ISSUE 21:
Superman's rage pushed him faster than ever before as he tore up the sky with his hands by his sides; his cape flapping behind him. Tears streamed down his face and flew off into the sky where they instantly froze.
He felt a fire build up inside him as he watched a sleek private jet moving across the sky, a mile up ahead. He tried to not waste energy by letting his eyes go scarlet red as he rocketed towards the private jet which was completely unsuspecting his arrival.
Lex Luthor sat in his comfy armchair, he polished off another drink and leaned back. Superman was going to be destroyed, Metropolis would be torn apart, the Bat and his 'Nightwing' would be murdered and he would be able to swoop in and make a profit, the rest of the Light will be pleased.
Suddenly the plane door from his private jet was torn off and the air pressure suddenly dropped and rose in a matter of seconds.
The man dressed in the red and blue Kryptonian, under armour which was normally worn under Kryptonian Robotic Battle Suits, suit walked onto his plane. He turned to see Luthor and ran like a blur straight at him. He picked up Luthor and lifted him into the air.
"Luthor!" Superman screamed. "I'm going to kill you!"
"Really Superman?" Luthor grinned. "Are you?"
His hands moved to his belt and twisted the buckle. A beam of energy shot out of the belt and struck Superman. Kal-El was suddenly struck by the attack and flew straight towards the other side of the plane. Luthor landed on his feet and instantly made his way back to his chair.
He found a small switch in the armrest and flicked it. Suddenly the comfy chair began to morph onto his body.
Superman rubbed his head from the strange concussive energy blast to see Luthor's chair turned into a military style green robot exo-skeleton; which strangely left his bald head in the open.
"Let's dance alien!" he grinned. Luthor ran straight at Kal-El and tackled him out of the plane. The wind rustled across them as they free fell towards the ground.
The Bat and Nightwing rose through the air, the Bat using his cape while Nightwing used his fold in wings along with the new Wayne Tech patented pulse technology in their boots.
They reached the building and Nightwing stared at the two figures in front of him.
One was a tall, skinny, lanky man with bright green hair, white skin and bright red lips. He was dressed in a bright purple jacket, trousers, shirt and stripy tie covered in a dark musty trench coat.
The other was a smaller woman who had bright white hair in pigtails. Her face was pale like the man's and her lips were bright scarlet and her eyes were covered in a black domino mask. She wore a strange red and black tight outfit which looked uncomfortable. She held the empty RPG and an oversized hammer in the other.
"Hey Batsy!" chuckled the Joker. "How you doin'?"
"Who let you two out of Arkham!" the Bat growled back, avoiding the games.
"Oh we can't say that!" laughed the Joker. "But they did make me promise to kill you, that's my promise and my reward. Isn't it just great!"
"Yes Puddin'" The woman said back to him.
"Shh Harley, the grownups are talking," the Joker said with a psychotic smile. He suddenly produced a large oversized revolver and aimed it at the Bat. "Time to die!"
"Bat, get down!" Nightwing shouted, moving in to kick the gun from the Joker's hand.
The Bat placed a hand on his chest to stop him as the Joker pulled the trigger. A pole popped out with a red flag saying 'Bang!'
"Now, now, Junior," chuckled the Joker. "You clearly don't know me at all!"
The Bat kicked the gun from the Joker's hand to the ground and stared at the pale man. "Are you going to come quietly?"
"Of course not Batsy," the Joker grinned manically. "I just wanna have some fun."
The Joker swung a lazily punch at the Bat which he side stepped and followed with a punch to the nose. The Joker jumped back, his nose dripping blood slightly.
"Same out Bats, always going for the face."
"And you're always going for the punch line," the Bat growled as he began to advance on him with a boxer's guard.
Harley lifted the over sized hammer, dropped the useless RPG and turned to Nightwing. "How about it puddin'?"
"I'm not really up for that sort of thing," Nightwing sighed, producing his batons and creating his bo staff. He brought it down but Harley blocked it with the hammer and pushed him back.
"I'll have you know that I'm in a happy relationship," she chuckled at him.
The Joker and the Bat fought like master boxers as their partners battled beside them.
"We do the same thing Bats," the Joker explained. "You punch me, I punch you, you put me in Arkham and then I break out. And if I'm honest I'm getting tired of it."
The Bat avoided a jab and slugged the laughing man below the ribs; making him bend over in pain.
"Well stay in Arkham then you lunatic," the Bat growled as he brought his hands like a hammer down on his back and then swept the man's legs out from underneath him.
The Joker hit the ground and began laughing. "I meant one of us is going have to die here old Batsy!" The Joker rose to his feet and instantly produced a large military knife which he moved about with precision. "And you aren't exactly the spring bat that you used to be."
Harley brought down the hammer, smacking Nightwing to the ground. The Bat's student knew he couldn't let the pain get to him so he rolled backwards onto his feet and spun his staff; electrifying it.
"Ooh that looks pretty," Harley marvelled.
The two advanced on each other, Harley brought down the hammer and Nightwing dodged the attack, jumped on top of the oversized mallet and brought down the taser stick which Harley then sidestepped and back flipped away from.
Harley then produced two slim revolvers from out of nowhere and aimed at Nightwing. "Night puddin'."
Oh fuck, Nightwing thought as he dived across the building from the oncoming bullets. He dived across the rooftop and made a hand movement which set his gauntlets to produce batarangs. He flicked his wrist upon landing on the hard concrete flooring and threw it straight at Harley.
The revolvers were knocked from her hands and she scowled at the black metallic clothed man. "That wasn't very nice."
The Bat dodged a swipe from the knife and kicked the Joker in the stomach.
"You're going back to Arkham Joker!" the Bat barked as he advanced on the clown man.
"No I'm going to die," the Joker chuckled as he swung the knife again. "Or you are!"
The Joker kept advancing on the Avenger of the Night, swinging his shiny blade towards his cowl covered face; constantly laughing and chuckling with every strike.
Nightwing performed a handspring into a round off straight towards Harley Quinn who was picking up the massive hammer. As soon as he faced her the hammer was brought down on his head. Instantly Nightwing hit the ground, staring up at Harley Quinn with blurry vision.
"Time to die puddin'!" Harley sniggered as she raised the hammer once again.
Oh fuck!
Superman slugged Luthor in the robotic suit, testing the density of the armour. He felt slight pain so he guessed it was dense enough to keep him alive at a fall at this altitude but not without injuries.
He grinned as head butted Luthor, which dazed the trillionaire and then threw him down towards the ground. Gravity and the force of Kal-El's throw sent him hurtling towards the Earth, they were on the very outskirts of Metropolis so Superman hoped no one would be hurt by the impact of the villain's fall.
Lex Luthor tried to reach for the emergency flaps on his suit. He struggled but activated them and his descent was instantly stopped.
Oh fuck no, Superman thought. He flew down to him, gripped the armour and pushed it down to the ground at rapid speed. Luthor tried to shake him off but he couldn't stop himself from hurtling to the ground.
The two wrestled as the ground continually rushed towards them.
BANG! The ground shook as Superman drove Lex Luthor into the earth. The boots of the suit folded in under the impact, making Lex wince with pain as the metal cut through his flesh, as Superman continually pushed him into the crater they had created in an empty street.
Superman rose and looked down at Luthor who was now up to his neck in dirt.
"I had to kill him," Superman told him. "And it's all your fault! Now you must die!"
Harley brought down the gigantic hammer towards Nightwing with a crippling blow. A red and black blur knocked the hammer from her hands and onto the floor. Nightwing and Harley turned their heads to see Red Robin, or more commonly known as Tim Drake, standing beside them.
"Sorry for being late," he told Nightwing as he produced his staff and swung it towards Harley.
"Better late than never," Nightwing smile weakly, his vision improving.
Red Robin turned to Harley. "How you been Harley, long time no see."
Red Robin brought down his staff on the woman's head, flipped over her and then swept her legs out from underneath her.
Nightwing struggled to his feet as Harley stood up from Red Robin's attack, rubbing her head. "Didn't think I'd see you again," she giggled. "As soon as you swapped the tights for the leather."
Red Robin folded up his staff and advanced on Harley with his hands curled into fists. "Well let's dance."
Red Robin feigned right and hit her with a hard left, sending Harley backwards.
"That really hurt!" she screamed. She shrieked and ran straight him. She back flipped and out stretched her foot, kicking him in the face.
"Oh look it's your latest model!" the Joker cackled, referring to Red Robin. "How many of these do you have?"
"I'd rather keep you guessing," the Bat barked as he kicked the blade from the Joker's grasp.
The Bat swung another strike at the Joker and then followed it up with a kick to the shins. The Joker gasped and looked up at the Bat.
"It isn't like me but I'm being deadly serious," The Joker giggled. He held up his sleeve, the barrel of a gun popped out and the Joker fired.
A bullet flew from the chamber and straight into the mouth of the Dark Knight. The bullet crushed his teeth, went through his face and out the other side of his armour. Blood began to pour through the only hole in his cowl.
Nightwing's vision returned and he watched as the Bat dropped to his knees, blood pouring profusely from his mouth. The Bat, Bruce Wayne, was dying right in front of him; killed by the Joker.
"NO!" Nightwing cried. Red Robin smacked Harley Quinn in the neck, knocking her out, and turned to see what had scared Nightwing so much. "You bastard!"
Nightwing instantly ran straight at the Joker with a fire in his eyes.
Superman's eyes flared red as he looked down at Lex Luthor with a deep rage which he was finally unleashing.
"No Superman!" came a booming voice from behind him.
Superman turned his head to see a powerful looking woman. She wore a tight red and blue uniform which left her legs and arms unprotected. Her hair was long, wavy and black and on top of that was a golden tiara. She had bright red and white knee high boots, thick metal bracelets, a sheathed sword and a golden rope by her side.
"Who are you to stop me?" he barked.
"I'm Princess Diana of the Amazon but you can call me Wonder Woman," she said, taking her sword from its scabbard. "You can't kill him, we have to place him in a criminal institution."
"But why?" Superman roared. "He made me kill, he's evil and nothing will change that!"
"Yes but it's not your right to decide that," Wonder Woman told him. "Now stand down!"
Superman turned back to Luthor, his eyes flaring red. He then extinguished the energy and growled at the cowering genius in a crushed suit of armour. He bent his knees and flew off into the sky at great speed.
Nightwing sprinted straight at the Joker and punched him in the face. He pushed the Joker down and kept slugging him, constantly screaming for his fallen mentor.
Red Robin ran over to the Bat and picked him up and cradled him in his arms, sobbing.
"I'm going to kill you!"
The Joker pushed Nightwing off him, his face covered in bruises and his nose dripping. "Oh Junior, didn't you know. This was going to happen but...oh well I see you around kid."
The Joker turned and walked towards the door which lead to the exit of the building.
"Where the fuck are you going?" Nightwing shouted after. "Come back here right now!"
"Or what Junior," the Joker laughed. "You're not the Bat, you're just another phoney like that Red boy over there. You can't keep up with me; that was the dead man's job."
Nightwing produced a batarang and threw it at the Joker as he opened the door to the stairwell. The sharp object stabbed him hard in the back, this made the Joker fall down the stairs. Nightwing ran to see where he fell but the villain was gone, all he could hear was his irritating laugh.
Instantly Nightwing turned and ran to the dying body of the Bat. He realised no one was around so he reached down and tore off the cowl; deactivating the security protocols in the suit first.
Bruce's face was pale and the blood flow was turning to a deathly trickle.
"Bruce, Bruce, Bruce can you hear me?" Nightwing shouted at him.
"Ryan," Bruce groaned. "Protect Gotham."
In his final action, Bruce Wayne weakly took Nightwing's hand and placed it on the Bat symbol which sat on the chest of his metallic suit. That was when he died and the blood stopped flowing from his mouth, it congealed on his lower lip.
"No!" he shouted, tears pouring down his face. "Not like this! Not like this!"
Nightwing collapsed onto the dead body, sobbing and weeping. Red Robin cradled the dead body of his former mentor, tears flowing like a river.
Kal-El's red boots touched down on the rooftop and he saw what had happened. He walked over and knelt by the dead body, silent tears rolling down his face. He had seen so much death that day, he vowed that while he was Superman no one else would die; not on his watch, he swore on the spirits of Superboy and Bruce, he would be the one hero the world needed.
The Bat had finally bit the dust and it was the saddest day for all of them. They weren't sure on the future but right now, without Bruce at the helm, it looked incredibly bleak.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Issue 21, the final issue centred around the battle of Metropolis. So now we've seen Princess Diana, Joker, Harley Quinn, Black Mask and the Toyman. All will return...eventually. I have killed Bruce Wayne and I am sorry for any people that read this and hate the idea that Bruce Wayne dies but this is an fan fiction story and only when he is dead can the rest of the plot occur. If you have any questions then ask them in a Review of PM me. Thanks and as always, a favourite, a follow or a like would be great :D