Gotham, Twelve Years from Now

The Waverider came to a slow descent over a city where an acidic rain seemed to be beating down on them all. Darkness engulfed the night sky, not even a glimmer of starlight descending on the ship or the skyscrapers which surrounded it. The city seemed to be undead. People still lived there but…nothing did simultaneously. Fires were burning on every building and there seemed to be a manic laughter coming from below, not continuously but every now and again it would emanate from a different direction. Hal Jordan wasn't exactly keen on landing, but they didn't have a choice. "Bruce…I'm sorry," Michael said walking up to the Batman, only for the Caped Crusader to throw his hand away before he could place it on his shoulder. "You told me the city would be doomed unless I came with you, Booster," Batman said, building up to a shout, "You lied to me!" Bruce then turned on Michael and began punching him ferociously. The protests of everyone else seemed to fall on deaf ears. Ollie eventually pointed an arrow at Bruce's head and Constantine issued some hex which restrained the Dark Knight in makeshift manacles. "You're not getting out of those till you calm down," the warlock shouted at the detective, "Grandpa here couldn't have seen this happening, now could he? He told us time is exploding and he can't see what that's gonna' be like until it's done. Now stew there for a minute, Bruce. Ollie and I are going to tell the others." Rip pressed the alarm button to summon everyone to the bridge. They were all pleasantly surprised to see Cassie, Gar and Rachel help Kon and Kara in on wheelchairs.

"You're alive?" Dinah asked them. "Yeah," Kara struggled as she coughed a little, bags under her eyes, which were bloodshot, some red veins still apparent on her skin, "Feel really weak though." Supergirl seemed to drift into sleep at that point. "Oh no," Ollie said as he rushed over to her. "She's alright," Raven replied, "Temporary narcolepsy shouldn't last as long as the rest of the symptoms." "What symptoms are those?" Zatanna wondered. Ray then entered to field their questions. "Well, it seems that their Kryptonian physiology has been altered, perhaps permanently," he began, "Short of throwing them both into a sun, which I wouldn't recommend since it would probably kill them both, Conner and Kara are powerless. They should both recover mobility and function like normal people through physical therapy. But I can't see a way they're going to fly again. Slade really did a number on them." "At least they're okay," Cassie said, squeezing Conner's hand which roused him out of sleep. "What? No powers? Aw heck…that…that…" And with that he was asleep again.

"Like Raven said," Ray continued as he tousled the lad's hair, "the narcolepsy won't last. And they won't need as much full-time care now they're out of the comas." He nodded at Gar and Rachel who wheeled them back inside. "Are you alright, Cassie?" Dinah asked Wonder Girl standing behind her and putting her hand on the young girl's shoulder. "Yeah, I'm alright," she nodded, betraying no emotion, "I just hope they both get better." "There's no reason the pair of them can't live a healthy, happy and long life, Cassie," Ray answered, "just don't expect them to be Superboy and Supergirl again. Who knows though? They're might be a solution wherever we've landed." "Them being either isn't why I love them," she smiled thinly, before getting her head back in the game, "Where are we anyway?" Wonder Girl moved to the windscreen to observe the city below, then noticing Batman was restrained with Michael's face bruised and bloodied, his nose broken moved to intervene when she received a reply from their captain.

"Gotham," Rip answered, "Specifically, twelve years in your future. It's looking a little worse for wear. We're trying to come into land at Arkham Island. Should be fun." Arkham stood apart from the rest of the city as it seemed to be armed to the teeth and fenced off with GCPD guards all around it. "Hal, try and get comms in there," Rip ordered his pilot. Hal activated the radio. "Hello, Arkham. This is Hal Jordan, former Green Lantern 2814, reporting on behalf of Rip Hunter. We come in peace." The radio buzzed a little before a familiar voice answered back, "Is this some kind of fucking joke? Helena, shoot those guys down?" Bruce then realised instantly who it was. "Barbara? Jordan, get me on the comms now," he shouted desperately. "Barbara Gordon?" Hal asked, recognising the voice. "John, let me out!" Bruce screamed at Constantine. The occultist, who was busy smoking, came to his senses and uttered some ancient language, releasing the Batman.

Bruce ran up to the radio and patched into the comms unit. "Barbara, is that you?" he asked, hope tinging the concern in his voice. "None of your business," the voice replied, "Who the hell are you supposed to be anyway? Clark Kent? Ha!" "Bruce Wayne, if you must know," he replied without missing a beat. There was a long silence. "You're a real piece of work playing with people's minds like that," she replied across the comms after half a minute, "That man has been dead a long time." "Barbara, I am Bruce," he pleaded. "Oh, do us a favour and give up," was the scoff that returned, "If you are Bruce Wayne, then tell me something only he would say." "The night the Joker shot you was the one night I came close to killing him," was the solemn confession which led to the rest of the crew all staring at the Batman, "I actually started strangling him, but your father stopped me. I let go. I only ever told you that because I knew you'd understand. I only ever told Barbara Gordon that because Jason and Dick would have taken it in all the wrong way. I told you because I knew you were stronger than me." Another protracted silence. "Helena, let 'em land," the voice eventually said. As the ship came into land within the GCPD territory, the voice continued, "Don't think who you are has gotten you off the hook, Mister. Come out with your hands up!"

"What?" Bruce asked, reeling that Barbara still didn't trust him. "Bruce Wayne is wanted for questioning concerning a decade of neglect for the city he swore to protect," she told him, "As Police Commissioner, I'm here to bring him to justice. Your friends can come out too but only if they agree to turn you in." The team fell deathly silent. "I've got to go out," Batman acquiesced upon turning to them, "Learn about what's happened. Barbara is like a daughter to me. I need to see she's alright. See if everyone else is alright." Wonder Girl was the first to nod understandingly. "Of course, you've got to go, Bruce," Cassie nodded with great strength, "And I'm coming with you." Vixen then walked towards Bruce. "I will fight by your side, old friend," Mar'i laid a hand on his shoulder. The rest of them seemed to stand back, except Ollie and Constantine. Constantine patted Batman on the shoulder. "The rest of 'em can look after the ship," he said, serious for once, "You're gonna' need moral support in there." "Thank you all," Batman said as the others simply nodded in a collective sign of good luck. They would have come with him, but the ship needed to be protected. "If you're not back in an hour," Rip said, "We'll send a few more...unless you signal us otherwise. And if they're not back...we leave if we can, or go into siege mode." Batman just nodded in a terse reply to that. "Before we go," Bruce said looking at Hal, "can you get this thing airborne?"

"I reckon if we wait here a couple of hours, I can get us somewhere safer with the remaining fuel, such as it is. I'm not sure though. But it's better than nothing."

"Good. Because I have no intention of allowing a future where Barbara Gordon hates me to become reality."

The five of them then walked outside the Waverider. The grounds of Arkham seemed desolate as a group of GCPD officers walked up to them led by what appeared to be a much younger version of the Huntress. "Dad, I imagined you'd look older," the girl introduced herself. "Dad?" Bruce asked, as the Huntress fired an electric bolt at his costume. The pulse it activated knocked Bruce out for the count. "Now the rest of you better play nice," she told Wonder Girl, Vixen, Green Arrow and the Hellblazer with authority, "Commissioner Gordon wants to see you all." "Who the hell are you to give us orders, love?" Constantine said as he lit a cigarette with hellfire. "The girl holding a crossbow who just took the Batman out with one shot," she replied with no betrayal of any self doubt, "Now move!" She motioned for her heavies to pick up Bruce as she escorted the four remaining Legends into the asylum. Cassie took a look out at the city as she could see it burning, and the sky was burnt red despite it being the middle of the night. She felt sad thinking of how the people she knew from this city were dead or worse at this stage. "I haven't seen this kinda' shit since I was in Hell," Constantine muttered to her as they walked along, "What bloody happened to the world while we were gone?"

Walking through the asylum, they could see it was still a prison of some form with weird names like Phosphorus Rex and Jackanapes they'd never heard of on the cell doors. The GCPD guards were actually fewer in number than they expected, suggesting that this war had been going on for a while. The four of them noticed out the windows a large array of graves, with two guards with shovels, burying three others. Walking through double doors into what seemed to be a kitchen of some kind but also an infirmary, they saw a very familiar woman with red hair and glasses sitting in a wheelchair and smoking a cigarette. Barbara Gordon. Except not the one they knew. She was wearing a police detective's outfit not unlike her father's. "Well I'll be, he wasn't lying," she acknowledged them incredulously, "Ollie? Cassie? Mar'i? Oh, and the smelly detective who smokes all the time. Constanteen?" "It's Constant-" the aforementioned detective began to reply, when the girl pointed her crossbow at him aggressively, "Whatever you want me to be called, Miss Commissioner, ma'am."

"Barbara, it has been a while," Mar'i said gravely, "How are you?" "I feel like Hell, Vixen," she answered honestly, wheeling over to where she had a bottle of whiskey and poured herself a glass, "Matter of fact my town is turning into it. All thanks to the Batman." "You can't blame Bruce—" Ollie said before he was interrupted. "Not him," Barbara shook her head and downed the whiskey in one motion, "The new one." "Dick?" Cassie asked. Barbara was in complete shock and quite upset to hear that name, spilling some of her next drink. "You really don't have a clue, do you?" she looked at them all realising they must have indeed been time travellers, "I've seen vacant expressions before but this takes the cake. Helena, get your old man into interrogation there. You can have your share of the family reunion before I do." Helena saluted and had the guards carry the prone form of the Batman out of the room to a holding cell down the corridor. "Now, would you guys like some tea?" Barbara moved over to where a black cat was sitting atop a work surface blocking her way to some teabags, "Shoo, Alfred! Bad boy." That earned a slight laugh from Wonder Girl. "Who called the cat Alfred?" she asked. "Oh, he's Damian's, you'll have to ask him," Barbara said, turning a kettle on and pouring herself another glass of whiskey, "Think he never got over the fact Alfred died telling him how much of a disappointment he was." The four of them were still completely in the dark and so Barbara quickly made the tea and handed the four of them a mug each.

As she handed one to Cassie, she suddenly withdrew it. "How are you alive?" she asked with genuine curiosity, "These three and Bruce all just disappeared, but Kon said—" "That wasn't Kon," Cassie said through gritted teeth, "That was Superboy-Prime." "Really?" Barbara scoffed to herself, "How did I not get that? Suppose I had more important things on my mind," She proffered the tea to Cassie as she wheeled back to get herself another drink. "If it's any consolation, he died during the Battle of Metropolis," she calmly informed them all, "Took a good few of us with him. Shame Damian wasn't one of them." "Who killed the bastard," Cassie asked, her anger still evident to all the others, "Who was the lucky one of us all in the end?" "Believe it or not, Deathstroke," Barbara shrugged, "He turned on Thawne and shot the guy in the head with a red sun bullet. That's when Thawne's whole operation really started crumbling. Still, even though he's gone, his actions have left a mark." Cassie knelt down to Barbara and saw she was crying. "What happened?" Wonder Girl asked, her hand on the commissioner's.

"It all started after Dick and I got married and you guys were attacked at Titans Tower. Gotham was rocked by bombings as you know, and I did the best I could with Bruce gone to lead the others into getting to the bottom of it. Scarecrow kidnapped me to stop that. The city was eventually cut off during the rescue operation by Nightwing. Tim and Damian were captured by Ra's and the Joker. We began leading a gang for a while, me and Dick. Some old thugs we remodelled into following Bruce's war. Called them the Sons of Batman. We had a pretty tight operation with my dad as Mayor and Bullock as Commissioner for a while. Then the League took out the GCPD lockup and attacked our base at City Hall. So many died. I can't believe I made it out but my dad took about ten bullets for me. Dick wasn't as lucky as I was. He turned himself over to Ra's before the attack happened to save Damian and Alfred. But Ra's just loosed Damian on him. And he…renewed his pledge to the League by…killing Dick."

Barbara was now visibly crying as Cassie gave her a warm hug. "It's okay," she compassionately told her old comrade, "Take your time." Mar'i and Ollie then moved to put their hands on her shoulder, but Barbara not wanting to use anyone as a crutch like her old self, dismissed them all right away. "Sorry, just you know," she said through bitter tears at the memory, "As you can understand, I fucking hate Damian's guts. He's made up for it in some ways, but I'll never forgive him. His grandfather made me an orphan and he made me a widow all in the same night. And Bruce was nowhere to be seen. Our sainted father. What was so screwed up about it was that Damian...felt remorse. He did love him. And he's tried to prove that to me every day since, but I can't forgive him. He just took an eye for an eye and killed Ra's on the spot. The League fell under Damian's authority for a time. But the Joker had killed most of them during his 'training' sessions to make that all but meaningless."

"What about Tim?" Cassie asked sincerely, worried for her friend. Barbara's coffee mug squeezed as she tightened her grip. It seemed like she resented that name being mentioned. Then she collected herself and continued. "Steph, Cass and Jason mounted a rescue operation during the chaos of the battle," she spoke, evenly and calmly, "Tim was gone when they got there. Just the clown. He killed them all. Beat Steph and Cass to death with a crowbar while Jason strangled himself on a bike chain trying to stop him. Eventually, we recovered ourselves with Damian at our head as the new Batman, but he's remained a menace ever since. That goddamn clown. He hates Damian more than Bruce. Time passed. And Thawne led a massive army to take us on. He assembled at Metropolis. We coordinated with the JSA and led a final stand. We tried to get the Green Lanterns to join in, but there was no sign of them. Or any Lanterns for that matter. It was as if the War of Light came to an end. So, not only is the Earth doomed, the universe is too, if that's any consolation. Nearly everyone died that day. Then it was revealed Simon Hurt had been working with Talia al Ghul all along. They turned on Thawne, killed him and seized the reins of government. Can't remember how he lost control of the Entity. Thawne was so busy plotting and planning he forgot one avenue where betrayal might come from in Hurt. He'd left Talia out of his little equation but included her dad. That was only going to bite him in the ass. Hurt's still VP to this day. Damian made a deal with him to keep the city safe. Sold his soul to the devil as he likes to call it. But the city's not safe. You see that rain. It's going to kill all of us soon. It's turning everyone into Joker victims, but that's only in Gotham. Soon the epidemic will spread throughout the country. It's not Joker toxin, that's just what it got mixed with here when 2-Face-2 damaged the climate control. It's the Black Mercy. Or what's left of it. Word on the wire is the city's getting nuked tonight to prevent the spread. Hopefully, it'll work but we're not the only city where the Black Mercy might mutate. Turning us into zombies…"

All four time travellers were stunned into silence. "That can't be," Constantine said as a cigarette dropped from his mouth, "The world's ending and it's not even that bastard Thawne's fault anymore. Bloody 'ell! Even if we do stop him there's a virus that's gonna' kill us all at the end of the damn day. Isn't that flaming whopper?!" "What about Clark?" Ollie asked. "I heard he died when the Joker blew up the Daily Planet," Barbara spoke without sounding sad any longer, numb to all the pain these memories evoked, "No Superman to stop him see, when Clark gave up his powers. As for Diana, the Atlantean/Amazon war shook the foundations of the Earth. Eurasia and Africa are just…gone. They say that Australia is virtually uninhabitable too, and the west coast here is underwater. Apparently, the Americas is the last place on Earth anyone can live. If you can call the impending apocalypse living." Barbara began crying again. "Sorry, just remembered the last conversation I had with Dick," she remarked, thinking of all the loved ones she'd lost since him on top of that last conversation, "About how when all this was over, we'd try for a baby after a beautiful honeymoon paid for by Bruce. We just kind of tried to be hopeful he'd come back and everything would go back to normal. Look at us now. He's gone. Everyone's gone. I'm a survivor, I guess. Lucky me. Me, Damian and Helena are the last of the Bat Clan standing. And it's fucking miserable." "Where is Damian?" Cassie asked. "On a mission to get one last thing," Barbara rolled her eyes in dismissal, "A potential cure to the epidemic that's to come. It's not possible. We're doomed. But no more than I'd begrudge myself and Dick all those years ago for hoping we'd escape the inevitable, I'm not going to begrudge him for doing it now."

In a nearby holding cell, Bruce Wayne came too and found his cowl was lying on the ground before him with someone who looked like the Huntress standing across from him. "Helena?" he asked, curious to see if she had survived with Barbara. "Oh, so you know my name," was the teenage girl's retort, "That's a surprise coming from a deadbeat like you." Bruce felt very confused as he groggily became more aware of his surroundings. The cell was padded, evidence that he was still in Arkham. And the girl standing across from him was definitely the one who had shot him. "Who are you?" he asked, looking her in the eye. "Helena Kyle," she replied calmly, but breathing deeply to quell her anger, "The Huntress." "Selina's daughter" Bruce acknowledged. Then, he saw the girl seem to shed a tear through her mask and look away from him before punching him in the gut. "'Selina's daughter,' is that it?" she quoted with venom, "Not your daughter then? You're such a prick. I mean look at me." The girl then ripped her mask from her face and Bruce could see Selina's distinctive green eyes right there. Then he noticed the girl's hair was more brown than black, unlike Selina's. A bit like his mother's. She was also slightly paler than but still dark like Selina but bore an uncanny resemblance to his own mother. He looked the girl up and down. He couldn't be her father. She was far too old, and from what he gathered in this timeline he hadn't been in Gotham for a decade or so. "You're Slam Bradley's granddaughter," Bruce said as cold as ice. "Oh, is that what she told you?" the young woman scoffed, "You know she's a jewel thief. She can hire Slam Bradley to spin a story whatever way she wants. Who was she with when all that stuff with Hush was going down? Who told her that she should leave him alone for good when she was about to give him the news, she was having his baby?"

Bruce flashed back to the last time he had spoken to Selina when their relationship had been serious. His paranoia had got the better of him, and when she told him to hush, he assumed she was in league with Tommy Elliot. She hadn't been. How could she? Selina was not evil. Not the most honest woman he'd been with, but far from evil. Bruce knew his intentions had been good then, when he revealed his secret identity to her, and knew he could trust her to keep that to herself. Selina was the love of his life, but Batman had driven her away. The part of him Constantine had told him to drop. He didn't get that Selina was hushing him so that she could explain she was having his baby. She started sleeping with Slam Bradley, Jr. not long after that. Thought it was a good excuse. When he had first met little Helena, her mother had been sounding them out a little. He had wished Clark had been there to see was she lying in saying Bruce wasn't the father. Of course, Selina thought it was best a child grow up without either Batman or Catwoman as its parents. No more than Stephanie had when her daughter had been born. She knew in her heart of hearts that the child of Spoiler, still a teenager, and granddaughter of the Cluemaster would never have the life a child deserved. And as much as Selina loved Bruce, she knew that it wouldn't work, even if they were together. It broke his heart knowing the woman he loved had thought that. But it also broke him knowing that she was right. And so, Bruce actually began crying. Helena was very much taken aback.

"Why are you crying?" she asked genuinely and for the first time since she had met the Batman, showed affection by putting her hand on his shoulder. "It's just—I should have known," he blubbered, "They say I'm a detective but…you look more like my mother than Selina. You have your mom's eyes, sure, but…my mother's gorgeous dark brown hair and…" Helena then lifted up her top a bit to show a little birthmark of something that looked slightly like a bat on her right hip. Bruce had it, his mother had it and his cousin, Kate had it too. Bruce started crying again and this time Helena hugged her father tightly. "You mean you didn't know?" she perplexedly asked. "Selina told me you were Slam Bradley's, and I chose to believe her," was the honest answer, "Even when I saw you when you were just a toddler. You and Tim got on so well. You had my mother's hair, and her smile." The Batman literally looked like a baby bawling at this point.

"Look, you were stupid," Helena said with empathy, "Come on. You couldn't have known…" "No, but I did," he shook his head through the tears, "I just ignored my instinct. I never realised till now that that was part of the reason, I accepted Damian so readily. I didn't want the responsibility of a young girl like that. And I'm sorry. You may be mad at me, but never as mad as I am at myself." Helena hugged her father tightly then and began crying herself. "You were the Batman," she said, realising she had not got the measure of this man at all until now, "Don't be so harsh. My Mom and Dad loved me, don't worry. I just…thought you and Selina didn't." "Selina loved you so much, that she kept you away from everything," he whispered in her ear, "If she had only come out and said you were mine." Helena stroked her father's head lightly. "It's okay," she reassured him, kissing his temple, "But…where have you been?"

"In time. Travelling through it, trying to sort the world out in my own time. It looks like we failed."

"Yeah, looks like it."

"That's for sure. So, how did you end up here?"

"Well, my mom and dad died during the Battle of Metropolis. I ended up back in social services. As everything calmed down, Damian found me. Barbara raised me for a good bit. Then I found out Damian was Batman and wanted to join him. He and Barbara didn't like it since they despise one another, and because Damian, whenever I see him, acts like the overprotective big brother to the extreme. But I decided to go out on my own and say screw 'em."

"Ha, Steph would like you."

"Steph? Just another name among a million I've been told all my life who died to save the world. Dick, Jason, Alfred, Cass. And when I die and see them in Hell, I'm going to tell them one thing. They failed. The world is ending. We're all going to die tonight, either with that Joker virus or because the government sends us to oblivion. I prefer the latter option."

"They were all wonderful people, Helena. And you don't have to die today. You can come with me. Our ship can withstand a nuclear blast. We'll get Barbara and Damian in if we can."

"Don't be stupid, Dad. I've been accepting for a while that I'm going to die. It's okay."

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"That's too young to be thinking like that, young lady. I'm not letting you die no more than I'd let Damian die. Now, where is your brother? I need to talk to him."

A loud bang echoed from outside as Helena said, "Sounds like he's home. Better let the Commish patch him up first before we get talking." Damian Wayne was in fact driving into the asylum with a baby in hand and cut up severely from various Jokers shooting or stabbing at him. The gates to the island were sealed, though four cops were lost in the chaos caused by Damian's entry. Still, he had the cure. He had the baby immune to the Joker toxin, who would save the city from the virus about to engulf them all. He stumbled inside the asylum and nearly collapsed as he gave the baby to Dr Leslie Thompkins, a geriatric woman who had aided his family medically for years at this point. "Where is the Commissioner?" he demanded of her. At this point in their conversation, Wonder Girl, Vixen, Green Arrow and Constantine were explaining to Barbara how they had travelled through time to try and stop Eobard Thawne. "So, you mean that time is exploding?" Barbara nodded, "How does that work?" "We don't really know, love," Constantine said in a matter of fact manner, "But it means that time and space is behind this even more than Thawne is. And from what we can gather it's all Barry Allen's fault. So, we still have a chance of stopping Thawne in the past. Provided we get back to our craft before this nuclear strike you mentioned."

Damian burst into Barbara's studio and stumbled towards the desk. "Someone patch me up!" he screamed before Ollie walked forward to use his first aid skills. "Okay, kid," he reassured the large man in a Gothic Batman suit, "Don't worry. Green Arrow's here." "Green Arrow died at the Battle of Metropolis," the Batman said, his back turned to the heroes as he looked at Barbara, "Connor Hawke has…" Then he turned around and saw that the Green Arrow he was talking to was not Connor Hawke. "Commissioner tell me right now. What in all the multiverse is happening?" Cassie moved in to explain and Damian was even more shocked to see her. She pulled the cowl off him which seemed to be more theatrical than Bruce's with the upper wing tips pointing up like devil horns, as well as red eyes on the mask. She could see her old teammate was bald now and evidently older. But despite being only in his twenties he looked like a man of fifty. Not to mention he seemed less judgemental than the Damian she knew. Like he had seen so much more he knew that not everyone was his enemy. Then, she got the biggest shock of her life. Damian Wayne hugged her.

"Wonder Girl?!" he said in delight, "What the Hell! I must be dead! This can't be happening." Cassie laughed, happy to see the young assassin still had a soft side. "I'm real, Damian, don't worry," she reassured him, "And I'm here with your father." He released her then and turned very stern. "My father is dead, or at least he should be," were the sullen words that left his lips, "He left me the mantle of Batman at thirteen. And all I've done is sully his memory." "You'll hear no arguments from me," Barbara said as she lit another cigarette with the help of Constantine's hellfire. "I've killed so many people," the Batman shook his head, "I've tried to bring this city back from the brink, but more of that is down to Barbara than me. She hates me because I…" "Yeah, we know," Cassie said, suddenly acting very caring in her approach to the man, "And the Damian I know wouldn't have done that. You must have been terribly broken to kill someone you love like that. I'm sorry." She gave him another hug and Damian started crying as Ollie continued applying stitches on his back.

Bruce then walked in with Helena and saw his son standing there crying into Cassie Sandsmark's shoulder. Damian noticed him then. "You scum!" he shouted as he prepared to lunge but Cassie used her strength to hold him back. "No! Enough!" she shouted, "Your father is not to blame for this, Damian!" "I wouldn't have been kidnapped by my grandfather if he had been here!" he spat, "I wouldn't have killed Dick if he'd been here! He let us all down." But then Damian was more shocked than ever to see his half-sister stop him as well with a polite hand on his own. "Our father did not fail us, Damian," Helena looked him dead in the eye, "Dad had no control over anything. We need to let him go." Damian became apoplectic then and punched his father in the face, knocking him out with his strength. "Damian!" Helena shouted as he stared her down with his demonic visage. "I gave my soul to the devil to save his city," he gritted, "He'll die before I hear a word of justification." Barbara then pointed a gun at Damian. "Batman…I think your stitches need finishing. Now leave the old man alone."

Bruce eventually recovered and creased his eyes with his fingers as he arose. "Knocked out twice in less than that many hours," he shook his head to regain himself, "Easily my poorest performance as Batman." Constantine and Cassie laughed a little at that as they helped him up. "I'm sure Rip's concussion meds will help you out," Constantine reassured him. Bruce then looked at the bald, bandaged man sitting before him. "Hello, Damian," he said in as serious a manner as he could, appreciating that this version of his son might not be too happy to see him. "Hello, Father," the younger man said, not breaking the menace in his glare, "You took your time." "I did," he admitted, "And that wasn't my fault. Look at Cassie. She's no older than she was when you last saw her. We were trapped in time. An emergency landing forced us to come here, to this time." "It doesn't matter anyway," Damian waved his hand in dismissal while breaking eye contact, "As much as I might blame you, I doubt even you could have prevented this. I mean, the more I think about it, you are the same man a luchador broke the back of with one prison escape. The myth of your invincibility was a comfort to use in these dark days though. It is good you are with us for the end, father."

Bruce walked over to Damian and, putting his hands on the man's knees, looked him in the eye with a paternal warmth. "Come with us," he pleaded, "You, Helena and Barbara. We can save your lives. Please, son." Damian and Barbara began laughing in unison then. "I'm afraid not, Father," he smiled seriously, "Supposing I believed your time travel story, I don't want to survive tonight. I just want to do right by you and find a cure to this plague from the child I gave to Dr Thompkins. I have little hope it will work but still, I cannot abandon my city. Now go, Barbara and I have much to talk about." "But I—" "Go, Father!" Damian bellowed as GCPD guards forced them all out the double doors. Bruce just looked despondent at the realisation his son had grown to be even more jaded than he was. Ollie looked a little dejected and went over to him. "Sorry, Bruce," he said earnestly, a hand on his friend's shoulder, "But we need to get out of here." "No, we need to stop this," the Batman remained defiant, "Damian might want to die, but I'm not letting Helena die before she knows me or her mother. Cassie, Mar'i, you go make sure Helena comes with us. Ollie, John, with me. We're going to find out about Dr Thompkins and that baby."

Barbara then wheeled out from behind the double doors as Damian, now in full costume stalked down the corridor towards the cell marked 'Jackanapes'. "You're coming with me then Bruce?" the Commissioner remarked glibly having overheard them, "Excellent, a chain smoker and Green Arrow will be such necessary assistance in this trying time." Constantine glowered at the woman as they followed her towards the infirmary. Wonder Girl and Vixen meanwhile went back inside and saw Helena crying a little over a photo of her with her mother. Mar'i did not know what to say so she nodded at Cassie to go over and provide comfort to the girl. "Hey, kid," she said with warmth, "What's that?" "What?" Helena reacted to the strange girl, clearly a few years older than her, "Oh nothing. It's my mom." "She's gorgeous," Cassie said inspecting the photo, and remembering what Barbara told her about the girl, "That's Catwoman, isn't it?"

"Yeah, Selina Kyle. I can sort of remember her. And I can remember a boy being really nice to me. I think his name was Tim."

"Yeah, he's a friend of mine. He's dead now, I think. But in my time, he'd love to see you. Bruce really wants you to come with us."

"But I can't leave Damian and Barbara."

"They've accepted their lives are over. Yours doesn't have to be, Helena. We can take you back to our time."

"But I'm alive back then."

"The way Barbara tells it, you're a little girl in Metropolis. A teenage girl in Gotham living with Bruce Wayne at the same time is hardly going to break reality is it, eh?"

"I suppose not. But I can't—"

"Your brother and Barbara would want this. They'd want you to have a normal life. And they'll be there. You'll get to know them. And Dick and so many other wonderful people who'd love to meet you. And no matter how bad it may seem then, nothing could be as bad as this. Please, come with us."

"Okay…I will."

As this was happening, Bruce, Constantine and Ollie went with Barbara into the infirmary only to find dozens of dead bodies and Leslie Thompkins standing there with the baby. "What the hell is going on?" Barbara shouted as Constantine seemed to register what in fact was going on. "The baby's a carrier, Bruce," he said, looking around at the bodies, who all had the characteristic rictus grin of the Joker. "The virus?" Bruce asked the occultist who nodded. "Yep, and if there's one thing you never do in a quarantine," Constantine solemnly spoke, "it's let one in." Ollie immediately grabbed four gas masks and threw one to each of them, but none of them got a chance to put them on as Barbara only managed to grab hers the very moment Leslie bit into her neck. Barbara pulled out her gun and shot the doctor in the head. She then picked the baby up and began laughing like an imbecile. "Oh shit," Ollie said as he nocked an arrow. "Oliver, don't you dare!" Bruce demanded. "It would be a mercy, Bruce," he pleaded, "You care about her more than I do, we can't just let her…" Bruce then punched Ollie out and lifted him on his shoulder. "We're going back to the Waverider, John," Batman shouted before the warlock could protest at the mistreatment of the archer, "Now!" Damian then pulled up behind them in full costume screaming how the baby was a carrier as the Jokerised Barbara advanced on them.

"Quick, son!" Batman said putting his hand on Damian's arm, "To the Waverider!" They ran as fast as their legs could carry them only meeting up with Cassie, Helena and Mar'i in the interim. "What's up?" Cassie asked. "That!" Constantine screamed as Jokerised people began bursting through the windows. Barbara had opened the gates. Damian pulled out his gun and began shooting them all as they fled out onto the grounds. "What in God's name are you doing?" Bruce said as he grabbed it out of his son's hand. "Sullying your memory. But you won't have time to feel sullied if you die here," Damian exclaimed as they all jumped through the window over the corpses. They found themselves surrounded, the acid rain all around them. Vixen tensed herself then, while Wonder Girl punched her way through as many as possible. "Go, all of you!" she spoke saving Cassie from a bite in the nick of time, "I will channel the mongoose and ward off the snakes." "Mar'i, they'll kill you," Cassie shouted as Constantine dragged her along. "She's still got a chance, love," he reassured her, "More than the rest of us if we don't keep moving!" Vixen leapt into the crowd and with the speed of a mongoose killed ten of the zombies in about five seconds. It took five minutes of culling until she eventually fell, but by then her comrades were far closer to the Waverider than she would ever be and more than half the zombies on the island were dead. So fell Vixen, mightiest of the warriors to bear the totem. Mar'i McCabe's memory would live on, as Bruce Wayne shed a solitary tear for her.

They came to right outside the Waverider, where the remaining GCPD cops seemed to have one person standing over them. His countenance was familiar, and his gait showed he had more poise than any of the shambling victims of the plague. He wore a purple suit and had green hair. "Joker," Bruce snarled angrily as he threw a Batarang at the Clown Prince of Crime only for him to uncharacteristically catch it in midair with the reflexes of an acrobat. "That is not the Joker you knew, Father," Damian spoke slowly and with more dread in his voice than he had when running to tell them the infant was a carrier. "What do you mean, Damian?" Bruce asked, before he and the others then got a good look at the Joker's face as the zombies held back in awe of their overlord. The face was one much younger than the Joker Bruce had known. And his hair was more tousled, like a young man's. It was hard to believe this could have been the same Joker, especially because of his youthful appearance. Then he spoke. "Now Daddy, is that any way to address your son?"

Cassie put her hand on her mouth and started crying, realising now who this man was. "Tim?" she asked, reaching her free hand out while tears welled in her eyes. Bruce gave in then. He knew he had failed in his crusade altogether. Tim Drake was the Joker. Everything he had fought for meant nothing now. "How?" he said to Damian looking at his son, who felt too ashamed to even look him in the face. "When Gotham was attacked, Drake and I went to stop my grandfather, here at Arkham," he spoke almost monotonously, "We were both felled. I was given to the Demon's Head to be broken back into the League…Drake was given to the clown. When Todd, Stephanie and Cassandra went to rescue him, they found the Joker's naked corpse and Drake standing over it, wearing his suit. Drake was now the Joker. He butchered them. Then he murdered Kent and his whole paper. I have tried to kill him but there's something…in him which gives him regenerative capabilities beyond any human." The Joker laughed at that and immediately broke his own right index finger only for it to suddenly snap back into its correct place.

"You see?" Damian said, finally looking his father in the eye, "This is how bad our world is. Not only am I a pitiful excuse for a Batman. Not only is everyone dead except me and Gordon. Not only is our city overcome by Thawne's virus and about to be nuked. Tim Drake is the Joker. You failed him, Father. You failed everything and everyone. I'm sorry." Bruce collapsed in shock, dropping Ollie on the ground as he descended onto his knees and began wailing at the moon. Helena started crying then too as Constantine lead her towards the Waverider while her brothers were distracted in staring one another down, only for the Joker to pull a gun on them. Ollie roused himself slightly as Damian helped him up. "Holy moley, is that Tim Drake?" he said, looking at the Joker, and Damian and Cassie nodded sadly. The clown then cleared his throat rather dramatically and decided to speak, this time without a hint of silliness or mania to his tone.

"You failed me, Bruce. You failed Gotham. I believed in you more than anyone. I became Robin out of choice, not because I was some urchin you groomed into the role. Unlike the way you were there for Dick and Jason, I was there for you when you were down. I saved you. It was all for nothing. Everything I did for you and the clown fucked me up more than than any of us could have imagined. What he did to Jason and to Barbara is nothing compared to what he put me through. I wish you could know how agonising it was. I wish you felt the pain I felt. Then maybe you would stop moaning about your mother and father and start caring about us. I lost so much, Bruce. Steph, Dad, Conner…and I dropped all my grief for you and your goddamn meditation. Then you have the audacity to criticise me for going after Captain Boomerang. Your high standards are ridiculous. And they made me your greatest enemy reborn. I killed him and then became him. Tonight, Batman and the Joker will die. The real Batman that is. Not your brat with Talia al Ghul who shaved his head and named his kitty after Alfred. He'll die too, but it won't matter. I'll be the one killing you, Bruce."

Bruce couldn't even respond. He was broken. More broken than he'd ever been. At least what had happened to Barbara and Jason were acts of cruelty that could be explained away. But what had become of Tim was worse than that. He'd not only failed to save him, he'd ruined him. Tim was right. Everything he'd done, he'd done for his crusade. Never for the people he loved. Wonder Girl leapt at her former friend. "Tim, stop this," she shouted, "This isn't you...we can help you. It's me, Cassie..." He looked into her eyes, realising it was his old friend indeed. "Cass...ie?" he asked, a little confused, "You're dead...you died twelve years ago." Wonder Girl shook her head through her tears. "No, no, don't you see," she said, "We survived. Me, Bart, Rachel, Gar, Conner, Rose, Kara and Mia are all up there, waiting for us. We can help you." "Help?" he said, almost to himself.

"Yes! We love you! It doesn't have to be this way...Just let us go...we can take you with us..."

"You really mean it, Cass? We can leave...do just that. Be together again. Oh, I'd love that."

"Then come with us, please. Nothing would make me happier."

I will I will, I...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH! Oh, the look on your face, you dumb little-"

The punch that struck the laughing harlequin wasn't enough to knock him down, but the one he threw in return threw the Amazon to the ground. "Lazarus serum makes me nigh invulnerable," he laughed at his old friend, "And throw back whatever's thrown at me...I'm the best version of the Joker. Whoever I fight is always the at the end of a punch line." While Ollie helped Cassie up, Bruce began crying again as he looked up at Tim, whose gun was now slowly descending on his forehead. "Well do it then," the Dark Knight said through the rain mingling with his tears, "Have the courage your predecessor never had. Kill me!" Tim put the gun to his head and began laughing a laugh that made even the original Joker seem reserved while he turned the safety off. Bruce closed his eyes and thought of the thing that made him the happiest. It wasn't any memory of his parents. It was the day he had taken a portrait with Dick, Alfred, Tim and Cass a year ago to celebrate her adoption. A portrait of his family. He smiled then through the tears as he awaited the inevitable.

"Shut up and die, you creepy little prick!" Constantine shouted as he fired hellfire into the Joker's face. "You villains always take too long to pull the trigger!" Ollie said as he fired an arrow into Tim's right eye. His sickening laugh continued as he pulled the arrow out and Damian sadly reminded them, "He's got regenerative abilities from the Lazarus serum, like he said. Whatever you do…don't touch his blood." A siren then rang out across the city and the Joker began laughing even harder. "Mutually Assured Destruction! MAD! MAD! MAD!" Tim started dancing like a fool holding the arrow which should have killed him aloft. Cassie was crying now too, knowing that a man as good as a brother to her had become this. Damian looked at Constantine and they both nodded.

Damian lunged for the Joker as Constantine, Helena and Cassie ran to the Waverider, Green Arrow following them slowly with the Batman in his arms. Damian bellowed after them, "Save the future! Save my sister! Save your city!" The cargo bay door of the Waverider immediately opened as Firestorm began raining fire on the Jokerised zombies upon realising what was happening outside. "Where's Mar'i?" he asked. "Dead if she's lucky," Ollie sadly informed him as he helped Batman over the threshold, "Now let's get the hell out of here." Hal activated the Waverider without a second thought as Bruce and Cassie were brought to the medibay. Conner was awake and saw Cassie crying her eyes out. "Cass, what's wrong?" "It's Tim," she wept, "He's gone, he's gone!" She beat her hand against his chest as he held her and began weeping himself without fully understanding why.

For some reason, the cargo bay door wouldn't shut as Constantine began firing spells at the zombies leaping upon it. The nuclear missile then flew through the air but didn't seem to hit anywhere in the city. It was heading straight for them. "Oh, shit," Constantine said, "It's locked on us. Hurt must have copped on we're here. But how?" Firestorm looked to Constantine and then at the nuclear missile as he burned the last zombie away. "Look after the rest of them, John," the heroic young man bonded with an old one insisted, ",asFor me." "Why?" Constantine tried to ask as he turned around moments before his vision was temporarily lost by the blinding flash created when Firestorm, the Nuclear Man collided with the nuclear projectile, killing himself instantly and raining the nuclear arsenal down upon the city below. On Arkham Island, Damian Wayne was briefly distracted, giving the Joker the opportunity to cut his throat. But then, Damian using all his remaining strength and pulled his brother's head from his shoulders with an almost superhuman effort. As he lay bleeding out, they both laughed at each other as nuclear annihilation claimed both their lives and that of the rest of the city.

On the Waverider, the nuclear shockwave had thrown Constantine back into the bridge. "Seal the cargo bay door!" he bellowed at Hal as sirens sounded all around the ship. "I can't!" Hal screamed as another buffet knocked him out as well. Ollie moved towards Dinah and kissed her passionately knowing this was the end. Zatanna screamed at the void "niosolpxE esreveR," only to be knocked out when she hit her head. Helena cried like an infant in the medibay over her catatonic father as Cassie held her hand, and Conner using what effort he had left in him to embrace them both. Kara and Bart moved into the group hug with Rose, Mia, Rachel and Gar then. The only one with the strength not to be knocked out yet was John Henry Irons. Steel was not going to let any more of them die knowing Firestorm and Vixen had just fallen tonight. Using his natural strength combined with that of his armour, he lifted up the cargo bay door using his brute strength and as he collapsed on the floor of the entrance to the Waverider once it was secure, he swore to himself before passing out, "I'm making it home, 'Tasha. I swear to you...I'm coming home."