A/N:
Kraut007-
I like this story a lot so far.
Since DC Comics has made Lady Shiva more or less an anti-heroine again, the fandom might as well have some fun with with this pairing. And frankly, in terms of personality they are not so different (at least in their more recent comic versions).
Therefore, tons of fun so far to read about this power couple XD
Kraut007-
Loved the fight and action in this chapter.
Bruce & Sandra taking on the League of Assasins is a story that should have been told long ago und is well done here.
Have you ever watched Batman: Soul of the Dragon? Shiva was freakin' awesome in that movie. Makes you feel like she has way more potential as an anti-heroine instead of a villain. In terms of personality, hell yeah, Bruce and Sandra are practically made for each other. I'm seriously disappointed they're not in more properties together, kinda like how I feel like there's not enough Batman and Wonder Woman stories (planning on fixing that problem after this story).
THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT! Seriously, why hasn't that story been done yet? Now that I think about it, the League of Assassins is pretty underutilized as antagonists. Guess it really does take fans like us to write stories that uses DC's own characters properly, eh?
Dr. Holt was checking some charts, looking serious at first until he smirked. "Heh. If things went any better you'd look like you were in your twenties."
Harvey and Grace chuckled and giggled at that. "I'll keep my face as is."
"I like Harvey like this," Grace said before she kissed his cheek.
"He'll need at least two weeks rest. After that, the White Knight can make his big return."
"Hm, as much as I want to do that, there's something even more important I want to do," Harvey said as he gently grabbed Grace's hand.
She looked down and noticed he grabbed her left hand. Her eyes widened when she saw him fiddling with her ring finger. "Harvey?"
He just smiled in response.
Grace smiled back, tears welling up before they kissed. When they parted, Grace looked at the Wu-San-Waynes. "Thank you. Both of you. I can't even imagine how to repay you two."
"Think nothing of it. I got my friend back, after all," Bruce said.
"As long as Harvey helps make Gotham into an ideal, or even beyond the ideal city, that's payment enough for me," Shiva said.
"I intend to, Madame Wayne."
"Good. Then you've paid us back in-"
SPLASH.
Sandra's eyes widened, a rare sight occurring. Sandra was blushing in embarrassment. "Eh?" She looked down, even more shocked and embarrassed. "N-Now? Of all times?"
Bruce immediately ran over and pressed the Call Nurse button, taking the phone off the bed. "Send a doctor to room 248 immediately! . . . The emergency is that my wife's water broke!"
It didn't take long for doctors and nurses to rush into the room, already helping Sandra onto a gurney to wheel her to the Labor Room. The entire time, Bruce was holding her hand, ignoring her squeezes.
"I knew it was risky. I knew it would be this week. Still, what was that timing," Sandra groaned.
"It's alright, Sandra. At the very least, we're at a hospital. You'll be able to deliver our child without issue."
Bruce sadly said that... while rushing past a League of Assassins spy, the disguised doctor looked back at the targets before entering a patient's room. That patient was a wounded Assassin, the two looking at each other. Moments passed before both nodded, the patient taking out a communicator.
"The dragon's child will enter the mortal realm," he said into the communicator.
". . . Finally," Orphan said on the other end of the device.
Sandra was doing the breathing techniques for childbirth. She groaned. "After everything I've been through, all of my trials, tribulations, and experiences. All that I've suffered. NONE of it compares to childbirth!"
"Sandra, you can squeeze harder if you need to."
"Are you sure, Bruce? You know how strong I am."
Bruce smirked. "I'm the only man on Earth who knows how true that is. Besides that, I can handle it just fine."
"You said it." Shiva then began to groan as the process began, squeezing Bruce's hand tighter. If Bruce was a normal man, his hand would have been crushed by now, the bones in his hand becoming dust. Fortunately, Bruce Wu-San-Wayne is far from a normal man, so he could take his wife's awesome strength and then some.
"The head is crowning! Keep pushing Mrs. Wayne," the doctor said.
Sandra then released the loudest yell she had ever unleashed. It was then replaced by the sound of crying.
"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. It's a beautiful baby girl," the doctor said as he wrapped the crying baby and handed it to Sandra.
Sandra and Bruce looked down at their child, the baby almost immediately calming down when she was in her mother's embrace.
Tears fell on the baby's cheeks, coming from Lady Wayne herself. "This. . . This is my child," she said with a smile. "My daughter." She then rubbed her cheek against the baby's. "My little Cassandra. Cassandra Wu-San-Wayne. Her name sounds even more beautiful than I thought it would."
"She truly is a little treasure, isn't she," Bruce said.
"She's OUR treasure. Without a doubt. Now, come, our child should spend her first night at home."
"M-Mrs. Wayne! You should rest," the nurse went.
"Oh, please. It will take more than birth to keep me in-"
BOOM!
The entire hospital building shook, Cassandra cried as more explosives and screams flooded the hospital.
Bruce yanked Sandra and Cassandra over to him, shielding them from the falling ceiling.
Nightwing jumped through a window and picked up a crying little girl. Batwoman saved a comatose woman. Red Hood shot the doors open so people could escape. Batwing flew by and saved patients from the higher floors. Batgirl was helping guide evacuation while Robin tried to activate the sprinkler systems and scan for weak points to know who needed priority rescue.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON," Nightwing yelled through his comm.
"WHATEVER IT IS, IT SURE AS HELL ISN'T AN ACCIDENT," Batwoman yelled through the comms. "BUT TWO-FACE'S GOONS WOULDN'T BE SMART ENOUGH TO DO THIS! THIS IS RIDDLER'S STYLE, BUT NOT HIS MO!"
"AND JOKER HATES REPEATING THE SAME JOKE," Red Hood yelled. "THIS HAS THE LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!"
"RIGHT CALL, RED," Robin yelled. "BUT IT'S A SPECIFIC MEMBER!"
"ORPHAN," Batgirl yelled. "HE'S BEEN QUIET, EVEN COMPARED TO THE OTHER ASSASSIN LEADERS! HE'S AFTER-"
"SANDRA," the Bat Family realized.
"I CAN'T PICK UP BRUCE OR SANDRA ON MY SCANNERS," Batwing yelled.
"DAMNIT, I HATE TO SAY THIS, BUT THEY'RE ON THEIR OWN! CIVILIANS TAKE PRIORITY," Nightwing yelled.
"IF ANYONE CAN GET THROUGH THIS, IT'S THOSE TWO," Batwoman said.
'If you don't, I'll never forgive you, Bruce,' Nightwing thought as he carried three kids out of the burning and exploding building.
Meanwhile, in a pile of rubble, a fist punched out of it. Then, piles of debris were pushed off by Bruce as he helped his wife and daughter out. The two looked to see that all possible exits were blocked off by fire.
Then, Bruce looked at the floor and saw a massive crack. He grabbed what was left of a chair and slammed it onto the ground. Though the chair shattered, it still had enough force behind it to break the floor open, leading to the next floor. Both he and Sandra jumped down into the area below.
When they landed and looked up, they saw they were surrounded by the League of Assassins.
The husband and wife duo were pissed.
"I just gave birth," Sandra began.
"You blew up a hospital my wife and daughter were in," Bruce began.
"And worse, you made our daughter cry," the couple said in perfect unison. "This is going to hurt, and we're going to enjoy it," they said as they took their stances, ready to fight their way through the burning hospital.
Nightwing had just carried out an old man, giving him to medics.
"NIGHTWING!"
He looked toward the voice. "Commissioner Gordon!"
"What the hell is going on!?"
"Pure terrorism, with assassination attempt mixed in."
"Where's Harvey Dent?! He was brought to this hospital!"
"I'm fine, Commissioner," a voice coughed out. Both Gordon and Nightwing looked to see Harvey being held up by Dr. Holt and Grace, all of them only being covered in soot, with no burn damage whatsoever. "But what about Bruce and Sandra?! Sandra was giving birth!"
"WHAT," Jim yelled before hearing crying and seeing a figure coming out of the fire. "Batman?"
It was a Bat, but it was Batwoman, using her cape to protect herself and the babies she was carrying, Batgirl ran out after her, followed by Robin, all three immediately running to medics, parents running after the heroes to check on their newborns.
Jim then looked back at the now inferno hospital. "Bruce, Sandra, where are you?"
An assassin slammed onto the wall, debris falling on him. He burst out of it, taking a few steps forward before falling face down, unconscious.
Bruce then dodged an assassin's sword swings before catching the blade and knocking the owner out. He then landed a roundhouse on one trying to attack him from behind, grabbing his shuriken before he fell, and threw it.
The shuriken stabbed into the arm of an assassin about to slash Sandra from behind, the beauty finishing him off with an elbow to the face. She then redirected the slash of another with one hand before using that same hand to perform a paralyzing technique. She then used judo to throw the assassin at another, the two slamming through a wall that made an escape route for the couple.
They didn't hesitate to run through the hole, both hugging each other to keep Cassandra safe from the fire.
When they were in the next room that had a safe route to the hallway, they took it, the couple running down the flaming hall. Assassins appeared, but Bruce knocked them out with one punch while Sandra used a kick. They ran and ran until the floor collapsed beneath them, the two able to land on their feet safely.
Fortunately, they saw a stairway not too far from them and ran toward it, assassins appeared from the upper staircase.
They threw shurikens at the two, but they both easily caught the weapons and threw them back. Bruce aimed for their throwing arms while Sandra aimed for the knee, both hitting their marks and using their martial arts training to jump down the stairs with speed, grace, and precision.
It didn't take the pair long to reach the ground floor of the hospital, about to enter the massive lobby. They stopped when they reached it.
"Of course," Bruce went in annoyance.
"Tch," Sandra merely went.
Before them, standing in front of the fire engulfed exit, stood Orphan.
"You two arrived sooner than even I expected. I thought our little encounter would only last five minutes before the hospital collapsed, but you showed up in time to give a solid ten."
Bruce stepped up. "Orphan, you've done something that would terrify most: You made me angry. Get out of my way before I beat you into a bloody pulp that not even Holt's plastic surgery can fix."
"Oh, I'll gladly move, Mr. Wayne, as soon as you give me your little girl."
Sandra's gaze would have literally killed a weaker-willed man. "There are easier ways to commit suicide, Cain," Sandra said as she hugged her daughter closer to her.
"The Bat ruined my plans, Shiva. That girl you're holding should have been made by ME! It should have been MY seed that made Cassandra, not the Bat's! I may not have gotten my daughter, but I'll sure as hell get my heir. I'm going to make that kid into a warrior so perfect that not even the three of us would be a match for her."
"Oh, my daughter will be a warrior, but she will be taught by me and my husband, not the loser I dumped."
"You heard my wife, Cain," Bruce said as he walked forward.
"Heh. You want to fight me, Wayne? No armor? No gadgets? No weapons?"
"Against you, Cain, I won't need them," Bruce said as he punched his palm before taking his stance. "All I need is pure skill. And trust me, Sandra hasn't been just improving Gotham and strengthening the Wu-San-Wayne Conglomerate. Apparently, not even my training was finished, but she made sure to teach me the final lessons."
Orphan chuckled as he drew his sword. "I'm going to slice your head off and mount it on my wall like a trophy, Talia and Ra's be damned. Speaking of the Demon's Daughter, you should expect a visit from her soon enough, Shiva! I may want to kill your husband and take your kid, but she wants to torture you and practically brainwash your daughter."
Sandra's eyebrow twitched out of anger. She then gave an angry smile. "Thank you for the warning. Bruce?"
"Hm?"
"BREAK HIM."
"With pleasure."
Orphan and Bruce then charged at each other, giving battle cries as their battle commenced.
Nightwing landed with a heavyset woman on his back, putting her to the ground. "That should be the last one," he panted.
BOOM!
Everyone looked up to see explosions from the hospital.
"THE OXYGEN TANKS," Batwoman yelled.
BOOM! BOOM!
"CRAP! IT'S COMING DOWN," Nightwing went.
Batwing flew up and tried to push it back, his thrusters at full strength. "IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS, I'M ALL EARS!"
"COMMISSIONER, PLEASE, GIVE AN EVAC ORDER!"
Gordon took out his radio. "ALL UNITS, CIVILIAN LIFE IS A TOP PRIORITY! GATHER AS MANY AS YOU CAN AND EVACUATE THE AREA IMME-"
An ice beam hit the building, freezing an entire floor.
Nightwing and Gordon looked to see Dr. Freeze holding what looked like a sniper, but different design.
"The fire will melt the ice too quickly! Commissioner Gordon, have your men use the guns I made for them! Please," Victor said as he fired another blast, freezing another floor.
"YOU HEARD THE DOCTOR! ALL UNITS, AIM YOUR STANDARD-ISSUE ARCTIC PISTOLS AND FREEZE THAT BUILDING!"
Officers took out their guns and shot at the fires, putting many of them out or on ice.
Nightwing ran to Victor. "Got a spare for the front?"
Victor handed Nightwing the gun, who aimed it at the entrance. 'Please be okay, Bruce, Sandra, lil' sis.' He then fired.
Bruce was dominating Orphan. Precise punches to the face, crippling kicks to the knees, and perfect parries did a lot of damage to Orphan, the man stumbling back as he was panting. He only landed a few good hits on Bruce, blood staining his right sleeve along with a shallow cut to the leg, but Bruce was barely hurt compared to Orphan.
Bruce stared at the panting Orphan before he sighed. "I'm getting tired, Orphan. Let's just end this," he said as he took one of Shiva's favorite stances.
Orphan became furious. "AND HOW DO YOU PLAN ON ENDING THIS WITHOUT A WEAPON, WAYNE?!"
"Hmph. You really would have made a terrible match for Shiva if you were relying on weapons. If you trained with her, you would have known a long time ago. We ARE the weapon."
Orphan roared as he lunged at Bruce, swinging his sword down with all his strength. Bruce then swung his hand with all of his skill and strength.
Orphan's eyes widened in shock when Bruce's hand shattered his sword with a mere chop.
Bruce then struck Orphan's wrist, making him throw away his broken sword. Bruce followed with a punch to the liver, a palm to the heart, a chop to the neck, and a palm strike to the chin that made Orphan's head fly up, exposing his neck.
Then, Bruce threw an attack on Orphan's exposed neck. Thanks to Shiva's training, Bruce's fingers were more than powerful enough to utterly destroy David's throat, but that would have been fatal. Instead, Bruce used a palm strike. Yes, it caused severe trauma to the trachea, but David still survived, so says his violent coughing and wheezing.
"You could have killed him, you know," Sandra said.
"You know I don't kill, Sandra. And if I have anything to say about it, neither will our daughter."
"Hm. Am I to follow that code as well, given the fact I'm your wife?"
Bruce sighed. "No. You've taken enough lives, but I can't force my code on you, even if I tried."
Sandra giggled. "Good to see you know your wife, wǒ xīn'ài de zhàngfū (my beloved husband)."
"D-Damn you." The couple looked at Cain as he ripped off his mask, hoping to get at least a bit more air down his nearly collapsed throat. "Wayne... What. . . ARE you?"
". . . I'm Batman... and Lady Shiva's husband."
David was gasping, struggling to get air in his lungs. He wouldn't die, but he wouldn't be able to escape. Though, he would rather die in this building than be captured by anyone.
As soon as he thought that, the fire behind him was completely frozen, David looking at it in shock. He then saw Nightwing on the other side of the now-frozen flame, holding a gun.
"No," he croaked out.
Victor then ran up, holding what looked like a red-hot poker, and jabbed it into the ice, quickly melting a path into the hospital, followed by GPD and Nightwing.
"NO," he croaked as he was surrounded.
"DON'T MOVE!"
"HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"
"YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!"
"Mr. and Mrs. Wayne," Gordon yelled as he ran up to the couple. "Are you alright?"
"We are, Jim. All three of us," Bruce said as he looked toward his wife and fussy daughter. The fact she was only being fussy was incredible. She should have been wailing, but she was as calm as could be.
"Please, let the medical staff give your family a check-up, Mr. Wayne. There's still too much smoke in the hospital. That can't be good for the baby."
"What about him," Sandra asked as she glared at Cain, Bruce and Jim joining him; said criminal looking at them with wide eyes.
"Blackgate has had some modifications. It has a security wing just as advanced as Arkham's, only its wing is in solitary. Guy won't see the light of day for a long time, literally."
"Do you really think," Cain began to croak out.
"NOT ANOTHER WORD, MAGGOT!"
"I'll let YOU WIN," he somehow yelled out before taking out a syringe and injecting himself.
"FIRE!"
The officers froze Cain solid, but they were too late.
The ice began to crack as David actually grew within the ice. Unlike the first time he injected himself with Venom, his uniform began to tear.
"What the hell," Jim yelled.
"GET DOWN," Nightwing ordered, everyone getting behind something as the ice burst, followed by the roar of some kind of beast.
"WAAAAAAAYNE," the beast roared.
Bruce got up first, glaring at the monstrosity David made himself into. His formerly blue eyes were now glowing green, with his sclera black as darkness. He literally had the same eyes as Ra's Al Ghul. He was even radiating green energy as the Demon Head could, but that's where the similarities ended. He was even bigger than Bane, his arms tearing out of his suit, his steel boots shattered into pieces, and his chest fully exposed. He was big enough for his head to reach the ceiling, heavy enough for the floor beneath him to crack, and actually radiating enough heat for the ice around him to melt.
"I'M GOING TO RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB, WAYNE! BANE MAY HAVE BROKEN YOU, BUT I'M GOING TO RIP AND TEAR YOU!"
Cain was then shot from behind, his back covered in ice before he shook it off, looking behind him with wide, insane eyes.
Aiming the freeze gun was Nightwing. "EVERYONE, GET OUT OF HERE! COMMISSIONER, MAKE SURE THE WAYNES ARE OUT SAFELY!"
"Right! This way," Jim said as he led Bruce and Sandra away.
Cain was about to chase after them until his leg was frozen. He looked and flexed his calf muscles to get out, glaring at Nightwing.
"Come on, Cain. You've had your dance with Bruce. It's time to switch partners," Nightwing said as he threw the gun away.
Cain snarled as he stomped toward Nightwing, stopping when he was right in front of the hero, literally looking down at him. "Do you really think you can beat me alone, Grayson," Cain snarled out.
"Actually, yeah. I like my odds. Too bad I'll never find out."
"What?" Cain stumbled forward when he was shot in the back of the head, looking behind him angrily to see Red Hood pointing a gun at him.
"This a private date?"
"Nope. Open invite," Nightwing said.
"I'm not really into guys, especially not ones THAT ugly." Cain looked toward the voice to see Batwoman step out of the shadows, punching her palm and cracking her knuckles. "But I do like a good party."
"But really, Cain? No chips? No drinks? You didn't even bring a cake." He looked to see Robin walk out of the shadows, carrying his staff on his shoulders, Batgirl walking out next to him with her tonfa.
"You make a TERRIBLE host, Orphan," Batgirl said as she spun her tonfa and took her stance, the others doing the same.
"IS THAT ALL?! IS THIS ALL YOU COULD THROW AT ME?! YOU'RE NOTHING! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU," he roared as he slammed his fists on the ground, making the entire building shake.
"WHOA," Batwoman yelled as she jumped out of the way of a falling ceiling. "BASTARD'S TRYING TO BRING THE BUILDING DOWN!"
"Nope! Not that simple," Robin yelled. "His cognitive thinking is shot! He's basically a raging bull right now!"
The Bat Family looked to see that Robin was right, Cain literally foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog.
"Looks like the idiot pumped himself with too much Venom. The Lazarus Water isn't helping much either," Red Hood said.
"We might not have to fight him after all! Full retreat! Get out of the building before he-WHOA!" Nightwing dropped to the floor to avoid being hit by the front desk that Cain threw, the desk crashing through the window.
"Yup! No need to fight that," Robin yelled as he threw a Robinrang at Cain's face. It did bounce off, but it wasn't meant to harm.
It was a Flashrang.
Cain roared as he was blinded, the Bat Family running out through the hospital just as it began to collapse. As soon as Cain regained his sight, the building was already falling on him, the man roaring in rage.
When they were out, the Bat Family watched it crumble to the ground. When the dust cleared, all five looked to see a pile of rubble.
Yet, they all took their stances.
A mere moment later, Cain's massive fist punched out of the rubble. He then dragged himself out of it, seeing the Bat Family, and roared in rage before bursting out of the rubble. He then roared with enough force to make the glass on the vehicles around him shatter.
"It's never easy, eh," Red Hood said.
"More fun like this anyway," Batwoman said.
"Gotta agree with the lady on this one, Hood," Nightwing said.
"Eh, agree to... agree in this case. Let's beat the crap out of this guy before Batman shows up!"
"HELL YEAH," the Bat Family went as they prepared to fight the Lazarus Venomed monstrosity.
Nightwing ran toward Cain. Cain threw a punch, but Nightwing was able to jump and actually roll across Cain's arm before smacking him with his Escrima Stick, using Cain's head as a springboard to get away.
Cain tried to grab Nightwing, only for his hand to be shot. He looked toward the gunman, only to have to use his massive arms to block Red Hood's bullets. Cain then roared as he clapped, sending a shockwave that Red Hood had to jump out of the way of, the blast destroying a car behind Hood.
Cain then saw a Batarang fly in front of his face, only for it to explode.
Batwoman got another Batarang ready, only to have to jump out of the way of Cain's lunge, the monstrous man crushing the pavement beneath him.
He roared at the heroes, slamming his fist on the ground to create a shockwave. They were all able to jump over it.
However, Cain grabbed Nightwing, his massive hand gripping the hero's entire torso. "I'M GOING TO SNAP YOU LIKE A TWIG!"
"Uugh! Please do that instead of talking," Nightwing groaned. "Your breath is horrible."
Cain roared as he grabbed Nightwing's legs, preparing to rip him in half before he was shot at from above by a laser, dropping Nightwing.
"Cutting it close, Batwing," Nightwing called.
"Had some air traffic, what with Gotham Hospital falling to pieces! Any plans on how to take this guy?!"
"Pressure! The Venom Lazarus he injected himself is obviously unstable! Even Plastic Man would have noticed that it has a massive weakness! Just keep making him angry and stressed and it will work itself out of his system! In short, MAKE HIM HAVE AN EVEN BIGGER MELTDOWN TO BURN THE VENOM OUT OF HIM!"
"SOUNDS LIKE AN IDEA, GENERAL," Batwing yelled as he began to fire at Cain.
Cain roared as he ripped out of a piece of the road and threw it at Batwing. He flew down to avoid the pavement, actually caught it, and used its momentum to spin around, increasing speed, before throwing it back at Cain, who was hit point blank.
Cain swung his hand to get rid of the dust cloud, only to be surprised when Red Hood ran up his chest, stood on his shoulders, and began to empty the clips in both of his guns into Cain's head. When they were empty, Red Hood kicked off Cain's face, making him stumble back.
As he stumbled back, Batgirl and Robin appeared behind his legs and struck his calves with all of their strength and their electrically charged weapons. It was enough to make Cain fall on his back. When he opened his eyes, he saw Batwoman falling toward him before she stomped on his face, jumping off and running down his body before jumping again. This time, she stomped on his jewels, which made him roar in both pain and anger.
When Cain got up, green eyes glowing even brighter, he saw the entire Bat Family in front of him. Nightwing, Batwoman, Batgirl, and Robin threw Batarangs. Batwing unleashed a laser blast from his emblem. Finally, Red Hood fired his most explosive bullets.
Cain roared before the attacks reached him.
KABOOOOM!
The Bat Family stared at the smoking area where Cain would be.
"No way that's going to be enough," Red Hood said as he reloaded his guns.
"It wouldn't be enough to knock Bane out, so no way is Cain going down that easily," Robin said.
"You might be surprised," Nightwing said.
As soon as he did, Cain swung his hand, only a bit bloody with a few scratches on him, but still looking furious.
"Surprised, huh, Nightwing," Batwoman asked as she and the others got in their stances.
"I'LL... KILL... You," Cain went as he took several steps forward, looking wobbly before falling to one knee. He then got back up and stomped forward. "I'm... going to... rip you... Mail you... to... I'll..." Cain then looked ready to vomit.
He covered his mouth as green liquid splattered through his fingers. Then, he fell to his knees and vomited violently. "Not... over."
"Thought so," Nightwing said as he stood back up.
"So we DID overwork him," Robin said as he rested his staff on his shoulders. "The Venom is overtaxed. It couldn't handle what we dished out. Being mixed with foreign substances like Lazarus Water didn't help either."
"Nope. He's done," Nightwing said.
Cain then vomited again, his glow now completely gone as he panted heavily. "Not... over," he said as he stood up. "Still... have... strength. Can still... break you."
"Hood, would you like to do the honors," Nightwing asked.
"My pleasure," Red Hood said as he stepped forward, aimed, and shot Cain in the head.
"N-Nooo," Cain went softly before falling to the ground, panting heavily.
Nightwing then reached for his earpiece. "Commissioner, it's Nightwing. It's safe. Cain is down. Repeat, Cain is down."
Not even ten seconds later, police sirens blared as cars drifted to the scene, officers rushing out of their cars, and shooting Cain with their Freeze Pistols, freezing every part of Cain's body.
"Over. . . Not. Return. . . Me. Man... Bat... Josh. . . Fame."
"The hell is this guy sayin'," Bullock asked as he scratched under his hat in confusion.
"It's the Venom," Batgirl explained as she walked up. "He had too much of a bad thing. Even with Lazarus Water, it deteriorated his mind too badly. I think this might be the end of Orphan."
"Sheela. Supposed. . . Mine. Lotter. Me lotter. Not Fame's. Me lotter."
(A/N: To those curious, Orphan was saying: Batman is Bruce Wayne. Shiva was supposed to be mine. Daughter. My daughter. Not Wayne's. My daughter.)
"I almost feel sorry for the poor bastard. Almost. That flatbed here yet," Bullock called.
"Right here, detective," an officer called as a flatbed truck pulled up.
"Good! Get this roided out whale outta here!" Bullock watched as machinery lifted the frozen Cain onto the flatbed, the mentally damaged man just groaning the entire time, drool dripping down the side of his mouth. "Anyway, I gotta say, you punks did good. Bet yer old man, Bats, is proud a-" He looked to see the Family gone. "Ya. They really are the Bat Family. Thought dealin' with this crap was Gordon's job. Big guy has more patience than I do, that's for sure. Never wanna have to deal with this garbage."
Meanwhile, atop a building overlooking the scene, Batman's cape fluttered in the wind. Next to him was his wife holding their sleeping daughter.
"They've done well," Batman said.
"Indeed. Still, their training isn't complete, not even Nightwing's. Once I'm done with them, they'll able to take on threats like Cain alone. Like you could have."
"But even now, they're great heroes. Better heroes than even Batman can be."
"Agreed. Should anything happen to us, should we be incapacitated, crippled, or even slain, I can rest easy knowing our legacy lives on in both them..." Shiva looks down, not knowing she has a look of motherly love on her. "And in our daughter. Our little Cassandra."
Batman looked at his daughter and gently stroked her cheek with one finger, the baby smiling while still sleeping. "Am I kidding myself, hoping she'll never have to spend sleepless nights prowling rooftops and hunting criminals?"
Shiva sighed. "Batman, I'm confident that Gotham will become a near utopia. If not in our lifetime, then in hers. However, the Shadow of the Bat has spread across the world. In not the very heavens themselves. Though our city will know peace, the rest of the world will not be as fortunate."
"Then should the world ever need a Dark Knight, my daughter, your mother and I will see to it that you're more than just a Bat by birthright."
"And the Shadows will be yours by merit, not right. You will be deserving of the League of Shadows, the guardians of peace," Shiva said.
Shiva and Batman then looked at each other, staring into each other's eyes... before sharing a kiss, both to consummate their vow to their daughter... and to prove that their love was genuine and true.
Much to the chagrin of another.
For within a penthouse, while holding a glass of Arak (Middle East alcohol), Talia was watching the couple through a pair of binoculars.
She shattered the glass in her hand, staring at Shiva with hateful eyes... while tears flowed freely. "Beloved. . . I will make you pay for choosing that woman over me. One day."