A/N: Hello, everyone! I am so sorry this took so long, but the story is finally here, so I hope it makes up for it. Also, my challenge is still in effect: write your own version of this story with a different RWBY character. Perhaps actual martial artists like Ren or Sun, who can fight without weapons, or have weapons Batman would allow. Or perhaps give Penny a new chance at life in Gotham. Or even perhaps one of the adults like Qrow or Winter. It's up to you. I'd love to see what you all would be able to come up with! I know plenty of you out there could make great stories!
But for now, let's finally get to Batman and Yang facing the chaos that is Arkham Knight.
The Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime. The terror of Gotham City. And now... a corpse. He had finally suffered the consequences of his actions when the TITAN formula mixed with the chemicals in his body to deadly effect. And when he had the chance to get the cure that could have saved his life, he was the one who caused its destruction by slicing Yang's throat and causing her to drop the cure. With his last chance of surviving the poison in his veins gone, the Clown finally succumbed to the poison and shuffled off his mortal coil. This is what led to him being inside an incinerator, the jets of flame kicking on to cremate the crooked clown's body.
"This is how it happened. This is how Gotham lost two of its greatest heroes. The Batman... And the Light Dragon." Commissioner Gordon narrated.
The an overview of the infamous city of Gotham could be seen as it descended into the city. "9 months ago, the Joker was cremated. I pushed the button and burned the evil bastard myself. And then... We waited. Gotham braced itself for the inevitable power struggle. But it didn't come. Crime actually fell. Deep down, I knew war was coming... I was just waiting for someone to pull the trigger." The commissioner continued to narrate as people made their way through the crowded streets in spite of the rain, trying to go about their busy days.
One of these people was an officer stopping off at a diner. He walked in and sat at the main counter, taking his hat off and setting it beside him as the waitress approached him, quickly filling up the mug beside him with coffee. "Thanks." He said gratefully.
"No problem." She said simply. She thanked someone who left her a decent tip, before turning back to the officer. "So, what'll it be? The usual?" She asked.
"Sure." He agreed.
"Okay, chicken salad with no dressing-" She began, writing it down.
However, the officer decided to change his mind. "No, you know what? Make it waffles... With a side of bacon. Don't tell me wife." He requested instead.
"Whatever you say, officer." She said with some mirth in her voice. "And if you want some more coffee, just shout." She added, before going off to tell the kitchen his order.
The officer then waited, minding his business and minor misdemeanors, such as a thug intimidating a civilian before walking off. However, he didn't get much peace before someone came over to him. "Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner, officer... Owen... but there's a guy smoking over there in the corner booth." He informed the officer.
Said officer sighed at this, before complying. "Wait here. I'll have a word." He said, grabbing his hat and heading back to the corner booth he pointed out. He soon reached the man and tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me, sir? There's no smoking in here." He explained.
However, in an instant, the person leapt up, revealing a horrific face: a mouth filled with needle-like teeth and no eyes. He grabbed the officer before slamming him into the table, sending him down to the ground. He slowly got back up after shaking off the dizziness, turning back to see several more monsters like the man attacking several other civilians. One of them quickly noticed the officer and made its way towards him. The officer pulled his gun out as quick as he could, but it was too slow as the monster reached him as he aimed for it, but it grabbed him and snapped at him.
However, he managed to shoot it in the gut, sending it to the floor and allowing him to fire on several other monsters. But suddenly, another one of these strange creatures dropped onto the booth divider beside him. It growled at him, before leaping at him. "No!" He cried out as the creature slashed him, sending him back to the ground. He managed to look back up in time to see the creature slash at him with its claws several more times before finally putting him out of his misery with a bite, sending him into an eternal darkness.
Some time later, TV's all over Gotham were showing the news, which reported on the events that took place in the diner, which stated that it was believed to be a chemical attack with victims tearing each other apart. As the people were trying to process what they were seeing, they heard the voice of a criminal everyone had hoped was gone for good. "This demonstration used just five ounces of my latest toxin. Tomorrow, this will seem like child's play." Scarecrow's voice declared as his image was shown on the jumbotron above the ORB theater, just barely visible from the darkness around him.
"Gotham, this is your only warning." He promised to cement his threat as the camera zoomed in on his eyes to show the dead seriousness behind them, further emphasized by his new terrifying visage, due to his face having been horribly disfigured after he had been brutally mauled by Killer Croc back in Arkham Asylum. Something that only further proved how dangerously and disturbingly committed Dr. Crane was to survive and continue his insane experiments on the poor, unsuspecting people of Gotham and explore their fears for his own sick amusement.
The media was quick to report on the threat to anyone who may have missed it. "The sudden reappearance of Dr. Jonathan Crane, also known as the deranged, fear-obsessed supervillain, Scarecrow, as well as his claiming responsibility of the diner massacre, on top of this new threat to make the previous event look tame by comparison, has quickly sent many of Gotham's citizens into a panic. Emergency evacuation procedures have already been put into place in order to get patients of Gotham hospitals, as well as the children of city, safely out of Gotham." Vicki Vale reported on the situation.
Yang watched this in Wayne Manor, staring at the TV with a sense of dread. "Only one attack in a little diner and he's got the whole city shaking. If this was Remnant, we'd be neck-deep in Grimm already." She said, lightly pacing back and forth.
Suddenly, the familiar sound of a portal opening behind her rang out and she turned to face the swirling red anomaly as her mother stepped out. "Which is exactly why it's time to go, Yang." Raven said as she now stood across from her daughter.
Yang shifted her weight to her left foot at this, putting her right hand on her hip. "Nice to see you, too, Mom. Are you ever gonna learn to greet people like a normal person?" She asked.
"Now's not the time for jokes. We both saw the footage of that attack. If this Scarecrow is really planning something that can make that look like nothing, it's not something we're sticking around for. I sent you here so you could grow and improve and you have. There's nothing more this place has to offer, so let's go before this rotten city finally gives out and collapses beneath us." Raven insisted, turning back to the portal and preparing to step through, turning back and waiting for her daughter, who didn't move from her spot. "Well?" She questioned.
"So, you've been watching me?" Yang questioned back.
"I always have. I am your mother, after all." Raven admitted.
"What? So, you dropped me off here as some kind of training? To make me better for what? So I'd be good enough to join your little bandit tribe and we'd go around Mistral as a mother-daughter act, robbing people blind?" The blonde brawler demanded. [1]
Raven stepped closer to her daughter pointedly. "To make sure you were strong enough to survive in the real world! You might think you were facing the most dangerous enemies you'd ever see, but you were sheltered! Beacon was keeping you from the harsher truths! You weren't facing anything near as bad as what you'd see in the field! Where teachers were watching your progress and teammates who would jump in if you were in danger. You had to get stronger on your own, in a place with real danger! And you've done that. Joining the tribe would've been a nice bonus, but I did this for you." She declared.
"Oh, right. I'm sure. I'm sure you didn't just think this world would make me crazy so I'd lose all my morals and join you and your thugs. Well, it did the opposite. I didn't just get stronger. I got smarter. Smart enough to see through your crap." Yang challenged, clearly not buying what her mother said.
Raven scoffed at this. "Think what you want. Either way, this place isn't going to be around much longer, so it's best to leave here before there you crumble along with it." Raven said.
"Not happening, Mom. This place has helped me. Let me grow. Made me a better person. This place saved me from myself. Now I'm going to save it. If you wanna help, great. If not, stay out of my life. You've always been good at that." She said.
Raven growled at this, but before she could argue, someone interrupted. "She gave you your answer, Raven. It's time you left." Bruce said, standing in the doorway.
Raven glared back at him. "Bruce. I see you've given my daughter the same insane death wish you have, to protect a broken city that can't be fixed." She said. [2]
"Gotham hasn't fallen yet. And it never will. I've stopped Crane before, this won't be any different." The billionaire insisted.
"Right. We'll see if you're still thinking that way when this place is rubble, along with everything else you care about." Raven said, turning back to Yang. "Fine. You've made your decision. I'll accept it." She said, turning back to her portal, but looking back at Yang over her shoulder. "I just wonder if your father, uncle and sister will as well." She said, before finally walking through.
"You bitch!" Yang snapped, storming forward, but all for naught as the portal closed before she could reach it.
Bruce sighed at this. "She may have been right, Yang. I've taught you everything I can. And you've helped Gotham more than anyone could have asked for. You don't owe me or this world anything. Maybe you should have gone home with her and your family and friends." He told her.
Yang sighed as well. "I can't just leave you and the city like this when something huge might be going down. I couldn't live with myself." She told him, before looking away. "I miss my sister and my dad. My uncle and my friends... But I know they're okay without me. I know Gotham is in danger right now. I'll stay and help you one more time, make sure Gotham's safe for a bit and prove my mom wrong. Then, if the offer's still on the table, I'll head home." She explained her plan, walking up to the billionaire. "One last mission. Let's make the best of it." She said, holding out her hand.
Bruce looked at her hand, then back at her, before smiling and shaking her hand. "You were right. You have changed for the better. And your mother's a fool if she can't see that." He said, shaking her hand.
A/N: There we go, everyone! Sorry it's so short, just a little prologue to get this story off the ground, but I had promised I'd have this story out as soon as possible, but I didn't, so I wanted to at least give you something. I hope it was enough. And I hope you'll all stick around with me for more.
[1] If the Branwen Tribe is as infamous as Qrow makes it out to be, surely Yang would've heard of them before and she knew where to find her mother in Volume 5 by going for a sign that said "bandits" without talking any more with Qrow after the end of Volume 3, so I'm assuming she at least knows Raven's part of a bandit tribe.
[2] Remember, Raven already confirmed she's been watching Yang all this time, so that's how she knows Bruce. As for the other way around, Yang probably would've told him what she knews.