptile tried to protect Professor Oak and are now being treated by Nurse Joys at Fuschia City,'' Brock's voice answered. ''And your Snorlax slept through the attack, so it's fine. I assume Bulbasaur lead the other Pokémon to safety somewhere. The Pokémon Rangers are still looking for them.''
''Thanks, Brock,'' Ash said and after thinking for a short while said: ''I'm heading back to Kanto see how mom and my Pokémon are.''
''Pikaa?''
''Ash, don't you still have courses at the Pokémon School at Alola?'' Brock's voice asked. ''The Pokémon Doctors and Rangers can handle everything here and keep you informed-''
''No, Brock, I need to see my Pokémon and I want to know my mom is okay,'' Ash said boldly. ''I'll see you in Kanto, let it be Pallet or Saffron.''
With that Ash ended the call and returned the phone back to Thomas Jr.
''You're going to skip school?'' Thomas Jr asked uncaringly.
''Are you going to stop me?'' Ash asked defiantly.
''I was home schooled, so it's not really my concern,'' Thomas Jr answered with an unchanged attitude. ''But if you're going to head against that monster in Kanto, then I am going to stand on your way.''
Hoenn Region – Lilycove City's Contest Spectacular Hall
''Barry?'' Bruce said reaching towards the aura coming out of Red Death's frozen body.
''You need to run before the others get here!'' the aura yelled at Bruce with desperation. ''One them is already coming!''
''Who?'' Bruce asked looking at the aura. ''Barry, what happened to you?''
''Mr Wayne,'' Dawn told Bruce, ''he said he'd take you to his friends when he had killed us.''
''The Drowned wants the orbs he took,'' the aura told pointing their attention to a pouch hanging on Red Death's waist. ''Take the orbs and run! Get as far away them and don't let them find you!''
''Braixen, use Flame Thrower,'' Serena told her Pokémon and pointed at the pouch, ''mildly, just get us that back.''
The Fire Type took the branch off her bushy tail and pointed it at the bag as her trainer had told it and shot fire from it, melting the ice and grabbed the pouch.
''Buneary, reinforce the ice,'' Dawn told her Normal Type and it used Ice Beam to make the ice holding Red Death stronger and thicker. ''Mr Wayne, what now?''
''Barry, how many are of those others?'' Bruce asked of the aura as he pulled his mask back on.
''With him, seven,'' the aura answered, ''but the worst of them has his Robins with him.''
Batman hid his emotions to this revelation and turned away from Red Death, but Serena and Dawn still could notice his frustration and disgust from the heavy breathing and gagging as if he was going to throw up. Still keeping his posture, Batman pointed at the swarm surrounding them, which had begun to get slower and was breaking down, revealing what the Speed Force storm outside it had been doing to the people and Pokémon in the audience, judges and the announcer. The corrupted Speed Force had drained them of their life forces and aged them all to death.
''Serena and Dawn,'' Batman said taking his grabbling gun back and pointed at the exit ''go get your belongings and use the fastest Pokémon that you have to get as far away from here as possible with those orbs. Barry, I'm sorry for he did to-''
TSALK!
In the middle of Batman's speech, the ice holding Red Death was broken by a flying projectile hitting it. As soon as the blocks of ice begun to fly, Serena's Braixen reacted by using Flamethrower to melt the ones flying at her trainer, Dawn and Batman. Red Death fell to the ground grunting, still recovering from the beatdown Batman had given to him, with the golden projectile falling next to him.
''What is that?'' Serena asked pointing at the projectile.
''Aquaman's Trident,'' Batman said recognizing it.
''Wrong! That is my trident,'' unknown female voice spoke from above them. A masked woman wearing a trench-coat over her costume with a medallion sporting a round variation of the Bat-symbol jumped down to the contest arena next to Red Death and picked up the trident as she bent her knees landing. Her skin was pale as if she wasn't a human.
''You're a Bruce Wayne, right?'' the woman asked as she straightened herself from her landing and kept her eyes on Batman. Once she was on her feet, she threw her trident from her right hand to her left and extended her right hand towards Batman in a disturbingly familiar gesture. ''My name is Bryce Wayne, but everyone calls me the Drowned these days.''
''GO NOW!'' Batman yelled stepping in between the Drowned and the contestants, pointing his hand again at the exit.
The Drowned smiled uncaring as they and their Pokémon ran away, before attacking Batman by using her trident to stab him. Batman barely dodged the attack and countered it by placing the spikes at the forearm of his gloves between the trident three points and grabbed the hilt with his other hand. This caused the fight between him and the Drowned to turn into a struggle to get the trident, aka a deadly weapon, out of the other's hands.
''I know about the multiverse. Makes sense that somewhere out there is a version of me who was born as a woman,'' Batman told the Drowned as an attempted distraction through banter as they fought.
''You think it's a shock to see yourself as the opposite sex?'' the Drowned asked butting her head at Batman and gained the upper hand by being stronger than him. ''Try learning that you are the token representative of your gender and all the other versions of you are the exact opposite.''
''Genderbending aside, you must have been like me once,'' Batman said moving faster on the ground and dodged another of the Drowned's attacks. ''What happened to you that made you abandon your code and kill your friends!?''
''If you're referring to the Aquawoman, she was never my friend,'' the Drowned answered striking her trident to the floor through the tail of Batman's trench-coat. ''She came from the ocean with her army, claiming to come in peace, but I saw through her lie. She was like all the other rogue metas and I did to her what I did to them.''
''Other rogue metas?'' Batman repeated looking up to the Drowned from his pinned down position. ''How many parents did you make childless? How many children did you separate from their parents!?''
''I saved a lot more by purging my world of them!'' the Drowned said with passionate rage as the Red Death stood up recovered from his beatdown. ''If I had done it sooner Sylvester wouldn't have been killed by them.''
''Who-'' Batman was about to ask when he remembered the reversed genders and realized who his female counterpart was talking about. ''Sylvester… Kyle, I assume? Selina's male counterpart.''
''Yeah, we covered that up with her when she joined us,'' Red Death told Batman as he watched him fight the Drowned. ''It brought a whole new perspective to our lives and our place in the cosmos.''
''You lost your family and that made you kill Barry for his connection to the Speed Force,'' Batman spit at Red Death and then at the Drowned. ''And you decided to become a racist killer when your lover was murdered.''
''What would have you done?'' the Drowned asked looking down on Batman with a judging look on her face. ''If your family of Robins were taken from you or if you lost your dear Catwoman, how would you respond to that?''
''Or what if Alfred died?'' Red Death asked, incepting ideas in Batman's mind. ''No wait, what if Alfred was killed by all of your enemies who knew who you were. How would you respond to that?''
Batman didn't answer, he couldn't think about things like that right now. Just like cape, the trench-coat was expendable and removable part of his costume, but it took time to take off. Time, in which the Red Death would have attacked him before he could start his attempt to remove the trench-coat.
''Explain something to me,'' Batman said, standing on one knee and looked at the Drowned and the Red Death. ''Sylvester is still dead and not coming back to life. And you have the Speed Force to undo Sylvester's and your Robins' deaths. Why, instead of doing that, ARE YOU TRING TO KILL TWO COORDINATORS!?''
Batman's question caused the Drowned and Red Death to look at each other. Red Death gave the Drowned a suggesting hand gesture pointed at Batman and the Drowned smiled. Then she walked to properly face Batman and kneeled to properly face him.
''Batman, the reason why we can't do that,'' the Drowned said in a disturbingly sweet voice in a disturbingly close proximity to Batman's face, ''is because we don't your privileges.''
Alola Region – Melemele Island's Hau'oli City
Ash looked at Thomas Jr with a serious gaze. The fact that he had known him for only two hours noted that he was still a stranger and his kind deeds were now suspicious to Ash. Which was strange. Over the last 8 years when Ash had travelled through the different regions, he had met and befriended numerous amount of people at a face value and that had almost never backfired on him. What made Thomas Jr different from those people? Besides the fact that he was now standing between Ash and his decision in going back to Kanto?
''Do you know something you're not telling me?'' Ash asked as a straight question.
''As I told you on our way back here,'' Thomas Jr said crossing his arms and leaned towards Ash at the restaurant table, ''I was much younger than you are now when I lost my family. I have been where you are now and I'm telling you, from experience, not to run into the fire.''
''I have survived from my Charizard's flamethrower enough be immune to it,'' Ash told boldy to Thomas Jr, who threw his gaze around the room.
''Not literally,'' Thomas Jr said rubbing his eyes. ''Listen, tell me, you go to Kanto. You go see your mother at Saffron and then your Pokémon as Fuschia. You are not capable of going to look for your Pokémon at the region, but I suspect you will. Then, you run into that monster that caused your reason for going there. What do you do then?''
''What would you do?'' Ash asked.
''If I were up against a human, I would probably break every bone in their body without any fear of killing them, but that is just me,'' Thomas Jr answered with frightening calm honesty. ''If it were a Pokémon I was up against, probably… You're against neither.''
Ash leaned back quickly as Thomas Jr's response caught him off guard. Pikachu also froze as Thomas Jr had not said what he would do to a Pokémon. Their reactions caused him to go defensive.
''That, what I just said, I wasn't just-'' Thomas Jr said trying to explain himself and showed his left hand. ''I was married to a woman named Annataz until few years ago when she was murdered. When I confronted her killer, I overreacted and- I did something that I can see you are capable of doing given the circumstances.''
''How?'' Ash asked trying to reimagine what kind of person Thomas Jr was.
''When you said you were going to go back to Kanto, you had the same look on your eyes that I have seen when looking in the mirror,'' Thomas Jr answered looking at the ring he still had on his left hand. ''Loosing Annataz made me do things I am not proud of. You shouldn't repeat my mistakes.''
''Pi-ka-chu?'' Pikachu said confused as Ash kept up with a staring contest with Thomas Jr. ''Pikapi?''
''Are you going to stop me from going back to Kanto?'' Ash asked after a short pause.
Thomas Jr crossed his arms and looked up with a stern glare, thinking about what to say for a few seconds before raising from the table.
''Happy travels,'' Thomas Jr said before turning to leave the restaurant, before turning around to head for the counter of the restaurant and pointed at the menu. ''I'll have one of those to go.''
Hoenn Region – Lilycove City's Contest Spectacular Hall
Serena and Dawn ran out of the arena and through the lobby to the backstage area, which looked like it was hastily abandoned.
''We can use my Togekiss to fly away,'' Dawn said taking the Pokéball from her belongings and released the winged Fairy Type.
''Kiss, kiss.''
''How far can she get us?'' Serena asked glancing at Dawn's Pokémon as she quickly took off her dress and stuffed it into her bag before changing to her casual clothing.
''Depends on where we'll be going,'' Dawn answered also proceeding to changing out of her contest dress and to her normal clothing. ''I know another coordinator who lives in Petalburg City. Her name is May and her dad is Gym Leader. We should be safe there.''
''Can your Togekiss carry Bruce with us?'' Serena asked as Dawn recalled her Buneary to it's Pokéball.
''Mr Wayne? Who would we need to take him with us?'' Dawn asked.
''Piplup piplup lup lup PIPLUP!'' Piplup told Dawn while taking a stand next to Serena.
''Because out of all the masked people we have met here, Bruce is the only one who hasn't tried to kill us!'' Serena told Dawn with Piplup supporting her case for some reason. ''And if those two have other people trying to kill us too, Bruce is the only one who would know anything about them!''
''Pip Piplup!''
''No, I'll take my chances with the Hoenn Gym Leaders,'' Dawn said recalling Piplup and marching out of the backstage dressing room with her Togekiss. ''You can either come with me or-''
Dawn stopped at the sight of people and Pokémon standing out in the entrance hallway. People whose skins were at the exact same kind of pale pigment as the Drowned, except their eyes were black as if they weren't alive anymore.
''I call them Dead Water,'' the Drowned's voice spoke behind them, at the entrance to the audience area of the Contest hall, where she was standing there with Red Death holding Batman in an incapacitated position. ''After I killed Aquawoman, Atlantis retaliated by drowning my Gotham, so I needed to adapt by surgically turning myself into a human-atlantean hybrid, mixed with some of the Trench creatures. With them I raided Atlantis and took my place as their queen. Those who defied me, were turned in Dead Water.''
''Why are you trying to kill us!?'' Dawn asked turning to the Drowned and pointed her hand at Serena standing at the backstage door. ''I didn't even know who she was before today!''
''Yeah, but you two have THAT one connection,'' Red Death said keeping Batman restrained. ''You two know someone, who is our person of interest. And we are cutting off that person's ties aka we're cutting you off.''
''The only connection these two have is that they met through me!'' Batman told from his forced position. ''You have no other reasons to go after them except screwing with me.''
''You haven't been here as long as we have, Batman, meaning you don't know what we do.'' the Drowned said as Serena took a step back and took out a Pokéball. ''You are a young little Eevee while we are the Vaporeon and Jolteon.''
''Pancham, use Stone Edge!'' Serena yelled throwing a Pokéball releasing her Fighting Type Pokémon.
''Paan-CHAM!'' the Pokémon yelled making a somersault as it was released and caused shining blue spikes of stone to rise from the ground charging at Drowned and Red Death. Both of them reacted ready to counter it, but surprisingly the spikes weren't used in as they would have been used in battle but as if they were in a showcase. The spikes rose from the ground below them and pushed them against the ceiling. No longer in their grasp, Batman jumped down to the entrance hall below him and joined Serena and Dawn.
''Fast thinking, I'm proud,'' Batman said grunting as he landed to the floor. ''But those aren't going to hold them for long. We need to leave now.''
''Pachiricu, use Discharge!'' Dawn said releasing a white Electric Type against the Dead Water infected people and Pokémon of Lilycove to get them out of their way. ''Mr Wayne, you need to-''
''When we are far from those two!'' Batman said grabbing both Serena and Dawn by their hands and begun to pull them to come with him out of the contest hall. ''You two fly on that Pokémon, I'll take my chances in-''
But seeing what was happening on the outside, caused Batman to stop talking, grab both girls around his arm and use the other to grabble all there of them to the roof where it was safer. The Drowned had not just turned some people and Pokémon in Lilycove by the Dead Water, she had turned the entire city into her Dead Water army and was keeping what was left of the city between two gigantic tidal waves just waiting to drown Lilycove.
''Kiss, kiss,'' Dawn's Togekiss chirped flying up behind them to the roof and snatched her trainer and Serena on her back. Then she flew around in a circle and grabbed Batman by shoulders on her feet and begun to fly them deeper into mainland.
The looked back as they flew, watching as the tidal waves came down and drowned Lilycove City.
Alola Region – Melemele Island
Thomas Jr walked into the forest carrying a shovel. He was not happy. Alola was supposed to be a calm new beginning in this world after he had been thrown there against his will. When he had arrived, he had done what he was given the chance to with the circumstances and working with them had lead him to Alola. When all was said and done, Thomas Jr had assumed that he could bury his past in the woods, but here he was, ready to dig it back up.
''You and the others got off so easily, Ultraman,'' Thomas Jr said spitting out of his mouth as he walked through the forest, ''part of me wishes that Anti-Monitor didn't kill you and you had your chance to kill me like you said. But that, just like Alola, was too good to be true. Johnny, Rhonda, you two were crazy bastards who deserved each other. Harold, you were a wimp who got off way too easy and way too soon. Superwoman, I'm so glad you're gone, along with Ultraman. Stein, I always liked you and your smart brain, we had such entertaining talks. But I mostly- no, not mostly, most- The people I miss the most are you, Annataz and Alfred.''
Thomas Jr placed his shovel on the dirt and was silent for a few seconds, before continuing as he started digging.
''You two, and Bruce, bless his young soul, you were the only people the world I could have ever admitted that I loved. Alfred, you were always there to look after me when my parents neglected me and Bruce. I never told you this when you were alive, but, thanks for everything, dad.''
Thomas Jr took a short pause to stretch out his limbs before continuing.
''Annataz, you were the love of my life. You had no where to go I found you and annoyingly stock around at Alfred's London place until I left and hah, followed us back to Gotham. Thanks for doing that and- I love you and I miss you. I'm sorry wasn't there to save you from the Joker. And Zatanna, I'm sorry for treating the way I did because I saw you as Annataz, again.''
Thomas Jr stopped digging and reached his hand to the handle in the ground. It was heavy, so he grabbed it with his both hands and pulled the large, heavy bag out of the dirt. He set on the ground next to the hole he dug it out of and looked inside. His costume was still in there.
''And finally, Bruce,'' Thomas Jr said undoing the hole and throwing the bag on his back, ''I failed you as an older brother. I should have… oh, Bruce…''
Thomas Jr fell on his knees with his hand on his face, shaking hysterically. Tears flowed out of his eyes as the memory of his younger brother's death was played in his mind. For long time he had kept that memory buried deep and now he was finally thinking about it. After some time, Thomas Jr got back up and shook his head to get a hold of himself before beginning to walk out of the forest.
''Oh, and I almost forgot,'' Thomas Jr said with a sarcastic laugh and raised up his free hand's middle finger. ''Mother, Father, feel free to go fuck yourselves.''
Dark Multiverse – Earth -52
Then…
Scarecrow. Riddler. Penguin. Manbat. Before he used to spend so much time alone on rooftops dwelling on his actions. But now he didn't have time to think twice with the Speed Force. It had released him, and he had saved Gotham. Now he would save his world. Finally, he had all the time he ever needed…
TTRSSSSHHHH!
KRRRTSSSHHH!
''Wayne Tower… is falling?!'' Red Death said looking at what was happening to his building. ''What is… happening? The sky…''
The sky was red with white lightnings striking everywhere that was being destroyed and there were other Earths formed as links in a chain there, lined up behind his Earth like they were waiting for their turn for something.
''The world is breaking apart. I'm not fast enough to save it,'' Red Death said looking at the destruction of his world. ''There is a part of me… something deep inside me that still gives me hope that I can save this world…''
''Hmh, even if it means the destruction of another?'' a voice behind him spoke.
''BRUCE! IT'S BARRY; STAY AWAT FROM HIM! DON'T LISTEN..''
Red Death shook his head and forced the ghost inside him back to it's place before turning around to see who had spoken to him. He looked like the Joker, but the voice didn't belong to him.
''Who… what are you?'' Red Death asked trying to understand who he was facing.
''Someone very much like you,'' the figure speaking in Red Death's own voice ''Someone who lost his world simply because it was born down HERE!''
''Down…?'' Red Death said not understanding.
''Our worlds aren't meant to last. They are destined to die. It's a cruel law of nature in this place,'' the figure said smiling as Red Death felt it. ''You can feel it yourself, can't you? Your time is meant to end now. But what if I told you there was a world far, far above us that was destined to live?''
''Tell me more,'' Red Death asked, and the figure's smile grew to a wide grin.
''My master Barbatos sent me to find a few good heroes to conquer that world to make home for all of us orphaned by the darkness,'' the Batman Who Laughs said extending his hand to Red Death as a gesture of friendship. ''What do you say? Do we got a deal?''
Author's notes: So, how far do you think Dawn's Togekiss can fly all three people she is carrying from what used to be Lilycove City? Mt. Pyre, Safari Zone, Fortree City or do you think Togekiss could fly across the Hoenn Region to Petalburg City while carrying Serena and Dawn on her back and Batman hanging from her feet? I'm weighting on those options before I start writing follow up, but what do you think?