Chapter Twenty Five

Rhythmic sounds of a fight rang out in the ancient tomb, as a girl performed acrobatic maneuvers barely dodging attacks from several different directions. Having lost sight of her partner for this mission Angela begrudgingly continued on, but it wasn't long before she was confronted with several of the Parademons that had attacked her and Batman earlier. Together they had held their own against the three that they had been fighting but without Terry, she was in far worst shape this time around.

Dodging three different blasts from the Parademons' mouths, Angela realized that she was only surviving by the skin of her teeth. Knowing how close she had actually come to dying this time she knew if something didn't change soon, it wouldn't take long until what she predicted would happen. It was hard to believe that she was here trying to save an elusive grandfather when the fact of what brought her here was her mother.

Six weeks ago, when Angela's mother had gone missing, she wouldn't have believed then that she would be inside of an ancient tomb fighting literal monsters. Instead of trying to find a trace of where her pale-skinned black and purple-haired mother was, she was now possibly millions of miles away attempting to rescue another family member. But he was family, and she would do anything for family.

Making a run for cover, Angela sent out a flash grenade to cover her retreating form.

When Raven had gone missing, Angela only understood that something precious had been taken away. It wasn't long before the facts slowly dawned on her. Racheal Roth was half-demon, which meant a number of things could have happened to her already… The least of which was slavery to her demonic father. Having so many unanswered questions was almost like a plague to both her and her father's minds keeping them up most nights. Angela knew her mother was a strong woman, but there have been many close calls on her life. Which meant with the right motivation people could even kill her.

Dick didn't let himself or his daughter wallow in misery for long, one night roughly three weeks prior he brought her back through the veil and into his homeland of Gotham City. But she couldn't help having one question, 'Why here? Why go to Gotham City, when her mother had gone missing from their own realm?'

With conviction, he only replied, "To find the only man that might be able to help." She was skeptical but she had to trust him.

When Angela was a little girl, her father told her stories of Gotham City. Many in fact told a story about a hero protecting his homeland… Just like a fairy tale. For her entire young life, Gotham was a distant land where adventure and mystery lived and the lone protector banished its criminals. She had spent many days imagining those battles, and at the time she'd thought were great fabrications he had made up in his spare time. Little did she realize, these stories all happened. And her own father lived through these feats.

'Two-face and his double-headed coin or Penguin and his henchmen…' It all seemed very innocent back then. But it was impossible for stuff like this to ever actually exist, right? That was what she believed until she stumbled on to her parent's little secret that night so long ago… But that was a story she didn't want to think about now.

No, the day her father brought her to this realm she realized how real this place actually was. She had been fighting crime for roughly six months in her own realm, but that was always with an amount of support coming from her mother or father. She now understood that all of those 'stories' her father told her as a child were reality. And knowing all of that, Angela understood she had a choice to make this night… Was she going to be some hapless victim that lost her life or was she going to be Robin her childhood hero, much like her father was, once upon a time?

---

The silence was deathly in the long stretch of hallway, but if he focused Terry could see that there was an end to the expanse ahead of him. Which was why he guessed, that this man was trying to stand in his way.

"You ask why, I am fighting. So, I guess you have some limited access to my history with my father."

Terry didn't answer and just glared at the man in front of him. Was this man trying to delay him? Or was this really an attempt to assuage Terry to their side?

"I admit there have been times in my life that I would have been tempted to fight alongside you… But I don't fight for my father." Dusan said with conviction in his voice.

Remaining silent for a moment Terry decided to play this game a little, "Is that right, Failed One?"

A humorless chuckle escaped from the albino's lips, "Yes, my father has a very old way of thinking, saying things which can be considered quite offensive. The man is a bigot and sometimes shortsighted in his dealings with people. But his aspirations are genuine and if they're brought to their natural completion, it can indeed save the human race from extinction. Which is exactly where it is currently heading. Don't tell me a smart person like yourself hasn't thought about where the human race will be in the next one hundred years?"

Calmly Terry looked at Dusan and gave the older man a quote his father 'Wayne McGinnis' said often enough for him to remember, "Beware the nation in which one-man rules, for it is a nation of slaves."

― Simón Bolívar"

Sneering back at Terry, pretenses dropping Dusan spoke, "You say that like it isn't already a reality."

"I am not here to debate your 'New world order' insanity plans, I am here to get my mentor. You guys took him and I'm getting him back. Simple…"

Suddenly Dusan sprang across the space between them. Evidently no longer wanting to debate either, there hadn't even been enough time for Terry to draw his guard up to block, he had to actually moved so quickly Terry was sent flying across the room. He had only realized that he had been hit, when his back knocked painfully against the wall. Falling to the ground, he looked up to see several spinning metal projectiles coming at him. Dodging them he realized the projectiles then sunk deep into the concrete and set off flash bangs obscuring his vision.

Terry couldn't help thinking, 'Stupid. I let my guard down!'

Almost freezing up in sheer shock, Terry still managed to jump as far away as he could, turning around to find White Ghost at his back, 'That was incredible! He thought as he processed the revelation. Even with his current speed, he hadn't even come close to being this fast! Terry attempted to take some of his still functioning bat-a-rangs from the pouch on his side, but White Ghost was right in his face before he even touched his weapons.

Dusan's hand shot out like lightning for Terry's throat, but Terry's reflexes were almost as fast and blocked him. Even before Terry was 'Batman' he was a street fighter, his experience with people trying to overpower and strangle him were extensive. He would never allow White Ghost to get so close, he considered such things a rookie mistake.

But Terry did notice something very important with this exchange… White Ghost was underestimating him, and if one thing at all had been drilled in his head over the last six months it was to never underestimate anyone.

Allowing a smile to appear on his face, Terry Grabbed Ducan's wrist before it fully left the area around his throat and twisted it with all his might. A snapping sound quickly rang out, letting Terry know the wrist had been broken. But he didn't stop there, pulling the surprised assassin close Terry shot his knee directly into his assailant's sternum.

If he hadn't broken a rib or two then he had at least done some damage. Letting loose of Duscan, Terry watched as the older man stumble back but he managed to catch himself before he went fully down. The glare from White Ghost was palpable in the still corridor. Once more, surprising Terry with his speed, White Ghost lashed out with his Katana, utilizing his still functioning hand, he slashed at him with quick speed.

Terry must have done some damage to the albino because dodging his swings was still easier than it had been before. Leaning back, he avoided several swipes and a couple of kicks directed at him. Duscan was still ruthless enemy though, and was able to catch Terry off guard once again.

Never even seeing White Ghost reach the weapon, it came before Terry could even make another move. White Ghost managed to swing out with a kick catching Terry in the chest and knocking them both away from each other, spinning from the separate impacts. But it wasn't long before they were facing off once again.

Evidently, as many times as they managed to land a strike on the other, it didn't mean much. This was still going to be a long battle.

---

Ra's Al Ghul looked at the person he once considered his greatest rival... He was a little surprised even at this age Bruce was very stubborn. He had put up a monstrous fight against his innermost demons that very few had ever been recorded to do.

But Bruce Wayne has always exceeded his expectations. This was probably why he had decided to make him an ally instead of an enemy. His failure in that task had frustrated him for years, though he felt that he had made a small amount of progress when his daughter produced an heir with the man. She had provided a tool that made his journey into immortality much more of a reality.

But Damien was never his ideal vessel. No, Damian had too much of his mother in him to be anything other than a pawn. The Detective had enough capital and influence over the world to make his plans bear fruit.

Bruce lay in the air still halfway connected to the machine hanging over a boiling Lazarus pit. He regretted a little ending his daughter's life the way he had, but she was reaching the end of her usefulness already and she had betrayed him once again. No, it was best to end her suffering before his plans were set in motion.

An alarm sounded on his wristwatch which took his attention away from the still hanging Bruce in his unconscious state. His security system in the tomb was top-notch, but the people that were attacking his base this night knew what they were doing as well. Still, he put in some extra features in some of the more sensitive places such as the cryogenic chamber.

This particular warning was set up to tell him if there was any change in the chemical injection schedule. For beings like the ones he had in storage in that room every fifteen minutes, a dosage had to be administered. If for some reason that dosage wasn't given… well, it could mean many things on a regular day, from the system malfunctioning to a breach in security.

On a day like today, it wouldn't take a genius to guess what actually happened… They were loose, and if his luck was bad then they had already met up with the extraction team. What these morons didn't know was, they weren't just kept frozen for his own purpose. Although that was why he hadn't killed them already. No, these beings were kept that way because their goal was the destruction of the very universe, they all lived.

If these two were let loose, they would seek out their own goals and ideals knowingly destroying everyone's lives. They had to be stopped before it was too late!

Tapping on his commlink to his security detail he relayed orders to stop them as quickly as possible. Bruce was still being resistant to the merge, but even a man like the Detective had his limits and he assumed possibly another twenty minutes would be enough to make his mind malleable enough to merge his consciousness with his own.

He just had to hold on long enough to gain his ideal body before confronting these pests.

---

Both men flew at each other in a blur of speed, meeting one another in a display of blinding force. Jack Napier had a smirk planted on his overly white face while Bruce's face was focused and ridged. In a burst of energy, Jack overpowered Bruce and threw him off balance before making a stabbing motion toward the dark knight in an effort to end the fight quickly.

"This isn't like you, Batcy." Jack said letting a thin blade sail past Bruce's throat, its' blade coming just short of slashing it open. "Have you truly gotten so old that you cannot stand up to, little ol' me?" he finished with a laugh.

Giving the pale man a glare that would freeze most men to their core, Bruce gave him a backhand across his smiling face with his free hand. The blow knocked Joker off of Bruce's body and sent him sprawling several feet away. As Jack got to his feet the ever-present smile the psychotic man wore on his face began to turn ruthless.

Bruce wouldn't be deterred and fired off a kick that caught Jack in the stomach, sending him back down. It was just as he thought, Jack wasn't that much better of a fighter than Bruce. Though in his younger days, Bruce had the upper hand. Then again, Bruce wasn't as young as he used to be either.

Unfortunately, in this world, the Pit's rejuvenating effect didn't have the same effect on Bruce as it had in reality. He was just an old man fighting a much younger one, and frustratingly, he was also losing.

Jack laughed at being the one to take the first hit in this fight and picked out another blade from inside his purple jacket inside pocket and threw it at Bruce. Bruce simply sidestepped the throw and got ready for another physical attack. Joker was armed, Jack wasn't… He just wished he had his utility belt still handy.

Deciding to attack him instead of waiting and threw a handful of caltrops from his pockets right in his path to keep him from advancing any further.

Bruce was forced to stop in his tracks or have his feet impaled by the spikes, but he was forced to take his eyes off of Jack who immediately responded to Bruce's situation. Bruce had to keep reminding himself this situation was not real. it was a scenario brought up by a device, and if he gave in to it, he'd never be able to leave.

"What? Do you really think you will be walking away from this today?" Joker said allowing his unnatural smile to stretch his face. "Let me remind you of something… Batcy."

With those words the world around, him faded and he was just a small boy once again.

A gunshot rang out driving his focus towards its origin. Bruce flinched at the sight of his father looking down at his bleeding chest, then back to the man in front of him. Thomas Wayne crumpled to the ground while his mother screamed.

"Thomas?! Thomas!" A woman's desperate voice littered the night's air. But that didn't stop the man reaching for pearls around her neck. Her desperately cries for her husband were ignored, but her resistance wasn't.

Then the same man that shot her husband turned the gun on her and the second gunshot sounded out into the air, stealing another life within moments of the last. A callused hand reached out to the fading woman's necklace and yanked... the beads sprang apart littering the ground much like the blood that had already fallen.

Red stained the white pearls her husband had once given... a token of his affection. Now broken, spilled over the stone city streets.

And Bruce was now all alone.

The scene changed as new images came to light.

Bruce stared into an empty room except for two coffins. Thomas and Martha Wayne. His parents. They didn't look the same in the open caskets, he noted absently.

The scene changed again.

Dead leaves whipped through the hallway, snow fell over two open graves, mourners dispersed, guided by Security Guards.

A hand fell to his shoulder. Alfred. He remembered. This man stood beside him for many years… Until he too left him. Everybody left him.

He was a mere bystander as everyone in the world he loved, either died or walked away from him.

---

Outside in the ritual chamber. Ra's smiled It wouldn't be long now.

---

For a while Dick watched the pair get reacquainted but the longer, he waited the more he got frustrated. His father was somewhere in this facility and these two were chumming it up together! Settling his features to a mask of neutrality, Dick spoke for the first time in ten minutes.

"Sorry to interrupt your reunion, but Bruce is being kept somewhere in this facility. I was attempting to find his location when I stumbled on you guys. I don't mean to impose, but we could really use the help in this situation…"