A/N: I'm not sure if this is going a bit overboard, but I always wondered what would happen if a certain situation ever presented itself. I think you guys will understand what I'm talking about after reading this chapter. I might have made it a bit extreme but it seemed like the right thing to do considering the circumstances the story gives us… or at least I think so.

Let me know what you think, and thanks again for all of your support and reviews!

Knight Fall

"Never again… no one will ever suffer because of me. It ends here and now." Batman raised his fist in the air ready to deliver the final blow to The Joker's head. Suddenly a severely intense insurmountable pain attacked his heart. With his right hand still in the air, he grabbed his chest with the left. He felt his heart beating… The pain continued to increase with each beat. It felt as if he had his heart ripped out and replaced with one that was pumping acid into his arteries. He never felt this much heartache before. The only times he ever felt anything remotely close to this kind of pain was when Diana was in some type of emotional pain. Batman's eyes widened in horror. "DIANA!" Batman lowered his right hand to his left and looked at them. The gauntlets were completely soaked in blood. Glancing down at his suit, he could see nothing but the crimson stains covering most of what used to be his dark gray armor.

"Cou… couldn't … do it…. could yah… Bats… I knew… it…" The Joker said through his shattered jaw as he continuously coughed up blood before losing consciousness.

Batman looked around the courtyard to see all the bodies he decimated. He spotted Harley and Ivy sitting in the far corner trembling in fear. He almost crossed that line. Mercilessly beat down everyone he hated. Almost killed The Joker. But this relentless unbearable pain in his chest stopped him. Diana stopped him… Stopped him from doing something he would have regretted for the rest of his entire life. He closed his eyes as he tried to feel Diana's presence, she was nearby. She was in pain… pain that he caused. Batman spun around and looked up into the sky to see his wife and Donna being held against their will by Ares and Circe. "DIANA!"

Ares quickly appeared in front of Batman with Circe, Donna, and Diana behind him. "You disappoint me Batman. You were supposed to disgrace yourself and break the Amazon's heart by giving in and killing them all!" Ares angrily motioned to the carnage that Batman created. "It seems that nothing will ever force you to give up your morals… I thought you would have surely cracked when I had you helplessly watch both Nightwing and Robin die, but obviously I was wrong."

Batman ignored Ares' taunts as he couldn't look away from Diana. The pain embedded in his heart slowly subsided. There were tear stains on her cheeks, but her eyes told him that she was relieved that he didn't cross that line… that their bond was stronger than the darkness within him.

"I had to ask myself… Is there truly no possible way to push Batman over the edge and into the darkness within him?" Ares mockingly put his hand to his chin as if he had to think hard about it. "All of your mortal enemies combined couldn't bring it out of you…" A giant grin appeared on Ares' face as he took his hand off of his chin. "But maybe your two dead sons can beat it out of you!" Ares snapped his fingers as the dead bodies of both Nightwing and Robin appeared floating between him and Batman. Batman, Diana, and Donna's eyes widened in horror as they knew what was about to happen.

Batman saw the magical bow and arrows strapped to Diana's back and quickly jumped behind her to grab them. But before he could release the arrow and shoot Ares, The God of War quickly blasted Batman with a giant beam of energy. The bow and arrow were sent flying over the outer walls of the courtyard while Batman came crashing down onto the ground. Ares smirked as he raised the dead bodies of Nightwing and Robin with his energy force. "You're pathetic. Did you really think that those weak and useless arrows could kill a God?" Ares laughed as he brought both Nightwing and Robin back to life. Their bodies emitted a golden light as their souls returned, allowing them to move once again.

Batman stood in shock as he watched both Nightwing and Robin open their eyes and look at him with a sense of confusion and fear. Diana and Donna watched on in disbelief. They were back… they were alive.

"BATMAN!" Robin shouted as he saw that Batman was covered in blood.

"What's going on!" Nightwing eyes shifted back and forth from Batman to Diana and Donna, then to Ares and Circe.

But before anyone could say anything, Ares took control of their minds as he hit them with another energy beam, causing their white screened eyes to turn into dark blood red ones. Their faces turned into stone cold glares as they stared down their one and only enemy. Ares released them as they floated down to the floor waiting for their new master's orders. Ares crossed his arms as his grin grew wider. "They are now just as powerful as you are Batman… and now the whole world will watch you kill your own. Or if you refuse to do so… they will watch them destroy you. It's your choice Batman… they won't stop until you're dead. Either way you lose, I win. Once last chance Batman. Agree to give the Amazon to me and everyone will be spared from suffering such an unnecessary death."

"Never" Batman stated flatly as he glared straight into Ares' eyes.

Ares glared back at Batman with pure hatred and jealousy. "Ultimately… if I can't have the Amazon, then neither will you."

"NO! Not again! NO! Damn Ares! Damn him to the pits of Tartarus!" Diana thought that she already had reached the very depths and pits of the emotional torment and despair that her heart could ever feel when she held him in her arms as he bled to death on that devastating day. Diana remembered all the times she watched Bruce continuously come back to the cave after countless missions half dead and bleeding … She accepted and endured all of those heartaches over the course of the time she spent being with Bruce because being with him, and being loved by him, was worth it. But everything that has happened over the past few days was pushing it beyond anything she could have possibly imagined. Saying that it was killing her to see him in such demoralizing and devastating pain was an understatement. The pain in her heart was unbearable. Diana didn't know how she would live knowing the pain she caused Bruce. It almost made her wish that she didn't have a heart to feel such suffering. Diana finally understood what Bruce meant when he refused to start a relationship with her because he cared too much for her to have the possibility of having his enemies doing whatever it took to get to him through her. Ironically it was one of Diana's enemies, Ares, who was using Bruce to get to her by forcing her to watch him unwillingly participate in a fight to the death with his own two adoptive sons.

As tears continued to stream down her face, she looked at Batman. She didn't see it initially, but as she continued to watch him, something was familiar about the way he was standing. His glare was cold and unnerving as he stood tall. The visible part of his face was unemotional as if he was back to normal, thinking clearly and logically. It was that look that she came to love. The look that always assured her that he would find a way to win. The look on his face revived her belief that somehow, someway, they would find a way to overcome this just like they overcame everything else. It opened up her memories of her telling him that he was worth the risks. That their love was worth it, and nothing would ever prove otherwise. That her words would still hold true, no matter how hopeless it may seem.

"That's it! I'm going down there!" Superman said angrily as he headed towards the teleportation pad.

"But they told us not to interfere…" Flash grabbed Superman on the shoulder.

"I don't care what they said! I'm making this official Justice League business. I won't allow him to throw his life away!" Superman brushed off Flash's hand.

"But what can we do against a God?" Green Lantern looked at Shayera as she continued to miserably watch the screen.

"I don't know… but anything's better than just standing here and watching this go on." Superman was about to take off when J'onn grabbed Superman's arm.

J'onn pointed to the screen. "Superman, the city of Gotham has disappeared from the Earth!"

"And just so that none of your so-called Justice League members interfere, I sealed the city of Gotham off from the rest of the world." Ares' voice rang through the speakers as they turned back to the screen.

"DAMN IT!" Superman slammed his fists into the monitoring console, instantly destroying it as pieces exploded all over the place.

"Batman and Wonder Woman are on their own…" J'onn spoke with great sorrow in his voice as every member of the league in the embassy turned their attention from the giant screen to see Superman destroy another console in rage.

Both Nightwing and Robin relentlessly attacked Batman. They were getting more aggressive and lethal as he continued to block and avoid their attacks. They were good, but Batman was better. He knew all of their techniques and tendencies, making it easy anticipating their moves. But none of that mattered, they were fighting to kill… or die trying. Normal takedowns were useless. They would continue to fight even with the most severe of injuries. The only way to stop them was to kill them. The one thing Batman refused to do.

Batman blocked a kick to his head from Robin before avoiding several hits to his kidneys from Nightwing. "Nightwing! Robin! Stop this! Think about what you're doing. It's me, Batman!"

"Ba… Batman?" Nightwing shook his head trying to focus.

"Wha… what's going on?" Robin was blinking rapidly while holding his head as if he had a migraine.

Batman grabbed Nightwing by the shoulders and shook him forcefully. "Snap out of it! It's me! It's Bat… ACK!"

Robin kicked Batman in the thigh, fracturing his femur as an evil grin emerged on Nightwing's face. "Sucker…" Nightwing struck Batman with a lethal blow to his temple, sending him flying into the wall of the courtyard.

"You are pathetic Batman. Do you really think you can really get through to them?" Ares laughed loudly as he watched Batman crawl out of the giant hole in the wall. "They will only listen to me Batman… and the only thing on their minds is to kill you, by any means necessary."

Batman looked at left leg as he waited for his vision to clear up. It was throbbing in pain as he could barely stand on it. "Damn it! Possible fracture… maybe broken… need to move." Batman looked up to see two blurry forms of Nightwing and Robin approach him as he forced himself to stand up. He blocked a strike to his face but missed one to his right ribs before another connected to his right kneecap, sending him crumbling to the floor. Before Batman could even react to the new sense of pain circulating throughout his body, Nightwing grabbed the back of his head and repeatedly slammed his face into the concrete floor. After seeing blood continuously run down Batman's face, Nightwing threw him across the courtyard towards Diana and Donna. Batman tried to get up but his body was in tremendous amount of pain. His right ribs were broken, his right kneecap was cracked, left leg was possibly broken, and the same could probably be said for his nose as well… Batman's vision was still blurred from the repeated blows to the head as he wiped off the blood that was running down his face.

"Damn it! I… I got to take control of this before they kill me…" Just as his vision cleared up, he saw Robin run up and launch him into the air with an uppercut to the jaw. Robin then leaped into the air to meet Batman and struck him in the chest, sending him crashing back down into the floor. Robin came back down and landed on Batman's stomach with his feet, causing Batman to cough up blood before being punched in the face again. Nightwing picked him up and threw him at the feet of Ares and Circe with Diana and Donna watching in horror.

Batman spat out more blood from his mouth as he forced himself up to face his protégés. With his back turned against Ares, The God of War shot Batman with a blast of energy that sent him rocketing into Robin. Robin stopped Batman from flying past him by punching him in the stomach, further severely damaging his already internally bleeding vital organs before sending him towards Nightwing with a roundhouse kick to the throat. Nightwing caught Batman by his cape and hovered in the air. With Batman's feet inches above the floor, Nightwing proceeded to continuously punch him in the kidneys until blood was spewing out of Batman's mouth. Nightwing then began twirling Batman around by the cape in a tornado like motion before sending him crashing into the wall near Harley and Ivy. Both Harley and Ivy jumped in fear from the impact that Batman made with the wall.

"Get out" Batman said flatly to the two as he crawled out of another hole with blood dripping out of his mouth. The two ladies looked at each other and quickly ran inside the asylum for cover while peeking out the window to watch. Batman took a breath trying to regain his focus. He continued to defend himself from Nightwing and Robin for as long as his body allowed him to. Each block and counter he made took their toll on his already severely beaten and battered body. Batman was slowing down from all the fatigue as each strike from Robin and Nightwing came closer and closer to hitting its target.

"NO! BRUCE!" Diana knew it was only a matter of time before both Nightwing and Robin would inevitably kill him if someone didn't stop them. Batman was running out of energy. She could feel his pain. Being viciously beaten down by his own was demoralizing. There was absolutely nothing she could do to help. She was bound by Ares' magic and none of the Justice League members could reach them. She could only helplessly watch her husband, the love of her life, her whole world… be beaten to death by his own sons. The pain within Diana's heart was hurting her more than ever. As Bruce was slowly dying, Diana was dying. She couldn't watch anymore, it was too painful, too heartbreaking… Diana closed her eyes, but that didn't stop the rivers of tears from leaving her eyes.

"No Princess… you're going to miss the best part!" Circe used her magic to force Diana to open her eyes and look in the direction of Batman and the others.

"NO! I can't! Please! No more! No more! BRUCE!" Diana saw Batman's body fail him as he missed a block on one of Nightwing's attacks and took a shot to the head. Batman collapsed to the floor as both Nightwing and Robin began to mercilessly beat him further into the ground.

Ares enthusiastically threw his hands into the air as the long awaited moment had finally arrived. "The Great Dark Knight has fallen!"