Chapter 56

"GRAAAAAAH!!!" Red Hood started charging Batman.

Batman smiled. He got Red Hood to attack him by provoking him.

Red Hood launched himself into the air and aimed his whole body towards Batman.

Batman only needed to move his body a little bit to the side and spun around to launch a kick when Red Hood got close enough.

Blagabag!

Red Hood, after getting kicked, flew towards the computer connected to the bomb and crashed.

"Ha..Hahaha...You'll never be able to turn off the bomb now...You've doomed yourself."

Batman looked to the distance where Red Robin's fight with Joker has also concluded as he walked over to Red Hood.

When he got to Red Hood, he crouched down. "...I just want you to know that I never meant everything that I said earlier."

"Don't bullshit me..." Red Hood fixed his posture into a decent sitting position.

"No, I'm not lying. Clearly, everyone in the bat family is qualified to inherit everything that Bruce left behind...Even though, from what I heard, you caused so much problems for Bruce and Alfred back in the day, they saw the good in you. And, I don't think this is what they wanted for you, Jason." Batman reached for the back of his helmet and clicked the button to remove it. "That's why you always wear that Robin mask under the hood, right? Because you know that yourself."

Jason shed a tear. "Even if you tell me that now, it's all over.... We're all going to die unless you have a way of getting everyone out of the blast zone before the timer runs out." He looked at the timer which only has thirty seconds left.

"Don't worry about that..." Batman reached for something near the processor of the computer behind Jason. He revealed a flash drive. "I threw a drone earlier with this flash drive that deactivates the bomb. Even if the timer runs out, it won't activate."

Jason Todd widened his eyes before making a wry smile in defeat. "Heh... I guess the part of what you said about being Bruce's biological son was the truth."

Batman threw the drone along with the projectiles aimed at Jason earlier when they were fighting. Jason Todd didn't even notice it.

When the timer went down to zero, the bomb really didn't activate.

"Please don't make this hard than it already is and just let me take you to prison quietly." Batman said as he offered his hand towards Jason to help him up.

"Don't worry." Jason grabbed his hand and stood up. He turned around and put both of his hand behind his back.

After he tied up Jason's hands, he guided him to where Red Robin and the Joker was.

"Hahahahaha!" Joker still had the energy to laugh even though he had blood and scars all over. "I guess we'll be cellmates, Jason."

"No. They'll put you in Arkham while I'll go to blackgate, you freak." Jason replied. "...that is, if they'll take you alive." His vest started glowing red.

Batman looked at his hand and only now noticed him holding a detonator. "Jason?!-" He got shoved away by Jason.

Batman fell backwards while watching everything in slow motion.

He saw Jason doing a flying kick towards Red Robin to push him away from him as he fell backwards onto the Joker.

The Joker's cackle and Jason's apology was the only thing he heard before they exploded.

Red Robin's and Batman's jaws were on the floor.

Jason Todd committed suicide and took the Joker along with him.

Both of them stood there with remorse.

There were three dead bodies surrounding them but that's not the full extent of the damage that this recent event caused.

Many people died since the time when a Red Hood-led mutant gang faced the Jokerz.

----

Back when Terry first talked with Tim Drake, he immediately left for the Joker's burial site.

Tim Drake so happened to know where it was by secretly following Batman.

The site also happens to be where Jason Todd got killed.

When Terry got there, he saw the little marker that had the letter J on it, just like what Tim described, broken in half. The earth was also uneven which meant someone came here and dug up the Joker's remains. The only person that could have done so would be Jason Todd or Tim Drake who knew it.

But Tim Drake wasn't the one that came back from the dead. So, Jason, with the means of resurrecting available to him, would be the number one suspect of taking the Joker's remains and bringing him back alive.

He decided to keep this to himself until he had enough evidence to accuse Jason of causing everything that was happening in Gotham. It was out of respect for Barbara, Alfred and Luke Fox, who considered Jason as family.

He got lucky when he happened to discover the Jokerz hideout where the bomb was.

If he hadn't, the chaos that the war of the Jokerz and the Sons of Batman would bring to the whole city would distract them from the Red Hood's true intentions.

They held Jason's burial the next day. He was buried in the grave where the body of someone they thought was Jason was buried. Next to the Waynes.

They never got to know how Jason came back alive. They didn't even have a chance to ask.

Joker's remains were left to Tim Drake. He volunteered to be the one to decide where it will be placed.

----

"It's not your fault, Terry." Barbara said.

"I know that, but if only I saw it coming, Jason wouldn't be dead. If only I was stronger, Doug wouldn't be dead."

"Do you think if one of us did it, it would end up differently?" Barbara said before looking up at the ceiling. "I heard your speech to Jason. You're Bruce's real heir, right?" She teased.

"Please don't joke about that." Terry got up from the bed and exposed his bare skin that had bruises all over. It was worse the night before when the incident had just concluded. That's how much damage he had received during the fight with Red Hood.

"Okay...but I'm only half-joking. I'm serious about how we wouldn't be able to do a better job than you. Have some confidence in yourself. Even Tim was all praise yesterday when we talked about it. All of us appointed you and approved you to be Batman. Have confidence in us if not in yourself. " Barbara said before turning her body to the side. "I'm going to sleep now, okay?"

Terry glanced at Barbara's bare back and shoulders before staring into space again.

Her words were comforting but he himself thought that there's still more room for improvement.

The following day was Doug Tan's funeral.

Terry couldn't look Dana and the rest of her family in the eye because he felt guilty about Doug's death.

As he threw down a flower to Doug's coffin, the image of Doug smiling as he died overlapped with his memory of him when they were in their teens.

When the flower reached the coffin inside the ditch, Terry's tears followed closely.

As he was just about to leave...

"Terry..."

He turned around and saw Dana with a pained expression. Dana immediately ran towards his chest and embraced him.

Which pained Terry even more, because this might be the last time he will ever see Dana.

In front of him, stood Nelson. He just nodded to him and Nelson nodded back. Terry remembered their confrontation the day that he dicovered the Jokerz hideout. Nelson's words struck his heart.

If he continues to be close to Dana, she will always be put in danger.

As he hugged her tightly, he was also relishing the final moment where he can be with Dana.

"Goodbye." He said to her before he released her and walked away without ever looking back.

Dana watched Terry's back as he got further away. It looked large and sturdy, but it also looked lonely. Along with his goodbye that sounded like a final farewell, she began to worry.

The next day, Dana tried contacting him, but her account was blocked.

Terry never showed his face on campus since he didn't have to.

Dana tried asking Max Gibson and Carrie Kelley but both of them just said that he shows himself when he wants to.

"Did I do something wrong? Is he angry at me?" She asked them.

"No...he's just...worried about you." Carrie tried to explain it without revealing anything.

"Worried about me? If he's really worried about me then why doesn't he come see me? What kind of friend is that?" Dana objected.

"...Do you really just see him as a friend?" Max suddenly asked with a straight face.

"I...he's special..." Dana couldn't put her feelings into words.

Max sighed. "If you're really his friend, then, you should respect his privacy and observe your boundaries." Then, she grabbed Carrie and walked away from Dana.

Dana was left standing there with a blank stare.

"That was a little harsh..." Carrie said with a guilty expression.

"Can't help it. She won't understand why unless she knows...And she can't know." Max replied.

Soon after, Dana even tried going to his place of work. Wayne Manor. But she ended up not even knocking because she decided that he wouldn't come see her either way. She decided to listen to what Max Gibson said and leave Terry alone.

----

"Are you coming later tonight?"

"Coming where?"

"To the party, Dana." Nelson sternly said before he held her hand as they sat across from each other. "Come on, why are you like this? You barely hang out with us anymore. Chelsea and Blade are the only ones that get to see you and that's only because you live together in your sorority house."

"When was I ever interested in going to parties, Nelson?" Dana furrowed her brows at him.

"Dana..." Nelson lifted his shoulders. "I just want to spend more time with you, but I don't know how because you always make up some excuse for you to not come with me."

Dana sighed. "I'm sorry, Nelson. I just want to be alone sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Nelson furrowed his brows. " Sometimes..." He nodded as he licked the inside of his cheek. He stood up in an angry manner and turned away from Dana. "...If it was Terry that invited you, would you go?"

Dana's eyes were empty as she looked up at Nelson. She didn't say anything, or rather, she didn't want to.

Nelson clenched his fist then, released it. "Don't bother thinking of an answer...I already know." Then, he proceeded to leave.

In fact, he already knew the answer when she came to Terry first for comfort instead of him when her brother died. He thought he would have a better chance when Terry decided to stay away from Dana in his own volition, but that does not seem to be the case.