Wonderland Bordering, in the 6th ring of Gotham, The Gotham Resistance, as well as John and King are throwing down with roided up versions of Zazz, Penguin, and The Ventriliquist
GA: I still remember making my first compass on the island. Cobbled together with twigs, string, shrapnel, and a half remembered passage from a boy scout manual. For the first time since the shipwreck, I had direction. I didn't know where I was, but I knew where to go. The arrow was pointing due north
King: Nightwing, we have to keep moving! That Dark Robin isn't too far behind us, even with that bad leg!
Nightwing: What we need is a place to regroup that's not full of 'roided-out Gotham Villians. Mr. Terrific?
Mr. Terrific sees another Rabbit Hole
Mr. Terrific: Another Rabbit Hole! Quick, follow me!
They jump in
Harley: Can't be late.
GA: But here, now in Gotham, the opposite is true. This city defies any sense of direction. And if I knew I had that old compass with me now, it would be spinning out of control.
They land in another part of this nightmare Wonderland
GA: What's the point, Mr. Terrific? We're going around in circles here.
King: You need to tell us what the bloody hell is going on.
Mr. Terrific: Believe it or not, it's worse then it seems, Green Arrow, King.
King: How can it get bloody worse then this?
Mr. Terrific gets out his T-Sphere and it opens, showing the 6 cards that our heroes found.
Mr Terrific: Before all of this insanity started, Batman tasked me and GB with investigating an unknown region beyond the known multiverse. He knew something was coming.
John: Okay, but what does that have to do with the cards?
Mr. Terrific: You've encountered these cards on your journey through the ringed maze of Gotham.
King: We got that bloody part, mate. But what does it have to do with the cards?
Mr. Terrific: The metal. They're made from emits an incomparable energy. They are what has changed Gotham.
King: Your point?
John: Who are those freakshows who are working with Vigo, Beo, Satan, Samuel and the others?
Mr. Terrific: Look, I've only caught glimpses of them through my T-Spheres, but from what I've seen, there are eight of these creatures. Twisted, depraved versions of the Batman we know and love, and the one running the show is the most frightening of them all.
King: And this nightmarish ringleader is…?
Mr. Terrific: They call him The Batman Who Laughs, turned Gotham into this never-ending nightmare, with the help of Batman's greatest rogues. He presented each with a card, and an opportunity to re-create Gotham in their image. Of course, they all took him up on the offer, and so Gotham warped into a maze of nightmares, with Challenger's Mountain spiking from its center
John: Jesus… That explains why everything is the motif of the villains we fought in the past…
Mr. Terrific: Exactly. Also, it seems to act like a monstrous antenna. A nexus of dark energy.
King: But is it science, magic? What are we dealing with?
Mr. Terrific: What you need to understand is that its science, not magic. They're rewriting the laws of physics in Gotham City from the ground up.
King: But how…?
John: That's what I wanna know.
Mr. Terrific: I have no idea. I have more PhD's than you have fingers, but I can't think my way through this. The dark metal in those cards deifies every law of science and reason I've ever known.
Damien stops the others
Damien: Hold on, T-Ball. You said you were working with my father? When?
Mr. Terrific: Before Challenger's Mountain appeared in Gotham. Batman asked me to study it, Robin.
As they converse, Nightwing gets yet another headache
GA: Nightwing!
King: You're still having those visions, right? Do we wanna know what you are seeing now?
Nightwing: I...I don't even know, and there's music. Batman at a window, talking to me… But I can't hear him, just the same chords over and over. And something more… Something… Moving...
Nightwing sees a machine that wouldn't look out of place in a Cyberpunk movie lumbering to the mountain in his vision
Nightwing: A machine. The Teen Titans, Croc. They're all on it. Connected, like batteries. It's headed towards the mountain. But we can't trust anything I see.
King: Why, mate?
John: Dr. Hurt's dark metal blade must've triggered something in Nightwing. I think it's the Electrum the Court of Owls put in his blood.
King: Oh, I get it now. That metal we found in the armory back in the lake of ice. I think that was Nth Metal. That's why he was drawn to it. It was a stockpile for something like this.
Mr. Terrific: I think I know what they're doing. Every living being from our reality vibrates at a certain frequency. The frequency of our multiverse. If they use their metal, and change the frequency of enough people, our entire world will tumble out of existance as we know it, and into the Dark Multiverse.
King: Fuck me… That's not bloody good.
John: You can say that again… How can we stop it?
Mr Terrific just looks at John with a crestfallen expression on his face
Mr. Terrific: It's already started, John. The mountain at the heart of the city, There are hundreds of bodies planted in it, attached to it, consumed by it. It's like a hive. A hideous Garden. If those guys are taken there, then we've already lost them-
King: Don't worry, they're safe in Shang Tsung's island. What's left of it anyway…
GA: I don't understand. Then how the hell do we stop those guys? How do we get Gotham City back?
John: I'm a man of logic more than faith, Ollie, and I don't think we can beat it in our current state.
Harley perks up
Harley: On that happy note, I say we skedaddle and give Waller a ring, let her send some other inmates in here to finish the mission
King: We're not going anywhere, Harley. We've lost CHILDREN to the mountain, for Christ's sake-
Damien: They are NOT children, they're my friends. I lead them here. I won't leave them here with that psychotic perversion of me. I know what they think, what you all must think. That I'm this selfish kid just lashing out at my father. I'm not going to prove them right by running out on them.
John: I'm with you, Damien, but right now, we need a game plan.
Damien: In Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll says "Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality. The rouges have imagined their realms. Let's imagine their destruction. And I know exactly how to do it, with your help. If my father is truly gone, then it's up to me to save this city. Up to us. I already abandoned one team, and I won't do that again.
Green Arrow looks at King
GA: You know, when Batman asked me to look after Robin and keep him safe, it was clear enough that the World's Greatest Detective didn't know a damn thing about his own son.
King: Same with Kojin?
GA: Yeah. Thankfully, I speak teenager, and no matter what they say. All they want is the illusion of being in charge, while having a support system to fall back on.
John: Yeah. Robin here wants to be just like his dear old dad, but it's only now that he understands that Bats did more then build teams, he worked with them.
GA: I guess the short version is that we're with you kid. What's our mission?
Damien: Simple. Stop the machine, get our friends, save our city, kick in the face of whoever gets in our way.
Harley: Now yer talkin', kiddo. We're the Gotham Reisistance.
John rolls his eyes
John: Y'know, the more I'm around her, the more I have the urge to have Blaze Fenix firebomb everything within a 9 circle radius.
King: Dude, they're on a mission too.
John: I know…
They head to Bane's House of Pain, where all hell's breaking loose, seeing a massive machine shaped like a grotesque spider
King: Nightwing was right.
John: Holy shit. Are they… Are they still alive?
Robin: Yes, for now, John. If I can get on that thing, I might be able to free them.
Green Arrow: Then let's wait for an opening and make a break for it.
They head through the house of pain, going from building to building
Nightwing: This is as close as I've been able to get. Remember that the mountain is like an antenna for Dark Energy. The closer you get, the more you get lost in your own mind.
They see a jacked up version of Scarface, (voiced by Mark Hamill as he not only punches a hulked up version of Arnold in the mush, but aslo kick him in the stomach for a fisherman's brainbuster
Scarface: Ya ain't ever layin' a hand on me, Arnold!
John dodges a haymaker from a jacked up version of The Flamingo, and knees him in the stomach, before delivering a brutal flip kick, knocking him out
John: Let's hope we don't go lost in our heads.
Harley: My mind CAN'T be guarded, Mistah JP. It escaped its padded cell a long time ago.
John: Maybe that will give you and edge, Harley.
John then dodges a bulked up Lock-Up's clothesline and kicks out the big man's legs before doing a double stomp that knocks him to the floor, and out cold
King: Arrow, how many shots do you have left? is dodging strikes from a bulked up Kite Man
GA: I'm running low. Just three plus the one that I took from the owls' armory, so be careful. I won't have to many bolts to back you up once we run for it.
Robin: Pfft. I was trained by the league of assassins and am more of a master of the bow and arrow then you are.
King: Must've been a tiny bloody bow then. kicks the jacked up joke of a villian in the back of the head and delivers a brutal bulldog
Robin: Ha ha, very funny. I just prefer a more hands-on approach.
John and King: PHRASING!
A monsterous Sumo Wrestler lands down and palm strikes them both as the two spergs gun it alongside the GR
Mr. Terrific: This is our opening! Go!
They haul it as the Dark Damien watches, a massive grin on his face
Mr. Terrific: Move fast! Our objective is to stop the machine before it reaches the mountain!
King: Sure, easy for the bloody decathlon runner to say!
The Dark Damien lands down in front of the group
Dark Damien: Hi there. Think it's time that you and I had a little heart-to-heart!
King of Kings by Motorhead starts playing as King unsheaths his sword, spinning it and points it at his demonic opponent
John: Get away from Robin, you monster!
Nightwing: We're not going to let you hurt him!
Bane (voiced by Fred Tatasciore): Well then, lo siento to say, but you're in the wrong place.
They look up, and on a throne with beautiful women in showy outfits, is Bane with announcer (Voiced by Bruce Buffer), as Hail to the King by Avenged Sevenfold starts playing
Announcer: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETS GET READY TO RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Harley runs up to the machine, hammer at the ready
Harley: IT'S SMASH TIME!
King: Harley, DON'T! is fighting some Crows
Mr. Terrific: My T-Sphere scans are telling me that Task Force X and the Teen titan's are Connected to the machine's dark energies. If we destroy the Machine, we could kill them.
Harley: You sure are cautious for somebody who's got balls of steel, Mistah T.
She looks up and sees Croc, who looks like he's been through hell
Harley: Croc pot! How do I get you down from there, sweetie?
Croc: You don't… Croc has seen things. Terrible things. He showed Croc. You must go, Harley…. You must run. Tell Waller to blow us up. Blow it all up. Please. Before the bat-thing comes. Before Barbatos shows you…. Oh no… That's his music… The Other… The Batman who Laughs
John: Huh?
Psychosocial by Slipknot is heard being blasted as John sees a hot rod version of the Batmobile with flames coming out of the exhaust and a high caliber machine gun manned by a crow and an orb holding Raven drives to them, nearly running John down as he gets out of the way
BWL: See, out of all the realms, this one might be my favorite, at least Bane is a man who knows what he wants. Am I right, Dr. Quinn
Harley: Mistah…. B?
BWL: It's good to see you again. I missed you. See, on my world, you and I. We actually ride off together in the end. Isn't that right, Raven?
Raven: Harley Quinn, don't listen to him. This Batman. He's empty of all emotions except evil! You must run! GO!
The Batman Who Laughs flings the door and walks out, his grin wider then normal
BWL: That's because I never could find a good therapist to talk to! How about it, Dr. Quinn? You willing to make me one of your patients.
John (OS): Please, god, yes!
Harley thinks it over
Harley: I've had this dream, but…. This ain't a dream, is it?
BWL strokes her chin
BWL: No, Harley. It's just… Madness. You've always loved madness, haven't you, baby?
They get close as John rolls his eyes, ready to psyche the Hellraiser reject
Harley: I…
Several Crows divert John's attention
Harley: Hey, Wait! NO! Get your gimps offa me! This ain't funny-
One off them gets shot in the face by a .357 magnum round
John: Psyche, you fucking bat-gimp!
BWL: Heh, trying to play hero, Red Demon? Where did that get you?
John: I've owned up to what I've done, freakshow.
BWL: Hook her up with the rest!
King: Like fucking hell you will
King summons Blue-Eyes White Dragon
King: Blue-Eyes, White Lightning!
The crows that are dragging her hear a roar and get vaporized by one of King's ace monsters
Mr. Terrific: We won't let you do this! You hear me?
Out of the shadows walks Vigo, who points his sword at Terrific
Vigo: And the great Mr. Terrific finally shows himself.
BWL: We've enjoyed watching you these last few days, you know? Gathering my cards, like they could be used against me. Finding allies to fight a war that you don't realize you've already lost. It's about to be become very clear now, Michael… Just watch.
The sphere glows with a blinding light, as Robin gets into a sword fight with the Dark Damien
Dark Damien: I'm not here to fight, Brother. I'm here to help you! I'm what you're suppose to be! What you could be! If you'd stop worrying about false friends, False family….
Robin: Shut up! You don't know anything about me!
Nightwing tackles and slams the demon child into the ground, before putting his forearm against his larynx
Nightwing: Robin, don't listen to him. He's-
Nightwing feels his head burn up as Samuel walks out of the shadows, using Nightwing's worse fears against him
Samuel: He's telling him the truth. The hard things you never will, Nightwing.
Announcer: And the fight gets dirty!
Arrow, meanwhile, fires off his already dwindling supply of arrows, as Industructible by Disturbed starts playing
Arrow: Damn, I keep hitting him… But he doesn't seem to feel anything
Samuel clashes, claw to stick with nightwing
Samuel: Becuase on his world, Dick, they all turn on him. They try to kill him. And they might have, if not for us!
Nightwing looks at the corner of his eyes and gets sucker punched by a nanomachine enhanced fist, from Senator Armstrong
Armstrong: Let's go, circus boy! charges at him
Nightwing then dodges a haymaker and gets football tackled
Armstrong: Played collage ball, Grayson.
Nightwing: spits out some blood At one of those little Ivy League-rs?
Armstrong lifts him up over his head
Armstrong: Try University of Texas! I could've gone pro if I haven't joined the Navy. I'm not one of those beltweight pansies. I could break the president in two, with my bare hands.
Nightwing, using his sticks, shocks his head at the ears, causing him to let go
Nightwing: Yeah, I was more of a gymnastics kinda guy myself. Been so all my life with the Flying Graysons.
Dick gets grabbed by Armstrong by the goozlepipe
Armstrong: Don't fuck with this senator!
Dick gets chokeslammed right out of his pretty boy cowl
Arrow then knocks an arrow of the Nth Metal
Arrow: This might be the last shot for all of us.
Dark Damien lunges at Robin
Dark Damien: Die, you traitor! DIE!
Ollie's hand starts quivering, but the spirit of Ben takes his hand
GA: Your mind's short-circuiting. Concentrate, Ollie. No room for doubt. Focus. I promised Bruce. I promised I'd protect Robin from Gotham, and from his worst impulses…
John: Do it!
King: Now!
Arrow fires off the Nth Arrow, hoping for a clean kill, but Dark Damian ends up putting the son of Batman in the crosshairs, hitting him right in the shoulder, shocking the Star City native and the others.
Announcer: That's gotta hurt
Nightwing: Damian! No-
Armstrong lifts Nightwing up in the iconic Von Eric iron claw, ready to squeeze his skull like a soda can
Armstrong: Hehehehe… You'll be a good warm up for that journalist.
GA: No… What… What have I done?
Arrow goes to his knees, tearing up and trying to fight the (understandable) urge to cry
GA: I'm so sorry, Bruce… I failed you…
Samuel cackles and kicks the spawn of the bat while he is hurting
Samuel: See? They all turn on you, Damien. They don't trust Bruce, they don't trust you, they never did! And now that you see… I'll let our new friend here tell you what he came to tell you now, before you bleed out like the worthless pig you are…
Damien looks up as the Dark Damien is awefully close to him, carressing his face
Dark Damien: See. The Dark Multiverse, it's not just a place where your worst fears live. It's also where your greatest hopes come to life. So here's the thing no one wants to tell you, but I will. The Dark Knights, The Batman Who Laughs. Me? They all us Father's greatest fears, but the opposite is true, brother.
Damien: Weakly No…
John: Shut up, you monster!
Eldritch Surge wraps his tendrals around John's throat, hoping to axpysiate the Red Demon
Satan: No! Becuase it's true, and ol Bats knows it! Look inside yourself, Damien. You want his love just like our gimp friend did. You want to be beside him…
Dark Damien: Well hear me when I say that I have never felt as loved, Never felt less alone, less uncertain, Than I do now. NEVER! The truth is, for the first time in my whole damn life, I feel happy! And you can too…
Damien: Stop it! STOP!
Dark Damien: See, you know it's true, just like I did! HA! You and I, we're connected!
Damien: Yes… WE are connected… By blood… And metal!
Damien stabs the arrow into his dark counterpart, and the energy stuns him, as John kicks Eldrich in the face, stunning him before the Red Demon rushes in, stabbing his Karambits through the monster's stomach, before King uses them as a stepping stone before unsheathing his sword and vertically bisecting the demon robin, before he explodes out of existance, the Karambits hitting the pavement with a clang
Announcer: But that's not how it's supposed to…
Bane rises from his throne
Bane: The battle is over! Not it's my turn to fight you, little bats!
BWL looks up at Bane alongside Samuel
Samuel: Oh, the battle is just beginning, Bane. Now watch closely, Mr. Terrefic. We'll show you just what those cards can do…
A massive boom tube opens up, and the Dark Knights, alongside Don Phobos, Kamoshida and the other baddies of the Sperg Crew appear, Cyborg draped around them, what's left of him anyway.
John: My god… Look at him. They're all him. And with our worse enemies as well…
King: Is that… Cyborg?! What the bloody hell have they done to him?
GA: I don't know, but they're standing between us and the machine…
Bane looks down. If he wasn't wearing that mask, he would have a shit eating grin on his face
Bane: Look at this… So many bats to break.
Announcer: Feel it? All the little bones about to crack, the blood about to spill!
Mr. Terrific: Robin, Green Arrow, King, John. We need to abort the mission! Run, Now!
Samuel: Heh. Run where, though, Michael?
D'Vorah: Because now you are trapped in the center of the maze. Right where This One wanted them from the start.
King: You're smarter then you look, you Kytinn filth… But smarts and survival don't mean a thing once you're crushed like the bug you are!
BWL: But you misunderstand. See, I still plan, like I did in my old life. I just don't play the detective or hero anymore because I finally saw the truth. Which is that searching for answers, for purpose. In the end, it leads you to one place. The Dark, which is where you all are right now.
A blast of light appears, sending them flying
?: NO!
all eyes are on Dr Fate and Cetrion
Cetrion: Stay back, nightmares and allies of the Dark Multiverse!
John: There's the gods I actually believe in. I'm glad you finally got my signal, Cetrion, Fate.
Nightwing gets his brother out from the death grip of Eldrich, and helps him to his feet
Nightwing: Damien, this is our ride out of this hell hole!
Damien: No! My friends were here because of me! I won't leave them behind!
Fate: If you stay, you will die, son of the batman. That is not your destiny
Cetrion creates a portal of light as Terrefic, King, Nightwing and John jump through to Shang Tsung's Island
GA: Damien, please! We'll save them, but we need to go! Fight another day, son.
Damien sighs and nods
Damien: All right. But we're coming back for you! You hear me?! We'll come back
They end up being the last two as it close and Damien tumbles into the courtyard
Shang Tsung: It's good to see you, Daniel. I am Shang Tsung
Mr Terrific: Batman's told me about you.
Shang Tsung: Likewise, although. I wished we had time for formalities or a tour of my island, but the future of the Multiverse hangs in the balance. And not even the Tower of Fate is safe from Barbatos's dark influence.
Michael: Yeesh, that bad, huh?
John: Fraid so if this is the only safe haven left.
Scorpion appears from hellfire
Nightwing: Nice meeting you here, hothead.
Scorpion: I am not in the mood for your banter, Grayson. For you see, Zatanna has arranged a rendezvous here in this island, and the parties are assembling now.
Mr. Terrific: Is Plastic Man…
Sub Zero walks out
Sub-Zero: His egg is safe, Mister Terrific.
Green Arrow: Well well, if it isn't grandmaster Blueberry Ice.
Sub-Zero: Only Johnny Cage may use that name and live, Oliver Queen.
The Grandmaster glares a hole through the Emerald Archer
Green Arrow: I'll still wipe the floor with you, snow cone.
King: Easy, guys…
Meanwhile, as Raven tends to Josh and Yong, Robin pulls the arrow out of his shoulder
Damien: GAAAAAH! I failed… I failed my father…
Ben heals his wound, as he hands the arrow to John
Ben: Here, take it, John. This was your mission.
John: I know, Benny…
Green Arrow: John, what you're feeling right now? Doubt. Hate. Fear. I feel it, too.
Nightwing: We all feel it! We lost our teams' fighting spirit. We lost the morale of Harley, Croc… We lost Gotham!
Out of raw frustration, Nightwing punches one of the posts in the gallows
Damien: No… I lost it. I took us in there. It's my fault. I took lead and…
GA: Stop it…
Sub Zero: Yes, you lead them through the maze, madness, battle. All of it. And you might have wavered in your convictions, but in the end, you kept them focused on target. Finding a way to save the city and the realms form evil. And that is not a loss, Damien Wayne.
Damien: Not a loss? NOT A LOSS? What are you talking about, you grand-bastard?! We lost EVERYTHING!
GA: No, we didn't. Because if there's one thing I learned as Green Arrow, it's that sometimes, if your aim is true, you can lose a battle, but gain direction for the wary.
John: Yeah. We saw what that arrow did to the Dark Robin. It was the Nth Metal, Damien. Don't you see? Those things might have won this round, but because of you…
John ties a string around a part of the arrow
John: Now we know how to kill them.
King: True that.
Kojin: And then once we're done… We'll help rebuild Gotham, Detroit, Metropolis and more, right?
John just nods
John: Very soon, Kojin.