A Rose By Any Other Name

Here it is for all my patient readers. the finale of the Arkham City Series. Please give me some feedback.

"Batman!" Harley was chasing after him, "what do you think you're doin'?"

"I have to stop Strange…then I am going after Joker."

She stomped her foot, "But you'll hurt him!" She grabbed his ear, "I swear! If he is hurt I am gonna kill you!" Her face contorted and eyes burned.

"Geez Harley. I am going to give him the cure. I won't kill him, but I can't let him become immortal."

"OK." She let him go, "I'll try to stall him a bit so you could stop Strange."

Batman nodded and quickly made his way through Arkham City. He saw Bane in the distance fighting off some thugs of the Penguin. He chuckled as Bane tossed one of them into the water. Batman dove off a building tackling two thugs, tying them to the light post, and landing softly. Finally, the dark crusader made his way to Wonder Tower. He remembered what had happened with him and Talia earlier this night underneath this tower. He made his way to the top mercilessly. Knocking thugs off the tower to be hung hundreds of feet up with no escape. He clawed his way through the air ducts around Strange's HQ, popping out to knock out a guard viciously then disappearing back into the floor.

"Where the hell is he?" The guards were screaming to each other in fear.

He activated an echo device he had equipped to his cowl before entering Arkham City. He smiled and began to chuckle. The dark laugh echoed through the entire room as if he was everywhere at once except where he actually was. The guards were sent into frenzy, one guard was driven into tears out of fear.

The dark knight smiled and dove out of the grates and beat the living bat-shit out of all of the guards. He made his way to Strange and beat him bloody and gasping for life.

"OK Strange, stop this now!"

"Like hell I will Mister Wayne!" Strange laughed as he lay bleeding on the floor.

Batman walked over to the main control station and inserted a wireless receiver to connect to the Batcomputer.

The Oracle began speaking to Bruce, "I am already on it Bruce. Just try getting some more information from Hugo."

"I will Oracle. Just shut this down. Now." He turned back to Hugo, and pressed the man against the glass and broke his arm. "Now tell me who you are working for!"

"I will never!" He chuckled, "And I know you will not kill me. As soon as I am free I will have, once again, nearly unlimited resources!" The dark knight tossed him away and punched the glass, cracking the bulletproof window.

"Hugo, why?"

"WHY? Why, because of people like you and Joker. You too are criminals and should be cleaned from this Earth."

~Where have I heard this before? ~ Bruce thought to himself, "Why me? I am helping this city?"

"Helping? You are the one who created most of these monsters!" Strange stood up and grinned, "If it wasn't for you, Joker, Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and Harley Quinn. All of them were created because of you in one way or another, Mr. Wayne."

"Strange!" Batman frowned and moved towards him when suddenly a sword pierced Strange through the back and through the chest. He was lifted up into the air and thrown against a server tower.

Bruce looked at the wielder of the blade to see it was the Demon himself, Ra's al Ghul. He pulled his blade back to him and pulls out a towel. He begins wiping blood of his blade, "Good to see you detective." He smiles as he cleans his blade.

"Strange!" the crusader ran over to the dying man and tried to help him. He turned to Ra's, "Why Ra's! He needs Medical attention. NOW!"

"Fine, if you want. I just kill him anyway. He failed me anyway." He walked to the glass, "at least the end has begun."

"Ra's…why can't you give…me a second…second chance?"

"Because you did enough but still did not finish the task."

"Ra's!" Bruce slammed him against the window.

"I gave you a chance to be my apprentice." He pushed Batman aside, and sliced at him and they fell to the lower level.

"Comp-puter…activate…"

The dueling brutes stopped and turned to Strange, Ra's stepped back and his eyes widened.

"Activate Protocol eleven…password…Wayne" Strange struggled to mutter before collapsing, blood gushing from his mouth and his life ending before the two fighters.

"What have you done!" Ra's ran for the window and dove through plummeting towards the ground. Bruce followed close behind.

"I won't let you get away!" Just then, Wonder Tower's top exploded and massive pieces of rubble fell past them. Ra's grabbed a chunk and launched it at the dark crusader.

"Never underestimate me Detective." The rubble narrowly missed Bruce as it continued to spread and crash to the ground. Inmates were running scarred beneath them. Bruce activated the spikes on the bottom of his boots and he stepped down onto a massive chunk of rubble. He quickly moved towards Ra's before he launched more rubble at the crusader.

"I am taking you in Ra's!"

"I'd prefer not." Ra's landed on the same chunk of concrete and tackled Batman making the rubble tip. Batman pushed him off and he stood up. He sent a roundhouse kick at the Demon and connected with his jaw, sending the old man tumbling and almost falling off the rubble. He climbed back onto the rock and tackled Bruce and they fell off, falling far from the rest of the rubble.

Bruce wrapped his arms around Ra's to gently land; however, Ra's stabbed himself with his sword. Bruce pushed him away and glided to safety as Ra's was impaled on the Wonder Tower Gate.

"I am sorry Ra's…" He contacted Oracle, "Looks like Ra's is going to need another trip to a Lazarus Pit."

"Bruce. Oh thank god!" I saw the explosion from the Bat Cave. Are you ok?"

"Besides a few cuts. I am fine.

"Good, I stayed locked onto the tracker like you wanted me too."

"Thank you Oracle, I don't know how to repay you? Where is she?"

"She's at the old Theater. You had better hurry. From the satellite views she looks like she could be in big danger…Oh and you'll think of something to do to repay me."

"Ok." Bruce ran as fast as he could. Gliding high above the streets and into the Theater.

"Joker!"

"Give me my cure Bats!" Joker was hiding behind Talia

"Don't give it to him my love!"

"You have the cure!" He stepped forward and the knife from Joker's sleeve appeared.

"Not another move." The blade drew closer to her neck, drawing blood.

"Talia!"

"I am fine my love." She knocked the knife away spun around the Jester of Gotham and stabbed him with the Sword of the Demon.

"No!" He ran to them as Joker fell lifeless to the ground and Talia walked past him then turned to him.

"It is over." Just then, Batman understood Jokers ploy and tried to dive for Talia, however the sound of a magnum echoed through the theater and in the streets outside. Bruce caught her as she fell. "I am sorry my love…I…I didn't know." She closed her eyes and was deathly still.

"JOKER!" He stood up and saw the Clown Prince of Crime laughing then pointing at the 'dead' Joker. Batman turned to him as he rose and revealed the cure. He swallowed the vial and began to transform. "Clayface."

"Hello Batman."

"What are you doing here? You we're supposed to be here."

"I decided to try out for the role of the lifetime." He raised his arms and brought them down and Batman dodged just in time, "YOU!"

Batman threw a dozen freeze bombs at the titan, freezing him in place. Batman ran up his back and removed the sword Talia had. He felt a strong presence within the blade. He was suddenly filled with the anger of losing Talia and began slicing into Clayface revealing the cure.

He reached for it but Clayface broke from the ice and grabbed him throwing him into the wall. As Bruce stood up a long arm knocked him across the floor, tearing his cape and stabbing him as he slid. He looked up and saw Catwoman perched to attack Clayface, but Batman shook his head and stood back up. ~I have to do this alone. ~ He ran at Clayface with five freeze bombs in each of his hands. Clayface melted into the floor, moved under Batman, engulfed him, and began squeezing him.

Batman closed his eyes and detonated the freeze bombs, encasing himself in the frozen clay. He struggled and finally broke his arm free and grasped the sword from the monster's side. He tore it out making Clayface collapse, freeing him in the process.

Clayface seeped into the floor and disappeared, sliding along the floor, up the wall, and onto the ceiling. He bubbled out, fell, and smashed down through the floor into the Lazarus Pit where he had fought Ra's earlier that night. He caught the sword and sliced into the beast. He roared in pain as he slipped into the pit.

The electricity flashed and surged as Joker prepared to leap into the Lazarus Pit. Batman threw the sword and knocked Joker off and the machine above the pit collapsed dragging the rest of Clayface into the Pit, tainting it. "NO! You've killed me!"

"I could give you the cure, and then take you in. But you'll escape and then kill again."

"Just give it to me." Joker's voice was echoing through the room, in the dark. "I know you will. You always will."

"I could just let it fall…Let you die." He opened the top and drank half of the vial.

"What?"

"You are always going to get out and kill, and I always put you back…just to repeat it every night."

"Yeah…I know." He began hacking up blood, loud splashing fell to the floor. "Consider it a running gag." Just then, He jumped on Batman and stabbed him trying to grab the cure. The pain made Batman drop the vial and Joker fell to the ground screaming. "NO!" He began trying to drink it off the floor.

"You want to know something funny." Joker lay on his back looking at his counterpart, "I would have saved you."

Joker began laughing and hacking, "You know…that…that is funny!" He began laugh quieter and slower before becoming silent. His body became cold and his devilish grin never disappeared from his red-blotched white face. Blood slowly dripped from his mouth, getting in his dark green hair. Batman picked up Joker, and began slowly carrying him.

Harley was running as fast as she could to get to the Theater to stop the men from fighting. She was teary eyed, knowing Joker could not handle a fight with Batman. She pushed a penguin thug out of the way trying to get through the crowd. He grabbed her and punched her, knocking her down. He removed a knife and just as he was going to stab her, a vine from the ground behind him wrapped around his wrist and pulled the knife into his chest.

"Run Harley." Ivy helped her up and pushed her towards the theater. "Joker has the key you need." She turned and punched another thug knocking him away. Suddenly a wave of mind-controlled Thugs came to Ivy and Harley's aid. They group of brutish men began savagely beating each other bloody.

Harley continued to run wiping the blood from her mouth. She pushed through the mob outside the theater and saw Batman carrying Joker. She covered her mouth and held back tears as she saw her Mistah J, lifeless in Batman's arms. She ran up to him and slapped Batman as her emotions began to boil over.

He continued onward towards the front gate and walked out. He walked to Gordon's car and laid the body of his foe on the hood.

"Batman…what the hell happened in there?" Batman ignored him and continued to leave, a tear welling in his eye from the pain he had suffered that night.