Nightmare in Arkham
Chapter 38: "A New Beginning"
-Bruce Wayne and the five teens had witnessed Freddy's demise from the boiler room setting. Now they all just stared out in complete dumbfounded silence.
-"Is it over?" asked Bruce, "Please tell me it's finally over."
-The teens didn't know what to say. It had been seemed to be "over" many times in the past.
-"I don't know," Kristen admitted. Then suddenly, there came a horrible scraping noise.
-Bruce and the teens jerked their heads and saw that the "scraping" was actually the sound of one of the boilers overheating. It let off copious amounts of steam before it started to shake and quiver. Then it exploded.
-As Bruce and the teens ducked for cover the entire room started to tremble as if it had been taken over by an earthquake. The walls began to crack, the metal catwalks started to melt, and the furnaces roared with fire.
-"We need to get out of here, now!" Bruce said springing to his feet. And he took off running in a random direction while the teens followed close behind. The six of them had to move very acrobatically to avoid the destruction that now surrounded them. But with no sense of direction, it did not take long for the chaos to overwhelm them, for the boiler room was just as expansive as Arkham City.
-"There's gotta be a way out of here," Rick said growing frustrated. Suddenly, Kristen gasped.
-"The mirror! That's our way out!"
-"Where is it?" Bruce asked.
-Kristen looked around the crumbling boiler room but all she could see was decay, fire, and impending doom. She shook her head at Bruce.
-Bruce pondered for a moment. Then he had an idea.
-Bruce closed his eyes and stood perfectly still, willing his mind to concentrate in the pandemonium that flooded his environment.
-"What are you doing?!" Dan asked.
-"If we can't find the mirror, then we'll have the mirror come to us," Bruce replied.
-The teens all looked at each other. Then Kristen walked up beside Bruce, closed her eyes and willed her mind to concentrate. While she and Bruce focused their energy, Dan, Sheila, Debbie, and Rick surrounded them and redirected any flying debris that threatened to fly toward them and throw them off balance.
-All around the dying realm boilers exploded, pipes burst, and the chains dangling from the ceiling split apart, link by link.
-"Hurry up!" Rick shouted, "We don't have much time!"
-It took several minutes, but slowly and surely the mirror finally appeared before them, the faces of the victims erased completely.
-Bruce and the teens ran toward it and leapt through. Bruce was the last one to jump through the mirror and when he did, his reflection shown as a large bat swooping down from the sky.
-Once Bruce had cleared the mirror it shattered into a million pieces just as Freddy's realm completely exploded.
-Bruce found himself plummeting downward from what seemed like outer space toward an unknown, far-away land that had no definite shape or form. The other teens were nowhere in sight. He fell with the force of a meteorite, his body becoming sealed in a balloon of flames as he plummeted toward this alien world. But he was not afraid and plunged bravely onward.
-Bruce landed upon the ground with a thunderous crash. Then everything went dark.
-"Bruce," called a female voice in the darkness, "Bruce."
-Bruce groaned and slowly opened his eyes. At first all he could see was white.
-"It's time to wake up, Bruce."
-Then all at once the whiteness began to fade and Bruce was met with a most familiar face.
-"Selina…" Bruce said feebly.
-Selina Kyle smiled down at Bruce.
-Bruce slowly lifted a hand and stroked the side of Selina's face. Her face had texture and that's when Bruce knew this wasn't a dream. His eyes shot open, tears began to form in the corners of his eyes, then he sprang up and took Selina into a tight embrace, weeping as he did so.
-"It's you, it's really you!"
-"Yes, my love," Selina responded with tears streaming down her own face. As Bruce looked over Selina's shoulder, he saw a figure walking toward them.
-Bruce broke the embrace and stared straight at the figure until it revealed itself as Harvey Dent, not only alive, but with his face and body completely healed.
-Bruce's lower jaw sank as he beheld the sight of his long-lost friend.
-"Hello Bruce," Harvey said in his normal voice with a genuine smile that he had not shown in years. Then Edward Nygma and Bane walked up behind him.
-Before Bruce could respond to this welcoming sight, three more figures came walking up. They were Waylon Jones, Oswald Cobblepot, and Victor Friez. Except they looked nothing like how Bruce and seen them before. For now, all of them were human. Waylon Jones no long had the appearance of a crocodile, Oswald no longer looked like a penguin, and Victor's skin was no longer icy blue.
-Then from another direction emerged Jonathan Crane and Jervis Tetch, side by side and reunited at last.
-Then from another direction came Alice Johnson. Alice walked up to Bruce and placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled warmly at him. Then she turned back in the direction she had come from as if expecting something truly wonderful to emerge.
-From the same direction came Pamela Isley, her eyes no longer glowing and her skin no longer lime green. She was completely human just like the rest of them.
-Selina slowly walked toward her with her jaw agape in astonishment.
-"Pammy? Is that really you?"
-"Hello Selina," Pamela said with a smile.
-Selina wrapped her arms around Pamela.
-As the two women embraced, there appeared in the sky a white ball of light that slowly made its way to the ground and caused everyone to stare up in wonder. The ball of light materialized and standing in front of the crowd was Harleen Quinzel.
-"Hey guys," she said sweetly in her normal voice.
-Harleen surveyed the faces of the people around her, which were all filled with amazement at how different she looked from her Harley Quinn persona. Then her eyes stopped on Pamela Isley, whose lip trembled and whose eyes swelled with tears.
-Harleen smiled at Pamela and in her Harley Quinn voice said, "Hia, Red". Then she opened her arms up to her.
-At that moment, the tears exploded from Pamela's eyes and she raced over to Harleen and tackled her in the tightest hug she had ever given her.
-As the two women embraced, they looked to the side and noticed Alice looking at them with a wide smile. Both women held an arm out, inviting her to come in and join the embrace, which she happily complied. Then they invited Selina in and one by one each of the former villains of Gotham joined in on the embrace until only Bruce remained. When they noticed this, each of them cleared a path for Bruce to come into the center of the embracement circle, which he did, and the embrace was complete as they were all reunited again.
-Then a strange noise began to rise up around them. It was a heavy clattering noise at first but then shouting and loud whistling were thrown into the mix. Everyone looked up and saw that they were surrounded by a massive crowd of hundreds teenagers and small children all clapping and cheering and applauding. These were all of Freddy's freed victims. Among them were Tina, Rod, Glen, Joey, Kincaid, Will, Taryn, Phillip, Jennifer, Mark, Greta, Carols, Spencer, and John.
-As the heroes all looked out in happy amazement at the faces surrounding them, Sheila, Debbie, Rick, Dan, and Kristen stepped out of the crowd. Alice quickly made her way to the front of the pack and bee-lined her way to her long-lost friends, who took her in a warm and tearful embrace.
-"Alice," Dan said with a smile, "There's someone else waiting to see you." All of her friends smiled as they knew what was to come.
-"Who," Alice asked curiously.
-Dan turned to the crowd and waved an arm toward himself signaling for someone to approach. The crowd slowly began to part as someone slowly made their way through. When the person emerged from the crowd, Alice's eyes shot wide open and she had to clasp both hands over her mouth to keep herself from sobbing.
-"Hey, mom," Jacob said. Alice didn't say anything as her breath was caught in her throat.
-Jacob ran to his mother and tackled her in a tight hug. Alice broke down in tears of great joy.
-"Jacob!" Alice said through her tears while kissing him profusely all over his face and head. Then Alice turned her tear soaked face to the Arkham crowd and said smiling, "Everyone, this is my son! This is my boy!"
-Everyone, especially Harleen and Pamela, began shedding tears of happiness.
-Then someone else stepped through the crowd. It was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She wore a pink long-sleeve shirt, a pearl necklace, and had long, thick, curly brown hair with a grey strand sticking out of the front.
-"Nancy?!" Kristen asked with complete and utter shock when she saw the woman, "Is that really you?"
-"Yes Kristen, it's me," Nancy said with a smile. Kristen's face curled into a tearful, joyful smile and she wrapped her arms around her friend. At the same time, Tina, Rod, Glen, Joey, Kincaid, Will, Taryn, Phillip, and Jennifer all surrounded her with just as much amazement as Kristen.
-"It's so good to see all of you again," Nancy said tearfully.
-"Nancy, where have you been all this time?" Kristen asked, "Freddy killed you and yet you weren't among us when he came back."
-Nancy smiled and said, "Remember the prayer you said before I died? That you would dream me somewhere beautiful? It worked, Kristen. Your prayer was answered and I was sent here instead."
-Suddenly, it hit everyone: they all had no idea where "here" was.
-"And, where are we?" Kristen asked.
-Nancy turned her head and looked outward. It was then that everyone, despite being in the location for some time, took a good, clear look and noticed there was no setting surrounding them at all. Just blank void.
-"Ladies and gentleman," Nancy said casting her arms out, "Welcome to the Dream World!"
-Then as if a large curtain had been pulled back the empty environment transformed into an expansive new world.
-Bruce, the children, and the Arkham group peered across the landscape, which was now abundant with surrealism. There were cities floating in the air, whales swimming in the clouds, trees that were oddly colored, crystal ice that co-existed with warm spring, mythical creatures such as fauns and druids and nymphs, and so much more. The world was like a combination of every mythology that had ever existed: Heaven, Asgard, Olympus, the Dreamtime, except it was all mixed into one epic land. There were even elements that seemed to come from master painters and writers of fantasy and science fiction.
-"My God, it's beautiful!" said Harleen.
-Nancy chuckled and said to Harleen and the rest of the group, "Just wait til you see your contributions."
-"What do you mean?" Kristen asked.
-"Everyone dreams," Nancy replied, "And this world is made of those dreams. Every perception of the world, every piece of imagination, every vision of the mind becomes a part of this world and makes it whole. My dreams are all here, and so are your dreams and the dreams of every living being throughout the course of time."
-"But how can that be?" Kristen asked in astonishment, "For the dreams of every living being to preside here, this place would have to be limitless."
-"And so it is, my dear," Jervis Tech said, "Believe me, I've spent my entire life studying dreams and the human mind. And if there is anything I've learned that has stuck with me, It's that dreams are only limited by the imagination of the dreamer."
"Right you are, Jervis," Said Nancy.
-Jervis was puzzled. "How do you know my name?"
-"I know all your names. I know everything about you. The stars told me your story," Nancy said pointing up to the sky. Everyone looked up. "Each of those stars you see in the cosmos is a dreaming human being. From this world I can read the thoughts and feelings of anyone who dreams."
-Nancy then approached the Arkham group and said proudly, "You are all beautiful people with such amazing gifts."
-It was then Nancy noticed that some of the Arkham group looked guilt-stricken.
-"What's the matter?" Nancy asked.
-"Well," Bane said rather solemnly, "As I'm sure you must be aware, some of us were irresponsible with our gifts," He turned to Alice, "A very wise person once told me we could have used our gifts to better the world, to bring forth a new beginning, yet all we have done is waste our gifts on bitter vengeance and hostile takeovers."
-Then he turned to Bruce and said, "But this man has used every gift he was given to make the world a better place. He fought tooth and nail to save his dear city from us and to save us from ourselves. If only we had known of your intentions sooner, Bruce, perhaps things could have been different."
-Bruce stepped out of the crowd and stood next to Nancy so that he was facing the entire Arkham group.
-"You claim I'm more noble than yourself but the truth is I've shared more chemistry with each and every last one of you than I have anyone else. We all wanted to change the world, we all had flaws and insecurities that separated us from the rest of the population, and we all wanted a new beginning. That's because we are all human."
-"But what about all the pain we've caused, the people we've hurt?" Asked Waylon Jones.
-"That was your reflection side," Nancy replied, "The side which you no longer have."
-"What do you mean?" Asked Harleen.
-"When Freddy took your lives, he separated your soul from your reflection. Your reflection is what made you "Harley Quinn" and "Killer Croc" and so on. That's what he used to make those monsters he used against you and now they've all been destroyed. Which means now all of you are free to create new identities for yourselves. A choice I think all of you have felt like you never had before."
-The Arkham group all looked at each other. Nancy was right: this choice was something that none of them felt they were offered.
-"And now," Nancy continued, "I give you a second chance: a chance to join the Dream Warriors."
-"Dream Warriors?" Harleen asked.
-Kristen stepped up and said, "Years ago, when we fought Freddy, we did so as the last surviving Elm Street children. And so we formed ourselves into a group known as the Dream Warriors, a group that takes control of nightmares and defends people against their dark forces."
-"But who would we be fighting against?" Asked Edward Nygma, "Freddy's gone now."
-"But a new Freddy could come into being at any time," said Jonathan Crane, "Believe me, I know fear. And I know it can take on many different forms and just as easily be replaced as it can be overcome."
-"Exactly," said Nancy, "But if we can influence the minds and dreams of the living in a positive way, we may just be able to ward off and hopefully prevent such an evil from ever finding its way to the surface again." Then Nancy turned to Bruce.
-"And you, you may very well be our most valued member. You can help the people we try to save in ways that we can't. All we can do is influence their dreams. But you can actively protect them from harm and maybe even turn them away from the side that threatens to consume them."
-Bruce was silent for a moment as he pondered Nancy's offer. He thought about everything he had been through, the things he had witnessed, the pain he had endured, the nightmares he had faced…and how he had overcome them all.
-Then for the first time in forever, Bruce smiled.
-He extended a hand to Nancy and she immediately took it. When she did Bruce was consumed by a beam of glowing white light and when it faded his Batman costume was on him, fully restored. Then, in the far distance, the sun began to rise over the Dream World.
-"Your city's waiting for you, Batman," Nancy said proudly.
-Batman took one last look around, taking in the faces of his alias, his former enemies, and the children of Elm Street, then he turned and began to depart.
-As he was walking, someone grabbed onto one of his shoulders. Batman turned around to see Harleen standing before him. She was trying to force herself to smile but it was completely obvious that she was fighting back tears.
-"Bruce…", Harleen said with a trembling lip, "I…I'm gonna miss you…"
-Batman wrapped his arms around Harleen.
-"I know, Harleen. Gotham sure as Hell won't be the same without you either. But you'll see me again. You'll all see me when I dream."
-"Promise?"
-"I promise you'll see me so often you'll get sick of me."
-That made Harleen chuckle a bit, despite her tears.
-It was at this point that Alice came up and took Harleen in her arms.
-She looked up and Batman.
-"Take care of yourself, Bruce."
-Batman nodded and turned to the Arkham Group and the Dream Warriors and smiled at them. They all waved good-bye as and Batman walked away into the sunrise.
In the real world, Bruce Wayne woke up in a hospital bed with Alfred, Leslie, and Dick Grayson at his side.
-"Oh Master Bruce! Please, speak to me!" Alfred begged. Dick and Leslie grabbed each other's hands in nervous anticipation.
-After a moment, the three of them were absolutely shocked to see a smile form on Bruce's face.
-Then he said, "I just had the greatest dream of my entire life."
10 YEARS LATER…
Over the next decade, Bruce became a dedicated activist for criminal justice. After several years, he finally made Gotham take a good long look in the mirror and realize that they too were just as responsible for creating the villains that lurked in the shadows as the villains were for making Gotham such a terrifying place to live. As a result, more diplomatic and sympathetic means of dealing with criminals were implicated as the community took an interest in understanding the mind, thoughts, and feelings of the people they had despised and labeled as outcasts for so long. This was done at the Alice Johnson Memorial Correctional Institute, headed by Dr. Leland. And yes, there were always new criminals and fiends waiting around each corner but nothing like the ones that used to prowl Gotham. For the most part, Gotham slowly but surely became a safer place. It was a city where law, order, and justice finally prevailed…but what's order without a little chaos.
-The Joker had taken several hostages on the tallest building in Gotham and was threatening to blow them and the building to smithereens.
-Batgirl, who was now Oracle, pinpointed the Joker's location and Batman accelerated out of the Batcave.
-As he made his way to his destination, he thought about Dick Grayson, who had adopted his own persona as Nightwing and taken up residence in his own city to protect. Batman could not have been more proud of him.
-It wasn't long before Batman reached his destination and when he did he used a modified cape to soar to the top of the building on leather wings and once he reached the top he ascended above it high into the clouds where the Bat Signal shined as bright and gloriously as ever. The Joker took out a pair of binoculars and saw Batman descending on him from the sky like a majestic eagle. This caused the Joker to smile. But when he did, it was revealed that he was missing a tooth. But even though the Joker's smile was no longer whole and although Batman had lost nearly everything long ago, the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime finally had one very important thing in common: neither of them had been happier in their entire life.
THE END