"Bruce."
Bruce Wayne blinked.
"Don't tell me you fell asleep?" His mother chided him. "You begged us to see this movie."
Bruce rubbed his eyes. On the screen Zorro was fighting valiantly in black and white.
"I don't feel so well."
"You don't?" His father said sharply. He wrapped his arm around him. "Come on then."
He grabbed hold of Bruce and lifted him off the ground. His Mother pressed her hand against his back as they stepped past the crowd, who were sitting enraptured at the screen.
"Dreadful film." His father said. "I don't blame you for falling asleep during it."
"Not now, dear…"
"Who in the world dresses up to fight crime? It's a complete waste of time and energy."
Bruce staggered slightly and his parents, perhaps realizing that now was not the time to be fighting about something so trivial, fell silent.
The three of them stepped out onto the street and looked around.
"Alfred isn't due back for another half hour." His father said, sighing. "We'll have to walk."
"When Bruce is feeling unwell?"
"We just have to go through Crime Alley and then-"
"You want us to walk through a place called Crime Alley?" Bruce asked.
His father looked at him, and then laughed.
"Yeah, that would be pretty stupid." He said. "We'll just wait out here for Alfred then."
They sat down on the curb outside the theatre.
"I wish I could see the end of the movie." Bruce complained. "I… really liked it."
"We'll come back another night." His Mother said soothingly. "Once you feel better."
"These films always end the same way, Bruce." His Father said. "The good guy wins and the day is saved. Real life isn't that simple." He twisted his hat in his hands.
A man stepped out of Crime Alley and stood in the entranceway to the theatre behind them. His father gave a look behind him and shook his head.
"Bastard was probably waiting to jump us." He said. "Let's hope Alfred gets here soon."
"Maybe we should go back in the theatre and wait." His Mother said anxiously.
"That's not a bad idea." His father said. "Better safe than sorry, Bruce. No one is going to save you if you get attacked. Not the government, not Zorro… no one."
They got up and moved back inside the theater. The man glanced at them, and Bruce could make out long, wild brown hair and a piercing stare. Bruce shivered.
"I think he might be an Eldian." His father said.
"Oh, I hope not." His Mother said, alarmed. "In our city?"
"What's an Eldian?"
"The worst scum in this world." His father told Bruce, as they stepped inside the theatre. "The only good Eldian is a dead Eldian."
"Is there a problem sir?"
The doorman at the theater was standing at the ready.
"I think an Eldian is standing just outside."
"We can't have that." The man said, looking alarmed. He reached into his jacket and pulled out an automatic pistol. "I will drive him away."
'Please do."
The man stepped through the door.
"I don't like this." His mother said unhappily. "Eldians are wandering around outside their containment zones…. It's only a matter of time until they destroy us all."
"Not unless we destroy them first. " His Father reminded her. "I'm petitioning the mayor to have anyone with even an ounce of Eldian blood rounded up and killed.
"Why do they need to die?" Bruce asked innocently, blinking up at his father.
"Because." His Father said. "They are the greatest evil this world has ever known."
Shots rang outside and they heard cursing. Suddenly the entire side of the theatre ripped apart. Bruce stared upward as a gigantic hand gripped the side of the wall, and a monstrous face leered down at him.
He felt small and powerless as the hand reached forward and grabbed his Father. Her mother screamed and fell to her knees, as the monster grabbed her too. Bruce stood there and watched as his parents were eaten alive by…
By….
By…
"His name was Eren Jaeger."
Bruce blinked. He was no longer in the theater. He was quite alone. Sitting in the Batcave, with no one but Alfred at his side.
"The man who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne was named Eren Jaeger." Alfred reminded him. "The King of Eldia."
"I… .remember."
Alfred nodded.
"When you swore that you would become vengeance itself and right the wrongs of the world… you sought to destroy those like Eren Jaeger. You sought to utilize every resource at your disposal to exert your will onto the entire world. For eighty-year years you have stalked the streets of this accursed city, and brought Order to this entire world. Only for the very same man who destroyed your parents to destroy everything you tried to accomplish."
Bruce stared at the Bat computer in front of him.
"What must I do?"
"You have already sold your own soul." Alfred said. The four eyes on his head glowed with a sinister red light. "If you wish to continue the fight, you must sacrifice more. Those who have followed you thus far… must be sacrificed."
Whatever humanity was left in Bruce Wayne died on that die. He was no longer Bruce Marley Wayne, the son of Thomas and Martha Wayne. He was no longer a billionaire, he was no longer a hero in any sense of the word. He had succumbed to absolute evil. He had become Batman.
"I sacrifice!"
Batman opened his eyes. He was floating deep in the sea outside the Eldian Island. Doubtless he had been unceremoniously dumped here after Levi had cut him in two.
He kicked his legs, and was surprised to see that they still worked. In fact, it dawned on him that they were faster and stronger than they were before he was killed. He was soaring through the water just as quickly and efficiently has Aquaman would have.
He adjusted his body and dove. He soared through the water, down ten, twenty feet, and suddenly he realized that he no longer had the need to breath. He flipped around, kicked, and shot up into the air.
A fountain of water exploded all around him as he soared into the sky and out of sight.
…
"What do we do now that Bruce is dead?"
Jason adjusted the sights on his new Assault Rifle. "Whatever we want."
He raised the gun and pointed it at him.
"Hey look, a crowd of angry protestors." He said. He mimed the motion of firing the gun into the crowd.
"Stop it." Barbara snapped. "Did he leave a will? Are we going to have to worry about the power going out? The cave being discovered? Even the Manor being sold will be dangerous for us."
"Relax. We just won't tell anyone Bruce is dead."
"How can you be so calm?" Barbara asked, frustrated. "We've lost everything… everything my Father and Bruce built together, up in smoke. Because of those idiot Eldians who couldn't see the bigger picture."
"I still got two gorgeous redheads as sex slaves." Jason said, smirking. "I'm perfectly happy."
Her eyes flashed. "Touch me, and you die."
"Without me you don't have anyone to fight the good fight in Gotham." Jason said. "We're sleeping together… whether you consent or not."
Starfire was watching the proceedings from the prison they had constructed from her. She had been starved and weakened… Jason had been keeping her around specifically for his own purposes.
"You wouldn't dare." Barbara said, her voice heated. "You don't have the guts."
He smirked at her, and she suddenly realized very quickly that he wasn't messing around.
"I'll do it right now."
She wheeled herself backward.
"No, stop-"
Before she could say another word, however, a dark shadow could be seen at the top of the stairs.
Assuming it was Alfred, Barbara screamed for his help. The dark figure, rather than reach for a gun, slowly began to walk down the stairs.
It was quite a bit bigger than a person. With each resounding step the stairs to the cave cracked and broke. Jason stopped and turned around.
"Who are you?" He shouted up the stairs. "Fuck off!"
The figure stepped into the light. Barbara screamed.
"I'm Batman." The thing hissed.
Jason swore loudly and fired off an entire round of his assault rifle. Batman stepped forward, each and every one of the bullets hitting him directly on the chest and bouncing harmlessly to the side.
No…. the suit couldn't handle that much stress… And those eyes… those horrible eyes…
"That isn't Bruce!" Barbara screamed, as the figure became even more visible. It was far too big, and too powerful… and too terrifying. In this very moment she had to confess to herself that she was more terrified of this thing than Jason.
Jason's assault rifle clicked uselessly and he sword. He reached for his utility belt and pulled out a weapon designed to take down the toughest metahumans imaginable… a shock rod that could electrocute its victims to near death. Jason maxed out the output and charged.
The Batman did not even move as Jason slammed the rod into his side. The sparks of the rod sparkled with amazing power, but the creature was not even phased.
"What-"
The thing reached down and Jason cried out as the powerful fingers wrapped around his neck. The monster lifted him off the ground and stared deep into his eyes.
"I sacrifice."
Jason screamed as his body was pulverized by the sheer power of the thing's grip. Barbara screamed as Jason's body was flung uselessly to the side, into the dark abyss of the cave below.
The thing advanced upon her, stomping powerfully towards her. Barbara stood completely still, staring up at it. She smiled weakly.
"T-thank you." She said. "I… Bruce… I was almost raped. You saved my-"
The thing reached down to her wheelchair. Barbara screamed as it bent and twisted the metal in her chair into sharp, pointed spears, and jammed them into her upper thighs.
Barbara cried out in pain as the thing pressed his foot down on her chair and reached for her neck. Barbara cried out as it wrapped its enormous hand around her head.
"I sacrifice."
It pulled. Barbara's neck stretched, and then was ripped from her body entirely. The Batman threw the head aside.
"More souls." It murmured. "More."
It's eyes fell on the half starved Starfire, and made its way to her. Starfire cried out in terror as it reached her. The impenetrable barrier that separated her from the outside world was destroyed by lasers coming out of its eyes.
Starfire sat, eyes wide, as it reached for her. In one fluid movement, she slid under its legs and made a beeline for the cave exit.
The thing whirled with surprising speed and caught up to her. Starfire cried out as it grabbed hold of her, but with surprising strength she managed to spin her way free and make her way to the door. She fought off her weakness and fatigue and desperately, desperately tried to outrun this monster.
It was about an inch away when she managed to slip through the door to the batcave from the mansion. The monster, being so large, took a moment to break down the wall… but a moment was all she needed. She was out the window and into the city in a heartbeat.
The monster watched her go, not even human enough anymore to understand that it had lost its prey, before setting its sights on its next sacrifice. There were still, after all, plenty of criminals in Gotham that relied on Batman to keep themselves in power, after all.
…
A/N
I received a lot of reviews suggesting that they believed the story was over after the end of last chapter, and it really killed me to try and keep the last leg of the story secret for so long. But yes, it's finally here! The beginning of the final showdown will begin… shortly. After more sacrifices are made.
I'll try and prioritize working on Rumble going forward to try and finish this arc as quickly as possible. I can pretty much guarantee that it'll be done within a year, but I haven't yet decided how many chapters it's going to be. My estimate would be about ten, but it'll probably be a little bit less than that.
Anyway, I would like to thank you all for reading and enjoying this story up to this point. I hope the conclusion will be memorable and entertaining.
